The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1912-07-25


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"a REASURES where the cows
ES find them; treasures which
II ~ the divers see, but cannot
A N reach; treasures where only
E:" supersttious fears stand in the
IwzaadsS2aH4EdA way of recovery-such is the
H&kzSS11AS state of affairs in and about
| ':mAS5 Great Britain proper, one Of
:EGS+o the richest fields in the world
I. SJ&S for the treasure-hunting ad-
E=--5 venturers.
The most ardent seeker Of
these troves was King John. Most of his time
was spent in hunting buried treasures of other
centuries, assembling the gold and jewels of
England and burying them again. Only those
groups of known value and of certain or nearly
certain location can be mentioned in this article,
so numerous are they
It was known that the King had knowledge,
CLEANED from old documents, that the Romans,
during the time of their occupation, had great
quantities of gold, silver, jewels and plate in
fashionable resort in the north of England, and,
being cut off in the by invasion Of Picts
and Scots buried it in vast trove the old
Roman wall in Northumberland.
King John made extensive explorations and
found large cache made at a later period, but
did not find the more important store of wealth.
He removed hfs find to Hermitage Castle, and,
according to all accounts, the masonry of the
wall was opened from the outside and the treas
ure hidden once again.
Once since his day the true clue to the Roman
cache was found and lost again through the bru-
tality and stupidity of some English county Of
fcials in Northumberland.
Two poor and ignorant farm laborers were
working in a field on the line of the old Roman
ruin one day and sat down, in the shade Of a
heap of stones, for their lunch. Idly they turned
over large stone, and in the bottom of the cavity
left they enormously heavy chain
Pushing away the dirt until they could get hold
Of 1t, they drew it out. 1t was several feet in
length and weighed enough to make burden for
both Of them. Seemingly it was brass and they
left it till the next day. when they were working
with cart At evening they loaded it in the cart
and carried it home, leaving it against the wall of
the stable a curious but useless find
One Sunday when idling with some neighbors
they fell to discussing the chain, and one of the
neighbors scraped it with a knife He said it
looked and felt more like gold than brass and
very soft. Taking a broken link to the mar
ket when he next went, the elder Of the two
finders submitted it to jeweler, who pronounced
1t solid gold of very fine quality.
The neighbor who had made the discovery of
the nature of the find thought he should have
half and be let in on the secret of the remainder.
This was refused so he informed the authorities,
and the two peasants we're arrested, spent long
period in JAIL and, a result of the i'll treatment.
of them went insane.
The older had steadfastly refused to disclose
the spot where the chain found, having taken
an oath when he was fogged in prison that he
would never tell any one. This was his method
of getting even and it proved very effective.
It is curious indeed that the termination Of
the great treasure hunter and hiders career
should be marked by the interment of wealth in
an amount as great, greater, than that in
volved in any of his previous exploits.
OIp'c r+v
with it not only enormous treasure in the
store of gold that represented the royal funds,
but a cumbersome weight of treasures he had &C
Quired and more valuable today than all the
others-the full regalia, crown jewels, and In
sigma of the great orders of which the King was
head.
The British Museum and the various orders
would pay at least $500 900 for the recovery
of these, and yet it does not seem difficult mat
ter Some individual or syndicate with the proper
backing could easily look up the circumstances
as contained in the old records and make con-
sistent determined effort
The royal fugitive and retinue were riding in
haste around the dip of the Wash and the ami
mails on which the precious load was carried
mired so frequently in the lowlands that 1t was
decided to cache the treasure.
The King and a few faithful noblemen superin-
tended the work, impressing some peasants for
the labor. The records state distinctly that the
interment took place precisely where the road
crosses the river to Lynn.
The old road ran where there is now morass
in spring and fall, baked dry in summer. few
years ago, during the drought season, some farm
efs, sinking a well SO as to water the cattle that
were feeding on the marsh grass, struck an odd
crown of solid gold but made no further excava-
ton.
BY the time London heard Of the find, the sea-
son had changed and the spot was swamp once
more. There is no question in my mind, after
reading all accounts that the treasure is there
and can be excaYated with steam shovel foated
on a barge into the mouth of the great Ouse.
In 1709 when England at war with the
Netherlands, H. NJ. S. Lutine sailed from Var
mouth for CuxhaVen. She sank of the island of
Veieland, at the mouth of the zuyder Zee, and
only two Of those aboard were rescued. She car