the opposite end, so as to close up the springs, after which the bolt could be drawn out of the box. This action is better shown in the succeeding examples of modern spring locks of the same kind. The case of a similar padlock to the above was found with Roman remains at Irchester, near Wellingborough, Northampton, by the Rev. R. Baker, in 1878, and is figured in the Associated Architectural Society's Reports, vol. xv., plate iv., 1879.

This padlock was therefore a hand-drawn, and not a key-drawn, lock. Its origin is at present uncertain, but it is here no doubt represented in its more complete and developed state, after having already undergone prior modifications. The absence of simpler contrivances of the same kind suggests the inference that its forerunners may have been made of perishable materials. Be that as it may, its progress onward from this point of perfection can be traced with some degree of certainty. Already in Roman times it had undergone changes. Amongst the Roman antiquities discovered in 1854 by the Honourable Richard Neville (since Lord Braybrooke), at Great Chesterford, in Essex,[27] were two kinds of this padlock: one, represented in fig. 23C, Plate V., is of the form already described; the other (figs. 24C and 25C, Plate V.) was constructed on what, judging by those which succeeded it, must probably have been regarded as an improved form, or it may have been merely adapted to a different purpose. The bolt a, instead of having perpendicular bars and rings to slip over the parallel bar, was simply a plain straight bolt with the catch springs attached to it. The horizontal parallel bar of the lock, after passing along the top of the box or tube, was curved down over the mouth of the lock, at a short distance from it, and terminated in a ring, leaving a space between it and the mouth of the tube to admit of the passage of the chain or staple, or whatever was intended to be secured by means of the padlock, as shown in fig. 25C, Plate V. The bolt was slipped through this ring, and on into the tube, the barbed springs flying out and catching after they entered the box, so as to fill up this space and secure the bolt, which was opened and withdrawn in the same manner as before, as shown in fig. 24C, Plate V.

A further modification of this takes place in the Swedish padlock, figs. 26C and 27C, Plate V., in which the parallel bar d, instead of being a fixture, is made to turn upon a hinge at h. When shut, the other end of the bar, instead of coming down over the mouth of the tube, and at a distance from it, as in the preceding example of a Roman padlock, is made to enter the side of the tube at j, and the bolt passes through the ring of the bar, after entering the mouth of the lock and inside, instead of outside of it. By this means we arrive at the ordinary hinge of the padlock which with further modification of form and mechanism is in use on carpet bags in this country at the present day. This Swedish spring padlock was in use in Scandinavia until towards the end of last century. There is one in the Museum at Kiel, which was found with iron spear-heads of the 11th century; others are attributed to the 15th century in that country. Figs. 31C and 32C, Plate V., is a specimen of an English fetterlock of the same construction as the Swedish one, obtained at Epping, near London, and we have evidence that a lock constructed on this principle continued in use throughout the Middle Ages. In 1829 a fragment of an iron padlock, consisting of the tube or box with its parallel bar attached to it, was found in association with some extended skeletons at Lagore, near Dunshaughlin, in the county of Meath, in Ireland. It is figured in the sixth volume of the 'Archæological Journal,' where it is described as an iron pipe, its use being apparently unknown to the writer. It was found in connection with iron leaf-shaped spear heads, broad double-edged swords, bronze pins, and enamelled ornaments, and the post-Roman period of the find is attested by the presence of the fallow deer amongst the associated animal remains. Figs. 28C, 29C, 30C, Plate V., is a Russian bronze padlock, believed to date between the 1st and 4th centuries, greatly resembling the Oriental ones to be hereafter described. It is in the Museum of St. Petersburg, and is copied from M. Liger's work. Fig. 33C, Plate V., is a fragment of one containing the springs and curved bar, found by me in excavations made in the Norman Camp at Folkestone. It was discovered in the body of the rampart, and in a position to prove that it was of the age of the construction of the camp, or of the period of its early occupation.[28] Fig. 34C, Plate V., is a later example very much resembling the Russian padlock, fig. 29C, Plate V., and of the same kind as the last. The curved bar of the bolt fits into a socket in the parallel bar, in which respect it resembles some of the Indian ones to be hereafter described. It was found at Swanscombe, in Kent, and is probably of the 15th century. It is extracted from the 'Archæological Journal.'[29] Part of a padlock similar to this was lately found by Mr. James Wilson in the ditch of Bedford Castle, and was exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries. Another similar one was found near Devizes, and is figured in Dean Merewether's 'Diary of a Dean,' fig. 18. Both of these last, like the Russian bronze one, represented in fig. 29C, are ornamented on the outside of the case with lines of zigzags, resembling Norman tracery; and coupled with the precise resemblance in the construction of the locks, this ornamentation appears to prove an eastern connection during the first four centuries of our era. The fetterlock figures as the badge of the family of the Longs of Wraxall, dating from the 15th century, and it is at the present time the badge of the 14th Company of the Grenadier Guards, an illustration of which is given in the accompanying woodcut. It was one of the badges assumed by Edward IV., and an account of it is given in Sir F. Hamilton's history of that Regiment.[30]