S a small boy, I was fascinated by an old stall-holder in the Strutton Grounds market off Victoria Street, SW1. He seemed to know all the countries of the world, but his knowledge came from books—he had never, in his long life, been even as far as St Paul’s. He was exceptional. In considering our ancestors, it is easy to assume that few, other than the rich, would have travelled far, but, at some periods, that was not really the case. During the European 15th and 16th centuries, for instance, with the exception of the peasantry unless they happened to become soldiers, many
