] Now, here's a quote which casts doubt on the idea that young Mr Darcy ran over to the horse chestnut tree (not five miles away) to gather conkers:

] `The first conkers were empty snail shells suspended on strings. They were only replaced with horse chestnuts in the 19th century.'

] Do we believe this?

Mary Webb mentions conkers as snail shells in the novel Precious Bane. I believe the story is set around the time of Waterloo.