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ENEALOGY COLLECTION

GENEALOGY
942-3101
W714M
1883-1884

Digitized by

the Internet Archive

in 2014

https://archive.org/details/wiltshirearchaeo2118godd

WILTSHIRE

teologirnl unit JMtiral $

MAGAZINE,

FORMED IN THAT COUNTY, A.D. 1853.

VOL. XXI.

DEYI2ES:
H. F. Bull, 4, Saint John Street.

1884.

The Editor of the Wiltshire Magazine desires that it should
be distinctly understood that neither he nor the Committee of the
Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society hold themselves
in any way answerable for any statements or opinions expressed
in the Magazine; for all of which the Authors of the several
papers and communications are alone responsible.

CONTENTS OF YOL. XXI.

No. LXI.

Account of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting, at Malmesbury 1

On the Architecture of Malmesbury Abbey : By C. H. Talbot, Esq. ... 26
Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Days : By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson,

F.S.A 35

On some Place-Names near Malmesbury, and their Historic Teachings :

By Rev. Canon Rich Jones 61

Extracts from the Records of the Wiltshire Quarter Sessions f Continued) :

Communicated by R. W. Meeriman, Clerk of the Peace 75

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles found at Bremeridge Farm, Westbury, Wilts :

By the Rev. J. Baeon, D.D., F.S.A., Rector of Upton Scudamore,

Wilts 121

6S6573

No. LXII.

Stonehenge Notes : The Fragments : By W. Cunnington, Esq., F.G.S. 141

Diagrams to Illustrate the Effects of the Weather upon the Flowering of

Plants : By the Rev. T. A. Peeston, M.A 150

The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum : By the Rev. Canon Rich
Jones, M.A., F.S.A 154

A Contribution to the History of Sir William Waller (A.D. 1597—1644)
and Malmesbury (A.D. 1643—1644) : By W. W. Ravenhill, Esq.,
Recorder of Andover , 170

Certain Old Documents relating to the Parish of Broad Hinton : Com-
municated by the Rev. John A. Lloyd, Vicar 183

A Description of the Saxon Work in the Church of S. James, Abury : By

C. E. Ponting, Esq., Diocesan Surveyor and Architect 188

The Ayliffes of Grittenham : By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 194

On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds in the Neigh-
bourhood of Salisbury : By the Rev. A. P. Moeees, Vicar of Britford
(Continued) 211

Some Un-Described Articles in the Stourhead Collection : By W.
Cunnington, Esq., F.G.S 256

The Stourhead Collections of Antiquities and Books 264

Donations to the Library and Museum 267

iv

CONTENTS OF VOL. XXI.

No. LXIIL

Account of the Twenty-Ninth General Meeting, at Andover 269

" Andover and its Neighbourhood " : By the Eev. C. Colliee, M.A.,

F.S.A 293

The Museum at Andover : [Communicated by the Kev. R. H. Cluttek-

buck, Rector of Enham] 315

" Ludgershall Castle and its History " : By the Rev. W. H. Awdey,

Rector of Ludgershall 317

Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants : By the Rev. Canon J. E.

Jackson, F.S.A 330

Old Church Plate in Wilts : By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A 355

Silchester : [Read before the Society afe Andover by the Rev. R. H.

Cluttebbuck, August 16th, 1883] 389

Some Account of the " Vyne," Hants 393

Appointment of Overseers, with instructions to see that Paupers wear a

badge : [Communicated by the Rev. Canon Goddaed, Vicar of Hil-

marton 395

S. James, Avebury : By the Rev. Beyan King 396

Ulttgtrattottg.

Gold Nobles from Bremeridge Farm, 138.

Plan of Stonehenge in its Present Condition, 142. Diagram of Flowering of
Plants in 1882, 150. Plate (Figs. 1 and 2) of Saxon Work in the Church of
S. James, Abury, 189. Plate (Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6) of Saxon Work in the
Church of S. James, Abury, 191. Portrait of John Ayliffe, Esq., 194. Large
Funereal Urn (one of three) found in a Barrow at Kingston Deveril, by Mr.
Cunnington, in 1800, 258. Drinking Cup found at Imber, Wilts, 259. Fu-
nereal Urn from Durrington, Wilts, found by Mr. Cunnington, November,
1803, 260. Two Spear-heads in the Stourhead Collection in the Wiltshire
Museum, 262.

Chalice and a Paten, Berwick S. James, 368. Chalice and Paten-Cover, Dinton,
Wilts,. 371. Chalice, Wylye Church, Wilts, 383. Plan of Silchester, 389.
Yiewofthe "Vyne," 393.

No. LXI. AUGUST, 1883. Vol. XXI.

THE

WILTSHIKE

Irrjiralogital ml Hatral listonj

MAGAZINE,

PuMtstfjetf tmtrer tfyt fflacttiau

OF THE

SOCIETY FORMED IN THAT COUNTY,
A.D. 1853.

DEVIZES:

Printed and Sold foe the Society by H. F. Bull, Saint John Stbeet.

NOTICE TO MEMBERS.

Members who have not paid their Subscriptions to the Society for
the current year, are requested to remit the same forthwith to
the Financial Secretary, Mr. William Nott, 15, High Street,
Devizes, to whom also all communications as to the supply
of Magazines should be addressed, and of whom most of the
back Numbers may be had.

The Numbers of this Magazine will not be delivered, as issued,
to Members who are in arrear of their Annual Subscriptions,
and who on being applied to for payment of such arrears, have
taken no notice of the application.

All other communications to be addressed to the Honorary Secre-
taries : the Rev. A. C. Smith, Yatesbury Rectory, Calne ;
and H. E. Medlicott, Esq., Sandfield, Potterne, Devizes.

The Rev. A. C. Smith will be much obliged to observers of birds
in all parts of the county, to forward to him notices of rare
occurrences, early arrivals of migrants, or any remarkable facts
connected with birds, which may come under their notice.

To be published by the Wiltshire Arclmolo gical and Natural History
Society, by Subscription.

THE FLORA OF WILTS.

BY THE EEV. T, A. PRESTOS", M.A.

Farther 'particulars will shortly be sent by circular to Members of
the Society.

The Author will be glad if any who could assist him with a list of plants
in their several localities would kindly communicate with him. Early information
is particularly desired. Address — Rev. T. A. Peeston, The Green, Marl-
borough.

THE

WILTSHIRE

Jtrrjpltgiral anit Jkftmtl HSisfartf

MAGAZINE.

No. LXI. AUGUST, 1883. Vol. XXL

Contents,

PAGE

Account of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting, at Mal-

MESBUEY 1

On the Architecture of Malmesbury Abbey : By C. H. Talbot, Esq. 26
Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Days : By the Rev. Canon J. E.

Jackson, F.S.A 35

On some Place-Names near Malmesbury, and their Historic

Teachings : By Rev. Canon Rich Jones 61

Extracts from the Records of the Wiltshire Quarter Sessions

(Continued) : Communicated by R. W. Merriman, Clerk of the Peace 75
On a Hoard of Gold Nobles found at Bremeridge Farm,

Westbury, Wilts : By the Rev. J. Baron, D.D., F.S.A., Rector of

Upton Scudamore, Wilts 121

ILLUSTRATIONS.

DETIZES:
H. F. Bull, 4, Saint John Street.

THE

WILTSHIRE M4GAZINE.

"MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS." — Ovid.

THE TWENTY-EIGHTH GENERAL MEETING

OF THE

Wiltshire Archaeological & Statural ©fetorg Soctetg,

HELD AT MALMESBURY,
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, August '2nd, 3rd, and Mh,

1882.

PRESIDENT OF THE MEETING,

The Right Hon. Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, M.P.

^ HE proceedings of the Twenty-eighth General Meeting1 of
the Society, were opened at the Town Hall, Malmesbury, by
the President of the Society, Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, taking the
chair, and expressing on behalf of several gentlemen who had
written to him their regret, at their inability to be present : one of
these gentlemen was Sir John Lubbock, to whom, he need hardly
remind them, they owed a deep debt of gratitude, for the steps he
took some years ago, in regard to those great monuments, Abury
and Silbury Hill, of which he was in great measure now the pro-
prietor, thereby practically rescuing the former of those monu-
ments from the danger with which it was threatened : but, Sir John
was also a man of world-wide antiquarian and scientific reputation.
Other gentlemen who desired him to apologize for their absence on
the ground of their being detained in London by their parliamen-
tary duties, were Mr. Story Maskelyne, Mr. Long, and Mr. Estcourt.

1 In preparing the following account of the Malmesbury Meeting the Editor
desires to acknowledge his obligations to the Editors of the Devizes and Wilt-
shire Gazette, the Wilts and Gloucester Standard, and the Wiltshire Times
and Trowbridge Advertiser.

VOL XXI. NO. LXI, B

2

The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

He would now call upon the Secretary, Rev. A. C. Smith, to read the

REPORT.

"The Committee of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural
History Society, again desires to report a summary of the Society's
proceedings during the past year.

" Your Committee has to lament the decease of an unusual number
of old and valued members during the past twelvemonths. Amongst
these should be specially mentioned Mr. R. P. Nisbet, of South-
broom House, Devizes ; Mr. G. W. Anstie, of Devizes ; Sir F.
Bathurst, and the Rev. J. N. Peill, all of whom were original
subscribers. Also Major Calley, of Burderop, and Mr. T. E. Fowle,
of Chute Lodge, who became members in 1854 and 1855 respectively.
There are also losses of other members who have joined the Society
at a later period ; as well as the resignation of others under the
pressure of hard times. On the other hand, and in some degree to
counterbalance these losses, have been enrolled twenty-one new
members during the year, the result being that there are now on the
books of the Society 380 members, being a very slight decrease
since this time last year.

" In regard to Finance, the balance-sheet shows a slight improve-
ment with respect to funds in hand since last year's report, and this
is mainly attributable to the handsome sum passed over to the credit
of the Society at the close of the annual meeting at Bradford, in
1881. It must not however be supposed that the Society's income
is in excess of its expenditure ; on the contrary, it cannot be too
generally published that its operations are oftentimes considerably
hindered by a lack of adequate funds at its command. It should
not be omitted to mention with gratitude that a donation of £2 was
made to the funds of the Society by Mr. William Brown, Mayor of
the Borough of Devizes, for the year ending November 9th, 1881.

" In regard to the literary work of the Society, two more numbers
of the Magazine have been issued in the course of the year, which it is
hoped are not inferior in interest to their predecessors. The sixtieth
number, concluding the twentieth volume, is now in course of pre-
paration. The Society has also decided on the immediate publication

Report.

3

by subscription, of handbooks on the various branches of Natural
History of the County ; the first of which (already advanced in
preparation) will be the ' Flora of Wilts/ by the Rev. T. A. Preston,
to be followed by others of a similar character as may seem desirable.

" Your Committee has also to report some successful explorations
afield by means of the crowbar and spade. These were carried on
at Abury last autumn, and resulted in the discovery of eighteen large
Sarsen stones buried beneath the turf of the meadow, sixteen of
which belonged to the outer circle, and two to the Northern Temple.
Also at Winterbourne Bassett, the five stones above ground, which
alone remained to mark the site of the double circle which once stood
there, have been re-inforced by the discovery of nine others buried
beneath the surface. Also on Overton Hill, in February last, the
stone chamber within one of the large barrows was removed from
agricultural exigencies, and a fine skeleton and a rude urn, now in
the Society's Museum, were exhumed.

* " The Library and Museum of the Society have been enriched by
sundry contributions from various donors. Especial mention should
be made of the very handsome donation of coins (several of them
gold), medals, tokens and seals ; as well as an original miniature of
Charles I., a very ancient watch in wooden case, and many other
curiosities, given by Miss Fanny Lucas, and collected by her father,
the well-known Wiltshire antiquary, the late Rev. Charles Lucas, of
Devizes. We must also again call attention to the great liberality
of the ' Westbury Iron Company/ by whose kindness we have
received very many additional objects of Roman and Roman British
times. Indeed our Museum now contains a very valuable collection
of antiquities of that period, chiefly derived from the Westbury Iron
Works.

"It only remains to thank all who have in any way helped
forward our labours during the past year ; and again to entreat the
co-operation of all who take any interest in the Antiquities or the
Natural History of our County."

Earl Nelson, one of the vice-presidents, in moving the adoption
of the report, said that, fortunately, he was at the present time pay-
ing a visit to his son at Cole Park, and he was very pleased to find

b 3

4

The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

that his visit coincided with the meeting of the Wiltshire Archaeo-
logical Society, over which he was afraid to say how many years
back he had the privilege of presiding for three years. There was
another reason why he was particularly pleased to come to Malmes-
bury with the archaeologists, and that was because two years ago
when he was president of the British Archaeological Society's
meeting at Devizes, the only excursion he missed was the excursion
to Malmesbury. He unfortunately had other business which pre-
vented him joining the party that went from Devizes on that
occasion. He was very glad that the Wilts Archaeological Society
should have come to Malmesbury again, for he believed it had not
been there for 20 years. As to the report, though they had lost some
of their old original Members, which was a thing of course as time
went on which they must naturally expect, it was a subject of con-
gratulation that they had twenty new Members to record. And then
their finances had improved ; and he thought the statement of the
discoveries that had been made at Abury and at W^interbourne, where
other stones had been discovered by digging, showed the importance
of such county Societies as theirs. He had from the very first been
a Member of the Society, and had read that very interesting publi-
cation which had been alluded to, and which he was glad to say
was approaching its sixtieth number, which concluded the twentieth
volume. When he considered the intensely interesting matter
which was contained in those volumes, not only respecting archaeo-
logy, but as regarded the natural history of the county, and
the valuable materials that were contributed to the history, as
well as the archaeology of the county, particularly in the papers of
Canon Jackson, which were the result of his researches at Longleat,
he felt that he always rose from reading those publications with a sense
of the importance of such a local association as theirs, in accumulating
materials for the history of our county. He was convinced that there
was a great deal more that could be done in the way in which Canon
Jackson had been employed at Longleat, amongst other libraries
and records even in the county of Wilts, and he thoroughly com-
mended to those who had not joined the Society the importance of
doing so,, for it was doing a great work in elucidating the history of

The Opening Meeting.

5

the county ; and if they only took the trouble, as he did sometimes,
to look over the history of Sir R. Colt Hoare, and considered the
additions to the history of the county that had been made by the
exertions of their Society, and how vastly more complete that history
had been made, they would realize the importance of such an
association.

The Rev. G. Windsor Tucker, Vicar of Malmesbury, in second-
ing the motion, said that though he did not know much of the
operations of the Society yet he was able on behalf of the inhabitants
of the borough of Malmesbury and the neighbourhood generally, to
assure a hearty welcome to all the Members of the Wiltshire Archae-
ological and Natural History Society.

The Report haviDg been adopted, Mr. Ravbnhill, proposed that
the officers of the Society — General Secretaries, Curators, Local
Secretaries, and Committee — be re-elected. They had heard the
work which had been done, and when they knew that both their
t Secretaries were in such good health that they had been able to
work with the spade and the crow-bar as they had done in the past
year, and that they were still able to place before the Society the various
papers and facts that had to be presented, he was sure they would
have no hesitation in saying that these gentlemen ought to be re-
elected, with the best thanks of the Society to them for the valuable
services they had rendered.

The Rev. Canon Jones, seconded the resolution, remarking that
no doubt their officers would work as well in the future as they had
in the past.

The resolution was carried unanimously.

The Rev. A. C. Smith said that, as a rider to the last motion, he
would propose that two names be added to the list of Vice-Presidents.
He was sorry it had not been done before, for he had intended to
nominate them last year if it had not slipped his memory : he
referred to Canon Jones and Mr. Talbot, both of whom had done
good work for the Society for many years. He need not tell them
what Canon J ones had done for them, because they had only to look
at the Magazine ; and those present at Bradford last year would
recollect how he was the very life and soul of the meeting. Then

6

The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

Mr. Talbot — who had been his brother Secretary, and would be so
now but that unfortunately, his health was not so good as could be
wished — had also done much for the Society, and they owed him a
debt of gratitude which they could appropriately acknowledge by
electing him also a Vice-President of the Society. He also proposed
the addition to the Committee of the name of the Rev. Edward
Goddard, of Hilmarton, as one who would ably fill the vacancy
now existing, and do good work for the Society.

Mr. Medlicott seconded the propositions, and they were carried
unanimously.

Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, M.P., as President of the Meeting
then delivered his

INAUGURAL ADDRESS,

"The Origin of an English County."

This is a Meeting of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural
History Association. At first sight the union of two such subjects
as Natural history and Archaeology may seem incongruous; but I
think a moment's reflection will dispel any prejudice on that head.
Archaeology is after all only another name for history, for without
it history could not be written ; but the oldest history itself
insensibly fades off into a time when man either did not exist, or, if
he did exist, left no records behind him, and the only history of
which we can take any cognizance at all is consequently the history
of nature : the history of the mountain and of the forest ; of the
wild beast, and of the mute creation amongst which the wild beast
moved. But though this is so, our Society is no doubt mainly
concerned with the records of man and his work : with the chronicle
whereby the monk, toiling in cloisters now crumbling into dust,
sought to rescue the events of his time from total oblivion ; with
the buildings, whether ecclesiastical or secular, in which each
succeeding age embodied its ambitions, its aspirations, and its hopes ;
with the canvass upon which the skill cf the painter had impressed
the likeness of the men who themselves had impressed their
character on the times in which they lived. But here this con-
sideration arises. We are not the British Archaeological Association

The Inaugural Address.

7

— we had the pleasure of welcoming that hody two years ago — ours
is a County Society. We are specially concerned with the records
and history of this County, and the questiou at once suggests itself,
what is a County, and why should we have a County Society ? Now
it may be said we have County histories and they will give us the
answer. We have the monumental work of Sir Richard Colt Hoare,
unfortunately incomplete ; we have Aubrey, with his interpreter
Canon Jackson ; and we have John Britton's History of Wiltshire.
But all these works are not exactly histories in the sense generally
attached to that word. History as a rule implies a beginning, a
middle, and an end, though the end is constantly receding ; it pre-
supposes a certain continuity in the subject, and a certain method
in the treatment of it by the author. But none of these books,
however valuable, are, or indeed claim to be, histories in the sense I
have indicated. Sir Richard Colt Hoare's work is an account of the
different Hundreds, one by one. The other two books I have men-
tioned are arranged on a parochial basis, or mainly so. They do
not treat the county as a whole, or in the order of time, and, there-
fore, they are not County histories in the true sense of the word
" history/'' They are rather materials for history : materials it is true
of the most valuable kind, and without which a real history would
be absolutely impossible. But it may be asked is a County history,
on true historical lines, really possible ? I think it is. At present
indeed we only know a County as a unit for certain purposes of civil
administration and political organization, as sending members to
Parliament, as imposing rates, and so on ; while increased facilities
of communication are tending more and more to level down any
peculiar characteristics which still survive to mark off one County in
England from another, whether in speech, or in ideas, or in customs.
And therefore it will probably be very difficult for the archseologists
of the future, when we are the dust out of which the futnre
generations will be made, and are become ourselves the objects of
antiquarian research, to attach any very distinct ideas, social or
political, to the separate counties of England, so as to mark them
off one from the other, and to be able to say that in our time any
particular County had a separate life and development of its own.

8

The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

to which an individual character could be attributed. But on the
other hand the further you get back the truer does the converse of
this proposition become, till in our own case we arrive at a period
when this County was simply the territory which a particular West
Saxon tribe had occupied, forming- an Under-Kingdom, which
ultimately was made a separate scir or shire, and later on came to be
called a County. The history of Wiltshire begins in fact with the
period when our victorious Teutonic ancestors, the Wilscetas,
expelled the Celtic inhabitants and established here the outposts of
the West Saxon Kingdom. I say the " outposts," for although the
capital was at Winchester, it was around these North Wiltshire
downs that the great military struggles for supremacy in Southern
England took place, and on their possession more than once did it
depend whether this country was to be Saxon or British, and later
on whether or no the Danes were to supplant the English. And
here the student of geography would make his voice heard in order
to point out how much the course of history depends on the great
natural features of a country. It' needs no reflection to understand
that the possession of a district in which the head waters of the
rivers flowing into the German Ocean, the Channel, and the Severn
respectively, can be reached in a hard day's ride, must always have
been a matter of vital importance to any invader desiring to hold
Southern England. The history of this county began then with
the settlements of a conquering Saxon tribe by the stream which
the Britons called Guilou — the clear stream — and we the Wily,
around the town of Wilton. Southern Wiltshire is in fact older than
Northern Wiltshire. The tribe in question came to be called the
Wilscetas, and the district around, Wilset. Their conquests were
difficult and slowly made. It was up the valley of the Itch en, between
the two great forests, the relics of which are still with us in the New
Forest and the forest of the Sussex Weald, that the Saxons, leaving
North Germany, struck into Southern England. They took Win-
chester, it would seem, with comparative ease, but their first advance
upon Wiltshire was for a time decisively checked by the great victory
which tradition asserts to have been gained somewhere in the second
decade of the sixth century by King Arthur at Mount Badon, a

The Inaugural Address.

9

spot identified with Badbury in Dorsetshire, by that eminent
authority the late Dr. Guest ; a victory which you recollect is com-
memorated in the well-known lines of the Poet Laureate in " Elaine/'
where he introduces Launcelot celebrating" the sucessive victories of
his King. " The border line of Hampshire to the west/' says
Mr. J. R. Green in his recent work, "The Making of England/' " still
marks the point at which the Gewissas or West Saxons, were
arrested by this overthrow." It was not till 552 A.D. that the great
British entrenchment at Old Sarum was taken, and then the in-
vaders became masters of the whole course of the South Wiltshire
Avon, of Salisbury Plain, of the course of the Wily, and the
land up to Mere, the name of which is itself the monument of the
limits for a considerable period of their conquests to the West.
Then the tide turned to the North. Verlucio and Cunetio fell, and
the possession of the North Wiltshire Downs became the object of
the straggle. The great earthworks which crown the Marlborough
* Downs and look over the Vales of Pewsey and the White Horse are
the monuments of those struggles. The probability is that the
summits of the hills in that neighbourhood were a vast British
camp of refuge, something like the Turkoman camp of Geok Tepe,
captured the other day by the Russians. Men, women and children,
and cattle and household goods, would all alike have been collected
there for safety in a time of danger. The last defence was
probably desperate, the line of retreat being cut off ; for the Saxon
attack was most likely delivered from both sides at once, from the
Vale of Pewsey and from the Vale of White Horse. This supposi-
tion, too, would go far to account for what is the most remarkable
fact in the English conquest of this island, viz., the disappearance
in a great measure of the British population. I imagine the
slaughter upon those hills was immense, considering what the total
population of the country could have been at the time. " In 491,
iElle and Cissa beset Anderida " — the modern Pevensey — says the old
chronicler, " and slew all that were therein, nor was there afterwards
one Briton left." If the old chronicler had known the facts, he
would probably have had to u^rite an almost equally grim epitaph on
the defenders of the old hill forts at Badbury, And here it may be

10

The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

worth while to observe that the antagonists of the Saxons con-
sisted of two very different bodies: there were, first, the citizens
of the walled Romano-British towns, such as Calleva, the modern
Silchester ; Cunetio, our own Marlborough ; and Verlucio, the site of
which was near Calne : towns in which much of the old civilization
had remained, and which themselves the objects of the hostility of the
native tribes, ever since the withdrawal of the Romans, had been
rapidly relapsing into complete barbarism. Both alike were, however,
now threatened with a common overthrow by the new invader, and the
deeds of King Arthur and the more real figure of Aurelius Ambrosius,
are the legendary embodiment of the attempts of some native king,
superior in energy and attainments to his fellows, to unite these
scattered and discordant elements in an effective resistance.

Now I have got as far as this, that before the end of the sixth
century Southern and Central Wiltshire were in Saxon hands. You
may think that the conquest of the remainder, when once the Northern
Downs were in the hands of the invader, must have been easy
work. But it was not so. North-west Wiltshire was at that time a
huge mass of tangled forest and marsh, Blackmore, Pewsham,
Braden, Selwood, are names we all know, though all reality has
departed from them. But then they existed, and therefore our
ancestors, for nearly a century after the events I have described,
pushed east and south, but not north and west, and even after they
had occupied the Cotswolds, they shunned the dense forests below,
which for a long time separated their possessions from each other
like a huge wedge. It appears that it was the loss of much of their
eastern possessions to rival Anglian tribes, more than any other
event, which ultimately induced the Saxons to master, as some com-
pensation, this inhospitable tract, the conquest of which is of peculiar
interest to this meeting owing to its bearing on the town where we are.
I borrow the account from the pages of Mr. J. R. Green. " Barred
from any further advance to the north, they saw even their progress
westward threatened by the presence of Mercia on the lower Avon ;
and it was as much to preserve their one remaining field of conquest
as to compensate for the retreat of their frontier in other quarters
that Cen wealth marched on this northernmost fastness of Dyvnaint.

The Inaugural Address.

11

In 652, a battle at Bradford, on the Avon, made the forest tract his
own, while a fresh fight with the Welsh, six years later, in 658, at
a place called Pens, cleared them from the ground along the upper
Parrett. It must have been soon after this conquest, that Maidulf,
an Irish scholar monk, set up his heritage in the forest tract which
had been torn from the Britons, and drew around him the first
scholars of Wessex. Ealdhelm, as we have seen, was the most
famous outcome of this school ; but he no sooner succeeded Maidulf
as abbot of the little township which was growing up round that
teacher's school and church — and which still preserves his memory
in its name of ( Maidulf burh/ or Malmesbury, — than he became a
centre, not only of intellectual, but of religious and industrial
activity in its neighbourhood. In the heart of the great woodland
which stretched from Malmesbury to the Channel, he planted four
new germs of social life in the monasteries which he established at
Bradford, on the Avon ; at Frome, on the little river which bears
* that name ; at Sherborne, on the borders of the forest country
through which the Dorsaetas must have been still at this time push-
ing their way ; and at Wareham, on the coast beside Poole — -a point
which shows that these invaders had already advanced at least thus
far towards the west. The churches he raised at these spots are
noteworthy as the first instances of building which we meet with in
Wessex, but they had nothing of the rudeness of early works ;
architecturally, indeed, they were superior to the famous churches
which Benedict Biseope was raising at this time by the banks of the
Wear. So masterly was their construction, that Ealdhelm's churches
at Malmesbury and Sherborne were the only churches of this early
time that were spared by the Norman architects after the Conquest ;
while the church which he erected on the scene of Cenwealtlv's
victory at Bradford- on- A von stands in almost perfect preservation
to-day." 1 It may be presumed, from the name of Wilset having

1 " Making of England," page 340. The author of this work has quite recently
been lost to literature by death. I am glad to have this opportunity, in the
pages of a magazine devoted to the subjects in the knowledge of which he was
pre-eminent, of expressing my sense of the loss which archaeology has thereby

The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

been extended northward into the valley of the Somersetshire Avon^
that the same tribes or families which had settled in the valleys of the
Southern Avon, the Nadder and the Wily, were those who bore the
most prominent part in the northern conquest, and that the bound-
aries of what we call Wiltshire thus came to be gradually established,
first, probably in the reign of Ine, the lawgiver, and finally, in the
time of Alfred, according to the tradition preserved by the Wiltshire
historian, William of Malmesbury, after the final repulse of the
Danes from Southern England : a repulse determined by a great
battle fought on the skirts of the North Wiltshire Downs, upon
much the same ground as that where the final struggle between the
Saxon and the Celt had before been determined, whatever the exact
site may have been. Thus, in the case of Wiltshire, and it may
be added, in the case of four of the other shires carved out of
the old West Saxon Kingdom, viz., Somersetshire, Devonshire,
Berkshire and Dorsetshire, we find the limits of the county deter-
mined by the settlements of invading tribes, and not grouped
around any town bearing a cognate name. Indeed, Berkshire and
Devonshire have no cognate town at all, while Somerset and Dorset,
which have cognate towns, are not called after them. On the
other hand, it would appear that in the case of Wiltshire, as of
Hampshire, although the county was not grouped around the town,
nevertheless the county was named after it, and Mr, Freeman accounts
in this manner for the t in the modern form " Wiltshire." The case
of the counties north of the Thames and in central England
generally, was widely different. The Danish invasion destroyed the
old divisions, and after the Danish conquest the land was divided
again either by the Danish rulers, or again at a later date by the
English Kings after the re-conquest, and the counties being mere
administrative divisions were always grouped round a central town.

Such, then, is our county in its origin, an old Saxon Under- King-
dom gradually becoming an administrative division of the great

sustained. It was the special merit of Mr. J. E. Green, to have popularized the
study, and to have brought home to many the comprehension of the fact that
without archaeology true history could not be written.

The Inaugural Address.

13

English Kingdom, of which the old West Saxon Kingdom is now
itself a part. You will see that when George III. talked at his
accession about having been born and bred a Briton he was talking
nonsense, but that if he had said that born an Hanoverian German
he was closely allied by birth to the people whom he was called to
govern, he would have said something worth listening to. To
follow out the fortunes of this old Teutonic shire through the
successive phases of English history, to examine its customs, its
land tenures and buildings, to ascertain what men it produced, and
to follow out what contributions they individually made to the
successive struggles by which English liberty in Church and State
was won, and the three kingdoms were welded into a united whole,
. would be no useless or unworthy task. But time fails. For to-day
it is enough to have seen how our ancestors got here. Omne solum
for ti p atria f " the brave man is at home everywhere/' was the motto
which General Ludlow, the Wiltshire champion of the Parliamen-
* tary cause in the 17th century, inscribed over the door of the humble
mansion above the shores of the Lake of Geneva, where, the victim of
political ostracism, he had taken refuge in the evening of life from the
dagger of hireling assassins. The thoughtful care of a descendant
has piously removed the inscription from the house to find it a more
fitting place among the abodes of his own people ; but while
praising the deed, we at least do not require the inscription to
remind us that the descendants of the old Saxon settlers by the Wily
have ever been able to speak with their enemies in the gate, and
that Wiltshire would have no need to be ashamed of them or their
deeds at the bar of history, should anybody attempt to investigate
their claims to remembrance. Yes : men may

remember well
This land of many hues ;
Whose charms what praise can tell,
Whose praise what heart refuse?

The Rev. Canon Jackson, in moving a vote of thanks to the
noble President for his valuable address, said as one of the original
founders of the Society he remembered its first meeting at Devizes,

14

The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

29 years ago, when their president was the grandfather of the noble
Lord who was now in the chair. Lord Lansdowne came from
Bowood to give them an address, and it was not only a very good
address in itself, but it contained a great many kind words of en-
couragement, and he wished God speed and success to the Associa-
tion. He called to mind that the present patron of the Society was
the Marquis of Lansdowne, and they had now in the chair his
brother, Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice. This showed them that the
House of Bowood had not forgotten the character which it had so
long borne in this county of attention to, and accomplishment in, not
only political matters, but also literary matters, matters which con-
cerned inferior things as compared with political business. Lord
Edmond Fitzmaurice had shown that he was not only well qualified
to represent a Parliamentary constituency, and indeed any body of
men, but by his address that day he had shown very great qualifica-
tions as President of the Wiltshire Archaeological Society.

The Rev. H. A. Olivier seconded the vote of thanks, which was
carried by acclamation.

The noble President said it was a great pleasure to him to
continue in the steps of his grandfather in these matters, who he
believed was the first chairman of the Society. His grandfather
always felt the great importance of all literary subjects, and he
himself had always had the keenest interest in them. He hoped it
was not the egotism of a person who had dabbled a little in literature,
as he had, when he said that he somewhat dissented from Canon
Jackson's assertion, and ventured to doubt whether the position of
literature was not more important than that of politics. The position
of literature in England, as compared with that which it occupied
in some foreign countries, such as Germany and France, was one of
inferiority, which was to be regretted and deprecated in every way.
He held, with the late eminent novelist, Mr. Thackeray, that literary
men were the salt of the earth. Thackeray was prepared to argue
the point, and though he would not undertake that task, he was for
literary men holding their own, and not proclaiming their inferiority
to politicians, because if they examined into the amount of good
done to the world by literary men and the good done by politicians,

The Opening Meeting.

15

they would find that literary men had done a great deal more good
of the two. In conclusion he called upon Mr. Talbot to give them
a paper on " The Architecture of Malmesbury Abbey/'' which that
gentleman did with great ability , and afterwards conducted the party
around the building, pointing out the details alluded to in his paper,
(which will be found in a subsequent page of this Magazine) and care-
fully explaining the various particulars of interest on which he had
treated. Within the Abbey he pointed out those portions of which
he had before spoken, which represented the original Norman work.
The great arch, now entirely blocked up, at the east end of the
nave, formed the western arch of the central tower, he explained, the
Norman arch remaining as built. The choir screen, as they now
saw it was a work of the time of Henry VII. The characteristic
Norman work in the nave was conspicuous in the immense circular
pillars and the arches, which were bluntly pointed. Above they had
the triforium, and then above, the clerestory and vaulted roof of the
*14th century. The peculiar tracery of two 14th century windows on
the south side was noted, and next the fact that the Norman windows
on the north side had been inserted at an unusual elevation on
account of the cloisters abutting against the Church on that side.
Some antique stalls were also noticed, with quaint carvings on the
arms. In the vestry were the remains of the tile pavement of the
14th century. The monument to King Athelstan was viewed with
interest. The triforium gallery was originally open, but now walled up
behind the arcade, this having been done in modern times, probably
to keep the Church warmer. The ornamental work in the mouldings
of the arches was believed by Mr. Talbot to have been executed at
a later period than that of the original building, and peculiarities
in the arches and string course above were indicated. The ornaments
on the latter had been originally carried out through the whole
Church, but at some time a portion had been hacked away, commen-
cing, and continuing westward, from the bay over which had been
constructed what was believed to be a watching chamber : a place
I from which watch could be kept on the treasures of the Church ;
though its use was by no means certain.

Canon Jones remarked that the sacristan always lived upon the

16

The Twenty-Eighth General Meeting.

spot, and he could keep a look out from this chamber over the
whole Church.

Dr. Jennings said that an old inhabitant of the borough (now in
his 90th year) had told him that at the beginning of the present
century it was the private pew of the chief magistrate, who was a
lawyer, and that he sat there on Sundays and watched who attended
Church, in order that those who did not attend a certain number of
times might have a fine inflicted on them.

Mr. Talbot thought this was possible, and added that whatever
its use might have been, it was certainly medieval, and no post-
Reformation work.

The party were then conducted round the exterior of the building,
the porch being first examined. The figures on the side walls
of the porch, Mr. Talbot believed, were of earlier workmanship
than the series of sculptures on the arch, being much ruder in
execution.

Mr. Croome, the parish clerk, pointed out the subjects of all the
sculptured medallions with which the porch is enriched, and which
represent events in both Old and New Testament History, beginning
at the Creation, and closing with the Resurrection and the descent
of the Holy Ghost ; besides eight — four on each side — representing
St. Michael and his encounter with the dragon. A very careful and
complete inspection of the exterior of the church was then made,
the party throughout having the advantage of Mr. Talbot's explana-
tions and suggestions ; and before leaving this interesting spot, a
vote of thanks was most cordially presented to him, on the motion
of the President.

The Members then visited the Abbey House, where a fine old
solid oak staircase was seen, and the cellars, which really formed a
portion of the old monastic buildings. Before leaving, the party
were kindly invited by Dr. Jennings to refresh themselves with a
cup of tea, and this was gratefully accepted.

The day's perambulation included a visit to St. John's Hospital,
part of which is now used as the Court House of the Corporation :
and the Market Cross, which has recently been very carefully-
restored.

The Annual Dinner.

17

THE ANNUAL DINNER,
took place at the King's Arms Hotel, the President in the chair,
when the usual loyal and complimentary toasts were given.

In returning thanks for the Bishops and Clergy of the two
Dioceses of Salisbury, and Gloucester and Bristol, the Vicar of
Malmesbury, the Rev. G. Windsor Tucker, said, " there was a
time in which the Bishops of Salisbury and Gloucester and Bristol,
were not quite so amicable as they now were. Or rather he might
say there was a time in which the Bishop of Salisbury was a very
troublesome man in Malmesbury. He was speaking in the presence
of those who were acquainted with the History of the town of
Malmesbury, and there were many years in which the Bishop of Salis-
bury endeavoured to merge the Abbey in the see of Salisbury.
Happily, those days of contention had long since passed, and now
they were able to sleep under their own vines and fig trees in Malmes-
bury, without any fear of the terrible Roger of Salisbury. On behalf
of the town and district he repeated his welcome to the Society, and
assured them that the clergy of the district regarded their visit with
great interest, and would have great pleasure in enabling the Society
to see what was worth seeing in the Churches of that neighbourhood."

The Rev. C. Soames, after returning thanks for the Lord Lieu-
tenant and Magistrates of the County, proposed the health of the
President. As a legislator in the House of Commons, Lord Edmond
had gained a distinguished place and made a great mark, while as
a person taking a great interest in the public affairs of the county
he was so well known and so much respected, that it was a matter of
no surprise but of great satisfaction to everyone to find that he was
likely to make as distinguished a mark as an archaeologist.

Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice said, speaking in a Wiltshire town,
to a Wiltshire audience, at a Wiltshire Archaeological Meeting, he
would dwell upon none but home topics. It had given him the
greatest pleasure to be able to come there that day. Last year he
was prevented from performing his duties as president of the Society,
because last year, by an unfortunate coincidence that sometimes
would occur, the Lords' amendments to the Irish Land Bill came
down to the House of Commons on the very day fixed for their
vol. xxi. — no. lxi. c

18

The Twenty-Eighth General Meeting.

meeting. On the present occasion he was glad to be able to escape
from the turbid atmosphere of politics to the more peaceful realms
of archaeology. It was gratifying to anybody who had been engaged,
as he had, for so many months past, he would not say in assisting,
but in vainly attempting to prevent the constant waste of time for
which the house of Commons had now chiefly become distinguished,
to be able to come down and spend a quiet, and he thought more
useful day amongst Wiltshire Archaeologists. As a politician he would
venture to say that archaeology was not, as people sometimes seemed
to think, a science of the past. Archaeology was, as he ventured that
day to argue, only another name for history, and no man could be a
safe doctor for the State, unless he had not only got some knowledge
of the present of a country, but also of its past. Indeed, he
thought it could be shown that there had hardly been a person who
had occupied the first political position in the State who could not
be proved to have been in one kind or another a close observer of
the history and habits of his countrymen. He would say that of
the present Prime Minister, as well as of his great rival so recently
dead, and more especially of one whom it was his privilege to know
from his earliest youth, he alluded to Lord Russell, whose very mind
was saturated with the history of his country. That being so, it
seemed to him that archaeology was not a work from which the
politician should turn aside. Again, the archaeologist was sometimes
able to be of use in regard to questions of local administration.
His friend Mr. Merriman and himself had that afternoon, indeed,
been helped to an accurate decision about a question affecting some
of the roads of the county, by the opinion of Canon Jackson in
respect to a question as to whether a particular place was or was
not at a particular date a separate parish. Further, with regard to
such questions as those on which local administrators and writers
on local administration were so much divided, a great deal of useful
light could be thrown by a study of what was formerly done in this
country. For example, they heard a great deal now about the
necessity of having some unit of administration intermediate between
the county and parish. Well, as he had often argued elsewhere, what
on earth was that except going back to the habits of their Saxon

The Opening Meeting.

19

ancestors, and setting up the hundreds which about 30 years ago
their predecessors so unwisely went out of their way to take so
much trouble to destroy. He put these few observations forward to
show that archaeologists were not the ridiculous persons they were
sometimes described. The noble lord then proposed the health of
the general secretaries, the Rev. A. C. Smith, and Mr. Medlieott ;
the curators of the museum, Mr. Cunnington, and the Rev. H. A.
Oliver ; as well as that of the Committee. He paid a high testimony
to the value of the services of these gentlemen, and said it was to
Mr. Smith's efforts that they were indebted for the discovery of
additions to the Avebury monument, than which no monument was
dearer to Wiltshiremen both on account of its importance, and also
its recent escape from destruction.

The Rev. A. C. Smith, in reply, repeated that the Society was in
a flourishing condition, and as long as they were received as they had
been received at Malmesbury it could not be otherwise than flourish-
ing. But the real work of the meeting devolved on the Local
Committee, and especially on the Local Secretaries, and he therefore
proposed the health of Mr. Forrester and Mr. Jennings, the Secre-
taries, for the kind assistance they had rendered. He also thanked
Mr. and Mrs. Jennings for their generous hospitality at the interest-
ing Abbey House, over which they had been permitted to wander.

Mr. Forrester said he was sorry to say he had the pleasure of
occupying the post of Local Secretary on the occasion of the last
visit of the Society to Malmesbury, now 20 years ago, and if the
present Meeting went off with the same success as did the former
one, his colleague and himself would be fully repaid. He gratefully
acknowledged the valuable assistance rendered by many kind friends
in the town.

The health of " The Ladies," proposed by the President, and re-
sponded to by the Rev. J. D. Forbes, concluded the toast list.

THE CONVERSAZIONE

was held at the Town Hall, at 8 p.m., and was well attended :
Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice again occupied the chair : and two
interesting papers were read, the first by W . W. Ravenhill, Esqv

c %

20

The Twenty -Mghth General Meeting,

on "Sir William Waller/' and the second by Canon Jackson, on
"The Abbey of Malmesbury before the Dissolution/'' As both
papers will appear in the Magazine they need not further be alluded
to here, except to say they were listened to with great attention,
and received the cordial thanks of the audience, conveyed in grace-
ful terms by the President.

SECOND DAY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 3rd.

The archseologists, to the number of about sixty, assembled at the
Town Hall, at nine o'clock, according to the programme, and left
Malmesbury in a sufficient number of breaks, for the first day's
excursion. The weather was all that could be desired. The first
halt was at Charlton Church, the oldest portion of which is the Nor-
man arcade with four arches, which divides the north aisle from
the nave. Thence to Charlton House, which had been kindly thrown
open for inspection by the Earl of Suffolk, and where the famous
collection of pictures was viewed with the keenest interest. Bro-
kenborough was the next halting-place, where there is now little to be
seen by the archaeologist, though Leland says that the West Saxon
kings had a palace here called Caidurburgh, as early as the middle of the
seventh century. The royal residence is said to have existed here till
the reigD of King John ; and Aubrey reports that the ruins of it were
pointed out to him by the inhabitants of the village as the seat of
King Athelstan. The Church is a small unpretending building,
though Aubrey records its former glories, even in his time long since
departed. " Before the warres, they say, were very fine windows,
but now utterly defaced." In the chancel arch, are the corbels,
which used to support the beams of the rood-loft, the doorway of
which, though now walled up, can be distinctly seen. There is also
a good piscina here. Leaving Brokenborough on the road to
Pinckney, a considerable stream of water was safely forded, and
the old Roman road, known as the Foss Road was crossed, and
here a short halt was made, while Mr. J ennings pointed out that in
a sheltered nook on the old Foss-way, a little to the south, was the
site of the old Roman station of Mutuatonis, or " White Walls,"
which was midway between Bath and Cirencester, situate on rising

Second Bay, Thursday, August 3rd.

21

ground on the banks of the Avon : and that in Easton Grey wood
close by — commonly known as " White Walls Wood/'' is said to
exist a mound on which stood the Roman Prsetorium. The spot is
prolific in the yield of Roman coins, pottery, and other relics of its
ancient occupants : indeed, it is quite a common occurrence for agri-
cultural labourers to turn up specimens of Roman workmanship, when
engaged in tilling the soil. The next place visited was Easton
Grey, whose Church completely re-built in 1836, though prettily
situated, offered no attraction to archaeologists. Pinckney Park, the
property of Mr. Cresswell, was the next halting-place, and here the
occupier, Mr. Barker, very kindly conducted the numerous visitors
over the house, where various objects of interest, including some
curious old prints, were inspected. Sherston Magna detained our
excursionists longer, for in the first place luncheon was prepared in
the school -room here, and was heartily appreciated : and then
Sherston claims to have been a place of some importance before the
Norman conquest, and there is little doubt that it was the Sceorstane
of the Saxon Chronicle, where a battle was fought in 1016, between
King Edmund Ironside, and his Danish competitor Canute. The
Church is an ancient and spacious edifice, with a central tower, sur-
mounted by an open parapet and pinnacles. Over the porch, which
is ornamented with a sculptured figure on the exterior, is a room in
which, according to tradition, the Saxon King, Edmund, slept the
night before the battle of Sherston. The sculptured figure alluded
to above, was popularly supposed to be that of a hero, known as
" Rattlebones," who distinguished himself in the fight against the
Danes, but this view was not accepted by the archaeologists. Canon
Jones gave it as his opinion that it once formed one of the four
figures of a Church cross, from whence it had been removed to its
present site. He should not be surprised if it was a representa-
tion of our Blessed Lord, with the book of law in His hand, as the
Judge, and the hand raised in pronouncing the benediction. Canon
Jones also gave, by request, an impromptu description of the main
features of the Church, which he remarked, was an old Norman
edifice, of which the best portions were to be seen in the central tower,
chancel and nave. He had not the slightest doubt that the whole

22

The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

was built at a very early date, as could be seen from the Norman
piers. The east window, he believed, dated from the end of the
thirteenth century. No doubt the transept was the chapel of some
great family ; the window of it, which was a fine one, was of the
same type as those of Salisbury Cathedral. In the chapel is a tomb,
evidently to a great benefactor of the parish. The south aisle was
of much later date. The Church, he was persuaded, was originally
cruciform, with nave, aisle, and two transepts. The arches of the nave
were extremely beautiful. The tower had at some time been entirely
re-built, execepting the lower part, which struck him as being
much older than the upper. The existing tower dates from the
fifteenth century. Alderton was the next place visited ; but the
Church did not occupy much time, being in great measure a
modern building, though containing a fine rood screen, and a
north door which comprise nearly all the portions which remain of
the older edifice. Grittleton was reached by a pretty drive, and
here the Society was welcomed by Sir John and Lady Neeld, with
their accustomed liberality and hospitality ; the many beautiful
objects of art being pointed out by the courteous owner and several
members of his family, and refreshments being provided, after the
manner of Grittleton, as the Society has experienced on several pre-
vious occasions. After a hearty vote of thanks from the Secretary,
and a brief inspection of the church close by, the whistle was
sounded, and the visitors drove to Hullavington, whose Church,
though last in the day's programme, was by no means one of the
least interesting of those inspected during the day. It shows various
styles of architecture, including Norman and early English. The
most interesting feature is a portion of a fine old rood screen,
between the north aisle and the chapel formerly belonging to
Bradfield Abbey — which once existed in the parish. The lower part
of this unique screen is in the Decorated and the upper in the Per-
pendicular style ; being of fourteenth and fifteenth century dates.
There is also a fine chancel screen of a later period. In the chapel
of Bradfield is a quaint memorial to the memory of Simon James,
who died 1616 ; and also the upper portion of the old Norman font.
A very interesting relic still preserved in the Church, and which

Third Bay Friday > August kth.

23

was exhibited by the Vicar (Rev. L. E. Sweet, who met the party
at the Church), is a chasuble, belonging to pre-reformation times,
which is now used as a pulpit cloth, and at one time did similar duty
in connection with the altar. It is beautifully worked, though
from time to time it has been considerably cut about to suit it to
the purposes for which it has been used. After examining this and
other features of the Church, the carriages were mounted, and in
due time Malmesbury was again reached, after a most pleasant
excursion.

THE CONVERSAZIONE

was held in the Town Hall, at 8 p.m., the Rev. Canon Jackson
presiding, in the absence of Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice. Two
interesting papers were read, the first by the Rev. Canon Jones,
" On some Place-names near Malmesbury, and their Historic Teach-
ings " ; and the second by Rev. T. A. Preston, on the " Flowering
of Plants in 1880, 1881, and 1882," the latter illustrated by some
exceedingly interesting diagrams, which showed at a glance the
amount of sunshine, the rainfall, and the temperature, and their in-
fluence on the flowering of all the commoner plants in those three
consecutive years. The hearty thanks of the Meeting were given
from the chair, to Canon Jones and Mr. Preston, both of whose
addresses will be printed in the Magazine. Complimentary votes of
thanks were also passed to the Committee of management at Malmes-
bury, to Canon Jackson for presiding, and to the General Secretaries,

THIRD DAY, FRIDAY, AUGUST 4th.

On Friday morning, the archaeologists (somewhat diminished in
number since the previous days' excursion), assembled again at the
Town Hall, at nine o'clock, and started in breaks and other carriages,
and drove first to Little Somerford, where they were met by the
Rector, (Rev. Arthur Evans), who conducted the party over the
Church, and pointed out the handsome 14th century screen, and a
carved stone, bearing on one side the representation of the Cruci-
fixion, and on the other that of the Blessed Virgin, and which the
archaeologists (with an unwonted unanimity of opinion) decided to

£4 The Twenty -Eighth General Meeting.

have been the top of a churchyard or wayside cross. From Little
Somerford the party drove to Broad Somerford, where also the Rector,
(the Rev. W. Andrews), courteously received them at the entrance
to the churchyard, and led the way to his interesting Church, which
he had restored with good taste, and where the original rood stair-
case on the south side, and the hagioscope on the north, were objects
of special attraction. A large circular mound of earth, abutting
close on the churchyard, and washed at its base by the river, was
also visited, and its probable intention much discussed, the pre-
ponderating opinion being that it was originally the site of a
stronghold of Saxon or Danish times. Thence a short drive brought
the party to Dauntsey, where again the Rector, (the Rev. Arthur
Law) , pioneered them over his very interesting Church, the chancel
of which he had thoroughly restored in the true conservative spirit
so dear to archaeologists. Several ancient monuments here demanded
careful examination, and an old painting, grotesque in its details, of
the "Last Doom," was the subject of close examination. From
Dauntsey a long pull up the steep hill conducted to the remains of
Bradenstoke Abbey, where the party was reinforced by many
additions ; and where Mr. Frederick Goldney was ready to receive
the visitors with the hospitality which invariably meets the archae-
ologists when they visit this famous relic of monastic times. Nor
were the refreshments so generously provided by any means declined
by our archaeologists ; and then they rambled over the premises*
some to the attics to see the great beams of the old roof, some to the
top of the building and some to the cellars ; and then over the gardens
and into the barn, itself a noble specimen of its kind. Descending
again by the same hill, and passing Dauntsey Station, where some
of the members were deposited on their homeward journey, the ex-
cursionists next drove to Christian Malford, where the Vicar, the
Rev. Canon Miller, very courtously conducted them over his beauti-
ful Church, and here they lingered some time, in examining the
many points of interest, not the least of which was the old register
containing two remarkable entries, the one of a man touched for the
king's evil at the end of the seventeenth century, the other of certain
persons who had been pronounced excommunicate at about the same

Third Bay, Friday, August 4>tk.

25

period, and from one of whom the sentence was removed after an
interval of no less than forty years. Within a short distance of the
Church was pointed out in an orchard the base of an old cross, if
not the original, yet in all probability the successor of that which
once stood at the ford over the river, and gave its name to the village,
" Christ's mal " signifying no other than Christ's Cross or Crucifix,
such as may so frequently be seen in Italy or Spain by the wayside,
or near bridges or fords over streams.

Sutton Benger was the next halting-place, and some of the more
enthusiastic visited the handsome Church, remarkable for its peculiar
style of architecture, and the flowing tracery of its windows : but
the visit was a hurried one, for here the party was to lunch, and the
fresh air and the long drive had sharpened the appetites of alL
Immediately after luncheon, a short walk across the meadows brought
the visitors to Draycote. The Church was first examined, and here
you descend a step from the porch to the nave ; still more remark-
able, you descend again from the nave to the chancel, which lies:
some feet below the Churchyard outside. The effigy of a cross-
legged knight, and other tombs and brasses were examined with
attention, and then, passing out by the square room, furnished with
table, chairs, fire-place and screen, which does duty for the pew of the
Great House, the party entered the mansion of Lord Cowley hard
by, and wandered over the sitting-rooms, and examined the pictures,
several of which are of great merit. Rejoining the carriages, a
beautiful drive through the very fine park of Draycote brought the
archaeologists to Seagry, where the Rev. Mr. Anketell, the Vicar of
that parish, not only conducted the visitors over his extremely
interesting Church, and pointed out the many objects which called
for special attention, but read notes on the parish and its history,
such as he had gleaned from sundry ancient Anglo-Saxon and other
charters, copies of which he exhibited in the porch. The next halt-
ing-place was the field close by, where excavations had been made
in hopes of discovering a heathen burial-place, alluded to in one of
the charters ; but though certain fragments of undoubtedly ancient
British pottery had been brought to light, the long trenches cut
through the field gave no indication that the ground had been

26

On the Architecture of Malmeslury Alley,

previously disturbed, nor did the long ridges of the meadow bear
any appearance of sepulchral barrows.

From Seagry a pleasant drive brought the party to Rodbourne,
the hospitable house of Sir Richard Pollen, who, assisted by Lady
Pollen, took pains to point out the pictures and very valuable en-
gravings with which the house is filled, and regaled their numerous
guests with tea and coffee and other refreshments, for which the
Secretary, Rev. A. C. Smith, in the absence of the noble President,
tendered the thanks of the Society : and then it was time to hasten
back to Malmesbury to catch the last train which was to convey the
archaeologists to their several homes, East, South and West ; and so
ended the very enjoyable Malmesbury Meeting, to the success of
which every thing (including perfect weather) conduced, and which
will not be readily forgotten by any who were so happy as to take
part in it.

By C. H. Talbot, Esq.

(Read before the Society at Malmesbury, August 2nd, 1882.)

^§|jf^j somewhat difficult task has been imposed upon me. The
111111 §^ory °f Malmesbury is its Abbey Church, and it has been
thought desirable that some description of the building should be
given in this room before we visit the Church itself. Having been
asked to describe it, I have not liked to decline an undertaking which,
however, I do not feel competent properly to discharge. I can only
give a summary of what has already been published on the subject,
and cannot expect to add much of my own. I have refreshed my
memory by reading over various papers, of which the most impor-
tant, I think, is that of Mr. Freeman, published first in the

By C. H. Talbot, Esq.

27

" Ecclesiologist," and re-published in the " Wiltshire Archaeological
Mayazine!3 1

I shall not speculate upon what may have been the character of
any church which preceded the present one. We have still re-
maining a very noble building which is however the mere wreck of
its former self. It is not known to whom the design of the original
building is due. Mr. Freeman seems inclined to attribute it to
Bishop Roger, of Salisbury, but that can only be considered a con-
jecture., and I do not think there is any positive evidence to support
it. What is certain is that it is a very early example of the
transition from the round-arched to the pointed-arched method of
building, being essentially Norman, but with the use of the pointed
arch for the pier-arches of the nave-arcades. The original church,
besides the nave, the extent of which is seen at a glance, consisted
of choir and transepts, with a central lantern tower. From what
remains of the tower, we find that, though it was square in plan, the
* openings to the transepts were much narrower than those to
the nave and choir, wing-walls being introduced, yet the pointed
arch was not used for these narrower openings, but the transept-
arches were considerably stilted, to bring them to the same height as
the others. From this I should think it probable that the church
was begun at the east end, that the pointed arch was not used in the
choir, as we see that it was not under the tower, and that the nave
is rather later. In St. John's Church at Devizes, where the tower
is not square in plan, the round arch was used for the wider open-
ings and the pointed arch for the narrower openings of the transepts,
with no difference in date between the two. Mr. Freeman has
pointed out that the eastern and western tower-arches have as little
projection in the pier as possible and that their shafts are recessed,
whereas the northern and southern arches have bold projecting re-
sponds, and that the probable explanation of this is that the ritual
choir was under the lantern and that it was desired to get as much
uninterrupted backing for the stalls as possible.

To return to the nave — Internally the original design remains

^ol. viii., p. 82.

28 On the Architecture of Malmesbury Abbey.

unaltered till we get to the clerestory. We have plain cylindrical
pillars with scalloped caps and arches slightly pointed; above these,
the triforium with round arches, enriched with the chevron or zigzag
ornament, the actual opening to the triforium gallery being by an
arcade of four small arches, with a solid tympanum above. Under
the triforium runs a string-course, enriched with an ornament, which
to my mind, is suggestive of classical traditions. This has been defaced
effectually in the three western bays of the present church, on the
south side, and roughly, throughout, on the north side. The deface-
ment of this ornament is not the work of very recent hands as is
evident from its having been carried out in the ruined part of the
nave. I think it may have been done in the fifteenth century.
It is noticeable that the defacement begins, on the south side, at
that bay of the triforium to which is attached, without much regard
to appearances, a small erection of that date, supposed to have been
a watching chamber, and evidently the object has been to get rid of
an ornament which did not suit the taste of the later builders. The
two easternmost arches of the nave- arcade, on each side, have been
enriched by later Norman ornament cut out of one of the mouldings
of the arch, that is to say, however soon after the building of the
arcade it may have been done, there is no doubt but that the moulding
was originally plain as in the rest of the arcade. To my mind this
additional ornament does not add to but detracts from the grandeur
of the work. Another instance of progressive decoration is to be
seen in the wall-arcade of the north aisle. The greater part of this
arcade is o£ plain arches with a square edge. A roll moulding has
been cut on after in the east part o£ the aisle. Throughout the rest
of the church this moulding is found, but the arcade was probably
at first plain. Further instances of progressive decoration, in the
Norman period, are to be seen in the porch and the remains of the
west doorway.

From the caps of the great pillars spring clustered shafts which
ran through to the roof, I presume, and have served as vaulting shafts
for the builders of the fourteenth century. The character of the
original clerestory can only be made out externally. The aisles retain
their Norman vaulting unaltered, with the exception of one bay on

By C. H. Talbot, Esq.

29

the north side, and were lit by round-headed single-light windows,
one in each bay, under which ran an ornamental wall-arcade in-
ternally, and another such arcade of intersecting arches externally on
the south side. The original clerestory is seen externally to have
had single-light round-headed windows, ornamented with medallions
running round them. There is a remarkably fine south porch which
has been cased over externally in the fourteenth century, but inter-
nally all the original Norman work remains. It is richly adorned
with sculptures which I shall not attempt to describe, further than
to notice that the sculpture is not all of one date. The porch was
intended to have been vaulted, but probably the vaulting was never
erected, for there seems no reason why, if completed, it should ever
have been removed. On the side walls of the porch, above a wall-
arcade and below the intended vaulting, are some rather rude sculp-
tures believed to represent the twelve apostles, six on each side,
with two angels over. It is evident, at a glance, that these are
- earlier than the rich carvings of the great arch of entrance. The
fact is that the latter have been cut out of the original plain mould-
ings of the arch, and in the west doorway of the nave some of the
mouldings were so treated and some remained plain.

The west end of the church was an example of that peculiar taste
which, disregarding the features that the nave and aisles would have
presented when seen from the west, erected a great show front or
architectural screen which concealed them, and Mr. Freeman has
suggested, with great probability, that this west front of Malmes-
bury may have been the prototype of the west front of Salisbury
Cathedral. There was one door only in this front the remains of
which show that it was of a very ornamental character.

I now come to the great works of conversion in the fourteenth
century. It is a well-ascertained and rather regretable fact that our
ancestors, like ourselves, were often not inclined to let well alone.
It is only to be hoped that the liberties we take with their works
will be as interesting to our successors as their alterations are to us.
The period of these works is the reign of Edward the Third, and the
style what we call late Decorated. The clerestory has been com-
pletely remodelled. It is probable that up to this time, the church,

30 On the Architecture of Malmesbury Ahbey.

with the exception of the aisles, had a flat wooden ceiling such as
we may still see remaining in Peterborough Cathedral and elsewhere.
In the north transept the indications of this ceiling may still plainly
be seen. There is, at this point, a set-off in the wall of the tower,
which is thinner above, and the round-headed doorway remains
which led into the roof-space over the ceiling from a gallery in the
tower walls. Consequently, the doorway does not show on the south
side of the wall. Such a ceiling is much less pleasing to the eye
than a vault, but evidently the earlier builders did not venture to
vault these wide spaces. In the fourteenth century this was under-
taken and the builders may have been influenced by a desire to em-
bellish the church, and also to diminish the risk of its destruction by
fire. They aimed at the complete conversion of the clerestory into
the style of their own day, and in the western part, the Norman cleres-
tory has disappeared altogether, whereas, in the eastern part of the
nave, the flat Norman pilaster buttresses and indications of the
original windows remain. Flying buttresses were erected over the
aisle roofs, to support the vaulting of the nave, and the water, from
the roof of the nave, has been ingeniously conveyed down by means
of a gutter formed on the top of these buttresses. Something
similar may, I think, be seen at Exeter Cathedral. There is a
peculiarity in the tracery of the clerestory windows which is also
noticeable in the north aisle of Corsham Church, so much so as to
lead one to suppose that the same hand must have been employed on
both works. The same peculiarity occurs, if I am not mistaken,
also at Exeter. In the south aisle the windows and wall of two bays
have been converted in this fourteenth century work, the Norman
features being obliterated externally. It looks as if this was the first
instalment of an intended entire conversion of the aisle to correspond
with the clerestory externally. The tracery of the windows intro-
duced is peculiar, the form of the stone having evidently been
governed by the design of the glass and giving an awkward head
to the centre light. A little of the original glass remains in one of
these windows, but not, I think, as originally disposed. It is similar
to some in Poulshot Church, simply foliage on a white ground, and
it is evident that, if the greater part of these fourteenth century

By C. H. Talbot, Esq.

31

windows was filled with such glass, their introduction must have
been attended with a considerable increase of light.

The south porch was entirely cased over, but its outer arch of
entrance, though of the fourteenth century, takes the circular form
and the Norman terminals of the original hood moulding have been
re-adapted to the later one. Porch, aisles and clerestory are finished
with an open parapet which, however, was not introduced on the
north side of the church. To my mind, the clerestory is a very
elegant one. The fourteenth century alterations extended to the
transepts and, not improbably, to the constructional choir or pres-
bytery. The Norman lantern-tower was probably a low one and,
on it, in later times, was erected a lofty spire, the tower itself
probably being considerably raised. We have no evidence of the
date of this work, but, probably, it was either contemporaneous
with or shortly succeeded the general conversion. The monks may,
perhaps, have been ambitious to emulate what had been done at Salis-
bury. It is, of course, well known to you that the magnificent spire
of Salisbury Cathedral and the whole upper part of the tower, is no
part of the original design and that it has, from the first, placed in
jeopardy the church which it still continues to adorn. Not eon-
tent with this, the monks of Malmesbury proceeded, in the fifteenth
century, to build a great tower at the west end and they executed it
in a very bold manner, erecting it within the limits of the church,
on the fourteenth century work, and without adequate supports,
building its east wall on an arch thrown over the vaulting, so as not
to interfere with the vista of the nave ; at the same time, making a
great window in the west front and inserting a doorway within the
Norman west door. To support this tower, an additional flying
buttress was erected over an older one, on the south side, and also a
buttress across one of the clerestory windows, two arches below
having been introduced under the Norman work, perhaps a little
earlier, and the triforium opening apparently first partially and then
entirely walled up. About the same time a vault was erected under
the Norman lantern and, perhaps for the sake of not letting them
alone on principle, those Norman windows in the aisles, which had
escaped being improved away, had mullions and tracery introduced.

32 On the Architecture of Malmesbury Abbey.

The ambitious builders of Malmesbury considerably over-did the
thing", for the central tower and spire fell, as Leland says, writing
about 1540, within the memory of men then living-, that is, in the
later days of the monks, destroying apparently the eastern portion
of the church. Mr. Freeman has shown reasons for thinking that
this tower had previously threatened to fall and that the west tower-
opening had been built up, with the exception of the upper part, and
the original choir disused, in the time of the monks. The western
tower also fell, at a later date, at what time precisely is not known,
but before 1660 and apparently before 1634, and its fall probably
destroyed the western portion of the nave.

I omitted to mention that one bay of the north aisle was converted
in the fourteenth century and, as I have suggested in the case of
the south aisle, this may have been the first instalment of an intended
conversion of the whole. In this case, owing to the juxta-position
of the cloister, the window had to be at a higher level than those
on the south side and, in order to introduce one of the size they
desired, they carried up an independent gable, demolished the Nor-
man vaulting of one compartment of the bay, and re-vaulted it in
their own style, at a higher level. This single gable, standing alone,
has rather a peculiar effect and it is evident that the appearance of
the church, externally, though perhaps not internally, would have
been improved by carrying the change throughout. The lines of the
window tracery are much more satisfactory than those in the two
windows in the south aisle. There are, preserved in the vestry,
some remains of a very interesting tile pavement of the fourteenth
century, probably contemporaneous with these works, which has
been well figured in the " Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine" 1

The remaining works of the fifteenth century, in the church, are
the choir-screen which now forms the reredos, the screens of the
western bays of the aisles, the watching chamber already mentioned,
and the monument attributed to King Athelstan. The position of
the choir-screen, under the western tower-arch, is consistent with
what Mr. Freeman has pointed out that the monks-' choir was under

^ol. viii., Plate iv.

By C. H. Talbot, Esq.

38

the central tower. The screen may be of the time of Henry the
Seventh and, among the badges on it, are what looks very like the
Stafford knot and the rudder, which occurs on several Wiltshire
churches. Some Perpendicular stalls are worth notice, and a device,
occuring on them, appears to be a bird with two heads pecking a
human leg which rests on a tun, a rebus which I leave to the archae-
ologists to explain.

With regard to the monument attributed to King Athelstan, the
most probable supposition seems to be that it really does com-
memorate him, though made so long after his time, and that it was
removed from its original position. The head seems to be a res-
toration, as it is said to be.

The cloisters were on the north side of the nave and, in this
as in many other cases, the monks seem to have replaced the
original cloister, at a late date, wholly or in part, by a new one
vaulted with stone. I am inclined to think that the earlier cloisters
* generally had wooden lean-to roofs and arcades towards the garth such
as are still to be seen in some places on the Continent. The indica-
tions of the vaulted cloister are to be seen at the south-east angle of the
site they occupied, by the processional door, but somewhat obliterated
by the well-meant but rather uncalled-for restoration of the
Norman door at this point, which must have been mutilated in the
erection of the cloister and of which the mutilation therefore was
part of the history of the church. The east processional door, of
the fifteenth century, with a cusped arch, is seen beneath its restored
Norman predecessor.

Modern buttresses have been erected against the aisle wall, where
the cloisters once stood, but the two western-most buttresses,
though modern, are older. At this point walls are carried across
the aisles, forming a chamber formerly used as a vestry, and solid
buttresses are carried up to the clerestory, in place of the flying-
buttresses of the fourteenth century. I think these were erected in
consequence of the ruin caused by the fall of the western tower and I do
not think the doorway between them is even the successor in position
of the western processional door, which may have stood further west.
The character of the original bases of the great Norman pillars of

VOL XXI. — NO. LXI. D

34 On the Architecture of Malmeslury Alley.

the church can only be seen in the ruined western portion of the
nave. I regret to say that some of the masonry above has lately
fallen, which 1 am told occurs from time to time.

Aubrey mentions the remains of the abbey kitchen, to the
north-west, that is, in the usual position, at the north-west angle
of the cloisters, adjoining the refectory. He says it stood on four
strong freestone pillars, from which I infer that the pillars were at
the angles of a square and that the kitchen may have been polygonal.
The refectory must have been on the north side of the cloisters and
the sacristy, chapter-house and day -room on the east side, with
the dormitory over them, but these buildings have entirely dis-
appeared. There seem to have been considerable ruins of the abbey
buildings, on the north side of the church, in 1634, according to
the testimony of a tourist who then visited it.

The lowest part of the present Abbey House was part of the
monastery ; what part we cannot say. It had certainly nothing to
do with the refectory. It is an oblong undercroft, of which the
whole area remains, and was originally divided into two portions by
a wall, removed probably when the present house was built. It was
vaulted, and had a central row of pillars, now removed. The re-
sponds are octagonal with plainly chamfered caps. The window
arches are foliated internally and, as Mr. Christian has pointed out,
are splayed inside on a curve in a remarkable manner. This may
have been the undercroft of a hall in the Abbot's house, perhaps,
but not the hall itself. The house itself was built after the dissolu-
tion of the monastery and for some convenience of levels, the
vaulting of the undercroft was removed and its floor level consider-
ably raised. Whatever the actual date of the present house may be,
it has all the look of an Elizabethan building and is very picturesque
and well placed. The north-east door in the Abbey Church and
window over appear to be of the same character.

I have now redeemed my promise of reading a paper on the archi-
tecture of Malmesbury Abbey. I have left a good deal unsaid, but
my own feeling is that a great deal more enjoyment and information
is to be obtained by personal examination of a building, than by
listening to any description that may be given of it.

35

IjWmesfrarjr Jpfog in its Jags.

By the Eev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A.
(Read at an Evening Meeting of the Wilts Archaeological Society, at Malmesbury, August 2nd, 1882.)

N a paper read in this room before our Society twenty years
ago, and afterwards printed in the Wilts Archaeological
Magazine (vol. viii. 14) , some particulars were collected from the
earlier annals of the town and Abbey-Church. The present paper
proposes rather to deal with the monastic establishment itself, and to
attempt to describe what it was in its best days.

Malmesbury Monastery was a Benedictine House. In order to
understand more clearly what that means it may be well to say a
few words about the origin of monastic institutions.1 In one form or
other they have existed in all climates and countries from remote
times : chiefly in the East, India and Syria, but more particularly
in Egypt. At a very early period of the Christian era the doctrines
of the great Greek philosopher Plato were introduced into the
Christian schools of divinity at Alexandria, and some of those
Christians adopted a favourite theory of the Platonists, that the
body is a mere incumbrance to the soul : consequently that the
faculties of the soul are crippled and confined within a very narrow
compass. Hence arose the idea, that the more the body was mor-
tified, the nearer would be the approach to perfection : and that

: : 686573

1 Dr. Sam. Johnson's remarks upon monastic life are worth extracting : " I do
not wonder that where the Monastick life is permitted every Order finds votaries,
and every monastery inhabitants. Men will submit to any rule, by which they
may be exempted from the tyranny and caprice of chance. They are glad to
supply by external authority their own want "of constancy and resolution, and
court the government of others when long experience has convinced them of their
own inability to govern themselves. If I were to visit Italy, my curiosity wd.
be more attracted by convents than by palaces : though I am afraid that I shd.
find expectation in both places equally disappointed, and life in both places
supported with impatience and quitted with reluctance." — (Boswell's Life of
Johnson, Crohers Edit., II,

D 2

36

Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Days.

those who voluntarily submitted to a life of austerity and self-denial
were the special favourites of Heaven. The first enthusiasts of this
description were the Egyptians in the third century, who from living
apart in solitary places, obtained the names of eremites (or hermits),
and anchorites ; both words of Greek origin, signifying dwellers in
deserts or in separation : they had, in the next century, a number of
imitators, though a considerable time elapsed before the followers of
monastic habits were associated into a body. The first Order was
that of the Coenobites or brethren of the u life in common " (as the
word implies). They dwelt together in fixed habitations. In process
of time, they grew into societies under protection of certain saints.
In the fifth century they began to be considered as ecclesiastics and
to call for the erection of appropriate buildings. During the dark
ages their importance gradually increased, and in the eleventh cen-
tury the Pope declared them exempt from the jurisdiction of the
Sovereign of the country in which they lived.

St. Benedict, the founder of the Order called by that name, was a
native of South Italy, born about A.D. 480. By living in an in-
accessible cavern and having his provisions drawn up by a rope, he
arrived at such a degree of sanctity and perfection that he was
chosen by a neighbouring convent to be their abbot, and before his
death he had founded twelve monasteries.

The Benedictine Order of Black monks, was the first that came
into England with Augustine. Having settled at Canterbury, they
were afterwards dispersed all over the country. In course of years
they occupied all the largest and most famous houses, Canterbury,
St. Albans, Durham, Ely, Gloucester, Glastonbury and a host of
others : among them Malmesbury. At first, so long as the monks
were comparatively poor, the original rules were strictly adhered to ;
but as wealth flowed in, and with it, increased power and importance,
the founder's intentions were apt to be forgotten. Now and then
reformers would arise in the body, who themselves became founders
of fresh Orders as Cistercians, Cluniacs, Carthusians, &c. These were
substantially and in general outline the same as the Benedictines ;
only a new edition, corrected and revised. These new editions in
their turn became old; and so were succeeded or re-placed by further

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.S.A.

37

sub-divisions and fresh Orders, varying somewhat in their title, their
dress and regulations. But the Benedictines were from first to last
the most numerous, the most powerful, and to use a common phrase,
the top Order.

Besides monks, there were friars, which is simply the French
word freres, brethren. It is not easy now to distinguish the one class
from the other, but they were quite different at first. Generally
speaking the difference was this. Though they all lived in monas-
teries, the monks lived more within the precincts of their house,
among themselves. The friars were more at liberty : a kind of
ecclesiastical free-lances. They could wander about the country,
preaching wherever they pleased. But the chief difference (at first
at least) , was that the monks had settled property belonging to them
in common. The friars lived by begging : hence mendicant friars.
The first in England were the Dominican or Black friars : then
followed the Grey friars, friars Minors, Carmelites and others. To
say however that they had no property is not quite correct : for some
of them by degrees obtained a good deal : but at first they lived from
hand to mouth. There were very able and learned men among the
friars. The Grey friars in London were famous for learning and skill
in disputation : but it is to the Benedictine monks that the world is
more particularly indebted for the most laborious and costly fruits
and efforts of literature. A 11 these, both monks and friars, were totally
distinct from and had nothing to do with, what we call parochial
clergy. Living in monasteries, according to the rule of some Order
— ad regulam — the former were called the regulars — whereas the
country priests, living more in society and mixing with the worlds*
in seculo — were called the secular clergy.

The parish clergy were not over well pleased with either friars or
monks. The friars having no fixed sphere of duty, used to ramble
about, invade parishes, introduce strange ideas and unsettle the people.
But against the monks, the parish clergy had a grievance of another
kind.

Every one knows what the object was in first establishing our pre-
sent parochial system. Happen to it what may, there can be no doubt
that it was, in its origin, the well-considered work of far-seeing men.

38 Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Bays.

The object was, that in a half settled or rather unsettled country, as
England then was, there should be in every parish, however small,
one person at any rate of a certain education, to be settled on the
spot, whom the rest might look to as a sort of head, or general
adviser, to try and keep things in some kind of order. The laymen
landowners would be always liable to be called away for war or other
purposes. A parish ruler or rector, more sure to be at home, seemed
a wise arrangement. With this object, a certain part of the produce
of the parish was set aside for him. That was the intention of tithe.
But what did the monasteries do ? Not only did they receive large
gifts of land from old Saxon kings and others : but they had in-
fluence enough to take the tithes also : leaving only some very small
part for a deputy who should live at the place, and do all the duties of
the clergyman. This deputy they called their vicar, or representative.
That is the reason why vicarages, generally speaking, are so small
in emolument.

Malmesbury monastery was no wise behind the rest in this unfair
system. It obtained for itself several rectories in this town and
neighbourhood. The vicars of Malmesbury, of Seagry and of Sutton
Benger, might have a word or two to say upon this subject.

One case not very far from Malmesbury I can tell you of, where
the bad effect and inconvenience arising from that system continue
to be felt to this hour. Just on the other side of Malmesbury
Common lies the little village of Norton, a small parish of
about one thousand acres of land. Of that thousand about seven
hundred and fifty belonged to the monastery here. Not satisfied
with the lion's share, they must take the clergyman's too, leaving
him, their vicar, an insignificant stipend as the reward of his
labours. They did not even give him a decent abode to live in.
The old vicarage house of the monks, was still standing a few
years ago. It was simply a hovel : with one room below, and
one above : and a small den or cell at the side, to serve for
kitchen, larder, sticks, coals, &c. As nobody in the position of
a clergyman, could possibly live in such a hole, and as nobody
had come forward to provide another, the parish has always been
attended and the church duty served by some clergyman lodging else-

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.8.A.

■39

where. That is the case at present. The present vicar resides four
miles off. He has therefore every Sunday a Sabbath day's journey
of four miles there and four back : making eight : and if during the
week he has any person to visit, or anything to speak about, the
eight miles have again to be performed. He has been vicar now
(1882) for nearly thirty- six years, and during that long time, having
never, except three times, taken his legal three months holiday in the
year, there remain thirty -five years during which he has hardly ever
missed his Sabbath day's journey. Eight miles every Sunday and
other great days makes above four hundred miles in a year :
multiply that by, say thirty-five years, you get fourteen thousand
miles. Add to that, for extra walks, rides, or drives on week-days,
certainly not less two thousand miles, you get a sum total of about
sixteen thousand miles which the vicar has had to travel, in all
weathers, in order to do his ordinary duties in the parish. All this
is the consequence of the abbot of Malmesbury's selfish behaviour,
and as the vicar of Norton who has undergone this inconvenience,
is no other than the humble individual who has now the honour of
addressing you, if I should have, as I may have, occasion in the
course of this address to speak in praise of the abbots of Malmes-
bury, you will I hope, regard such conduct as a noble instance of
forgiveness of injury.

The monasteries certainly impoverished the parish clergy. They
were also rather troublesome to the Bishops : for one of the first
things a monastery always tried to do, was to get itself exempt from
all visitation or interference on the part of the Bishop of the diocese.
Great jealousy, as might be expected, arose out of this. The monas-
teries acknowledged no superior but Rome. I need not say, how
omnipotent the Pope was, in earlier days, and how great his authority
over even kings themselves. The monasteries were his creatures
and satellites, and in order to pacify and keep on good terms with
them, the old kings, nobles, and landed gentry, bestowed on
them vast tracts of land. The quantity which the whole six
hundred and forty monasteries in England ultimately possessed, has
been much exaggerated : but probably it cannot be reckoned at
less than one tenth of the soil of England. This, as was to be

40 Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Days.

expected, led, by degrees, to much murmuring and gave great offence.

There were twenty-nine mitred abbots who sat in Parliament, in
the House of Lords as Barons : and as, besides these, there were also
the Bishops having seats there, the clerical element was considered
to be rather too strongly represented.

Our County of Wilts was, without doubt, rather thickly studded
with Religious Houses, and the lands of one must have come very
near the lands of another all the way through : as may be seen by
following on a map, Malmesbury, Bradenstoke (or Clack) Abbey,
Stanley, near Chippenham, Lacock, Monkton -Farley, Maiden Brad-
ley, Edington, near Westbury, Amesbury, Ivy Church and Wilton.
Besides these there were several small establishments as at A bury,
Ogbourne, Marlborough, Clatford, Rockley, Charlton, near Pewsey,
Easton Boyal, near Savernake, Kington St. Michael, Longleat,
and Bradford-on-Avon. Of these, some disappeared very early I
others were merged in the larger ones : and one or two were, what
were called Alien priories, i.e., they belonged, not to any English
house but to some large monastery in France. These Alien priories
were continually liable to be seized upon by the king of England
when engaged in war with France and wanting money, as was very
often the case.

To speak more particularly of the possessions of Malmesbury
Abbey. Those who are acquainted with this neighbourhood will be
able to form some idea of the important position which the abbot
filled as landlord, when I name the various parishes about here :
premising that he did not possess the entire parish in each case,
though he did nearly so, in some. He had, first of all, a great deal
in Malmesbury, of house-rents and other dues, also the tithes ; land
at Charlton, Brokenborough, Long Newnton, Burton Hill, Colepark,
Thornhill, Norton, Milbourne, Whitchurch, Hankerton, Garsden,
Cloatley, Crudwell, Kemble, Somerford Keynes, Brinkwortb, Gritten-
ham, Purton : also part of Dauntsey, Bremhill, Foxham, Highway,
besides other smaller holdings in parishes intervening. Also a house
in London, and farms, more or less in size, in Gloucestershire, and
South Wales.

It has often been said that the Religious Houses had too much of

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.S.A.

41

the land of the country. Before making any remark upon that I
would just observe, that a great many other things have been said to
their disparagement, as for instance, some have condemned them
wholesale, as merely receptacles of a lazy useless set of men.

No doubt in later times, when founder's rules began to be for-
gotten, there were among so many wearers of the hood, many
somewhat unclerical. It was so when our poet Chaucer in his Pro-
logue picked out one of this sort for immortality. This was one of
the fat and jolly species who found the rule of St. Benedict much
too old-fashioned and tight : who candidly, says in the poetry " If
St. Benedict likes to work with his hands, he may do so, but for my
own part I like a dainty horse and greyhound, and pricking for the
hare/'' As to the good things of the table, he candidly avows, that
"A fat swan lov'd he, best of any roast."

That the monks thought a good deal about eating and drinking,
is an opinion also widely fixed upon the public mind, by a famous
and well-known picture from the pencil of Landseer the great
animal-painter. Wishing to bring together into one tableau, many
varieties of fish, flesh and fowl, he took for his locality, the larder
of a monastery : in which, a very portly and comfortable-looking
manciple is receiving and registering a number of articles that hold
out the promise of very good fare.

But it is unfair to judge of any system only by its defects. All
things and all systems we know are apt to slide into abuse, and to fall
away from the propriety and rigour with which they first began.
Rules become obsolete, discipline relaxed, and the habits of the outer
world imperceptibly steal in, within precincts that were severely
guarded at the first. But it was the case with the monasteries, as
with individuals :

" The evil that men do, lives after them :
The good is oft interred with their bones/'

or as the same idea is otherwise expressed by the same pen :

" Men's evil manners live in brass : their virtues we write in water."

We do not deny the faults : but let us also fairly consider the

42 Malmeslury Alley in its Best Days.

merits : for the world is really under great obligation to the monks.

Now, as to their having too much land. It would not be difficult
to allege objections against any particular class of men acquiring a
preponderance in land. In the case of the monks more particularly,
there was this element of political embarrassment : viz. : that they did
not consider themselves subjects, in all respects, to the supreme
authority and government. But looking at the question merely as
one between landlord and tenant, one might perhaps say, that no
one could well have too much land who shewed himself a good land-
lord. Now, as landlords, the monks were, undeniably very good ones.
It is certain that their rents were low, their leases long, and their
fines moderate. Had it been otherwise, we should have not heard of
them what old J ohn Aubrey tell us : " The leases were almost as good
to the tenants as if they had been fee-simple : and perhaps lasted
longer with them, than if they had been their own. Sir William
Butler told me/' says Aubrey, " that Alton Farm had been held by his
ancestors from the Abbey of Winchester, about four hundred years.
The Powers of Stanton St. Quintin held that farm in lease three
hundred years, and my ancestors, the Danverses held West Token-
ham for many generations, of the Abbey of Broadstock." That
would not have been the case if the monks had been hard and exact-
ing landlords. Upon some of their estates, they held a certain
quantity of land in their own hands, farming it themselves for purposes
of maintenance. Indeed some of their lands were given to them for
some special and particular object of the kind : some to maintain
one office, others for another. There were lands for the abbot
alone : lands for the dispensary : lands for the kitchen.

Again, we may judge by what remains of the buildings on their
estates that they certainly did not spare money in that kind of out-
lay. Many an old farm-house there still is within a few miles of
Malmesbury that belonged to the Abbey, which still shews solid
marks of its former ownership — stout rafters — church-like windows
— noble garden or orchard walls with heavy stone cappings : none
of your skimpy lathe and plaster houses, none of your fine painted
gates and gate-posts that rot in the ground before they have been
in it a dozen years : but the old monks used solid oak and massive

By the Bev. Canon Jackson, F.S.A.

43

stone, made to last for centuries. I remember seeing an old monastic
farm-house taken down in which the roof-beams were neither more
nor less than entire oak-trees with the very outside bark still upon
them : only roughly squared to fit their place. There are also still to
be seen in this county barns built by them, wbich (if barns may so be
called) , are quite royal in their dimensions and architecture ; one at
Bradford-on-Avon in particular is worth going to see. Even the
spring of water that supplied their house had some solid building to
protect it. Of this there is a specimen at Lacock, another at Monkton
Farley, another at Edington near Trowbridge. So, if good durable
building shews good landlords, certainly the abbots were such.

Did they make good use of their money in other respects ? Did
they spend it on their dress ? Certainly not. Your Benedictine
was content to walk about in a plain black loose gown of stuff
reaching down to his heels, with a cowl or hood of the same, to serve
as an umbrella ; with a scapulary, or cape of the same stuff, over the
shoulder : under the gown a white habit made of flannel. The
furniture of their room again was of the very simplest kind.
They were not allowed to make purses for themselves, and leave
comfortable nest-eggs to their relatives, in the shape of Three per
cents, or Railway debentures. They had no jointures to provide :
no younger son to put out into professions, no long school or college
bills from Eton or Oxford : no young damsels to be highly accom-
plished : no country-houses to be filled with costly pictures, statues
and bric-a-brac, no race-horses, four-horse drags or gaudy liveries :
so that not having calls of this kind for their money what did they
do with it ? They built with it Tintern, Fountains Abbey, Glas-
tonbury, and Malmesbury.

In fact it was much the same case with them as the Latin poet

Horace says it was in Rome, in its best days.

" Privatus illis census erat brevis :
Commune magnum."

That is : " in private individual fortune and expense they were
frugal, in what concerned the public, large and diginified." We
should deal most unjustly with the memory of these men, if we over-
looked the fact, that though our views in religion may be different

44

Malmeshury Abbey in its Best Days.

from theirs, still it was for the sake and honour of their own Form
that, whilst keeping uothing for themselves, they were magnificent
and costly in building, plate, sculpture, painting, in short, in every
thing that assisted externally to honour and magnify the worship
of God.

It was just now mentioned that the monks farmed some of their
land themselves. They kept in their own hands very often in a
parish that part which was called the Demesne. Sometimes a monk
or two, or at any rate some officer in monastic habit, resided on the
spot, under the name of Propositus or Bailiff, and this has often led
to the common tradition that such and such a place was an abbey or
a nunnery, when in fact it was merely a property belonging to one,
and occupied by persons connected with the establishment. The
accounts of their different estates were most carefully kept, and
drawn up formally every year, on long narrow sheets of parchment,
sometimes many yards in length, to be rolled up and deposited
among the abbey records. Of these, I have unfolded many, belong-
ing particularly to Glastonbury. They are by no means easy to
read, being in Latin, the words being abbreviated, and the writing
very small and close, as if sheepskin had been an expensive article.
Some thirty or forty of these long narrow parchments stitched to-
gether at one end, after being rolled up tightly for hundreds of years,
are awkward antagonists to struggle with, when you want to get at
the contents. But when examined they show a scrupulous minute-
ness and the strictest account of profit and expense. There are the
details of the number of cattle, sheep, pigs, fowls, geese, eggs, honey,
every thing in short bought and sold : entries of the day when
cheese-making began, and when it ended : of the ploughings^
manurings, mowing and reaping: the fences of yards, orchards,
gardens : horses, implements, stock of iron for repairs, barley kept
for brewing, bacon, hides, repairs of building, &c. All this shews
superintendence and good management; that they knew their duty
as careful agriculturists, and set no slovenly or careless example to
all in their employment.

One or two things are remarkable in their system of letting
to tenants, land which they did not themselves cultivate. An

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F'S.A. 45

account of the possessions of Malmesbury Abbey in the reign of
Edward I. (A.D. 1283), six hundred years ago, copied from an
original document, was published some time back by the late Mr.
Akerman. It gives the names of all who at that time held under
the abbot in each parish, and it is curious to notice how much
greater a number of very small — not peasant proprietors — but oc-
cupiers, there were then than there are now. Taking the parish of
Norton above mentioned, there were in it, at that time twenty-six
petty tenants paying various small sums, from 2$. 6d. down to even
one farthing a year. The money of those days was of course of
different value from our's : one farthing then might be equal, say to
twenty farthings now, i.e., fivepence. We should not call fivepence a
very exorbitant rent for house or land. Yet at Norton six hundred
years ago, there were twenty-six rent-payers, whilst at present there
are only fourteen. At Colepark near here, there were then
twenty-seven small occupiers, the highest paying twenty pence. I
doubt if there is any thing like that number now. At Sutton Ben-
ger there were seventy-one tenants, from 6s. 8d. down to one farthing
a year. At Foxham near Bremhill, twenty- nine occupiers with the
same sort of petty rents. It would almost seem that the population
of these little places must have been, six hundred years ago, at least
quite, as numerous as now. Of the number of small holdings in
ancient times, one sees a sort of evidence in the very small size of en-
closed fields still remaining,of sometimes not more than one acre or two.
A great deal of arable land in this part of Wilts used formerly to be
unenclosed, and the way was for the people of a parish to have each
a certain bit of pasture or meadow enclosed ; with so much right, or
allotment, of arable land, in what was called, the " common fields."

I have said enough to prove that the monks were unexceptionable,
as landlords. The tenants, when the change took place, very soon
discovered that the change had not done them much good : for
rents were raised and new burdens fell upon them.

To consider now, in what respect they were useful to the public ?

1. In the first place they always had money ready when the Crown
wanted it, which was often enough. What they were asked for,
passed under the polite name of a Benevolence : but it was in reality

46 Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Bays.

compulsory, levied much alter the fashion of the courteous highway-
man who says, with dubious playfulness, I shall be obliged to you to
hand out your money : for if you don't I shall be obliged — to make
you. The monasteries were sure game, so much so, that after King
Henry had dissolved them, the Emperor Charles, when he heard of
the fate of the abbies and into what channel the revenues were
turned, is reported to have said, that "the King had killed the hen
that laid the golden eggs."

2. In another respect, the monasteries were, in earlier days, of
considerable public utility. Just as at the present time, in many
parts of the East, there are no inns to be found, but travellers,
especially of a better class, are received and lodged in the mon-
asteries, so used it to be in England. Travelling then was
travelling indeed ; great folks went on horseback with a numerous
suite, and when such visitors wanted to stop for the night, they
were safe to find at the abbey " good accommodation for man and
beast/'' Even the famous Cardinal, the very man who was among
the first to lay hands on the smaller monasteries, was glad enough
when he drew towards his end, to take shelter in a large one : —

" At last, with easy roads, he came to Leicester ;
Lodged in the abbey ; where the reverend abbot
With all his convent, honourably receiv'd him." *

There were, in fact, in all the large monasteries, rooms set apart
for the reception of strangers, and a regular officer of the establish-
ment whose duty it was to attend to them.

3. Again ; the monasteries had schools : not of course for all the
children in a parish, that which is now called education not being
then in vogue ; but instruction was certainly given to the young :
and in some of the largest, young people of the very highest class
were received as boarders. A Mr. Lloyd, a learned antiquary in
Wales, two hundred years ago, wrote thus : " Before the Reforma-
tion every man almost of any fashion, could speak Latin; they
learned it at the monasteries where they were obliged to speak it."

* Shakspeare, Hen. VIII., Act IV.

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 47

There were no public schools in the days of the Plantagenets ;
"Winchester I believe is the oldest, and that was founded about the
end of the 14th century. Oxford and Cambridge indeed existed,
and boys undoubtedly went there at a much earlier age than now.
But it is certain that the monasteries did train up a good many, and
moreover they had, at those universities, colleges of their own.

But if the B/eligious Houses of monks were the schools of those
days, much more were the Nunneries.

Hear what our old Wilts antiquary says upon the subject — He
lived in the reign of Charles II : " The young mayds were brought
up (not at Hackney, Sarum schools, &c, to learn pride and sauci-
nesse but) at the nunneries, where they had examples of piety,
humility, modesty, and obedience, to imitate and to practise. Here
they learned needlework,the art of confectionary, surgery (anciently no
apothecaries or surgeons — the gentlewomen did cure their poor neigh-
bours,— their hands are now too fine), physick, writing, drawing,
&c. Old Jacques could see from his house at Kington St. Michael,
the nunnes of the Priory come forth into the Nymph-hay (a ground
by the Priory) with their rocks and wheels to spin, and with their
sewing work. He would say he hath counted threescore and ten :
lay sisters, widows and young girls. This was a fine way of breed-
ing up young women who are led more by example than precept;
and a good retirement for widows and grave single women, to a
civil, virtuous and holy life.""

He mentions physic and surgery as practised by women, but the
monks were not wanting in this respect. They had their dispensa-
ries, one for themselves, one for the public. They studied chemistry
largely. A volume has lately been published, of very curious
receipts of theirs, for all sorts of compositions. One thing I venture
to say they knew how to make, which we do not ; at least if we
know it we do not practise it : and that is how to make durable ink.
For myself I can only say that, using even what was said to be the best
ink to be got in Bath, things that I wrote thirty years ago, are now
hardly legible : which may be no loss to the world, but is a great
inconvenience to myself. The black has vanished, and nothing but
a pale rusty mark remains : whereas some of the old manuscripts

48

Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Days.

written at these monasteries, retain the black, in many cases really
almost as fresh as the day they were written.1

The monks, having no secular parochial work, had leisure for the
cultivation of art and science of various kinds. They studied and
wrote about, not only a higher class of subjects, but domestic econo-
my, home and common every-day matters; in short, whatever
helped to assist working people in the improvement of their business.
Brewing they brought to perfection. In all matters relating to the
Church we may well believe they were proficients. They were bell-
founders, and clock- makers ; and as to architecture, I need hardly say,
under the shadow of the old abbey, that it is to them we are indebted
not only for those unrivalled Churches of which there are so many
ruins, piteous to behold, but for many of our Cathedrals which still
exist. Canterbury, Eochester, Durham, Lincoln, and Gloucester
Cathedrals were built by Norman monks, sent over by William.
They not only designed and superintended, but it is recorded that
some of them actually worked at the building. It is particularly
mentioned in the History of Winchester, of Romsey, and of Selby
in Yorkshire, that the abbots put on mason's dresses and worked
like common men. So far from being, in their best days, only idle
and lazy eaters of fat swans, the annals of the monasteries, not
only in England, but in France and all over Europe, show beyond
possibility of contradiction, that under the simple monastic gown or
frock, living under the orderly discipline of a regulated religious
institution, — more particularly the Benedictine, — were to be found
the chief workers, not only in architecture, but in painting (es«
pecially miniature), mosaic, sculpture, carving in ivory, the setting
of precious stones, and many other varieties of ornamental art;
whilst at the same time others under the same homely exterior
were workers in the commoner departments of iron and wood. In
fact the teaching of these arts and trades formed an essential part
of monastic education.

I am not saying these things without the means of proving them.

1 Here were exhibited some manuscripts on vellum, six hundred, and nine
hundred years old : in which the ink is admirably preserved.

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.8.A.

49

Take the art of miniature painting. We have in our Public Libraries
many most beautiful volumes, the handiwork of these men, illus-
trated by exquisitely fine paintings, and arabesque borderwork.
From miniature painting they passed to embellishment on a larger
scale. At the monastery at Wearmouth in Durham, the walls of
their church, for two hundred feet long, were covered with frescoes
from the history of the Old and New Testament. The names of
these ecclesiastical artists have for the most part perished. A
few survive : one, in itself a host — Fra Angelico.

The next step was to staining of glass. This also they carried to
great perfection. They used some process not fully known to us,
and there are some colours which our artists have never been able
to arrive at. With all our modern efforts we are still a long way
behind the old glass.

The principal workers in silver and gold in the Middle Ages,
especially on the Continent, were monks. Of their works such as
shrines, censers, books bound in gold, silver and ivory, pastoral
staves, crosiers, diptychs, chandeliers, crucifixes, &c, many specimens
remain to bear witness to the degree of elegance and perfection to
which they carried their labours in this way. It is particularly on
record that a splendid shrine at the great Abbey of St. Albans,
which received the bones of their patron-saint, was the work of an
English monk, whose name was Anketill.

We must not omit another art, the most impressive and touching
of all, which expresses our emotion and sways our feelings — that
art of which Shakespeare says : —

" The poet

Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods,
Since nought so stockish, hard, and full of rage,
But Music for the time doth change his nature."

" For the time " says Shakespeare : because the effect is often only
transient, but it is more durable and impressive in sacred music. Now
no where in the world was this more zealously cultivated than in the
monasteries. Their very system required it : for such was the
number and frequency of their Services, that they were at practise
almost incessantly. Continual chanting made it a necessary duty

VOL. XXI. — NO, LXI. E

50

Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Bays.

to give attentive study to sacred music9 In some of the largest
monasteries especially on the Continent, this was pursued enthusias-
tically, and on the largest scale. The very father of ecclesiastical
music, Gregory the Great, was a monk of St. Andrew, at Rome.

The organ too, the special creation of Christian music, owes its
construction to the monks. At the abbey at Winchester, so far back
as the tenth century, there was one (it is recorded) on so enormous a
scale as to require seventy men to conduct it. The monks also
were the authors of many valuable treatises on music.

At Malmesbury, the abbey church, as is well known, was not
originally the parish church : but it was the church of and belonged
to the monastery itself. In some cases, (as at Arundel, about which
there was, a year or two ago, a curious dispute in the Law Courts,)
one and the same building served both for the parish and for a
monastery adjoining. There the monks used the choir or chancel
having a private entrance to it, the parish used the rest of the
building. At Malmesbury the whole was purely monastic. And
without indulging in any fanciful or poetical unreality, any one
who has ever been present at the gorgeous church ceremonies which,
the Roman Catholic Church knows so well how to arrange, will
easily be able, when gazing on the mutilated abbey here, to picture
to himself the large building when entire, presenting on High
Festival Day, many a splendid and attractive spectacle.

Another and not less important service there was for which the
world is indebted to these establishments. In the troublous days of
early England, when war and military life occupied our ancient barons
and landed gentry, when their household were all armed men spend-
ing half their time in the barrack room or camp, what became of
Learning and Literature ? There was no printing, no books, no news-
papers. The famous " three RV were at the lowest possible ebb: and
I question very much whether any of the barons who signed Magna
Charta could have written his name. They affixed their seals. The
seal in fact, was the signature. I have often found, attached to old
deeds, the wax seal carefully sewed up in a little satin bag, with
cotton, leaves, or tow, inside, in order to keep it from injury : because
if this seal was destroyed, there being no written name, the token

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.8.A.

51

of consent or bargain was gone and the document became useless.
It is very rarely indeed that even four hundred years ago you find any
name written. The same also with Reading and Arithmetic. Every-
thing was done by some one connected with ecclesiastics. Of this the
very name of clerk which we still preserve, is a proof ; the assistant
in a bank or lawyer's office, being still called a clerk : just as a
clergyman in law is described as a clerk. This then being the con-
dition of the aristocracy and landed gentry, where was Literature
kept alive ? Where was the lamp of Learning kept ever burning
and never allowed to go out ? Certainly in the monasteries.

Every monastery, Malmesbury among the rest, had its library,
and its writing room : in which a certain number of the brethren
spent their time in composing or transcribing : either writing up
some chronicle of the times, or copying such works, chiefly of course,
theological, as could be obtained elsewhere.

This monastery produced one — William of Malmesbury — who is
called by some, the chief of our old historians. He left eighteen or

* nineteen works, now of more or less value. He died about the
middle of the twelfth century, A.D. 1143, in the reign of King
Stephen : but his history covers a space of about one thousand years
ending with his own time. He was brought up in this monastery,
became librarian, and might have been abbot, but he declined the
honour. He is described as having been fond of books from his

i youth, and as having visited most of the monasteries in the kingdom,
and procured every work he could.

How many valuable and curious volumes, the result of patient mon-

i astic toil, are now utterly lost, we know from the celebrated Antiquary
John Leland. When the monasteries were broken up, the rage
seems to have been to destroy not only the buildings, but everything
in and belonging to them. The King took care of the plate and
jewels : and there are lists preserved of many of the most valuable
collections, that fell into his hands. The list of Glastonbury Plate
presents a most wonderfnl assemblage of costly things — not of soup
tureens, or venison dishes, or wine coolers, or silver trays, to stand
upon the side-board or the dinner table : but of chalices, crosses of
gold set with emeralds, eagles of silver gilt, images garnished with

E %

52

Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Days.

pearls and sapphires, to stand upon the altar and about the churches.
In all that long list, there is not one article that was used to set
forth domestic luxury, but the whole of them referred to the glorifi-
cation of Religion, To that list, and every page of it, King Henry
affixed his sign manual. This, methinks, might suggest a pretty
subject for an Artist ; viz., a crowned King of England at a desk like
a pawnbroker ticking off church valuables : and in the back-ground
the poor Abbot of Glastonbury hanging on a gallows at the top of
Tor Hill.

Would that the King had taken half as much care about the
Libraries as he did about the Plate. Their fate was sad. The
dealers and land-jobbers who mostly bought the abbies were allowed
to take MSS. and all. To them such things were useless, excepting
only such volumes as Registers of Title Deeds, Chartularies and the
like, which were important to prove their right as the new owners.
For the rest they cared not.1

Fuller the Church Historian breaks out furiously on this subject.
"\ Alas/'' he says, " those abbeys were sold to such chapmen as it was
questionable whether their ignorance or avarice were greater : and
they made havoc and destruction of all. As brokers in Long-lane,
when they buy an old suit, buy the linings together with the outside,
so it was conceived meet, that such as purchased the building should,
in the same grant, have the libraries (the stuffing thereof) conveyed
unto them. And now these ignorant owners, so long as they might
keep a ledger-book or terrier, by a direction whereof to find such

1 The monastic records that have come down to us, it must be confessed,
are generally of very dry composition : and contain little that is in any way,
enlivening or of interest to ordinary readers. The documents transcribed into
them are, for the most part, mere copies of title deeds, conveyances of land, grants
of privileges, &c, in short, matters of business concerning the rights and property
of the Religious House itself. Seldom is there any account of what may be
called the life of the monastery : no description of what passed, was said or done :
no anecdotes, biographical or social of the Brethren : nothing about visitors,
great ceremonials, eminent preachers : none of the current events or changes in
the Town or neighbourhood. Now and then we have a chronicle, touching very
briefly upon the contemporary events of national history : but generally speaking, j
a monastic register relates simply to the legal and pecuniary matters of the J
monastery itself.

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.8.A.

53

straggling acres as belonged to them, they cared not to preserve any
other. The covers of books having curious bosses and clasps might
be kept, the rest was thrown away : many an ancient manuscript
Bible cut in pieces to cover filthy pamphlets ." It is said that fine
illuminated Service books were sold as waste at the monastery gates
at Malmesbury. John Bale, a writer, who was no lover either of the
Pope or the monks, nevertheless bewails this destruction with shame.
He says that hundreds of them were sold to the grocers and soap-
sellers — others sent over sea. " He knew a merchant-man that
bought the contents of two noble libraries for forty shillings a-piece,
a shame it was to be spoken. This stuff hath he occupied instead of
gray paper, by the space of more than these ten years, and yet he
hath store enough for many years to come." "Never/'' says he, and he
" uttered it with heaviness/'' "did either the Britons under the Romans
and Saxons, nor yet the English people under the Danes and Nor-
mans ever have such damage of their learned monuments as we
have seen in our time. Our posterity may well curse this wicked
act of outrage, this unreasonable spoil of England's most noble
antiquities." 1

John Aubrey also, our old Wiltshire friend, is almost as vehement
and copious upon this subject as Thomas Fuller : and his language
as peculiar and quaint.

"In 1633," he says "I entered into my grammar at the Latin
school at Yatton Keynel, in the church, where the curate, Mr. Hart,
taught the eldest boys Virgil, Ovid, Cicero, &c. The fashion then was
to save the forules (i.e. the backs) of their books, with a false cover of
old parchment manuscript. I was too young to understand : but
I was pleased with the writing and the coloured initial letters. I
remember the Rector there, Mr. "William Stump, great grandson of
the clothier of Malmesbury," (the exceeding rich man who bought
the abbey) "had several MSS. of the abbey. He was a proper
man, and a good fellow ; and when he brewed a barrell of special ale,
his use was to stop the bung-hole, under the clay, with a sheet of
manuscript ; he sayd nothing did it so well, which me thought did

1 Fuller, Church History, iii., 247.

54

Malmeshury Alley in its Best Bays.

grieve me much to see. Afterwards I went to schoole to Mr. Lati-
mer at Leigh Delamer, the next parish, where was the like use of
covering of books. In my grandfathers days the manuscripts flew
about like butterflies. All musick bookes, account bookes, copie
bookes, &c, were covered with old manuscripts, as wee cover them
now with blew or marbled paper : and the glovers at Malmesbury
made great havoc of them : and gloves no doubt were wrapped up
in many good pieces of antiquity. Before the late warres a world
of rare manuscripts perished hereabouts."

After some years, Aubrey went back to Yatton Keynel to try and
see Parson Stump's MSS. out of curiosity, where, he had seen some
in his childhood : but by that time they were lost and dispersed.
" His sons were gunners and soldiers, and had scoured their guns with
them : but he shewed me several old deeds granted by the Lords
Abbots with their seals annexed."

After an interval of some two centuries, I am the successor, at Leigh
Delamere, of that Mr. Latimer who covered his books with the spoils
of your abbey. I have not been guilty of the like profanation : on the
contrary, though no great runner after butterflies, I have contrived to
catch and save a few of that extinct species which old Aubrey speaks
of. [Several specimens were here exhibited.] Old as they are
and so roughly handled as they have been, you can still trace in
them remains of that imperishable gold lettering, and that calli-
graphy for which the work of the monks was so remarkable.

It was the indefatigable J ohn Leland, sometimes called the Father
of English Antiquaries, who exerted himself to rescue the remains
of Monastic Libraries. He obtained a Commission from the King
to visit all the monasteries, and take note of their contents. That
was the object of his famous tour. At the Dissolution, seeing the
destruction that was going on, he appealed to Secretary Thomas
Cromwell to preserve them, and suggested the propriety of sending
them to his Majesty's Library. But of anything further having
been done to carry out this idea, we have no account.

Many years afterwards, too late to do much, an effort was made
for the preservation of these curiosities, in times when it could hardly
have been expected. During the wars between Charles and his

By the Hev. Canon Jackson } F.S.A.

55

Parliament, Sir Thomas Fairfax, the great Parliamentary leader, did
all he could to prevent injury to Literature. He was a gentleman
and a scholar, and both at York and Oxford took great pains to save
Libraries from being pillaged. He also presented twenty-nine ancient
MSS. to the Bodleian, and was to a great extent, the means of
saving that Repository.

It may be very true, that of the abbey MSS. there may have-
been many not worth keeping for anything they contained, old
superstitious legends, dull dissertations and the like, but when
slaughter is indiscriminate much that is valuable perishes with much
that is useless. As mere specimens of calligraphy and exquisite
manual skill they ought to have been saved v the proof o£ which i&
that such volumes now fetch extravagant, almost fabulous prices.

Leland found very few MSS. at Malmesbury. At the time of hi&
visit, the abbey had been surrendered and the contents of the library
had been carried — perhaps thrown — away by "the exceeding rich
clothier" who bought the whole monastery and church.

The church itself must have been in a dilapidated state : for the
central tower had, he tells us, fallen in, some years before : and
that would have brought down probably a large part of the Choir
and Eastern part. Upon that tower had stood one of the highest
spires in England, whether of stone or wood, we do not know : but
in it was the great Bell called St. Aldhelm, which, whenever there
was a storm impending, the wise men of Malmesbury used to ring,
to drive the thunder and lightning away from the town. The fall
of the central spire was probably owing to its having been raised
upon a tower that had not been built strong enough to support such
a weight. The other tower, a large square one at the West end, was
constructed in a still more foolish manner, and being in a feeble-
state was brought down by the noise of artillery, firing salvos o£
rejoicing in 1660, on the Restoration of King Charles II. The
exceeding rich clothier not being rich enough, had turned all the
domestic buildings and offices of the monastery, as well as a small
Chapel at the South of the Transept, into a cloth factory and filled
them with his looms, which Leland saw : but for the honour of the
Town it must be said, that there is not the least evidence of the

56

Malmesbury Abbey in its Best Days.

church having been ever willfully reduced to the state in which we
see it.

It is unfortunate that no drawing or plan of the whole monastery
or of the church, as it was in its most complete state, has been pre-
served. From the fragments that remain it is of course possible to
construct a representation — at least an approximate one — of the
appearance it must have presented when entire. This is the case
with most of the old monasteries. There is, indeed, a very remark-
able absence of pictures or drawings of most of our ancient historical
buildings of all kinds. There is none, so far as I know, of some
that would have been very interesting, such as Devizes Castle,
Fotheringhay Castle, and many more. It is not impossible that, if
anywhere in the world, it might be in the Vatican at Rome, where
such relics of our monasteries, at any rate, might be found. I
remember being told in Rome that there were stores of documents,
relating to our Church Antiquities put away there, every thing in
former days having had to be referred to the Papal authorities.

Of the original buildings of the monastery itself, which stood
on the North and North-west sides of the church, I believe that
nothing is now left, except the lower part of what is now called The
Abbey House. The ground on the North side of the church
falls away so much that the building most likely stood upon vaults
and arches. The ruins of the kitchen constructed in that way, were
standing in Aubrey 's time. Of the grounds, orchards, gardens, &c,
there is also no trace left.

One of the appurtenances was a vineyard. This was originally
planted on a hill North of the abbey by a Greek monk named Con-
stantine, a mysterious person, supposed to be an Archbishop in
disguise, who had come here for refuge about the year 1030. There
is in old surveys frequent mention of vineyards in England, and the
name is constantly met with for fields or even streets in towns, as
at Bath. But the uncertainty of getting grapes to ripen out of
doors in our climate is such, (now at least), that some persons have
been led to maintain that the name vineyard merely meant an
orchard of such fruit-trees as are used for home-made wines, such
as gooseberries or currants. But there is no doubt that at Malmes-

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.8.A.

57

bury there was a real vineyard of grape-vines. In the Abbey
Register lately printed by Government, there is a detailed descrip-
tion of the work required, the planting, &e.> which leaves no doubt
upon the subject.

I have known the experiment tried, by a friend of my own who
had plenty of money and was fond of experiments. He established
a vineyard on a warm situation in Kent : sent abroad for a variety
of grape-vines and spared no expense. It amused him for several
years as a plaything : if it injured anybody it was only himself, but
it certainly gave employment to several labourers. He was very
proud of the wine which he produced, which I have tasted and
found as good and pleasant as possible : pure juice of the grape at all
events, and so far, uncommon. But it required much perseverance
to go on with the vineyard ; so uncertain was the crop for want of
regular sunshine, that I believe it was at last given up.

Unless the sun shone more steadily in former days than it does
in ours, the Abbot of Malmesbury's vineyard must have been, as a
speculation, about as successful as the one I have just mentioned.
.But the worthy abbot might have the same consolation as my friend
had. If he could not produce good wine in his w-yard, he was
safe to supply his neighbours with good vinegar.1

1 The following evidence as to Vineyards in England may be useful to those
who are interested in the subject.

Vispre, F.X. " On the growth of wine in England," printed at Bath, 1786.
Mr. V. had a vineyard at Wimbledon. He says : — " Mr. John Warner, of
Botherhithe, near Southwark, makes good wine from his own vineyards."

Stephen Switzer, vol. ii., p. 266, of his Ichnographia Rustica, published in
1742, says, " That Vineyards may be so cultivated in England as to produce large
quantities of grapes, and those so well ripened as to afford a good and substantial
vinous juice, needs no demonstration ; when, in several parts of Somersetshire
there are at this time, nourishing vineyards, and the vineyard of the late Sir
William Basset, in that county, has annually produced some hogsheads of good-
bodied and palatable wine, which I have been credibly informed by gentlemen
who have drank considerable quantities of it with the greatest satisfaction.
Bartholomew Rocque, a gardener at Waltham Green, made wine for thirty years,
from a vineyard he had planted in a common field garden : and although the
ground was flat the wine was as good as that of Orleans or Auxerre, in the
judgement of some acquaintance of mine still alive. Dr. Shaw made wines
from a little vineyard behind his garden at Kensington, which I have drank.

58

Malmeshury Alley in its Bed Bays.

The subject of this Paper has strictly been Malmesbury Abbey in
its best days lefore the Dissolution : and all I have attempted to do,
is just to give a slight outline of the position which, when in its full
strength and efficiency, the monastery filled. How it and the rest of
the great Monastic System came to be dissolved is a very wide field on
which we cannot enter. The monasteries being such large land-
owners, filled for centuries a most important space in the social
history of England. Their influence extended to every department
in the very daily life of the country. Many years have now passed
away since the mighty step of abolishing them was taken.

So many other changes have taken place, that we can very well

They equalled many of the lighter wines of France ; and while due care was-
taken of the vineyard at Hammersmith, a great deal of very good wine was obtained
there for sale, yet neither of these were favourable spots. The Bath vineyards might
serve as a better example for the husbandman, who should consider only profit
from them : the juice of the grapes was sold there as it was pressed from the
fruit, and the owners had no further care than managing the ground and gathering.
4 1 have known ' says Mr. Hanbury, ' good wine made and grapes growing in
England, and have drank our Burgundy no way inferior, as my taste could find
out, to that noted wine which we have constantly imported from that country.' "
The Dean of Ely, Dr. Thomas,, supplied the following extract from the
archives of the church : —

£ s.

d.

Exitus Vineti

2 15

3i

Ditto Vinese

10 12

2

Ten Bushels of Grapes from the vineyard

0 7

6

Seven Doha Musti from the vineyard, 12 Edward II.

15 1

0

"Wine sold for

1 12

0

Verjuice

1 7

0

One Dolium and one pipe filled with new wine

For wine out of this vineyard

1 2

2

For verjuice out of the same

0 16

0

No wine but verjuice made 9 Edward IV.

Madox History of Exchequer, i., p. 364, writes : that the Sheriffs of North-
hamptonshire and Leciestershire were allowed in their account, for the livery of
the King's Vinedresser, at Rockingham, and for necessaries for the vineyard.

Sir Edward Barry, describes the vineyard at Pain's Hill, p. 468. " The
ingenious Mr. Miller shews from ancient Eecords that in many parts of England,
and particularly near abbeys and monasteries, good wines were made, and that
these places are still distinguished with the name of Vineyards : but how they
were rooted up and neglected, there are no clear accounts left. (Speechly on the
Vine, 4to, 1790, p. 197.)"

See also Gentleman's Magazine, 1775, p. 513, and 1786, p. 918.

By the Rev, Canon Jackson, F.8.A.

59

afford to look back upon this with philosophical complacency, and
without any of that political or professional excitement which attends
the discussion of alterations in our own times. But I think that all
parties, even those who may utterly dislike the Monastic system,
will at any rate agree in one point, viz., that the whole business of
the abolition was grossly mismanaged.

There is no doubt that a change had been for many years impend-
ing. The discovery of printing was a heavy blow. But in Henry
VIII time, the change was considered a political necessity. The
Crown was determined to shake off the yoke of Rome. The mon-
asteries, stout champions for the Pope, blocked the way, and at any
cost had to be put down. This confiscation of property was a serious
step to take, and Henry paused at first, but other things happened
to make him less scrupulous. In order to proceed on safer grounds,
a Visitation and enquiry were ordered, and the Visitors took care to
make the worst of everything. Gross misconduct was reported;
but this was only in some of the smaller and most carelessly con-
ducted houses : not in the largest and best : so that to sweep away
the whole on account of a few, was like flogging the school all
round because a few boys were naughty. But no matter, the King's
Supremacy was to be acknowledged. The monasteries would not
yield that, and their opposition was fatal to them.

The great ^management was, that so enormous an amount of
ecclesiastical property, which had been in earlier days, by Kings or
Nobles, given for National Religious purposes, was so entirely diverted
into other channels that hardly any of it was retained for any object
either of Religion, Education or Charity. When the King began, he
certainly promised that all these things should be provided for care-
fully, that all should be spent for the use and welfare of the realm : that
thirteen new Bishopricks should be appointed : in short, a glorious
future. Scarcely one of these fine promises was kept : except the
appointment of four or five new Bishopricks, very badly endowed.
There might have been a Grammar School founded in every parish
in England. There might have been Hospitals and Asylums for all
the maladies and infirmities to which Human Nature will be liable
so long as Human Nature lasts.

60

Malmeshury Abbey in its Best Bays.

Nothing- (so to speak) of this kind was done : so that we are
justified in saying that a splendid opportunity — in every sense a
golden one, was simply thrown away. I might perhaps say, shame-
fully thrown away : remembering the avarice and the jobbery with
which the plunder was distributed. 1

So euded the great, the powerful Monastic system in England :
and in its best days, in many ways so useful. So ended Malmesbury
Abbey : so vanished the Benedictines.

They have however not vanished altogether.

The Orders and the Dignities still survive. We have amongst us
still, Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans and the like. We have
still Abbots and Priors. They are peaceable, learned and diligent
Ecclesiastics, not Territorial Princes like their predecessors, and not
in any way likely to menace the Civil power of the Realm. Whether
there is now an Abbot of Malmesbury or not, I do not happen to
know : but if there is and he should come here, he certainly would
not find himself as in days of yore, monarch of all he surveyed. He
might look for his vineyard, but he would find a Railway Station,
and if he looked for pilgrims at the Shrine of St. Aldhelm, travel-
worn and foot-sore with, or without, peas in their shoes, I don't
know where or when he would be more likely to find them, than in
this Town Hall tomorrow evening, after your next " Excursion

J. E. J.

1 As an instance. Thomas Cromwell, son of a Putney blacksmith, was sur-
named from the part he took in demolishing monasteries " Malleus monachorum,"
the Sledge-hammer of the monks. The Sledge-hammer's nephew, Sir Robert
William, assumed the name of Cromwell, and being in favour with King Henry
VIII, obtained at the Dissolution nearly the whole of the lands in Huntingdon-
shire that had belonged to any Religious House in that county : viz., St. Neot's,
Ramsey, Huntingdon, Hinchingbroke and Saltrey or Saltre. See Tanner's
Notitia Monastica.

61

NCIENT "Place-Names" in England may, for the most
part, be classed under one of three general heads.

(1) Those derived from the language of the races, which, as far as
we know, were the primitive inhabitants of this country ;— -these
we call Celtic.

(2) Those imported by the Romans, who, for well nigh five
hundred years, occupied Britain, — these are Latin words.

(3) Those which we have from the English settlers, who first
entering the country shortly after the departure of the Romans
in the middle of the fifth century, finally became its conquerors,—
these we call Teutonic.

Of course there are a number of place-names which belong, partly
to one, and partly to another of these classes. For example, in the
word Frampton, which means the town (=tun) or village on the
river Frome, we have, the former part Celtic and the latter
Teutonic; — in that of Stratton, the former portion is from the
Latin stratum (=street) which denoted one of the great Roman
roads, and so the whole name means the " village " near such a road.

Now Malmesbury and its neighbourhood happens to be an
especially good quarry in which to dig for specimens of local
nomenclature : as a noble lord who did me the honor of listening to
a similar story about place-names near Salisbury, some twenty years
ago, tersely expressed it, a fine field for " verbal engineering."
So when my very good friend our Secretary, for about the twenty-
fifth time,, asked for a paper for our annual meeting, and was

62 On some Place-Names near Malmesbury,

most unwilling to take a refusal, I thought I might as well try my
hand at a few of these " field-operations/''

Malmesbury, I need hardly tell you, has a history of its own, and
a very interesting one it is. It has cherished traditions which
stretch back to a time before Malmesbury itself was either an en-
campment, or a monastery, or a town. The old names borne by this
place, — Caer-dwr (=the castle by the water) and Caer-bladon (=the
castle on the Bladon), the last word being the original name of
the stream which flows by Malmesbury, and is still known in
some portions as " Bradon," — tell of extreme antiquity. We may
believe or not, as we choose, the traditions of the house of nuns hard
by, under the direction of Dinoth, abbot of Bangor, in North
Wales, which, as early as the sixth century, is said to have been
dissolved, for the incontinence of its inmates, by a dignitary who
is called the Archbishop of the Saxons. Still such tradition, dim
though it be, and unsupported by reliable evidence as regards its
details, attests the fact of early Christianity in these parts, and per-
haps also of a native Episcopate in Britain. At all events, we may
fairly expect to find in local names some " footprints,-" so to speak,
attesting, by their Celtic characteristics, the memory of these early
possessors of the country.

A glance at the map moreover shews us, how the Romans also
have left abiding traces behind them of their occupation of the
country. Two of their great roads are in this immediate neighbour-
hood. One of them the " Acman- Street " (or " Bath-way e ") is on
the west; another, the " Ermine- Street," is on the east, and these two
meet one another at Cirencester. We may therefore fairly expect to
find some memorials of the Romans here. But they are not many ;
for the Romans never became in any sense one with native popula-
tions, and they held the country to a great extent as a garrisoned force.
Certainly there is no evidence that they ever, to any considerable
extent, affected the position or the language of the Celtic races ; —
any more in truth, than our occupation of India has there affected
the native races, or their languages.

We must bear in mind also, that the great and decisive battle
which gave the west Saxons possession of this part of the country,

and their Historic Teachings.

63

as far north as Cirencester, and westward along the course of the
Axe, was fought at Deorham — no doubt Dyrham, in Gloucestershire,
— at no great distance from Malmesbury. This was the contest in
which Ceawlin king of the west Saxons, wrested from the Britons
the cities of Bath, Cirencester, and Gloucester. But he kept neither
his conquests nor his kingdom. For, some fourteen years afterwards,
in A.J). 591, a great slaughter took place at " Wodnesbeorg " —
supposed to be Wanborough, near Swindon, but just as likely to be
Woodborough, near Devizes — in which Angles and Britons alike con-
spiring against him — u conspirantibus tarn Anglis quam Britonibus 33
— Ceawlin was defeated, and forced into exile. It shews us that, at
all events in these parts, the Celtic races lingered still, and that they
were a power strong enough to turn the scale of contending parties
in favor o£ the side which they supported. In fact it is doubtful if
the Teuton invader, at all events here, finally prevailed over them till
some three hundred years after the time of the contest at " Wod-
nesbeorg ; 33 and then the result was no doubt their subjection, but
certainly not, as some would have it, their destruction.

I have dwelt on this especial matter, because I have long felt that
the idea which has often been entertained, that " the English conquest
was a sheer dispossession and slaughter of the people of the country 33
was simply and wholly a mistaken one. It is indeed amusing at
times to see how defiantly Englishmen in general reject the theory
that they are in a great degree of Celtic blood. The theory however
is, I believe, a true one. The evidence in favor of it is overwhelming ;
whilst on the other hand there is absolutely nothing but assumption.
Indeed the Englishman ought to rejoice in the fact ; for it is the ad-
mixture of Celtic blood that has made him a more enterprising, it
might almost be said a more vital man, than the Dutchman, or the
Dane.

One thing is quite certain, that the Britons maintained their
ground in these parts more[or less for some centuries after the
settlement of the English in the island. History itself implies as
much ; the object of this paper is to shew that the same fact may
fairly be inferred from the many " footprints, 33 in their place-names,
which they have left behind them.

64 On some Place-Names near Malmesbury,

I will now put before you various examples of such H Place-names/'
belonging to the several classes I have indicated.

(I.) As to Celtic place-names in this neighbourhood.

It is impossible for any one, at all accustomed to the study of
local nomenclature, to glance, even cursorily, at a map of the
neighbourhood of Malmesbury, without being struck at the large
proportion of the names which are clearly of Celtic origin. As a
rule, a conquering people adopt, from the language of the natives,
those local names which designate the natural features of a country ;
such, for example, as its rivers, its valleys, and its ancient tracts of
wood-land ; in truth, in such names it would be not only difficult,
but almost impossible to effect changes. In this neighbourhood, we
not only have examples of this character, but some in which the
English, whilst adopting the Celtic names, added their own endings
to them.

Take first of all the name Cirencester. The river on which
that town is situated is now called the " Cerne " or " Churn. "
Originally no doubt the initial letter was not as now a palatal,
but a guttural, and was pronounced " Kerne/' — The Romans added
the Latin termination to the river-name and called the place Corin-
ium ; just as they called what is now Marlborough by the name
Cunet-io because situated on the river Kennet. — The English also took
the river-name, and added to it their own form of the Roman
eastra, and so made it Ciren-cester , that is the " encampmeot on the
Cerne."

Again the old name of the stream flowing by Malmesbury was
the Bladon : and so the name of the fortress was originally " Caer-
Bladon.'" The earliest grant to Aldhelm, for his monastery at
Malmesbury, by Hlothere (or Lithuari) Bishop of Wessex, was
dated from the banks of the Bladon. This name appears also as
Braden (or Bradon) and like other streams (such as the Wyley and
the Avon) gives name to an adjoining district, the interchange of
the letters *' V3 and fc r " being natural enough. Thus, whilst from
the Latin " peregrin-us " we have our word "foreign" we obtain

and their Historic Teachings.

65

from its later Italian form " peligrin-o " our word "pilgrim " ; an
interesting example enough as shewing how the two now distinct
words "foreigner " and "pilgrim," came originally from the same
source.

Then of course there is the river Avon — a generic name for
" water " in the Celtic dialect — which by the way has supplanted the
old river-name Bladon. Hard by is a place, or rather district, now
called Ampney, but in Domesday spelt " Omanie," and formerly
" Amney." The former part of this name is most probably a con-
traction of " Avon." In words common to the Latin and the
Welsh, the letter " m " in the former, frequently became " v" in
the latter. Thus the Latin "fimus" is the Welsh "fivv"; and
" temin-us in like manner becomes " ter^yn. " Moreover, as Lhuyd
tells us, " Avon " was also written " Amon." In any case the name
Am-ney can hardly fail to remind us of the Latin " am-iiis" (=a
river), and if in one place more than another we might expect to find
traces of the Romans in local names it would be here, where we are
in the immediate neighbourhood of Roman roads, and Roman settle-
ments. There is a hamlet near Foxham, bearing the name Avon, on
whose banks it is situated : and close to Tetbury we have a place
called Avening, a word which, from its Anglo-Saxon form ' 1 JEfen-
ingas" can only mean the dwellers or settlers " near the Avon."

Again, there is the Isis which flows by Cricklade, one form of
a very common Celtic word for " water," and which occurs also
in so many other forms, as Ash — Usk—Exe — Ouse — and the like.
In the place-name Eisey, which is close by Cricklade, you have the
river-name slightly modified. Ash-brook is an alternative name of
one of the Amneys ; and no doubt Ash-ton in this neighbourhood
means the " village by the water." From a similar source come the
former portions also of the following names : — Wash-port, near
Lidiard Miliicent ; Wash-burn, the name of a mill close by Somer-
ford Keynes ; and Gauze-brook, close by Hullavington.

Then also in the former part of Coles-burn and Cors-ton you
have the Celtic names of streams. In the Malmesbury Charter
we have entries such as the following: — "amnis qui Cors-broc
vocatur," and "rivulus qui Corsa-burn vocatur." Hence from old
vol xxi. — no. lxi. i>

66

On some Place-Names near Malmesbury .

Celtic river-names, whatever their precise meaning may be, come
such place-names as Cors-ton, and Coes-ham, and Cole-Park.

In the name Idover, though now I believe applied only to a
village near Dauntsey, you have simply the Celtic expression " y
dwfr," i.e.., " the water " The name " Dover " is an Anglicised form
of it, and in a Malmesbury Charter relating to Dauntsey, a brook
is called " Ydoure." In the course of this same stream you have
" Dores-b ridge, the former portion evidently a corruption of the same
word, and shortly afterwards " Thunder -brook," which, as a learned
Celtic scholar has ingeniously suggested to me, may mean " dwnn-
dwr," that is "a dark or turbid stream/'

There is little doubt moreover of the former portion of Crick-
lade being the name of a stream, though that name is now lost,
and of the whole word meaning " the water-course of the Crec."
The spelling of the name in the Saxon Chronicle — Creace-gelade —
can hardly admit of any other interpretation. There are streams
in Lancashire called the " Crake," and in Kent the " Cray," — on the
latter is Cray-ford — which would seem to be slightly modified forms
of the same original river- name.

Then you have such names as Wire-^oxt, Swill-brook, the Berry,
(clearly from ^r=water), close by Ashton Keynes, all of which
have the Celtic element in them. I should not be surprised if" Cow-
bridge," as regards its former portion, were a corrupt and disguised
form of a river-name more familiar to us as the " Wye."

But you have this Celtic element not only in river-names, and in
places called after them, but also abundantly in other place-names.

For example, — close by Bradenstock is Clack. This is clearly
nothing else than the Celtic "cleg" which means a "hill," and the
situation of the place alluded to verifies its name. In Clegg, by
Rochdale, you have the term almost in its original form. The
English found the same appellation given to a high eminence close
by Warminster, but, not understanding it, added a synonym of their
own and called it Clay-hill ; it is however simply a reduplicative.

Then, a large number of names are compounded with the Celtic
term coed or coit (=a wood). In Coate, near Swindon, you have it
in almost an original form; in Goat- acre, near Lineham, it is

and their Historic Teachings.

67

partially corrupted. Then you have Cat-comb — Cad-en-ham — C\d-
lby — Chad-ing-ton — all at no great distance, each in their first
portion containing the same Celtic word for "wood." One form of
this word, especially in the Cornish dialect, was cuit ; hence we see how
to it we can also trace such names as Whit-ley — Whit-lands,—
Wheat- acre, and the like.

And then there are a number of local names, which we feel
almost instinctively to be from a Celtic source, though we can only
by a rough guess assign to them their original forms or meanings.
Such are Kemble (in old charters spelt " Chemele,") — Surrendel,
— Syrencote, — Binknoll, — Seagry, (formerly Segrete,) — Minety, —
Lidiard, — and possibly Oaksey (the Domesday " Wochesic") — all
within an easy distance of Malmesbury. So that we may fairly
contend, I think, that, in this neighbourhood at least, the Celtic races
not only had a firm hold, but retained it for some time after the
advancing conquerors had more or less subjected them to their rule.

One other point must be alluded to in illustration of the Celtic
element in place-names near Malmesbury . All along what seems
to have been a border-line separating the two races at one time, and
which stretched from the mouth of the Axe to Wells, and thence
northward by Bath right into Malmesbury, you have names still
remaining which would seem almost to shew that, for a time," the
Britons and the English dwelt side by side, each in their own
settlement. The English, as we know, superciliously called the
Britons, Wealas (=foreigners) — using the term in much the same
way as our villagers speak of strangers as " voreigners." For example
a " fT eM-woman 99 is equivalent in their tongue to a stranger, as
we should say an " outsider" one not belonging to their village or
neighbourhood. The Britons, as do also Welsh to this day, called
ift themselves " Cymry"

Now close to Wells we have a place called Wall-comb, i.e , the
p combe of the Wealas." Travelling northwards, we have, close by
Camerton, Walls-mead, and hard by is English-batch. Then a
little more north we have, in like manner, on one side English-
it combe and on the other Wall-cot. Remembering that these names
were all given by the English themselves, surely they are evidence

p %

68 On some Place-Names near Malmesbury,

that the native races maintained a sufficient hold on a portion of
the territory to stamp on them the fact of their still inhabiting
them as a distinct race.

(II.) We have now to consider what traces in "Place-names" in
this neighbourhood the Romans have left behind them.

These, as has been already intimated, are not numerous. And
it is singular enough, that, though every county bordering upon
Wilts has its " cester " or " Chester" (the modern form of the Latin
" castra" =castle, or encampment), there is none here. In Hants
you have Wm-chester ; in Berks, Sil-ckester ; in Gloucestershire,
there are Glou-cester and Ciren-c^^r ; in Somerset, there is II-
chester, and Bath was once called BaLthsm-ceaster . You seek in vain
for a similar compound in Wiltshire.

The few remaining traces of Roman occupation are found naturally
enough in the names of places situated near their great roads. Thus
in Easton Grey, a parish through which the " Foss-way " passes,
you meet with Foss-knoll ; and then again you have Fox-cote (an
evident corruption for Foss-cote) which means the " cotter's dwelling
near the fosse."

The name Stratton (=a village by the Stratum, i.e., street or
public road) is to be found more than once. We have Upper
Stratton, and Stratton St. Margaret, not far from Swindon.
There is a place of the same name also on the Gloucestershire border.

Near Bedwin, by which a Roman road passed, there have been dis-
covered abundant traces of Roman occupation. Bedwin Brail is
probably a modern corruption of the late Latin word (< bruelletus"
which means a small coppice. Btjrbage, which is in the same
neighbourhood, and which occurs also in Berkshire and Leicestershire,
is not unlikely to be an English form of the Latin berbiagium, from
berbex a mediseval form for vervex (=a sheep) which means a sheep-
run or pasture. No doubt some local names are due to Roman
vestiges, which yet sprung up after a long break in the thread of
Roman tradition.

Then again we have, near this place, the name Cold-Harbour,
one which is invariably found in the vicinity of Roman roads, or
of Roman remains. There can be little doubt that the English gave

and their Historic Teachings.

69

this name to those villas or stations, which, after the Romans left
the country, were unoccupied, and so allowed to fall into ruin. The
word ceald-hereberga may well mean an exposed and desolate dwell-
ing1. Possibly some such dwellings were at times roughly repaired,
or modified, so as to furnish a temporary shelter for travellers. A
retreat of this kind, from its consisting of bare walls, might well be
called " Cold- harbour" as a mere shelter against the inclemency of
the weather. Such an interpretation at any rate is supported by the
circumstance that the name Kalien -Herb erg is still borne by some
inns in Germany to the present day.

(III.) And now as to place names given by the English themselves ;
these are of course numerous enough, and we can mention only a few
of them. The original site of the castle, afterwards transferred to
Malmesbury, was, according to tradition, at Brokenborough. In
Domesday this manor is represented as containing some fifty hides,
(probably from 3000-4(10(1 acres), and embracing, as subordinate
manors, what are known now as Corston, Cole- Park, Bremilham,
Grittenham, and Sutton Benger. The name can hardly mean other
than a " broken-barrow" that is a tumulus which has been " broken "
or " dug into ; " so that there were sacrilegious riflers of tombs in the
ninth, as well as in the nineteenth century.

Again Garsdon is simply " gmrs-dun" that is the grass, or it may
be the gorse, hill Stanton, is the stony village ; — Wootton, the
village by the wood ; — Somerford denotes a ford passable only in
the summer-time ; — Rodbotjrne, in the charters Ueod-burne, is the
reedy stream ; — Charlton, the part of the manor in which the free
labourers, called Ceorlas, dwelt ; — Latton, originally " lade-tun" is, I
conceive, the village by the water-course ; — Sherston is the village
by " the boundary," or it may be simply the " Shire-stone" marking
that boundary, the place itself being on the borders of Gloucestershire.

Then there are many names which seem to be the record of some
old owner, or, it may be, some chieftain, which are of much interest.

Kempsford is simply " Cynmceres-ford" — a name which is still
preserved to us in the Irish title of " Kenmare,"

70 On some P lace-Names near Malmesbury ,

Crudwell, originally Creodan-well (=well of Crida) : a memorial,
if not of Crida, the King of Mercia, who was slain in A.D. 593, at
the battle of " Wodnesbeorg," in this neighbourhood, at all events
of one of the same name.

Cuckhamsley — originally Cwichelmes-hlaw , (the latter word
meaning a tumulus) ; a memorial probably of the English Chieftain
Cwichelm, who perished at the same time, and in the same contest,
as Crida, just alluded to.

Pimbury — originally " Penne-burg" i.e. the hill or castle of Penda.
A King of Mercia of this name, fought with the West Saxons, at
Cirencester, c. A.D. 682.

Coberleigh — originally " Cuthbert's-leigJi"

Chedworth — probably the holding of " Cedde " or " Chad." This
surname is of course well known as that of a Bishop of Lichfield ;
and the place-name may be the memorial of some name-sake of his.

Brinkworth : — an old spelling " Brenc/ie-worde/' would seem to
indicate a similar source as " Brenches-borow,-" the original name of
the ancient hundred now called " Branche." As in Saxon Charters
we perpetually meet with the names " Brenches-berg" and " Branches-
cumb" (Cod-Dipl., 314, 1061), it looks as if the former portion
were a personal name, whatever its precise form or meaning may
have been originally.

Dauntesy, — in ancient charters it is always spelt " Domices-eye/
which Leo interprets as " insula aciei judicii," that is, " the island of
doom," or condemnation and execution. One must always doubt such
ingenious interpretations, for they are too often true in inverse propor-
tion to their apparent plausibility. I venture to give a far more prosaic
intrepretation of this place-name, the more so as the original form
seems at the first glance to denote a personal derivation. Amongst
old Frisian names given by Wassenberg is that of " Domke" a con-
traction possibly of the better known " Dominick" Dauntesy may
originally have been called from an owner or settler bearing the
former name. Of course this is simply a guess, which may go for
what it is worth.

Draycot, — some fifty years ago, when people were rather crazy
about the Druids, and things Druidical, they used to tell us that

and their Historic Teachings.

71

the former portion of this place-name was from the Welsh dryw
(=a Druid) or from an Anglo Saxon dry (=a magician). But
not only is Draycot too common a name in England — there are no
less than three in Wilts — to warrant such an idea, but the former
portion in ancient charters in spelt " drag" There is an old Frisian
proper name "Dmge" probably the modern " Drake/' and which,
judging from the crest of the " Drake " family, which is a " dragon/'' is
no doubt more allied to " draco " than to the domestic web-Looted bird
called a " drake" that quacks about our home-steads and on our
ponds. My own belief, is however, that " Dray " — as in Dray-cot
and Dray '-ton — is just as likely to be a form of Drais or Dreis, a
contraction of " Andreas " which we find in " Dreiske " in Germany.
As " Drais " and " Dreis " are Saxonic forms for " Andreas/' Drai
and Drei will be legitimately formed from Andrew. The modern
Friesic forms are " Drewes " and " Drew/'

Strangers Farm ; — the name of a holding in Dauntesy parish.
In the eharter relating to i( Domices-eye " we have one point of
boundary called Sir enges -bur gels • that is, the burial-place of some-
one of the name of Streng, or Strong. Whatever the precise form of
the original name may have been, I believe it has been corrupted
into " Strangers."

Malmesbury : — about this place-name there have been not a few
guesses. Some tell you that it is from Maildulf, a Scot, or perhaps
Irish, hermit, who settled here in the earlier part of the seventh cen-
tury, and laid the foundation of what afterwards became its famous
abbey. But even our dear old friend John Aubrey, who had his full
share of credulity, says — " Methinks it is too forced an Etymologie
for this place." Others will have it, that it is a corruption of
" Aldhelms-bury," whilst Bishop Gibson goes so far as to suggest
that it contains something of Maildulf and something of Aldhelm !
His words are " turn Maildulfi turn Aldhelmi aliquid continet, et ex
utroque conflatur" — that is, literally, " blown together," or so to
speak " evolved " from both. That Bede calls this place u Maildulfi-
urbs " (=MaildulPs city) is true ; nevertheless its earliest name,
after the re-establishment of Christanity here, was most certainly
rf Mal-dunes-berg," and in Latin it was called " Monasterium

72

On some Place-Names near Malmesbury ,

Mel-dun-ense." To me it seems clear that the root of the word is the
Anglo-Saxon mcel-dun (as in Mal-don in Essex), and that it means
literally " Gross-Hill" or as we might say u Church-Rill" ; for " mcel "
designates the image of our Lord on the cross, or what we usually call
a crucifix. I do not mean to affirm that the names of its two founders
may not have had something to do, in later times comparatively, in
modifying the name, and without all doubt the form of " Maidulfs-
berg " is an ancient one. Still my firm belief is that as " Caer-Bladon"
was its name in British times, so " Msel-dun ** marks the period
when Christanity was again planted here. Of course its final
syllable — burg or bury — was not added till the town grew round
the castle, or the monastery. This was at a more recent period,
the fact that the dividing line of two of the ancient hundreds —
— -Cheggelow, and Sterkley — ran right through the middle of the
town, proving that the town itself was subsequent to the formation
of the hundreds.

Christian Malpord : — originally Cristes-mal-ford, that is the ford
by Christ's image (=a rood or crucifix). The word Criste-mcel often
occurs in Saxon charters to denote points of boundary. Thus in a
charter relating to Niwanham (=Newnham, in Kent) we have a
boundary -point described as " j?ser Ipe cristes-mal stod/" i.e., " where the
crucifix stood " (Cod. Dipl., 526). This place-name is interesting,
as shewing us that, in early days of Christanity in Wessex, it was
not unusual to put way-side crosses at points of boundary, or near
fords. Some who listen to me will know how common they are in
various parts of Europe.

And in passing I may observe, that, as the two last-named places
are memorials of the early Christianity of our English forefathers,
so such names as Wodnes-dic (=Wansdyke), and Wodnes-beorg,
which may be either Wanborough, near Swindon, or Woodborough,
near Devizes, as well as Tewes-ley (near Wanborough) , as explained
by an expression Teowes-jporn, in Cod. Dipl., 174, and as derived
from the names of " Woden " and " Tuisco," two of the deities they
once worshipped, are memorials of their previous heathendom.

Of course it would be possible to multiply examples, which would
bear remarkable testimony to the influence of those who from time

and their Historic Teachings.

73

to time have ruled more or less permanently in these parts of England.
Each — whether Briton, Roman, or Englishman — has left behind
him characteristic memorials in the place-names that remain, —
" foot-prints " which may easily be identified, as first of all impressed
by one or other of the three different races.

One point I would fain hope to have established, — namely, the
abiding influence exercised by the original British tribes long after the
English had obtained a footing in these parts. The theory of their
entire destruction seems to me to be entirely a modern invention.
The earliest assertor of it was, I believe, William of Newbury, who
wrote his chronicle many centuries after the Celt and Teuton had
been blended into one people. Doubtless the British chieftains
were either slain in battle or forced into exile, but the bulk of the
people remained. By degrees they were made subject to the con-
querors,— as Malmesbury says " famulahantur Any lis," — that is,
they became their servants, or tillers of the ground for them, and
were gradually absorbed into the general population. But des-
troyed they never were, — for in that " tongue of Jan &" which stretches
from Cricklade to Malmesbury, southwards, some fifty miles long
and fourteen broad, they held their ground for many years, and there
at all events was still spoken the Celtic tongue long after the
English gained a footing in it. "Vulnerati sed non victi"— which
we may freely translate as " cast down but not destroyed," — this is
the motto of one of the ancient city companies, and it may also be
taken as descriptive of the Britons who fought so long and so bravely
for their native land. Indeed they maintained the conflict even till
the seventh century ; nor were they fully subdued, or their nationality
destroyed, till a century later, when the Norman conquest bent Celt
and Teuton alike under the yoke of the Conqueror.

And all the traditions, that cluster round this deeply interesting
place, point to similar results. Put what trust you please in the
story of the very early monastery here, under the control of Dinoth,
Abbot of Bangor, still I claim for it an establishment of the fact of
early communication between Wales and Cser-dur-burg. Bear in
mind too what we are told concerning Maildulf, a Scotch or Irish
hermit, who came here to settle a century or two later, and may we

74

On some Place-Names near Malmesbury,

not almost assume that there was a language spoken here intelligible
enough to one familiar with Celtic dialects, who might hope to
find a useful field for his labours. Remember too how the saintly
Aldhelm — your saint here, and mine at Bradford — is said to have
written a notable book on matters in which the British Church, as
was alleged, acted contrary to the purity of catholic faith and practice,
on the reading of which many differences between the two churches
were healed. And then once more recollect how the church at Crick-
lade, is dedicated to a Welsh saint, S. Sampson, — a solitary example
as far as I know in Wilts, — and how Johannes Scotus — i.e., John
the Scot, (or Irishman) — is said to have taught here, an image (as
Leland says) having been set up in the abbey-church to his honour,
— and surely you have enough to justify you in coming to the con-
clusion, that Celtic teachers found an appropriate field for their
labours in a part of England included by the great Alfred in his
will under the title of Weala-cyn (= Welsh-kin).

Some of you possibly may think that I am a little too sanguine
as to all my remarks carrying instant conviction. But please bear
this in mind that my own fore-fathers came from the Principality,
whither no doubt many of the Britons, when forcibly deprived of
their own inheritance by the Englishman, retreated for safety, and
that I do feel some just pride in having within me a few drops of
that " blue " blood, which once flowed in the veins of the subdued — ■
but never disgraced — Cymry.

W. H. Rich Jones.

Bradford-on-Avon,
April, 1883.

75

detracts from % ^§tcoxh of % lEiltejjiw

Communicated by R. W. Meekiman, Clerk of the Peace.
REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

(Continued from Vol. xx., p. 341).

IX. — Relief of the Poor. — Poor Prisoners : Maimed Soldiers.

HE power already referred to, of binding' poor children as
apprentices, was one expressly conferred upon Overseers by
the famous " Act for the Relief of the Poor/'' passed in Elizabeth's
reign. Of that oft debated Statute no further debate is here pro-
posed. Its operations were in great part parochial, the principal
duties which it laid upon the Court of Quarter Sessions were the
levy of contributions " for the relief of the poor prisoners of the King's
Bench, and Marshalsea, and also of such hospitals and almhouses
as shall be in the said county," and the yearly appointment of two
treasurers to receive and administer the contributions so levied. The
surplus was to be applied for the relief " of those that sustain losses
by fire, water, the sea, and other casualties " Examples abound in
the Sessions Minutes of judgments on offences against this act and
against the Poor Law which was in force before it. Presentments
and punishments are recorded of persons — who neglected to give to
the poor — who refused to become collectors for the poor — or to pay
their proportion of the rate.

The loss of the great rolls or Sessions Bundles of this reign, may
probably have removed the only records which existed of the assess-
ments made by the court on the several parishes within the county ;
the only rate set forth in the minutes of Elizabethan days, is one
for a collection of gaol money given at length at p. 82, infra.

Even before civilian indigence had thus been alleviated by a

76

Extracts from the Records of the

systematic organization, of which the framework remains to this day ^
the army and the navy had not been forgotten and the Irish wars
furnished a plentiful list of candidates. For the administration of
the fund raised for these retired veterans two treasurers had yearly to
be appointed ; Mr. William Bowlie, and Mr. Edward Estcourt, were
appointed at the Trinity Sessions, 41st Elizabeth ; and in the two
following years j Mr. Thomas Snell, and Mr. Thomas Mompesson —
Mr. Edward Long, and Mr. Thomas South — were respectively
treasurers .

The following may serve as an illustration of an order in favour
of a maimed soldier : —

" Whereas Robert Bungey, of Trowbridge, in the foresaid county, hath served
our Soverign Lady the Queen's most excellent majesty, in her highness's wars in
Ireland, as a soldier, of the company under Captain Charles Egerton, as it
appeareth under his hand, and the commissioners authorized by the Lord Lieu-
tenant of Ireland, in which the said Robert lost one of his hands to his utter
undoing. We therefore, the commissioners for the preservation of her highness's
peace in the county where the said Robert was borne, tendring the distressed and
weakened estate of the said Robert, and intending his relief, according to the
statute made in the parliament of our said Soverign Lady the Queen, holden at
Westminster, the twenty-ninth day of February, in the thirty-fifth year of her
reign, intituled ' An Act for the necessary relief of soldiers and mariners.' Do by
these presents grant and allow unto the said Robert Bungey, a yearly pension of
five pounds, of the sums of money collected and gathered, or to be collected and
gathered within the said county, according to the said statute, willing and requir-
ing, and by these presents authorizing the treasurers of the said county for the
said collection upon the sight and view hereof, to make payment of the said pen-
sion of five-pounds yearly, unto the said Robert, until such time as the same shall
hereafter be revoked in the general and open sessions of the peace, to be holden
within the said county. And this our grant made in this present sessions of the
peace, holden at Maryborough, the first day of October, in the forty-fourth year of
the reign of our said Soverign Lady, the Queen, shalbe their sufficient warrant
and discharge for the payment thereof. In witness, &c,

Edw. Hungeefoed Miles, Will, Eiee Miles, Jacobus Ley, Ar.

Heneicus Poole, John Waenefoed, Ar. Heney Maetyn, Ar.

John Danknett, of Sir Arthur Savages' company, received a pen-
sion of five pounds : as did also Thomas Dogett, whose claim was
authenticated by ' e the lorde president/'' the Earl of Essex. Among
soldiers who had served in Ireland : Christopher Duckett, late a
sergeant under Captain Tolkerne, obtained a like annuity : William
Shiler, of Purton, who had served under Edward Digges, captain

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

77

of one hundred men, in the province of Munster, and Thomas
Willis, of Bushton, who had served under Captain Edward North,
commanding a similar company, had to be content with pensions on
fifty shillings. Andrew Symes, of Cannings, gentleman of a com-
pany, in the low countries, under Captain Vavasour, was assisted with
ten shillings, to enable him " to return to his Captain/'

A jealous eye was evidently kept on these pensions.

At the Trinity Sessions, 41st Elizabeth : —

" It is ordered by the Courte that Robert Lyde shall from henceforth be dis-
charged from his yearlie pencyon allowed unto him for his mayme in the warres,
and that the treasurers for the maymed soldiers shall not delyver him anie more
money."

If the clerk of the peace was a trustworthy chronicler the justices
relented from their severity. " Notwithstanding this order 33 so
writes the officer of the court : " he is at the next Sessions allowed
his former pencyon." But at the Trinity Sessions, 1600, Robert
Lyde is finally noted as " from henceforth discharged receiving anie
more pencion."

If a grateful country, even under stress of statutory compulsion^
were comforting by such gratuities the declining days of the retired
warrior, — it was a thing not to be tolerated that he should attempt
to supplement his income by professional mendicancy. This abuse
was expressly forbidden by the Act under which these men drew
their annuities, and this wholesome law was vindicated at the
Easter Sessions, 44th Elizabeth, in the person of Henry What-
kyns : he was indicted and found guilty, ("pro felonice vagarant
ianquam miles et soldariits/3) but was leniently set at liberty without
judgment.

X. — Vageancy.

Vagrancy, chronic and ineradicable ailment of the body politic,
sorely vexed the social physicians of the day, and defied treat-
ment then, as stoutly as it still defies. And their regimen was
trenchant. The penalties imposed on vagabonds by the statutes of
Henry VIII. and Edward VI., were of savage severity— -burning
through the gristle of the right ear with a hot iron of the compass

78

Extracts from the Records of the

of an inch, was the punishment of a first offence, and life itself was
forfeit for any that " after do fall again into a roguish life."

Licences to beg were expressely sanctioned by the law, and
entries of such grants figure in the Wiltshire Minutes : no explana-
tion is afforded of the grounds upon which these concessions were
made, but one applicant made out so good a case that he was
permitted to range " per totam comitatum."

Illustrations abound of the multifarious penalties inflicted on
rogues and vagabonds. In at least one instance sentence of branding
the ear is passed upon a woman. Undertakings are entered into
by persons willing to afford employment to vagabonds for one whole
year, an engagement which was accepted in substitution for the
application of the hot ear-iron. Fines are inflicted on persons who
failed to punish vagabonds ; more that twenty persons were so fined
at the Epiphany Sessions, 24th Elizabeth : the lash is liberally and
impartially administered, and removals are conducted upon the usual
terms, of which the following is a sample : —

" It is ordered that Willim. Tipping, prisoner in the gaole for a wandering
pson, and Alice, his wiffe, shalbe whipped, and sent to Coventrie, where the
said Tipping was born and last dwelt."

This was all according to law, for the statute enjoined that this
valedictory attention should speed the parting guest on his home-
ward journey.

For incorrigible rogues, the galleys were considered a fitting des-
tination, yet even there their memory was kept alive 1 in the county
from which they were committed.

1 Mr. Hamilton states that this vote towards the maintenance of persons
so sentenced, was merely a compliance with a claim from the lords of the
council. He points out that Macaulay is inaccurate in representing the galleys
as a novelty first introduced to the notice of Englishmen in 1690. The passage
occurs in chap. xvi. vol. iii., of the History of England. "As the line of ships
turned the lofty cape which overlooks Torquay, an incident happened which,
though slight in itself, greatly interested the thousands who lined the coast.
Two wretched slaves disengaged themselves from an oar and sprang overboard.
One of them perished. The other, after struggling more than an hour in the
water, came safe to English ground and was cordially welcomed by a population
to which the discipline of the galleys was a thing strange and shocking."

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

79

Michaelmas, 44th Elizabeth : —

" Yt is ordered .... by the right honourable Sr JohnPopham Knight*
lord Cheife Justice of England, and of Her maties most honourable privie counseile,
and other the Justices of the Peace, .... that all and eve'y suche pson

. . . . as shall hereafter at the General Sessions, .... be convicted
as incorrigible rogues, and there adjudged to be imploied for service in Her
Maties gallies shall have alowed unto them .... a yerely pension of three
pounds, half -yerely to be paid out of the stock of money collected and levied
. . . . for reliefe of the prisoners in the K. Benche and Marshalsey, by the
treasurers of the saide collecon, .... during solonge time and in such
manner as the said Justices shall appoint and set downe."

XI. — Gaols and Houses of Correction. — Constables.

It is a relief to know that the punishments adjudged to vagrants,
occasionally stopped short of the branding* iron, the galleys, and the
halter; and that for these extreme remedies imprisonment was a
recognized alternative. Any sessional orders concerning the prisons
of Wiltshire in the sixteenth century possess such obvious interest
that their transcription in extenso may be pardoned.

The gaol at Fisherton 1 Anger is frequently mentioned, and was no
doubt the common gaol for the county, to which (without any speci-
fication of locality) reference is often made.

The following extracts relate to the prisoners rather than to the
prison.

Easter, 19th Elizabeth : —

" It is agreed yt the Justices in evry division shall appoint the Churchwardens
in eny greate prishe to gather ijd by the weeke. And in eny meaner prishe id by
the weeke for the Relief of the prisonrs in the coen [common] Gayle. This
money to be taken out of the Church box or collection for the poor and to be
dehVed to the constables of evry Hundred, and by the constables, to be brought
to the next Quarter Sessions and there to be delivred to the Justices of Peace and
by them to be appointed to such persons nere the Gaile as they shall think good
— This order to take his beginning from our Lady's day last, and so to continue.
And those collections to be brought from time to time to every Quarter Sessions
in form aforesaid, untill order be taken by the Justices to the contrary."

1 The gaol of the City of New Sarum is also mentioned, for as an excuse'for
his non-appearance at the county quarter sessions Walter Cotes, of Barford St.
Martin, pleaded that he was languishing in the city gaol.

80

Extracts from the Records of the

Ephiphany, 20th Elizabeth : —

" It is orderyed at this Courte, that John Mogaridge, of Alderbury, in com4
Wiltes, gent, and Gyles Awsten, of Fysherton Anger, gent, are appointed dis-
tributors of the money collectyd for the relief of the prisoners committed to
Fisherton Anger.

In the next, the scheme for providing a house of correction begins
to take form.

Trinity, 20th Elizabeth : —

u InpTimis yt is ordered and agreed that ijd of evy prshe shalbe by the
constables of evry hundred weekly gathered and levied from the Feast of S*
Michaell tharchangell wch was in the yere of Or Lord God, 1577, untill the Feast of
Sl Michaell, tharchangell next. And the same money soe gathered for asmuch as
resteth behinde, and not yett gathered, to be wtb all convenient speede collected
and delivrd to the collectors for the relief of the pson's and for the resydew here-
after to be dewe, to be collected and alsoe answered monethlye unto the said
collectors untill the said Feast. And for such as have payed for any pte of the
yeare of A0 1576, to be discharged for payment or collection of soe much in this
yere as the sume soe collected in A0 1 57 6, amounteth unto. And yt is also
ordered and agreed that the Justices of the peace of evry divysion wi,;hin this
shyre shall forthwth delyver the bokes of the subsydye to the constables of evry
hundred whoe thereuppon shall forthwth collect and gather of evry pson being
sett att v1 in goods and uppwards, and at xls in land and soe uppwards, iiijd of
evry pounde for and toward the prvysion of a house of correccion for vaccabonndes
and idle people within this countie, wch money being gathered shalbe by the
constables of evry hundred throughe oute this whole countie brought to the next
Sessions of the Peace, tobeholden within this countye, there to be payed and
delyvred as by the discretion of the said Justices of the Peace, or the more pte
of them, being there prsent shalbe thought meete and convenient for and toward
the purpose aforesaid.

" For the better relief e of wch psonrs and to thentent that those should be relyved
that are sent to the gayle that have noe habylytie or relief of themselves. That
evry justice of the peace within evry devysyon shall uppon the sending of any
vacabonnde or other prsoner to the gayle exe [examine] the habylytie of the same
ptie. And thereppon yf they shall finde that the same pson have any habytylie
to relyeve himself, that then they shall take order for the sending of the same
pson's relief e of his goods monthly by the communicon of the constable of evry
such hundred. And also that evry of the same Justices shall make a note in the
booke of his Mythym8 [mittimus] to this effect, that is to say this pson hath habylity
to be relyveed of his own goods and otherwise to certyfie for how long time his
goods will serve toe relyve him. And then theruppon evry such pson soe certified
to have habylitie to have noe reliefe of the money collected for the prsonrs as
aforesaid."

In the next the site of the new building is all but settled.
Michaelmas, 20th Elizabeth : —

" Itm it is ordered and agreed that such collections as be behynde for the

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

81

relief of the prisoners in any hundred or de vision, shall be forthwith collected
and gathered and delivered to the collectors assigned for that purpose, who are to
yeild accoinpt to the justices of the peace, at the next Sessions.

" And it is further ordered and agreed, that there shall be from hensforth
collected through oute the whole Shire the sum of xl1 to be gathered by equall
consideration to be had what shall be gathered in every devision for the relief
of the said prysoners, wherein it is agreed that upon thappearance of the said
Churchwardens before the* said Justices in their devisions, they shall take a note
of all the parishes within their devision, and therin consider of the bygnes or
smallnes of their parishes and thereuppon at the next Sessions to agree upon a
Taxation what evry parish shall be taxed at and thereuppon take order for the
collection and payment thereof accordingly.

"It is also agreed that the order taken for the gathering of iiijd of the pounde
of such as be sett at v1 and upwards, and xls in land, shall contynue and that
the said collections be made and the money answered by the constables of evy
hundred within evy devision, at the next Sessions of the peace, where further
order shall be taken for the obtayning and making of a house of correction for
vagabonndes and Eoges, and in the meantime It is agreed that a Letter be
directed unto my L. Treasurer to be a mean to Her Mtie for the obtaining of
a piece of the Castell of the Devizes, where the said house is thought fittest to be.

" And it is agreed that Sir John Dan vers shall have the carryeing of the said
letters and solyciting of this cause unto his Lordshipp, and if any charges shalbe
by him layde oute in this behalf, the same shalbe borne and discharged by the
subjects of this County by the taxation of the Justices of this County."

Hilary, 21st Elizabeth :—

" First it is agreed that Mr. George Burly and Mr. John Trew who are
appointed at the Quarter Sessions holden next after Easter, shall forthwith take
upon them the execution of their offices according to the statute for that purpose
made in Anno ix., of the Queenes majesty, and that they shall disburse and lay
out such sums of money either for the purchasing of the house of correction and
for making of such convenient rooms, providing of such stocks and stores and
provisions for correction, as by the consideration and appointment of Sir John
Danvers, Sir Edward Baynton, Knights, William Brouncker, and Michaell
Earnly, Esquires, four Justices of the peace of this County, or by any two of
them, shall be from time to time thought meet and convenient, which said Justices
are now agreed upon and desired to take the whole care and consideration of the
provision and ordering of the said house of correction, and of and for the pro-
vision for such other Officers Keepers and purposes to be put in use and
done agreeable to the said statute which said Justices shall and may also from
time to time upon their warrant take and receive for and towards the purposes
aforesaid of Mr. John Vennard such sums of money as they shall think meet.

" Item it is further now ordered and agreed that such hundreds as have not
at this time paid in unto Mr. Vennard the sums of money wherewith the persons
therein inhabiting are charged to pay after the rate of /4d the pound from £5
upwards in goods and 40s/ in land that the Constables of the same hundreds shall
collect gather and make payment thereof unto the said Mr. Vennard at or before
the Feast of the purification of Our Lady next as they will answer to the contrary
at their perils."

VOL XXI. — NO. LXI. G

82

Extracts from the Records of the

At the following Easter Sessions, order is made to " call the con-
stables of every hundred to accompt to see whether they have made
their collections for the house of correction .... and that the
money behinde be forthwith gathered and delivered to Mr. Vennard."
At the same time the collection for the relief of prisoners was
continued at twopence of every parish weekly, until further order be
taken.

At the Easter Sessions, 22nd Elizabeth : — the officers of the house
of correction are continued for another year.

At the Hilary Sessions, 28th Elizabeth : — occurs the not par-
ticularly lucid entry : —

" Md that the consideration of the gaol money is referred to the order of Mr.
Edward Penruddock Mr. John Penruddock and Mr. Giles Estcourt or to two of
them."

While at the Easter Sessions, 32nd Elizabeth ; — are found the
following more intelligible words ; characteristic of questions which
have arisen within living memory in relation to another Fisherton
Prison and another claim of way-leave : —

" It is ordered at this Sessions by the Justices that Mr. Kichard Gauntlet shall
have seven feet of breadth to part the land at Fishert on for a way to his orchard
and garden that he bought of Mr. Barrow adjoining to the gaol at Fisherton
Anger."

The collection of the gaol money furnishes the only example
found among the Elizabethan Minutes of an assessment to a County
Rate set out in detail. It is in the words following :• —

" Wilts. A Rate by the Justices at this Sessions being for the levyinge money
for the Gayle

For somuch dew to Weekes as appeareth xxvj1 xiijs iiijd
For reparacons about the Gayle layd out ") . . #1 . . s

by the Shreife as appeareth by his bill ) Yu^
Morr for devidinge certeyne Romes there xl

Sum' xlv1 iiijd
It is to be levied upon these vj divisions viz
Imprimis Thearle of Pembroke his division ix1
Sr James Mervyn his division vij1 xs

S1 Tho. Wroughton's division vrj1 xs

Sr John Danvers division vij1
Sr Edward Bayntons division vij1 x3

Sr Walter Hungerford's division vi1
James Mervyn John Danvers John Penruddock

Edw. Penruddock Henr. Knyvet Hen. Poole

Henry Willoughby Tho. Wroughton Willm Reade

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

83

Of the territory covered by these several divisions no contem-
porary particulars are forthcoming, but comparison with a description
of the divisions as distributed in the succeeding reign suggests the
following conjecture : —

Sarum Division (The Earl of Pembroke's). The Hundreds of
Alderbury, Amesbury, Branch and Dole, Cawdon and Cad worth,
Chalke, Downton, Elstub and Everleigh, Frustfield, and Underditch.

Warminster Division (Sir James Mervin's). The Hundreds of
Damerham South, Dunworth, Heytesbury, Mere, Warminster, and
Whorwelsdown.

Marlborough Division (Sir Thomas Wrought ton's) . The Hundreds
of Highworth Cricklade and Staple, Kingsbridge, Ramsbury, Kin-
wardston, and Selkleigh.

Devizes Division (Sir John Dan vers'). The Hundreds of Potterne
and Cannings, and Swanborough.

Chippenham Division (Sir Edward Baynton's). The Hundreds of
Calne, Chippenham, Damerham North, and Malmesbury.

Westbury Division (Sir Walter Hungerford's) . The Hundreds of
Bradford, Melksham, and Westbury.

Apart from the maintenance of a common gaol at Fisherton
Anger, (dignified by the title of u Gaola Domine Regine ") for
the whole county ; or the provision of a general house of correction
at Devizes; it was clearly in contemplation that one such house
of correction should be kept on foot within every hundred as
is apparent from the following order made at what seems to have been
an adjournment (held at Devizes, on the 15th October, 1600,) of
the regular Michaelmas Sessions, held at Marlborough, on the pre-
ceding 30th September.

Michaelmas 34th Elizabeth : —

" Whereas at the Genrall Sessions of the peace, holden at Mrlborough in the
Countie aforesaid the last day of September now last past before Sr John Popham,
Knight L. Cheif Justice of England and other justices of the peace within this
countie an order was then made that a house of correction sholde be appointed in
evry hundred within this Countie and necessarie instruments therin to be provided
for the punishm* of such offenders as shold and hereafter shall be sent thither
And that an Officer wch shoulde be named a Corrector shoulde be appoynted in
evry such house for to punish the said offenders And that an yarlie stipend

g2

84

Extracts from the Records of the

shoulde be allowed to the said Corrector for his attendance and paynes In per-
formance of wch order the said justices now assembled doe order and appoynt
that for the Hundred of Pottern and Canninges the house of correction in foimer
tyme wthin the Devizes being also wthin the said hundred of Pottern and Canninges
shall now alsoe hereafter be employed for the punishmen1 of such offenders as
shalbe sent thither by virtue of the said order And that Alexander Webb of the
Devizes aforesaid sbalbe the said Corrector and have allowed him yerlie for his
stipend xxxs to be levied of the inhabitants of the said hundred and of the in-
habitants of the Burrough of the Devizes according to the said order.

"And also that the house called the Church house in Urchfont wlhin the
hundred of Swanborough shall likewise be employed for the house of Correction
for the same hundred And that John Heyes of Urchfont aforesaid shalbe
Corrector there And that he shall have yerlie for his stipend xx9 to be levyed
as aforsaid.

"And that the blynde house in Great Bedwyn w%in the hundred of Kynward-
ston shall likewise be imployed for the house of Correction for the same hundred
And that Willm Pearcy of Great Bedwyn aforesaid shalbe Corrector ther And
that he shall have yerlie for his stipend xx8 to be levied as aforesaid."

The hundreds as administrative areas here figure in a position of
some importance ; each is dignified by the establishment within it
of a separate place of confinement, which it is also called upon to
maintain. But it is nevertheless the Court of Quarter Sessions
which prescribes these arrangements and it may be doubted whether
their introduction had the effect of enlarging in any sensible degree
the executive powers of the high constables.

These functionaries (holding an office of venerable antiquity) were
elected, and no doubt sworn in, at the Quarter Sessions. Indeed a
suggestion that the constable of the hundred of Kingsbridge was
exercising his office unsworn sufficed for an order of the court that
he be examined on this point by Sir Henry Knyvet. Their term of
office was limited by the court to three years. To the Quarter
Sessions also did the hundred juries make their presentments when
the matter of them was of a magnitude which lay beyond the
jurisdiction of the hundred court. On one occasion a string of pre-
sentments is entered emanating from the jurors of the Borough of
Devizes.

XII. — County Rates.

The two following extracts are proofs that a careful supervision
was exercised over the collection of rates ; and that the power which

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

85

the Act for the Relief of the Poor gave of compensating losses by
fire was not allowed to lie dormant.
Michaelmas, 1600 : —

" It is ordered that Sr James Mervyn Knight, Carew Rawleigh, and Edward
Estcourt Esquiers shall call before them the constables of Underdich and such
other pson that have ben constables whome the said Justices shall thinke fitt of
the hundreds of Cawdon and Cadworth and Chalke and examine them what
overplus of money is remaining in their hands wch they have collected of their
hundredes for anie service whatsoever and if there be anie f ounde remayning the
said Justice to distribute the same amongst the inhabitants of the same
hundredes according to their discretion.

" Forasmuch as it appeareth upon evident pfe (proof) that John Roming of
Catcombe in the pishe of Hilmrton had upon May daie last his houses and goodes
burned and consumed to the value of Two hundred poundes at the leaste It is
therefore ordered that the said John Roming shall have towardes his releife the
some of Tenn poundes of money, wch said some shalbe payde him by the Treasorers
for the Hospitalls and poore people of this Countie."

A longer and more formal entry and a more liberal grant (of £50)
ensued upon, no doubt, a much more destructive fire which, on the
27th September, 1601, at Castlecombe, did special injury to six
persons named in the order of the Court.

Michaelmas, 43rd Elizabeth : —

"It is agreed .... that the sevral divisions of this Countie may
towards all Her Maties services be equally and indifferently taxed and charged
and as nere as may be in an even proporcon and that a greater burthen maie not
be laide upon any division than upon on an other That Sir William Eyre and
Sir Francis Popham Knights, or Henry Martiu Esqre in his absence, Henry
Pole, Henry Sadler, Henry Willoughby, and Alexander Tutt Esquiers shall
between this and the next Quarter Sessions .... consider and take some
paines to inform themselves as nere as maie be of the true estate of everye the
said sixe divisions and thereupon to advise what proporcon of charge willbe fitt
tobe imposed upon everye ofthe said divisions towards everye of Her Maties saide
services that none of the saide divisions be overcharged as in time past it hath
been conceyved by some they have ben, and others to much spared, and that the
said Comittees shall at the next Quarter Sessions make the rest of the Justices of
the Peace acquainted with there travaile and opinions thereupon whereupon some
present order maie be then finally taken howe the charges for the said
services shallbe thence further rated upon each of the saide divisions and in the
meane time the rates agreed on at this Sessions and set downe under our hands
to stande in force

Jo Popham Wm Eyre

Edward Hungerford Wm Baylief

Joh Warnford John Dauntesey

Edw Estcourte Henry Martyn"

86

Extracts from the Records of the

XIII. — Highways and Bridges.

The loss, already deplored, of the " Great Rolls/'' of date parallel
to the minute books of Elizabeth's reign, has no doubt withdrawn
the solution of many of the entries to be found in the latter. The
mere statement that such and such a tithing was taxed by the court
at such and such a sum, leaves the purpose of the taxation a matter
of conjecture. From the amount of the levy and from the context of
the passage recording it, a guess may be made at its object, and
sometimes the cause of the impost is explicitly stated. Among such
causes the claims of highways and bridges assert themselves at no
long intervals.

Although of local rather than general interest, a few extracts
under this head may be excused.

Assizes at New Sarum, 26th February, 20th Elizabeth, before John
Jeffreys, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and Edmund Anderson, Ser-
jeant at law. Traverse of an indictment and presentment against the
inhabitants of the parishes and townships within the Hundred of
Frustfield, for non- repair of the Queen's highways called Fursy
Lane, and Tychborne Lane. Richard Gabell, and Thomas Bond,
were pledges.

Later on, the tithing of Smythcott, pleaded successfully that a
way about which they were called to account, was not in their tithing ;
Pur ton threw itself on the mercy of the court and paid five shillings.

Wilton appears as a special sufferer; Ditchampton, Frog Lane,
and another road unnamed, are mentioned as invaded by obstruction
or nuisance ; Stephens Hill, in Lockeridge ; Boytell Street, in Cal-
ston ; and a nameless road in " Orston Mary," figure as thoroughfares
which for one reason or another, were impassable.

The following is illustrative of statute labour : —

Easter, 22nd Elizabeth :—

'* Md to discharge the process of those whose names do follow for caryage to
the Highways in Mere." [Nineteen names are appended.]

Presentments of persons in relation to highways were frequent :
whether they pointed to a private or an official responsibility does
not always plainly appear.

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

87

Trinity, 23rd Elizabeth :—

" Md that I move my masters at this quarter Sessions for the fine (of)
Ky chard Dear of Myddleton that he may be at (?) his fine for Myddleton wey
for that it is repaired and to discharge the process thereof!:."

Assizes at New Sarum, 30th August, 18th Elizabeth : —

" Md to discharge John Webb of S waynswick for the presentments of the
highweys by Mr. Read's order."

lathe following the alias is suggestive of an inclination to disguise
the memory of an inconvenient easement : —

"Fine (5/.) of Thomas My lies .... of Warminster yeoman on an
indictment for obstructing an highway called a law path across a close called
joathelose otherwise parkclose."

The minutes as to bridges, exhibit an unwillingness on the part
of the court to " take over " any structures which they can leave to
the charge of any other hands.

Epiphany, 22nd Elizabeth : —

" The fine of the tithing of Mylbourne within the parish of Malmesbury for
half of the bridge called Holloway Bridge and for the Queen's highway from the
bridge as far as Whitchurch Marsh is taxed by the Court at 5*."

The tithing of Burton Hill is taxed in like amount, and their
default (whatever it may have been), was to be corrected by Mid-
summer " otherwise that process be made again."

Trinity, 26th Elizabeth

" Md to say that the way called Holloway's Bridge is in the parish of S* Paul's
in Malmesbury and so are all the tenements of the Abbey."

" Md it is ordered by the Court that Adam Archard shall bear the eighth part
from time to time of the charge of Holloway's Bridge of the part next to the
town of Malmesbury And that the Burgesses of the town of Malmesbury to
discharge the residue.

" The inhabitants of the parish of St. Paul in Malmesbury are taxed by the
Court at 2s/6d."

With equal alacrity did local authorities and private persons dis-
claim any desire to be at the charge of these bridges.
Trinity, 25th Elizabeth

" The inhabitants of Keevil plead not guilty to an indictment for non-repair
of the Queen's highway called the Lane and of the bridge called Baldnam Bridge."

88

Extracts from the Records of the

So did the tithing of Tytherton Kelloways as to a bridge there ;
so did South Newton, as to Burdensball bridge ; and so John and
Edward Fauston as to Milbridge, Downton.

The bold front maintained by Tytherton Kelloways, seems to
have involved Langley Burrell in an unreasonable prosecution.

Trinity, 26th Elizabeth

" At this Sessions it is considered by the Court that the Inhabitants of the
parish of Langley Burrell go quit and without day upon an indictment against
them for Kelloways bridge for that such indictment is not sufficient in law to
put them upon their defence."

The bridge between Quidhampton Mill, and the Marsh, was at
the last Quarter Sessions, held in Elizabeth's reign, the subject of
a formal presentment by the grand jury, whose finding was as
follows : —

" The grand inquest for our Lady the Queen present within Court that the
long bridge between Quidhampton Mill and the Marsh is too narrow by two feet,
by reason whereof many of the lieges of the said Queen have fallen into the hole
there to the great peril of the said lieges and to the common nuisance &c And
that the inhabitants of Quidhampton ought to repair and amend the said bridge
and have been wont so to do from time whereof the memory of man to the
contrary exists not."

Crane Bridge for a time went a begging for a custodian.
Easter, 32nd Elizabeth : —

" The Inhabitants of the Hundred of Branch and Dole plead not guilty to an
indictment and presentation for the non-repair of Crane Bridge."

Easter, 34th Elizabeth : —

" The fine of Fisherton Anger for Crane Bridge is taxed at 10s."

Other bridges fell to the lot of other places.
Epiphany, 20th Elizabeth : —

" The Tithing of Garsdon is taxed at 3s 4d for non repair of a bridge called
Garsdon's Lane."

Epiphany, 23rd Elizabeth : —

" The fine of the Inhabitants of Manningf ord Brues and Newnton is taxed at
38 4d a piece And it is promised of both sides to amend the bridge for wch they
are indyghted by midsomer next."

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

89

Epiphany, 42nd Elizabeth : — ■

" Fyfield [which particular Fyfield is not disclosed] is fined 6s 8d for a bridge
in decay."

Easter, 42nd Elizabeth : —

" It is ordered by the Justices that some of the inhabitants of the parishes and
hundreds adjoining to the bridges called Milf ord bridge, Muttons bridge, Sfc Thomas's
bridge, Crane bridge, Harnam bridge, and Burdensball bridge, shall be sent for to
come before some of the Justices of the peace nearest dwelling there abouts to testify
who ought or have used to repair the same bridges to the end that against the
next Assizes [interlined instead of the word " Sessions " first written and then
struck out] such order may be taken touching repairing of the same bridges as
to justice shall appertain And that in the mean time all process upon any pre-
sentments or indictments touching the same bridges shall be stayed."

Easter, 44th Elizabeth : —

" It is ordered at the Sessions that some of the inhabitants of North Bradley
who have disbursed the sum of £40 : 9d about repairing of Eodebridge may
repair to some of the justices of the peace within that division who will be pleased
by precept or otherwise to call before them some such persons of every tithing within
the foresaid hundred of Wherwelsdown and equally tax and assess every tithing
of the said hundred to such equal rate as they shall think meet towards the pay-
ment of the said sum of £40 and 9d and thereupon to make such rates for the
levying of such taxation as to the said justices shall be thought fit according to
the statute in that behalf ordained. By the Court."

Burdensball Bridge rejected of South Newton, in 1600, was
disclaimed by Wilton three years later.
Epiphany, 45th Elizabeth : —

" Whereas divers controversies have been had and moved for concerning the
repairinge of a bridge betweene Wilton and Burdensball in this Countie of Wilts
being the Queen's Highe leading from Sarum to Wilton And for that yt dothe
not yett appeare what particular place or person ought to repaire the same and
the said bridge lately .... was so ruinous and decaied that the Queene's
liege people could not pass over the same without hurt to themselves or there
goods and cattells. And whereas at the request of Giles Tooker Esq one of H.M.
Justices .... the same bridge .... was repaired and amended
by Walter Sharpe Maior of Wilton, J ohn Puxton gent, and Andre we Mathews It
is therefore ordered .... That the doinge and repairinge thereof shall
not bynde the said Maior Puxton and Mathews or any of them .... to
repaire the same bridge or to contribute to the charge thereof more than any
other inhabitant within the said Countie unles they were or shalbe therewith
chargeable or ratable to the same per curiam."

90

Extracts from the Records of the

XIV. — Dwellings of the Poor — Maintenance of Infants.

The unemployed were, as has already been stated, liable to be set
to work in a very unceremonious fashion, and the quest for employment
must have been rendered doubly difficult by the rigorous laws then
current concerning the dwellings of the poor.

Among the many acts which could not be legally performed unless
under a magisterial licence, was that of building- a cottage. Forty
shillings per month was the penalty on any such unlicensed " habita-
tion or dwelling, whereunto four aeres of ground shall not be
assigned/' The statute regulating this matter was the u Act against
the erecting and maintaining of cottages ; and that it was faith-
fully observed in Wiltshire, the sessions minutes afford abundant
testimony. Licences are mentioned as having been applied for and
granted, in every part of the county. The consent of the lord of
the manor or lord of the soil, was generally stipulated for. The assent
of Edward, Earl of Hereford, is specified as a necessary condition for
licenses to build at Ambrosbury, and in the Manor of Titcombe,
(" ita quod dominus Hertford . . aggreaverit") , and the like of
Doctor Bilson as to Durnford, (si accordabit). The Manors of
Pewsey and Stert are only to be invaded with the sanction of their
lords.

And if behind the back of the justices a man succeeded in running
up such a tenement, his adroitness availed him little. "If John
Hicks of Maddington,-" so ran the order of the court at the last
sessions of this reign, "will not assent to the pluckinge downe
of the cotage lately erected by William Giles at Maddington
aforesaid and remove the inmates by him placed and suffered to
inhabit contrary to the statute " then the overseers were to increase
proportionately their assessment on John Hicks to the relief of the
poor. And that such pluckings down and removals were seriously
proposed and at times sternly carried into execution, the following
memorial, entered shortly after the judgment on John Hicks, sets
beyond doubt.

" Upon the humble peticion of George Browne and divers others inhabitants
within the Pishe of Stert in the foresd Countie exhibited unto this Court thereby
enf orminge that there is an order made by John Toppe gent and the Steward of

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions

91

the Mannor of Stert at the Court Baron of the same Mannor that all under tents
shall depte there houses with there families albeit as the saide Browne further
shewed that as well he himself and the said other inhabitants being under
tennts there have dwelt wthin the foresd pishe of Stert by the space of xxty yeres
past and upwards and duringe all the saide term have behaved them selves well
and honestly and ben of good behaviour all wch not wth standinge by reason of
the foresd order made in the said Court Baron the saide poore peticonrs are day lye
thretned to be turned out of there houses and like to lye in the streets as by the
said peticon maye appeare Yt is ordered by the Court that the matter of the'
saide peticon shall be referred to the consideracon of the Churehe wardens and
ovrseers of the poore of the saide Pishe of Sterte to the intent that they mayo
examine the truthe thereof and take such course therein as shalbe fitt^ or other-
wise to certifie there opinions and doings therein at the next gene'all Sessions of
the Peace to be held wthhin this Countie that thereupon the Court of Sessions
may take such order therein as shall stande wth law and justice." p cur.

There may have been a touch of bravado in this threat of the*
steward's. Already, and upon this very subject, some little conflict
of jurisdiction had arisen between the Court Baron and Court of
Quarter Sessions, for at the Easter Sessions 44th Elizabeth, the-
latter court had ordered : —

" That the Lord of the Manor of Stert and the inhabitants of the same shall
permit and suffer Anthony Swanborowe to inhabit and dwell in Stert aforesaid
yf he procure and obtayne an house for his habitation and dwelling at a rent of
any of the said inhabitants any order of the Court of the said Mannor-
to the contrary notwithstanding e."

But even this chivalrous intervention on Swanborowe's behalf is
guarded by a careful proviso " that he shall not erect any newe
cotage there contrary to the laws and statutes of this realm, &c/*

The resolute opposition (of which the foregoing is an example)
offered to the localization of any inhabitant likely to establish a claim
on the rates, was equalled by the solicitude with which the tithing,
parish, or hundred, sought to avoid any liablity for the sustenance
and support of base-born children, and no pains were spared to trace
the person rightly chargeable with the cost of their maintenance i
when discovered, the erring parents were not infrequently treated
with the favourite prescription of a flogging, and wherever it was
possible an order was made on the father for the maintenance of the
infant. The age of twelve years was that to which such orders
were limited and the weekly payments vary from fourpence to a

92

Extracts from the Records of the

shilling. In one case the magistrates out of sessions seem to have been
over lenient : they neither appointed any set time during which their
order was to run, nor did they prescribe any punishment for the
breach of morality. But the court in an elaborate entry made good
any short coming in either respect : in the matter of weekly payment
they imposed the considerable allowance of twelve pence per week ;
in the matter of punishment they ordered for these parents and for
all such others a public whipping on market day. In another
instance the hundred which had been at the charge of maintaining
an infant, relieved itself by obtaining an order against a particular
tithing, which it was ordained " shalbe taxed and rated by the
yardland."

XV.— Woods.

Some other miscellaneous orders are worthy of notice. Among
these was the preservation of woods in accordance with the Act
of the 35th Hen. VIII., cap 17. The preamble of that Act
described the King as " perceiving and right well knowing the great
decay of timber and woods . . to be such, that unless speedy
remedy in that behalf be provided there is great and manifest likeli-
hood of scarcity and lack, as well of timber for building . . houses
and ships, and also for fewel and firewood." The Act ordained,
that in all coppices which " shall be felled at twenty-four years
growing or under" there should be left for every acre of wood
" twelve standils or starers of oak " : deficiency in oak was to be
made good with elm, ash, asp, or beech. Woods over which there
were rights of common of pasture were not to be cut till a fourth
part had been divided off and enclosed, then the enclosed portion
fell within the foregoing restrictions. If the Lord of the Manor and
the Commoners did not agree on this division, two justices appointed
at Quarter Sessions had power to act.

Of such proceedings, the following order is an illustration.

Epiphany, 44th Elizabeth : —

" Yt is ordered by this Court that Sr James Mervyn Knight, Sr Walter Longe
Knight, Jaspr Moore, Henry Willughby, and John Dauntesey Eqr* or any two of
them shall at there speed and convenient leasure repaire to the wood ground
called Lighe wood wthin the prishe of Westbury or to some place nere thereabout

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

93

and call before them the borderers and comoners in the same wood and thereupon
to sever devide and laye forthe suche fourthe part of the same wood to be enclosed
sold and felled by the lords or owners of the sale of the same wood accordinge to
the statute of xxxv H 8 and further to doe and execute such thinge and things
as by the said Statute or otherwise they are auctorised to doe concrninge the
prmises And of there doings therein shall certifie this Court at the next Genrall
Sessions of the Peace."

The following entry, of earlier date, may possibly have reference
to the same statute.

Epiphany, 21st Elizabeth : —

" The Courte hath taken this order that all the grounds in Lydyard that have
ben staked and markyd out by Fardinando Malyn William Garrerd and Adryan
Fry shall remayne in state as now it is untyll the next assyses."

XV I. — Restitution.

Statutes of the reigns o£ Henry VI. and Henry VIII. had
conferred on the magistracy certain summary powers of restitution
affecting either land or chattels, which had been forcibly seized or
wrongfully detained. The pages of the Elizabethan Minutes bear fre-
quent entries of the issue of writs of restitution, and in one of these,
Robert (Home) Bishop of Winchester, is involved, but whether as a
litigant or a justice is not apparent. These entries are for the most
part meagre enough, but in a few instances some narrative of the
transaction is vouchsafed.

One of these might well relate to the partial surrender of the farm
house on a change of tenancy.

Michaelmas, 27th Elizabeth : —

" Md it is ordered by the Courte that the possession of the hall and the roomes
within the Ferme house of Collingbourne now in question shalbe redely vered to
Richard Money according as Mr. Willm Danny ell Esquire founde it."

Michaelmas, 30th Elizabeth : —

"At this Sessions restitution is granted by the Courte. And Mr. Hourde
(Howard) a counseller at law with the .... [hiatus] .... that
Mrs. Long shall have free egresse and regresse to bear and carry away her goods
betwixt this and mydsomer next viz Corne and Hey. And her household stuffe
within one moneth after this Sessions. And it is desyred by the said Courte
that Mr. Michaell Earnley and Mr. Edward Hungerford Esquires be present at

94

Extracts from the Records of the

the delyvery of the possession and restitution to assist the Shreife and to see the
queene's maties peace to be well observed and kept in all things for the quyeting
of both parties."

Land at Potterne, and a barn at Corton, were on other occasions
the subject of similar writs.
Epiphany, 42nd Elizabeth : —

" It is ordered by this Courte by the assent also of Mr, Lowe of Counsell with
the said Henry Gawen that notwithstanding the writ of restitution now awarded
for the delyverie of possession of the landes in question for the said Gawen That
Joane Tucker widdowe shalbe at libertie to enter into the said landes and houlde
the same as by former agreement she ought to have done And that as well
touching the right of the said Joane Tucker and her well usage as alsoe touching
the restoring of the said Henry Gawen and his servant to such goodes mony
and apparell as have been taken from them by the saide Lucas and his conf edrates,
the said Gawen shall stand to such good order as by Sr Willm Eyre Knight and
John Earneley Esquire two of the next justices to that place shall think fitt and
expedient in that behalf e."

XVII. — Matters Imperial.
Ecclesiastical Questions. Beacons. The Star Chamber. Monopoly.
Purveyance. Turkish Captivity.

Among matters of national concern the affairs of the Church shall
have precedence.

Michaelmas,, 20th Elizabeth : — Alice Gawen, of Alvedston, in
contempt on a presentment that she went not to Church. Fined 5s.

A severer visitation awaited other recusants.

Trinity, 25th Elizabeth : — Bail given (the principal in £200 and
the sureties in £100 each) for Richard Gable, of Whiteparish, for
appearance at the next sessions, then to pay the sum of £80, which he
had forfeited because he refused to go to Church, or then to deliver
up his body to prison. A marginal note records the sequel, the
accused appeared, and by order of the Justices of the assize, was
committed to the Sheriff for safe keeping in gaol.

Michaelmas, 44th Elizabeth :— The J urors of the hundred of
Kinwardston, present three persons, Bridget Hungerford, John
Beck, of Stock, and William Mullins, of Fosbury, as recusants.

Easter, 19th Elizabeth : — Roger Barmystre, of Hyndon, gave
bail that he would not in his house sell nor eat flesh, nor suffer to
be sold or eaten on any fasting in the day or time called Lent.

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

95

Thomas Westlond, of Eisherton Anger, innkeeper, entered into a
similar undertaking.

Trinity, 44th Elizabeth : — Thomas Hayes, of Great Sherston,
innholder, was indie ted for cooking and selling veal in Lent.1

Michaelmas, 20th Elizabeth : —

" Orders. It is now agreed That the Justices of the peace within every of
their divisions shall use their best endeavours to see the contents of the letter
satisfied concerning papists at such times as they shall thinck most meete for the
best service to be donne therein.

" It is further agreed that the said Justices of the peace within their severall
divisions shall at such times as they shall thinck most fittest send for the
Churchwardens of every parish and enquire of them whether there be any persons
within their several parishes that doe without juste and lawfull cause refrain
from comeing to the Church. And also what persons doe resorte unto their
parishes That either do refrain e from comeinge to the Church or be either hyn-
derers or contemners of the religion sett forth by her Maytie. And also whether
they knowe any persons within their parishes to have any Masse Booke superal-
tares or any such thing belonging to the masse and so take understanding of
their names and thereuppon to send for the same persons by precept and so there-
uppon to take such further order for the making of searches thereuppon as shall
best satisfie the contents of the letters.

" It also ordered that every Justice of the Peace within every of their divisions
shall make certificate of their several doeings to the Shreif [of] the Countie
before the Feast of Saint Andrew next whereby he may make certificate to her
Maties counsell."

Easter, 22nd Elizabeth :—

" Md that Henry Moulton hath in open Sessions before her Maties Justices there
given information against Mr. Christopher Dawling parson of Upton Lovell
saieing that he hath preached Seditious Doctryn in the church of Heytesbury he
hath maintained purgatorie falsefyed the Scriptures of God preached heresies
and hath as mutch as in him lyeth made the Scriptures of God of none effect

by me Harry Moulton."

1 This was an offence expressly forbidden by the 3rd Article " sette downe in
the booke latlie sett forth by the Councill," as was mentioned in the Michaelmas
Sessions, 1600. The following Note appeared in " Notes and Queries," for April,
1852, page 271, — " The meaning of Section 19, of the Statute of 5th Elizabeth,
cap. 5, I apprehend to be this. The licence is only required for fish days, i.e.t
the days on which the eating of flesh is prohibited. Then the effect of the section
is that whilst without a licence, no flesh whatever is to be eaten on fish days,
yet even with a licence the flesh to be eaten Jis h days must not at any time of
the year be beef, and must not, between Michaelmas and May Day, be Veal."

96

Extracts from the Records of tlie

At the Easter Sessions, 25th Elizabeth, heavy bail was required
on the occasion of the discovery of papistical books : the entries
treating of this matter have been partially erased and obliterated.
William Dibbins of Charelton Musgrove, Somerset, is first named
as the householder in whose dwelling the obnoxious volumes had
been found. Other names are afterwards entered. Heavy bail was
given by Dibbins (himself in £100 and two sureties in £50 each)
for his future appearance; but whether this appearance was to be
made at the next Sessions or at the next Assizes is left in doubt, in
consequence of the erasures with which the page is disfigured.

Lent Assizes, 21st Elizabeth : —

" At this Assyses the graun de Jury Did exhibitt to the Courte their assent and
consents in form following and thereunto suhscrybed their names lykewise in
forme following videlicit.

" May it please yor Lords that we are agreed and think very well of the rate of
iij quarters of wheat praying of yor Lordships that an equall Sessing in all
parts of the Shere as well as of parsonages impropriatt as also of all grainges
and fermes in the hands of the worshipfull of the shere."

Easter, 30th Elizabeth :—

" Md That Thomas Baslyn doth say that his childe was well baptized by god-
fathers and godmothers And was baptized at his dwelling house by Mr. Thomas
Hickman a Minister being a may d childe about twelve monethes past And
in the psence of divers other faithf ull person And that the said childe or any
baptized myght be baptized wthout the Signe of the Crosse And of the said
faithfull people one David Grove was one of the Company And further sayth
that the parents are to name the childe and sayth that he offred Mr. Babyngton
his childe to be baptized and he refused to baptize his childe And that Mr.
Babbyngton his pastor woulde not baptize his childe according to Christe's institu-
tion onlie and woulde not answer when he reseivyd the Communion of a long
tyme And further sayeth that he lyveth onlie by the teaching of children and
that his wiffe doth teach them in wryting and reading And further sayeth that
his wiffe was not puryfied according to the accustomed order but that puryfieng
of women is a Jewish cerymonie and that confirmacon of children is a tradicon
of man as he thinketh."

The patriotic tending of the Beacons has been already noticed in
this Magazine. Here are further illustrations.
Easter, 30th Elizabeth :—

" Ordo. It is ordered at this Sessions by all the Justices of Peace That if
any doe refuse to watche the beacons or other whatches in any place Or that
doe refuse to pay and be contributors for prvision of armoure setting forth of
Soldiers releif e of the poor and impotent people and concerning the taxacon for the

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

97

gaole Then upon cornplainte made by any officer to any justice of peace of any
of the prmisses it shalbe lawf ull for the same Justice unto whome such complaint
is made to send for the party offender by warrant and to commit him to prison
there to remayne untill he become conformable to the prmisses and every of them."

Memorandum, about 1600 : —

" Forasmuch as it appearith by oath that the hundred and Towne of War-
mister and the hundred of Heytesbury, (the Burrow Excepted) have used to
watch the Beacons It is therefore ordered that the said place shall watch accord-
ing to their accustomed manner."

Of the Star Chamber, a single trace only has been found in the
Elizabethan minutes. At the Epiphany Sessions, 29th Elizabeth :—
Lucy Long, wife of William Long, of Devizes, gentleman, John Trew,
of Southbroom, gentleman, and Anthony Hort, of Devizes Green, yeo-
man, were bound over in £50 each, to appear in the Star Chamber,
before the Queen in council, at Westminster, in the octave of Saint
Hilary next, to answer upon those things which were laid against
them, and there not to return without leave of the Court.

The same may be said of the grants of monopolies, dear to the
heart of Elizabeth but strenuously resisted by her people. The
Wiltshire Magistrates seem to have accommodated themselves to
circumstances as they existed ; but it is to be observed that the
qualifying words "and by the lawe" are inserted on both the
occasions on which the authority of the Council is quoted ; the minute
runs as follows : —

Epiphany, 42nd Elizabeth : —

" It is ordered by the Court upon the motion of Mr. Lawe being a Counsell for
the said Francis Pope that an attachment shall forthwith be awarded out of this
Countie against Eichard Cranmer, Francis Browne, Susan Hetcher, William
Noyes Clarke, Eomsey, Trilcott, and Gough, to bring the said

parties before some Justice of the peace within this Countie neare to the place of
their aboades there to answer their contempts for making selling or uttering of
Stearche Contrary to the true meaning of Her Maties lers patent granted to Sr
J ohn Packington Knight bearing date the xxth day of Maye in the xlth yere of
Her Maties raigne. And the said justice to inflict such punishment upon the
offenders as by the Councell's lers bearing date the xxiiiith day of November last
past and shewn forth here m Court (as by the lawe is required.) And further
by all possible means to exame the validitie of a lycence heretofore granted by
the said Francis Pope to the said Richard Cranmer. And if the same shalbe
founde voyde Then to inflict such punishm* as by the said lers patent and
Councell's warrant and by the lawe is warranted and required."

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXI, H

98

Extracts from the Records of the

Nor does Purveyance, familiar and long-standing cause of conten-
tion between soverign and subject, seem to have roused in Wiltshire
the resentment which it excited further west,

Epiphany, 20th Elizabeth : —

" Md that at this Generall Sessions of the peace I was coniandyd to enroll this
Agremt hereafter following vidlt.

" Be it known to all men by these presents that we whose names are hereafter
ptycularly expressed have requested and authoryssed And by these prsents Do
graunte and agree that the right Hon'able Henry Earle of Pembroke Sir John
Thynne Knight Sir John Dan vers Knight and Sir Henry Knevet Knight or thre
of them shall or may deale confer and conclude with the officers of Her Majesty's
most Hon'able Household for and in the behalf of all her Majesty's subjects
within this County of Wilteshr for her Majesty's better service for such provision
as hath byn heretofore usyd to be taken and provided within this County of
Wilteshr for and towards the provision of Her Majesty's Household And what-
soever the said Earle of Pembroke Sir John Thynne Sir John Danvers and Sir
Henry Knevet or thre of them shall do or agre upon for or concerning the premisses
or eny pte thereof We the prsones whose names are hereunto subscrybed shall
and will at all times hereafter for and in the behalf of all her majesty's said sub-
jects within this County of Wiltes ratify avow and allow to be of as full force and
effect as if orselves hadd done the same In wytnes whereof we the said p'sones
hereunder wryted have subscrybed or names. Gevyn the xth day of January in the
xxth yere of our Soveraign Lady Elizabeth by the grace of God Quene of Ingland
Fraunce and Ireland Defender of the fayth &c

At the Michaelmas Sessions, 1601, the Court heard that " Some
controversies are lately growen and risen amonge the inhabitants of
Xren Malford .... for and concerninge the rates for pro-
vision of Her Maties household and other paiements and somes
wherewith the said inhabitants are chargeable " but the discontent
seems to have been with inequality of apportionment rather than with
quantity of taxation, and the matter was referred by the justices
(among whom is named with some circumstance "The Right
Honourable Sir John Popham, Knight, Lord Chief Justice of Eng-
land, and of Her Highnes most Honourable Privie Counselled) to Sir
Edward Hungerford, Knight, and William Bayliffe, Esq.

But another and more distant sovereign made calls on the English
ratepayer : the " unspeakable Turk " made himself felt even among
the sequestered hamlets of Salisbury Plain.

John Zouch
James Mervyn
Nicholas S1 John

Walter Hungerford
George Penruddocke
Gyles Estcourt."

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

99

Easter, 2]st Elizabeth :—

" It is further ordered that in answer to the Counsell's letters concerning the
captives taken in Turkey * that the Justices of Peace within every division shall
delyver unto the constables of every hundred the copies of the letters to them
in that behalf directed who shall thereupon charge the said Constables to move
the Churchwardens Also to deal with the parsons or mynisters of every parishe
to move them to further this charitable matter, and to require them to make the
colleccons so farforthe as men shalbe disposed accordinglie And to answer the
sommes of money collected to any justice of peace within every devision which
justice of peace shall make delivery thereof to the Shrief betweene this and
Michaelmas next."

XVIII — Transactions of a Single Sessions.

The foregoing pages have afforded illustrations of the multifarious
matters which needed for their due conduct some action by the court
of Quarter Sessions : it may be useful to recount seriatim the trans-
actions which occupied the attention of the court at some single
sessions ; and the last which was held in Queen Elizabeth's reign
may very well serve as the example.

The court then assembled at Salisbury, on the Tuesday after the
Feast of the Epiphany, 1603, and the four following days: the
Justices present were Henry Bishop, of Salisbury, Sir James Mervyn
and Sir Edward Ludlow, Knights, William Tooker, " sacrse theologise
doctor," Edward Penruddocke, Henry Sadler, Jasper Moore, Henry
Smyth, Henry Willoughby, John Dauntsey, Alexander Tutt, John
Ernley, Edward Estcourt, Henry Martin, James Ley, Edward
Lambert, Walter Vaughan, Giles Tooker, and William Blacker,
Esquires.

The matters dealt with by them occupy forty -two small folio
pages, and are recorded as follows : —

Recognizances taken in court at the last sessions (Be Uecogn ad
ult in cur capt) . These were twelve in number. In one case the
principal gives bail in 100 marks and his two sureties in £50 each.
But the general measure of bail was £40 for the principal and £20

* The humourous reader will have already amused himself with some pleasantry about Turkish
Bonds (Mr. Hamilton's joke). Tn such matters the seafaring population of Devonshire had a
keener interest than the land-locked Wiltshireman ; the Devonshire records contain entries far more
detailed and interesting than the above.

H %

100

Extracts from the Records of the

each for two sureties, the condition in each case had been for appear-
ance at this Epiphany Sessions and for good behaviour in the
meantime, in two instances the persons are named towards whom
the peace was to be kept.

Then follow the recognizances forty-eight in number, taken by
Justices out of sessions. {Be Recogn p justic ad ist crtificat.) The
£40 and £20 penalties here again find favour, though £20 and
£10 have the preference. In one case the penalty is 100 shillings.

The names of the certifying justices are always recorded, and the
result is noted above the entry. Here and there a default is noted,
but the almost invariable appearance of the person bound, is strong
proof of the efficacy of the recognizances for the purpose for which
they were imposed.

The particular purpose of each recognizance and the action of the
court thereon, is indicated in the briefest terms only. Appearance
and discharge (" Comp and Exo ") was the general happy result, and
sometimes the reader is referred to the Sessions Rolls, (" et uW ut pt
in bundello,") for the further history of the case.

Yet a third group of recognizances remains to be mentioned, viz.,
those, seventy in number, which were entered into at this quarter
sessions for appearance at the next.

But even so the weary tale of bail-giving and suretyship does not
draw to a close until the next set of orders has been disposed of, this
was the grant of seven licences for keeping common Taverns, in
each of which cases bail for " good rule " was required as a con-
dition of the application.

Next follows the real criminal business of the court, the delivery
of the gaol and the indictments at this sessions.

Capital sentences were passed upon two persons convicted of
highway robbery at Winterborne Gunner, but as to one of them,
convicted on his own confession, there was respite after judgment.

Another trial for highway robbery at Milford, ended in an acquittal,
and the only charge of burglary became reduced to one of larceny,
for which the favourite sentence of whipping was passed. In three
other instances a like offence met with a like punishment. In a
fourth there was the happier issue of pardon and discharge; while in a

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

101

fifth the accused claimed benefit of clergy.1 " Po: se — cul: — ca: nul—
pet: lib*, trad: ord. — leg: et uritr." is the matter-of-faet entry by which
the clerk of the peace places on record that the accused put himself
upon his country, that the jury found him guilty, that no cause was
alleged in arrest of judgment, that the convict claimed the privilege
of being delivered to the ordinary, that the recognized test for such
a claim was applied to him, that he read as a clerk, and was
dismissed with branding.

Then follow a variety of miscellaneous offences. A person charged
with stealing wool is described as still at large, and his arrest is
ordered by the next sessions, pending which operation an alleged
accessory is to remain in gaol. Indictments are found for erecting
a cottage at Maddington ; for taking lodgers at that place, and at
Codford; for assault and affray, (two cases), and for assault and
rescue; for riot, for forcible entry, for extortion, (three separate
charges) ; for keeping a tavern without a licence, (six cases from
Downton, and one from Whiteparish) ; for non-compliance with the
" Act for reliefe of ye poore," then recently passed ; for the decay of
Millbridge Downton, and for the obstruction of a highway at Wilton;
and the calendar is brought to a conclusion by seventy-two charges
against clothiers for defects whether of measure or of weight, in
their " broad-listed " or " narrow-listed whites."

The Indictments are followed by the Presentments, and the
clothiers who formed the rear of the last detachment, are now in the
van. The presentments open with twenty-seven findings against
the clothiers, for each of whom a pressing invitation to the next
Quarter Sessions was issued in the shape of a writ of venire facias.
The weavers, received their share of attention and such irregular-
ities as keeping a loom, pursuing the craft of weaving not having
been thereto apprenticed, keeping a journeyman or an apprentice,
came duly under notice. The misdoings of the clothiers were no
doubt brought before the court by the statutory supervisors. The
weavers were presented by the grand jury upon information laid
before them : the grand jury made presentments also against other

1 See Appendix, part iii.

102

Extracts from the Records of the

offenders, for encouraging gaming, for unlicensed taverns, for regrat-
ing butter and cheese, for obstructing one highway, and for failing
to repair another : and they " found 13 Quidhampton Long-bridge to
be dangerously narrow. Nor were the hundred juries behind-hand
with presentments as to highways and taverns.

Next in order after the Presentments come the Appearances. The
first of these is by attorney, a concession which is expressly stated to
be by the favour of the court ; next a technical quibble 1 suffices to
quash an indictment. Then the inhabitants of Broad Chalke and of
Porton (their attornies, too, being heard by special favour), obtained
an adjournment of the presentments (whatever they were) against
them till next court, and after these, .eight other defendants appear,
three of them by attorney. Robert Holmes seems to have been the
favourite attorney, his name appears five times, that of Michael
Titcombe once.

After the presentments come the Writs and Processes, (five in
number and all for personal arrest), and after the writs, the Orders.

These orders deal with a variety of subjects, the practice and pro*
cedure of the court is regulated ; affiliation orders are made ; relief
is administered under the Poor Law, in one instance overseers are
bidden to provide a habitation for a houseless couple, " one this side

1 The highly technical plea upon which the accused escaped is not without
interest, and may as well be recounted in full ; the minute runs as follows.
Epiphany, 1603 :—

" William Chapman of Leigh within the parish of Westbury in the County aforesaid in his own
proper person appears to an idictment against him, at the suit of our Lady the Queen prosecuted at
the General Sessions of the Peace of the County aforesaid held at Marlborough on Thursday next
after the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel last past And prays a hearing of that indictment
And the same is read to him Which having been read and heard He says that he contends that
our said Lady the Queen neither would nor ought further to impeach or wrongfully charge (im-
petere seu occasionare) the same William forasmuch as he says that the indictment aforesaid is
insufficent in law for compelling the same William to his answer by the law of the land and that no
process ought by the law of the land to taken against him upon that indictment By reason that is
to say that in the said indictment it is alleged that the said William on the first day of January in
the year &c the forty -forth and on many other days together after the said first day of January
** per spatium nonnarum mensium extunc proxime sequentium " that is to say &c the said art &c
used and exercised Which word " nonnarum " indeed is bad Latin and has no certain meaning but
ought to be *' novem " And for the insufficiency of the same he prays judgment And that he con-
cerning the premises may be hence discharged by the Court &c Upon which things seen and by
the Court were understood of all and singular the premisses forasmuch it seems to the Court here
that the indictment aforesaid is insufficient in law as the aforesaid William in his discharge concern-
ing the premisses last aforesaid in his pleadings has alleged It is considered by the Conrt that the
aforesaid William go hence without day &c."

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

103

Easter next ; 93 disputes are referred to justices out of sessions ; the
appointment of a tythingman, and the swearing-in of a hundred con-
stable are commanded. Pensions are granted to maimed soldiers,
and provisional arrangement is made for the repair of a bridge dis-
claimed by everybody.

After the orders, are to be found the elections of the constables
of the Hundreds of Alderbury, Amesbury, Branch and Dole, Damer-
ham South, and Underditch.

The work of the sessions closes with a humane order for enquiry
into an apparently genuine grievance laid before the court by the
tenants of the Manor of Stert, who as set forth at page 90, were
threatened with expulsion from their homes in a somewhat summary
fashion.

XIX. — References to Justices out of Sessions.

But the favourite method of dealing with controverted non-
criminal matters was to refer them for decision to two or more of
the local justices living within reach of the disputants. How nice
or how rough was the justice which these neighbouring arbitrators
administered there is nothing to show for certain. From the con-
sistent adoption however, year after year of this same mode of
adjusting differences there is every reason to suppose that in the
main it gave satisfaction alike to the suitors and to the court. The
action of the referees does not seem to have been limited within
hard and fast limits. The court with a seeming disposition to be quit
of the affair if possible, is repeatedly urging them " to end the cause
if they can."

A few cases may be cited.

Epiphany, 19th Elizabeth : —

" Md that by commandment of Sir James Mervyn Knight I am to signifye
hereafter that Christpr Frowde hathe chosen him the sayd Sir James to be his
Arbitrator between Frowde aforesaid and J ohn Batten And that further each
of the said Batten and Frowde shall be bound to stand to the Award of the sayd
Sir James and of such other as the sayd Batten shall name And that if the Award
be not fyneshed by the ed of the genrall Sessions of the peace to be holden next
at Warmr (then they to be at large) and that Batten have one other sufficient
surety e to be bounde with him for performance of the Award on his part."

104

Extracts from the 'Records of the

Assizes, New Sarum, 26th February, 20th Elizabeth : —

" Md to stay process against Arthur Redfern and others now at this Assizes
indighted because they have putt their cause in * compromise to Mr. Stephens
and Mr. Edward Waldron.

Michaelmas Sessions, 20th Elizabeth : —

" Order is taken that Parett shall comytt the matter between Strugnall and
him in * compromise and shall not troble the Court in the meane time — by the
suretye of Mr. Mychell of Sarum."

But any such composition needed the approval of the court. Mark
Farland of Salisbury, was indicted for compounding with one Henry
Hillard upon a penal statute before answer made.

Epiphany, 44th Elizabeth : —

" Yt is ordered by this Courte that Edward Estcourte and Giles Tooker Esq8
. . . . shall call before them or either of them William Trendall and John
Trendall and examine the matter of Johan Hayter Spinster against the saide
William Trendall and they or either of them shall consider whether the saide
William Trendall hath receyved the saide John Hayter's stocke into his hands or
not or whether he did agree and promise to finde the saide Johan Hayter duringe
her life in considercon of the said stocke or not And whether the same stocke
be still detayned and the saide Johan Hayter put from the saide William Trendall
or not and to end that cause yf they can or otherwise .... to binde the
saide William Trendall and John Trendall to appear at the next sessions . . •

. that the Court maye ende the same matter according to right and equitie."

Epiphany, 44th Elizabeth : —

" Yt is ordered .... that the matter conteyned in the peticon of the
Inhabitants of the Tithinge of Awston in the hundred of Broad Chalke ....
remayinge in the file of this Sessions be referred to the hearinge and examination
of Sir James Mervyn Knight Henry Willoughby and Walter Yaughan Esqs
Justices .... and they to report their opinion therein before the Feast of
Easter next unto the Eight Eeverend Father in God Henry Bishop of Sarum and
he to certifie the same together with his owne opinion of the matter . . . •
unto the next Generale Sessions."

Epiphany, 44th Elizabeth : —

"All manner rates taxes and charges taxable upon the_ inhabitants of the
hundred of Underditche referred to the hearing and consideracon of the L. Bishop
of Sarum .... and six others."

* The word compromise here retains its primary meaning of an agreement for reference to arbi-
tration, not an arrangement brought about by mutual concessions.

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

105

XX. — Criminal Jurisdiction.

The principles which limited the jurisdiction of the Court of
Quarter Sessions in the trial of criminals exhibit no analogy to the
distinctions recognized at the present day. The penalty of death
is again and again imposed (to the number of seven capital
sentences, one on a woman, at a single sessions), and "peine
forte et dure " is adjudged. An unusually long entry is devoted to
the case of an outlaw who was charged with stealing a gelding : he
pleaded a previous acquittal on this selfsame accusation, but failed to
support his plea with any sufficient evidence, wherefore it is com-
manded to the Sheriff " quod suspendatur." Highway robbery was
generally visited with hanging and in one instance of murder the
sentence is that the convict be hanged in chains near the place of
the crime. In some cases execution was respited by warrant of
the Lord Chief J ustice. Burglary is dealt with, and the graver as
well as the lighter degrees of larceny. Whipping is unsparingly
dealt out, and the pillory had its victims for minor offences. These
sentences to the pillory are stated with a*pitiless particularity. For
three charges of cosenage an offender from Holt is thus treated: —

" Wherefore lie has judgment of the pillory with both his ears fastened to the
same until he thence have torn them (dilaceravit). And afterwards to be com-
mitted to gaol there to remain for three months without bail for each offence."

For the fabrication, writing and completion (confeclio, not the
publication, of which another prisoner was found guilty), of scandalous
libels, a native of Devizes was fined £10 : —

" And to stand on the pillory in the Borough of Devizes on the next market
day there to be held, for the space of one hour at the time of market there, with
his right hand in the pillory aforesaid with a paper set over his head on which
paper shall be written in English these words following that is to say (for con-
trivinge of slaunderous libells,) and to be imprisoned until the fine aforesaid be
paid and afterwards until he find sureties for his appearance at the next Sessions
and for his good behaviour in the meantime."

Robert Jeffrey of Wootten Bassett, had to pose in the same
attitude for two hours, in Marlborough, with a fine of 20s, His
misconduct took the by no means uncommon form of assault and
affray, but he was injudicious in his selection of time and place.

106

Extracts from the Records of the

And if a man will cudgel his neighbour during the hours of the
sessions and in the eye of the court, he cannot complain that the
assembly should vindicate its dignity by an exemplary sentence.
Jeffrey's ears were left unmolested, and he seems to have been
spared the additional ignominy of an explanatory placard.

Nor were verbal affronts tamely accepted by the court. A writ
of good behaviour issued at Michaelmas, 1598, against John Ball,
of Burbage, " for sayeng the justices used noe indifferent dealing
towards one Thompson and Hunt,'"' and at the Michaelmas Sessions,
held at Marlborough, on the 30th September, 1600 : —

" Mathewe Meryet came into the Conrte and there openly did depose that he
never heard Mr. Richard Burleigh say that bandes of the peace sholde not serve
Mr. Ambrose Button's turne but that he would be revenged on him nor anie
wordes to the like purpose or effect as Thomas Myles upon his oath before the
L Cheife Justice in this Courte did depose But further sayeth that Mr. Ambrose
Button did aske this deponent whether Mr. Burleigh had spoken anie such wordes
wch he this deponent utterlie denyed."

The pillory would have been a fitting punishment enough for
extortion ; but so far as the minutes under consideration relate to
that offence it escaped any such severe retribution. Conclusive proof
of it was perhaps not easily obtained. In one case the only note is
the usual bail to appear on a future day, in another the accused
protested his innocence, yet threw himself on the mercy of the
court and paid a fine of 20s. ; in a third, the indictment was quashed
for some informality which does not appear.

Of witchcraft one curt entry alone appears, viz., for bewitching
a cow, (pro incantatione vaccce) the ultimate fate of the accused is
not disclosed.

Another judgment of the court seems to relate to some encroach-
ment on the highway.

Easter, 20th Elizabeth

" It is ordered at this Court that Willm Peter gent shall pull up the hedg wch
he hath made as it is specified in an indightment remayning of Record betwixt
this and the first day of the next terme."

In the following case nothing further is to be obtained beyond
the statement of the charge.

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions,

107

Epiphany, 42nd Elizabeth : — Robert Stevens of Highworth, bound
over to appear at next sessions "for marrying a yonge boye to
his daughter : " save that the clerk of the peace notes in the margin
that he is " to remember the courte of his abuse in arresting Wilkins
in Sarum, at the last Sessions."

XXI. — Practice and Procedure*

Not the least interesting (though among the worst written)
passages on the pages of the minute books, are those which have to
do with the practice and procedure of the court.

The following relate to the functions of and regulations- for the
grand and petty jury.

Michaelmas, 18th Elizabeth : —

" Md that by the order of Court at this general Sessions all these hereafter
mencoed being retornid by the Sherief in the Grande jury shall be amerced at
xxs a pece." Four names follow.

Easter, 18th Elizabeth : —

* " It is orderyd at this Court that if eny person or persons shall at eny time
hereafter prefer eny Bill of Indictment to the Court unles they be bills of felony
that the ptie that prosecuteth or pties that shall prosecute or prefer the same Bills
or Bill shall gyve his or their name or names to the Clerk of the Peace of this
Shire before the Graunde Jury be charged at eny genall Sessions of the Peace
hereafter to be holden within this County or else his or their bill shall not be
resievyd unles some good matter shall appear to the Courte to the contrary."

Trinity, 19th Elizabeth : — Process ordered against Matthew Webb
of Kings Wall, " by the credible reporte of Mr. Spearer forman of
the Graunde Jury."

Epiphany, 22nd Elizabeth : —

" That the travers for Stanten shall procede at Warmyster And if the jury
doe not appear then Mr. Hill hath promised to crave a decern tales for the Quene
de circumstantibus."

Easter, 22nd Elizabeth : —

" It is orderyed at this Courte that if eny bill be prferyd against eny p'son for
a coe (common) barrator that the said byll shall not be resevid unles there be
open evidence in Courte gyven to the said bill."

* Already noticed by Mr. Ravenbill at vol. xviii., p, 155.

108

Extracts from the Records of the

Easter, 44th Elizabeth :—

" Fine of Robert Sutton of Devizes one of the jurors to enquire for our Lady
the Queen within the Borough aforesaid for that he disclosed the finding of him-
self and the rest of the jurors of the Borough aforesaid out of Court and before
they delivered their verdict t® the Court of our Lady the Queen here."

The fine, one of five shillings only, was forthwith paid.
Perhaps William Morrys, in the subjoined, may have been sum-
moned on the jury.

Michaelmas, 17th Elizabeth : —

" The cause is for that the said parties did arrest William Morrys in the Towne
of Marlbrough surmising an action of debt against him for that he presented the
peace against the said Anthony Farmer there being the present time of the
Sessions and coming thither in the Queen's service."

The relations of the court with the Sheriff receive illustration in
the following.

Michaelmas, 19th Elizabeth : —

" Md gave the Shrefe a prcept for sums 0f the Sessn at Sarra next with one
venir for Chevers and xiiij pises."

Trinity, 21st Elizabeth :—

" Md dld to Thomas Morrice baliffe arr' [ballivus errans\ to Mr. Shreife the
xxvtb of July A0 suprdcto xxu writs wth the pcept of sumoning the Sessn — a venire
upon a travers — and one exigent for felony against John Curteis als Sewen and
others &c."

"Md dd to Anthony Baker bayliffe arr' to Mr. Shreife the iiijth of SeptemV
A0 suprd ij° venire for travers — one for Mr. Chaddnton and others and one for
Haynes — one cap' for felony against Cowpr and others and ij° other wrytes."

Epiphany, 22nd Elizabeth

" Delivered to the Shriefs man Stevens the xxjth of February Anno Supradicto
vj writs besides the precept."

" Md I delyvred a note upon my Kalender to the gaoler that William Clifford
of Overton sholde not be discharged out of the gaole before he had given securitie
for the good behaveor and to appeare at the next Sessions."

Then the clerk of the peace exhibits an intelligible solicitude on
the subject of his fees. At the Epiphany Sessions, 18th Elizabeth,
he writes : —

" Md that thes Farmers have paid but iijs towards their hole fees."

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions. 109
Epiphany, 20th Elizabeth

" Md delivered to William Staples servant the second of February 1577 one
Record of the Assizes holden at Sarum in Anno 15° Elizabeths Reginoe and the
Record of the Assizes in Anno 16° Elizabethse Reginse ; and also copy of one
indictment wherein one Thomas Hold way is indicted, with a certiorari to certify
the same the fees whereof are unpaid."

Trinity, 20th Elizabeth :—

" Md that Robt Gawen dothe ow me for my fees iiij.s vjc?."
Epiphany, 2 1st Elizabeth : —

" Md the fees for the recognizance is unpaid : comit ad gaol."

But encouraging incidents relieved these gloomy experiences :
os the same page with the last entry stands another to the effect
that " John Townsend is releasyd of the peace and paid his fees.33

It must have been the clerk of the peace's clerk who penned the
following : —

" Md that I putt my Mr. in remembrance at the next Assiss that process be
made against all such as weere presented at Hyndon for selling ale without
licence."

And the next, in which his zeal for his employer's purse grew
impatient of court Latinity, and betook itself to the vernacular.

Trinity, 21st Elizabeth :—

" Finis Petri Powlden Willmi Smyth et Johs Busslopp taxatur per curiam
cujuslibet eorum iijs iiijc? — the same was paied by my Mr. for ye Justices diet
and the said parties promised to pay it againe at my Mr's. coming whome."

Among the miscellaneous offences not before specified, were
charges for killing pigeons with a net; for permitting escapes
from prison, (Fisherton) or from custody ; for buying corn in the
field : for sleeping by day and watching at night, &c, &c.
On some accusations, possibly political, of which the particulars are
lost with the great rolls, very heavy bail was on one occasion
demanded, being no less than £400 from the principle and £200 from
each of two sureties. At the same sessions viz., Epiphany, 29th
Elizabeth : —

" The Mayor and the Constable of the Burgesses of Marlborough at the mercy
of the Court in the sum of £20 by the judgment of the Court because they have

110

Extracts from the Records of the

not made a sufficient return to and execution of our Lady the Queen's Writ as
appears by the record."

XXII. — Minor Transactions. — Notes of Assizes.

Bat if, on the one hand, the Court of Quarter Sessions exercised
a practically unlimited criminal jurisdiction and also performed a
variety of other important functions not immediately connected with
crime, yet on the other, the court discharged numerous minor duties
which at the present day are undertaken either at the Court of
Summary Jurisdiction, or by a justice sitting1 alone. In the reign of
Queen Elizabeth as in the early years of the reign of Queen Victoria,
every petty theft had to be submitted to a jury. It was also in full
court that accused persons were committed to the next sessions or
assizes as the case might be, and prosecutors and witnesses were
bound over to appear and give evidence. The county boundary does
not seem to have been an inviolable barrier, for on more than one
occasion the court binds over a witness to the assizes at Winchester.

The notices of the Assizes appearing in the Elizabethan minutes
do not present any features of interest, with the single exception
of the minute, entered at p. 96, supra. In the rest, the entries
concerning them are of no interest whatever : the following is a
list of the Assizes noticed in the minutes : —

Date. Before whom held.

22nd March, 1575, No names.

30th August, 1576, No names.

3rd March, 1576, No names.

26th February, 1577, Chief Baron Jeffreys, and Serjeant Anderson.
12th March, 1578, Chief Baron Man wood, and Serjeant Anderson.
24th August, 1579, Chief Baron Manwood, and Serjeant Anderson.
30th June, 1 580, Chief Baron Manwood, and Serjeant Anderson.
20th August, 1584, Chief Baron Manwood, Mr. Justice Perryam.
19th August, 1585, No names.

Of these all were held at Salisbury, save that of the 24th August,
1579, which was held at Amesbury.

WiltsMre Quarter Sessions.

Ill

APPENDIX.
I.

Names of Justices acting at the Quarter Sessions, as entered on
the minute books.

Henry Earl o£ Pembroke, Edward Earl of Hertford, Henry,
(Cotton) Bishop of Salisbury, [John, (Piers) Bishop of Salisbury,
is named as having acted as a Justice out of sessions,] John Lord
Stourton, George Lord Audley, Sir John Popham Chief Justice
of The Common Pleas, William Tooker, S.T.D.

Knights.

Sir Matthew Arrundell, Sir Anthony Ashley, Sir Edward Baynton,
Sir Henry Baynton, Sir John Danvers, Sir William Eyre, Sir
Edward Hungerford, Sir John Hungerford Sir Walter Hungerford,
Sir Henry Knyvett, Sir Walter Long, Sir Edmund Ludlow, Sir
James Mervyn, Sir John Mervyn, Sir George Penruddock, Sir
Francis Popham, Sir Henry Sherrington, Sir John Thynne, Sir Giles
Wroughton, Sir Thomas Wroughton, Sir John Zouch.

Esquires.

William Baylief, Edward Baynard, Henry Baynton, William
Blacker, William Brouncker, William Button, Henry Clifford,
William Daniell, John Dauntesey, John Davis, Christopher Doding-
ton, John Earnley, Edward Estcourt, Giles Estcourt, John Eyre,
William Eyre, William Grove, Bartholomew Horsey, Edward
Hungerford, Walter Hungerford, William Hussey, William Jordan,
Edmund Lambert, James Ley, Walter Long, Edward Ludlow,
Henry Martyn, Anthony Myldmay, Thomas Mompesson, Jasper
Moore, Edward Penruddock, J ohn Penruddock, Robert Penruddock,
Henry Poole, Carey Rawley, Edward Bead, William Reade, <
Rowles, Henry Sadler, Nicholas St. John, Henry Sherrington, Henry
Smith, John Snell, Thomas Snell, Giles Thistlewaite, John Thynne,
Giles Tooker, Alexander Tutt, Walter Vaughan, Thomas Walton,
John Warneford, Henry Willoughbye, John Willoughbye, Thomas
Wroughton, Francis Zouch.

112

Extracts from the liecords of the

II.

Place-Names.

This list does not pretend to be exhaustive : it may have some
interest as affording illustrations of sixteenth century pronunciation.

Abury, Avebury.
Alborne, Alborne Chase.
Alderberie, Aldebury, Alderbury

and Grynstide.
Alderton, Aldrington.
Allington.
Alton.

Alston, Alvedston, Awston.
Ambesbury, Ambrosbury, Am-

brosebury, Amesbury, Amsbury,

Amsbury Erldone and Priorye,

Amysbery, Amysbury.
Ashlington.
Ashton Gifford.

Asheton Keynes, Ashton Keynes,
Ashton Kaynes.

Asserton.

Axford.

Backhampton.

Badbery, Badbury.

Barford, Barford Sti Martin, Bar-
ford St. Marty n.

Barlie Grafton, Barly Grafton.

Barwick Basset.

Barwick Sti Jacobi, Barwycke S.
James.

Barwick St. John, Barwick Sti

J ohis.
Barwick Sti Leonardi.
Bathampton, Battington, also

Great Bathampton.

Baverstocke.
Baydon.

Bedson, Biddestone, Bydson.
Bechingstoke,Beechingstoke.
Bedwin, Bedwyn, Bed win

Magna.
Bemerton, Bymerton.
Benfield.

Bishopeston, Bishopston.

Bushopstrowe, Byshopestrow.

Blackland, Blacklond.

Blonsdon, Blunsdon.

Boram, Boram alias Burton.

Bowdon.

Box, Boxe.

Bradford.

Bratton.

Bradley, Bradly.

Bramshawe.

Bremble.

Brinkworthe, Brinck worth.

Broad Chalke, Broad Chalk,
BrodeChalke,BroadChaulk,
Broad Chaulke.

Broad Somerford, Broade
Somerford, also Great
Somerford.

Brockenborough, Broken-
borough, Broukenborow.

Brodhenton.

Bromham, Bromeham.

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

113

Brooke (Westbury).

Chesenbury.

Broughton. [kynton.

Chicklat, Chicklad.

Buckington, Bulkington, Bul-

Chilmark, Chilmarke.

Bugley.

Chilton, Chilton Folliat,

Burchenwood.

Chilton Follyat.

Burbadge, Burbage, Burbidge.

Chirrell, Chirvel.

Burcombe.

Chirton. [ton.

Burdropp.

Chiselden, Chyselden, Chyse-

Burtford [Britford].

Chiltern.

Burton hill (Tithing).

Chittow.

Bushton.

Christen Malverd, Curst

By nail, Byncknoll, Byncknowle,

Mavord, Xren Malford.

Bynoll.

Clack.

Oadley (Potterne).

Claringdon.

Cadnam.

Clatford.

Calcott.

Cleve-peper, Clive-piper.

Calne.

Clinche.

Canings, Cannings, Canyngs,

Coate (Bishops Cannings).

Cannings Epi., also By shops

Cockelborowe.

Cannings.

Codford, Codford Mary.

Castell Combe, Castell Combe,

Colebarwick.

Castel Comb.

Collarn, Collarne, Collern,

Cast el Eaton, Caslte Eton.

Cullern, Cullerne.

Calston, Cawlston, Cawston.

Collingborne, Collingborne

Chadderton, Chadenton, Chad-

Ducis.

dington.

Collingborne Kingston, Col-

Chaulke.

lingborne Regis.

Chappemanslade. Chapmanslade,

Collingborne Sutton, Colling-

Chapnhamslade, Chepmanslade,

borne Vallance.

Cheppymslade.

Combe.

Charlton, Charlton Musgrove.

Comerford [Quemerford] .

Charnam Street, Charnham Streat.

Compton, Compton Basset.

Chawfield West.

Compton Chamberlaine,

Chel worth, (Cricklade) .

Compton Chamberlayn,

Cheppenham, Chippenham.

Compton Chamberlayne.»

Chesbury, Chysbury.

Compton Chamberlen.

VOL. XXI.— NO. LXI.

i

114

Extracts from the Records of the

Conk.

Eastmanstreat (Tithing).

Corsham, Cosliam, Cossam.

Easton. •

Corsley, Corsly, Corslye.

Eastropp.

Corston.

Eaton Keynes.

Corton.

Ebesborne, Ebesborne Wake,

Gotemarshe.

Eblesborne Wake.

Coulston.

Eddington, Edington.

Cricklad, Oricklade, Crycklad.

Enford.

Croften, Crofton (Gt. Bedwin).

Escott.

Crockerton, Crokerdon.

Everleigh.

Crudwell.

Evesbury (? same as Avebury) .

Damerham, Damerham South.

Fackham.

Dauntesey, Dauntsey.

Farleigh Hill. Farley.

Detford.

Fernham.

Deverell Lanffbridge. Deverell

Fidleton, Fitleton, Fittleton,

Longbridge.

Fiddle ton et Hackston,

Devizes, Devizez.

Fyttleton.

Dinton, Dynton.

Fifeilde (Enford), Fifelde, Fif-

Dornford, Durnford.

helde, Fyfeeld, Fyfeild,

Downe Pewsey.

Fyfeilde, Fyfeld, Fyfelde,

Downton.

Fyffhed.

Draycott.Drevcot, Drevcott.Drav-

Fissherton Anger, Fysherton

cott Follyat, Dreycott Follyat.

Anger.

Dunhead, Dunned, Dunhedd, Dun-

Fonthill Gifford, Foontell

hed Mary.

Gifford, Fonntell Gifford,

Durinfrton, Durrinerton.

Fountell Gyford, Founthill

Dychampton.

Gifford.

Earlestoke, Erlestook.

Forde.

Easterton.

Fovent.

East Grafton.

Foxley, Foxly.

East Grimsted, Est Grimsted,

Froxfeild.

East Grymsted.

Fyeldean, Fyheldeane.

East Harnam, Eastharnham.

Fysherton Delamer, Fysserton

East Knoyle.

Dalamer.

East Kynnet.

Garsdon, Garston.

East Lavington.

Garsters (parish).

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

115

Goatacre, Goataicker, Goateaker.

Horton.

Gombledon, Gombleton, Gomel-

Huishe.

don,

Hullavington.

Gomerwell.

Hungerford.

Grafton.

Hungerford Farley, Hunger-

Gretenham, Gretnam.

fordes Farleighe.

Gretleton.

Hurcot, Hurcott, Hurcutt.

Grondwell

Hyndon.

Grove. [Grymsted.

Idmeston.

Grimsted, Grimstede, Grumsted,

Imber.

Ham.

Inglesham.

Hankerton.

Itchelhampton.

Hanging Langford.

Jacobi Ugford, St. James

Hanging Stoke.

Ugford.

Hankeridge (Westbury).

Kemble, Kembell.

Hatch, alias Hipringstubb.

Kevell, Kevill.

Harnishe.

Kinge Rood, Kingeswood.

Haydowne We eke.

Kingeston Deverell, Kingston

Hayle, Heale, Heele.

Deverell.

Haytesbury, Haytisbury.

Kingswall.

Heddington, Hedington.

Kinwarston, Kyndwarston.

Helmarton, Hilmarton.

Knoke, Knooke.

Helthropp.

Knowle.

Hen ton, Hen ton (in Steeple Ash-

Knoyle.

ton), Hun ton.

Kynton, Kynton Sti Michis.

Higheway, Highway.

Lackham.

High worth.

Lacock, Lacocke.

Hill Deverell.

Lanford.

Hillperton, Hillprington, Hilper-

Langley Burrell, Langlie Bur-

ton, Hilprington.

rell, Langly Burrell.

Hindon.

Laverstock.

Hodson.

Lavington, alias Easterton.

Hoi, Holte, Houlte.

Lavington Episcopi, Lavyng-

Homington. «

ton, Lavington Markett.

Horningeshame, Horningsham,

Le, The.

Hornisham, Hornisom.

Lea.

i 2

116

Extracts from the Records of the

Liddeard Millisent, Lidiard Mill-
cent, Lyddeard Milliscent, Lyd-
diard Myllysent.

Lockeridge.

Lo veil's Upton, Upton Lovell.
Luckington.
Lndgarshall, Lurgesall.
Lyddeard Tregose, Lyddiard Tre-
goze.

Lyddington, Ludington.

Lyghe Dallamer.

Lymply Stoke.

Lyneham.

Lyntham.

Lyttle Hynton.

Madington.

Madyn Bradley, May den Bradley,
Maydyn Bradley, May den Brad-
ely, Mayden Bradly, Mayden
Broadly.

Mahington, Man ton.

Malmesbury.

Manningford.

Manningford Brues.

Marleborough, Marlebrough.

Marshton, Maston.

Marten, Martin, Martyn.

Meare, Meer, Meere.

Medborne.

Melborne, Mylborne.
Melksham, Millsham, Melka-

sham, Mylksham, Mylshym.
Mildeston.
Milton.
Morden.
Mouncton.

Mouncton Deverell.
Mouncton Farleigh, Mouncton

Farleighe.
Mounckfield.
Myddelton, Myddleton.
Mylenoll.
Mylford.
Nestetowne.
Netherhampton.
Netherhaven . [ton .

Netleton, Nettleton, Nettyl-
Newton, Newtowne, Nuton.
Norrington.

North Bradely, North Brad-
ley, North Bradlie, North
Bradly.

Northburcombe.

North Tidworth.

North Wraxall, North Wrax-
sall.

Norton.

Norton Bavant, Norton Ba-

vent.
Nova Sarum.
Ockborn.

Ogborne Sti Georgii.
Orcheston Mary, Orston

Mary.
Overfonthill.
Overton.

Oxeshey, Oxhey, Wokesey.
Pewsey, Pewsie, Pewsy,

Pwesye.
Pirton, Priton, Purton,

Pyrton.
Polshed.

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

117

Poole (Wilts).

Somerford.

Porton.

Somerford Keynes.

Pottern, Potterne, Potren, Pottren.

Somerford Mauditts.

Pottren Weeke.

Southbroome.

Preshute, Presute, Presult.

Southeburcombe, Southbur-

Priors Cleve.

combe.

Puckshipton.

South Newton. [weeke.

Puttall (Bedwyn).

South weeke, South wick,Suth-

Pytton.

South Wraxall.

Quidhampton, Quyddamton.

Stanhm ? Stanham, or Stan-

Ramesbury, Remesbury, Rems-

more.

bury.

Stanton Fitz Harb, Stanton

Rodborne, Rodborne Cheyny.

Fytes Harberd.

Rokeley, Rookley, Rowley, Rowly.

Stanton Fre Warren.

Rowd, Rowde.

Stapleford.

Rudg.

Staunton.

Russall.

Steart, Stearte, Steete, Steert,

St. Margaret Stratton.

Sterete, Stert, Sterte.

Saltrop.

Steeple Ashton Steple Ash-

Savernack, Savernecke.

ton, Stiple Ashton.

Sedhell, Sedghill.

Stiple Langford.

Seen, Seend, Send.

Stock Fountell.

Semington.

Stockley, Stockly, Stocklye.

Semleigh, Semley, Semly.

Stockton.

Sevenhampton.

Stoke Earles.

Sevington.

Stourton.

Shepridg parva, Shipridge parva.

Stowell.

Sherrington.

Stowford.

Sberston.

Stratford.

Sherston Pinckney.

Studley.

Shrew ton.

Sute (Longbridge Deverell).

Slaughterford,Slawterford,Sletter-

Sutton Benger.

ford.

Swaeliffe.

Smalebroke, Smallebroke.

S wallofeeld,S wallofeild,Swal-

Smythcott.

lowfeild, Swallowfeeld,

Sodbury.

Swallowfelde.

118

Extracts from the Records of the

o wdn uuiuw,

W CblCOLl.

Swarms Wick.

West Dean.

Swindon, Swinndon, Swynden,

Weast Grafton.

Swyndon.

West Grymsted.

xenont, xeiionie, lenouni, xeiont,

W^estliarnam.

Tpfnnfp

VV 6b lllti. lull .

Tidwnrth Tin* worth Smith TiH

Wf oo4" Tv i n fptrvn AA/oct. Ix a.
VV col AvlLlg LOll, VV cot IV Vile"

WU1 Lll OUU I lie, XyUWOlLil.

ton.

xiisnea.

West Lavington.

Tisbury, Tysbury.

W^estporte.

Token ham.

Westropp.

XUulcllllalll VV ccKc.

VV cob XOCHcIJllaLQ.

xiounugt/, xrow uiiuge.

VV CbLYVUUU..

Trnlp TrnllA Tvnwlo
XlOlc, XIOllc, llOVVlc.

\ A/ l-i OA A /"NY"*

vv nauiion.

xynnea, lynneaa..

vv nmey .

xyi/cuiiiuc ivxtirbyii.

vv Hixpdrisne, vv uytpari&iie.

xymtJiLoii xvcyieweyes.

vv iior Wcibuowne.

U pilaVcil.

V* ltlUltJ.

u ppwyuK.

vv lisioru..

\j pton OKiciniorc, u pioii4p Kyumore.

vv liion, vv yiton.

<U ILlltJlOllt/, uruniuiiic, * I rciiiouii L,

vv liibicy, vv yiibicy, vvyiiby.

Veni Sutton, Venny Sutton, Veny

Winterborne, Wynterborne.

Sutton, also Sutton Magna.

W^interborne Daunsey, W^in-

vv dnuorougn, vv dnuorow.

Leruorne x-'£iuni/ebtjy.

W arnela.

Winterborne Earles.

A^armister, W armyster.

vv mLei uorne vxonner.

Wadhampton, W^dhampton (Ur-

Winterborne Stoke.

CillOIll^ •

VV lilltJrblOYv, VV 111 LtJI olOW c.

\l\f cAtci \\F r^iT c\ *i nTTQ 1\T/xVI7/'>/"\i ■ y»T"
VV GKt3^ VV t/Kc JUXld. liCWtOUrt.

vv lbiiioru.

vv est ixsnxon.

vv ony.

W^sburie, Westbury, Westburye.

W^oodborough, W oodborow,

vv esiDury ueigne, vv esuoury

vv oouDorrow.

Lighe, Westbury Lyghe, West-

Woodford.

bury Lye.

Woodlands.

Westbury subter le Playne.

Woore (Oare).

Westchawfield.

Woorton, Worton, Wourton.

Wiltshire Quarter Sessions.

119

Wooten Bassett, Wootten Bassett, Wyck, Wycke.

Woten Bassett, Wotten Bassett, Wynfield, Wyngfield

The privilegium clericale or immunitas ecclesia will be found dis-
cussed in the standard treatises. It may be of interest to mention
that the passage generally selected for testing the culprit's attain-
ments seems to have consisted of the words " Miserere mei Deus "
from the first verse of the fiftieth Psalm of the Vulgate version
(Ps. li., A. V.), which, from being thus constantly appealed to on a
question of life or death, obtained the nickname of the " Neck Verse."

The following is from chap, xxii., vol. iii., of Reeves' History of the
English Law : — " In the reign of Ed. IV. when an ordinary refused a
man who prayed his clergy and read, the matter was certified into
the King's Bench and the ordinary was fined ; under the idea that
he was only minister of the court, and not the judge in such a case.
Again, one who had abjured for felony in killing a man being taken
prayed his clergy : it happened in that case that the man could read
only two or three words here and there, and not any three words
together, and yet the ordinary was pleased to claim him as a clerk,
upon which it was observed by the whole court that if it appeared
to them that the prisoner could not read, the ordinary should be
heavily fined and the convict hanged : adding that they were judges
of his reading for they were to make the award, quod legit ut
clericus ideo tradatur ordinario. It was at the same time intimated
that the reading need not be so very perfect and accurate as was pre-
tended, for a felon being tried by Fortescue and not being able to
read but only to spell and to put syllables together was nevertheless
allowed his clergy. It had been the common course for prisoners to
claim the benefit of their clergy upon the arraignment : this was
thought prejudicial to the party for he had no challenge to the
inquest ex officio ut sciatur qualis ordinario liberari debeat, by which

Wotton Bassett.
Wooton subter le Hedge.
Wraxall, Wraxsall.

Yatesbury, Yatisbury.
Yatton.

III.

Benefit of Clergy.

120

Extracts from the Records of the

conviction nevertheless he forfeited his goods and chattels together
with the profits of his lands until he had made purgation. To remedy
this Sir John Prisot, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, in concert
with the other judges, in the reign of Henry VI. made an alteration
which was thought more advantageous to prisoners than the old
practice. This was, not to allow the benefit of clergy upon the ar-
raignment but to recommend to the prisoner to plead to the felony
and put himself on "the jury de bono et malo. Thus he had the
advantage of his challenges and the chance of an acquittal on the
merits ; and after all, if convicted he might still claim his clergy.
This was a variation in the practice of our criminal courts which was
greatly commended and was followed by most of his successors/''

For the foregoing extract from Reeves' History, and for the fol-
lowing personal reminiscences, I am indebted to S. B. Merriman,
Esq., Treasurer of the Wiltshire Society : — " My recollections of
quarter sessions at Marlborough date back to 1820, and thence to
1826. Whipping was not common, but I remember once seeing a
youth of about 17 tried for stealing linen hung to dry on a hedge,
the property of some poor woman. He was tried in the second
court and was sentenced to be imprisoned and once publicly whipped.
I remember I was going down the street the next day and just in
front of the Market house saw a carpenter's bench with an erection
of two posts and a board like stocks. Soon up came the gaoler
(Alexander, afterwards transferred to Devizes), leading the culprit
stripped to the waist, who was assisted up on to the bench : his hands
were put through the holes, and I remember that the holes were too
big, and that handkerchiefs had to be bound round his wrists to pre-
vent him from slipping through the holes. Alexander did not flog
the man : this was done by a deputy, who had been in the army,
and I remember that the e cat 3 was a very light and merciful one
made for the occasion by this expert; the blows — thirty or thirty-six
in number — were not savagely given, they did not draw blood ; but
the lad's back was livid with bruises, and it was evidently a sharp
punishment. I remember that the mob hooted and hustled the exe-
cutioner after the punishment was over, and one of the most
indignant among the crowd was the servant of a local schoolmaster.

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles.

121

who by no means excluded corporal punishment from his system of
education. As to claiming* benefit of clergy, my recollection is that
so soon as a verdict of guilty was given the Clerk of the Peace ad-
dressed the prisoner with some such words as 1 having been duly
convicted of the felony laid to your charge, have you anything to say
why judgment should not be passed on you.' This of course meant
sentence of death for a felony; the convicted person had of course
nothing to say, and was then desired to ' kneel and pray the benefit
of the statute/ whereupon, being instructed by the gaoler or constable,
he bent his knee, and having thus by a gesture, of which perhaps
he was only half conscious, made a claim on the court, of which he
had even less understanding,he received sentence from the chairman/'
Benefit of clergy was formally abolished by the Act of 7 & 8
Geo. IV., cap. 28 : branding had long previously fallen into disuse.
(To be Continued.)

Dtt a f|oad of <$oH> fjtoite fomtfr at
§wmmfrge Jfarm, Ifetktg, Milk1

By the Eev. J. Baeon, D.D., F.S.A.,

Hector of Upton Scudamore, Wilts.

N the early part of September, 1877, there was found on
Bremeridge Farm, in the parish of Westbury, Wilts, be-
longing to Charles Paul Phipps, Esq., of Chalcot, a hoard of thirty-
two gold coins. They were found during repairs and improvements
of the homestead, about a foot and a half below the surface, in the
courtyard, piled one above another, without any appearance of a
purse or box. The place of deposit would be indicated by a line

1 This paper was read at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, London, and
is here reprinted, by permission, from Archseologia, vol. xlvii., pp. 137-156.

122

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles

producing the east end of the main building southwards to a distance
of about 13 feet from the wall of the present back kitchen.

The workmen, as a matter of course, appropriated the coins and
distributed them among themselves, being fully alive to their in-
trinsic value, but all unwitting, apparently, of the laws of treasure
trove. Mr. Phipps, with great promptitude, made the workmen
understand that the coins belonged neither to them as finders nor
to himself as owner of the soil and employer, but to the Queen, and
must be sent forthwith to the Treasury. By this means thirty-two
pieces were recovered uninjured, except that a little bit had been
scooped out of the edge of one, apparently to test the metal. After
a careful examination and list had been made they were sent to the
Treasury in a registered packet on the 18th of September.

About the 18th of December twenty-eight of the coins were re-
ceived back from the Treasury, three of the original number being
retained for the Mint and one for the British Museum, and express
provision was made for the liberal reward of the workmen who had
discovered this interesting hoard.

The general type of the coins resembles those engraved in Ruding 1
as nobles of Edward III., viz., Obverse, edward dei gra rex angl
et franc 2 d. hyb. The king standing in a ship, crowned, holding
in the right hand a drawn sword, and on the left arm a shield bearing
the arms of France and England. Reverse, >J< IHC autem transiens
per medium illortjm ibat (St. Luke, iv., 30), a cross fleury with a
fleur de lis at each point, and a lion passant gardant under a crown
in each quarter.3

1 " Annals of the Coinage, 1817."

2 et franc was distinctly read on eight, but, instead of this part of the legend,
fourteen at least have dux aqu or et aqvt, &c, either after or before d. hyb, &c.

3 Leake's " Hist. Acc. of English Money," 1745. Folke's " Table of English
Gold Coins," Soc. Ant. London, 1763. Pegge's "Remarks on the first Noble of
Edward III.," 1773, " Archseologia," vol. iii. Cuff's "Note on some Gold Coins
of Edward III. and Eichard II." 1842, "Numism. Chron." vol. v. is interesting
in reference to these Bremeridge nobles.

As one of the many examples now happily existing of the influence of anti-
quarian research in improving the illustrations of educational books, it may be
mentioned that there is a good engraving of a noble of Edward III. in " The
Student's Hume," 1859.

found at Bremeridge Farm, Westbury, Wilts. 123

In some of the Bremeridge specimens the French arms are repre-
sented semee of fleurs de lis as assumed by Edward III. ; in some
there are four or more fleurs de lis indicated in the 1st quarter, and
three in the 4th and more circumscribed quarter, while some one or
two have distinctly three fleurs de lis in both quarters, as afterwards
adopted by Charles VI. of France, who began to reign A.D. 1380,
and as expressly imitated by our Henry V.1 We may reasonably
expect to find some exceptional instances of three fleurs de lis an-
ticipating the formal enactment of change in each country, because
it is much easier to depict a small definite number than semee. On
the other hand, it would appear from the fifteenth century illumi-
nations of Froissart MSS. that some who had a right to quarter the
arms of France, notwithstanding the regular practice of Charles VI.
and his successors, still chose, from a conservative feeling, to depict
them semee of fleurs de lis, which coat came to be called for dis-
tinction " Ancient France." 3

Some of those which have the name of Edward on the obverse
have on the reverse in the centre the initial of fourteenth century
shape.8

The coin which has had a piece unfortunately cut out of it by the
finders, as above mentioned, happens to be particularly interesting
as being one of the three of Richard II. in this hoard, resembling
those already described of Edward III. with the exception of having
the name Richard, which is somewhat defaced, on the obverse, and
the initial b. in the centre of the reverse. These nobles of Richard
are not so well coined as those of Edward in the same hoard, and
the mutilated coin already mentioned being curiously blundered both

1 Sandford's "Geneal. Hist.," book III., e. iii., p. 157, note.

2 " Ce f ut seulement apres Charles V. que les armes de France furent reguliere-
ment fixees a trois fleurs de lis : tandis que depuis Philip le Hardi, qui le premier
placa trois fleurs de lis sur son sceau [en 1285] (" Noveau Traite de Diplomatique,"
1759, t. iv., p. 137), on les trouve tantot sans nombre, tantot reduites a trois."
" Tresor de Numism." " Hist, de 1' Art Monetaire," 1846.

3 One has a, i.e., c, which may possibly be intended to denote Calais as the
place of mintage. See Cuff's Note, &c, above cited.

124

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles

on the obverse and reverse seems to indicate either a forgery, or great
disorganisation in the proceedings of the mint.

The most curious, from the historical point of view, appear to be
four which, having on the obverse the armed figure in the ship, like
the rest, have nevertheless, instead of the arms of Edward IIL>
those of thilip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, as shown in the illu-
minations of Froissart, except the tinctures, which could not be ex-
presssed on coin, viz., 1st and 4th quarters, azure semee of fleurs de
lis or, within a bordure compony gules and argent ; 2nd and 3rd,
bendy or and azure within a bordure gules, with the legend p. H. s.

DEI GRA DUX BURG COMES & DNS FLAND.

This quartered coat, sometimes called modern Burgundy, was
assumed by Philip the Bold, fourth son of John II. of France, when
created Duke of Burgundy in 1363. The coat in the 2nd and 3rd
quarters is that of the first house of Burgundy, which flourished
upwards of three hundred and twenty years, and came to an end in
1361, by the decease of Philip le Rouvre, Duke of Burgundy, be-
trothed to Margaret, heiress presumptive of Flanders, who at the
said date was about 11 years old. The arms on these Flemish nobles
agree minutely with the coat depicted over the head of Philip the
Bold in the illumination of the MS. of Froissart in the British
Museum, where he is represented sitting in council with the Duke
of Berri.1

The diameter of the coins is nearly If in.,a little larger than our half-
crown, the thickness scarcely more than that of a sixpence, the average
weight 120 grains, nearly that of a sovereign. They all appear to be
of the finest gold, and the impressions are mostly clear and sharp,
showing very little wear from circulation, but some few are not so
successfully coined as others, and are somewhat blurred. The value
of the noble as mentioned below in the quotation from a contem-
porary chronicle was fixed at 6s. 8d., but it must be borne in mind

1 In Humphrey's " Illustrations of Froissart," 1844-5, vol. i., pi. xv., vol. ii.,
pi. xxiii., the illuminations are misrepresented, the bordure gules not being indi-
cated all round the bends in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. In " Geneal. Hist, des
Mais. Souv.," 1738, t. IV., 1. ii., c. i., art. 3, the coat is given correctly.

found at Bremeridge 'Farm, Westbury, Wilts.

125

that there was great difficulty in the early issues of gold coinage
about adjusting its relations to silver, and the relations which existed
in the fourteenth century are now entirely changed. The bullion
value of each of the Bremeridge nobles is now about 20<s. The
term noble as money of account in the sense of 65.^8^. is still used
in reference to the distribution of a charity founded in 1670 at the
neighbouring town of Warminster.

The type of an armed figure in a ship, with the text from St.
Luke, on the reverse, devised in commemoration of the great naval
victory off Sluys, A.D. 1340, was continued in successive reigns till
the time of Henry VI., and traces of it are found still later.1

In the better specimens the armour of the figure in the ship in-
dicates a resemblance to the chain gorget, &c, worn in the latter
part of the fourteenth century.2

The popular use of the above-quoted text of St. Luke as a pious
ejaculation is noted by the contemporary Sir John Maundeville, who
set forth on his travels in 1322, and died at Liege in 1371.

His words are : —

" And an half myle fro Nazarethe, is the Lepe of oure Lord : for the Jewes
ladden him upon an highe Eoche, for to make him lepe doun, and have slay 11
him : but Jesu passed amonges hem, and lepte upon another Eoche ; and zit ben
the Steppes of his Feet sene in the Eoche, where he allyghte, And therfore seyn
sum men, when thei dreden hem of Thefes on ony Weye, or of Enemyes ; Jesus
autem transiens per medium illorum ibat; that is to seyne, Jesus for soothe
passynge be the myddes of hem, he wente : in tokene and mynde, that oure Lord
passed tborghe out the Jewes Crueltee and scaped safly fro hem ; so surely mo we
men passen the perile of Thefes. And than sey Men 2 vers of the Psautre, 3
Sithes : * Irruat super eos formido Sf pavor, in magnitudine JBrachii tuif
Domine. Fiant immobiles, quasi Lapis, donee pertranseat populus tuus,
Domine ; donee pertranseat populus tuus iste, quern possedisti. f

"And thanne may men passe with outen perile." J

1 Folke's "Tables" and Euding's " Annals," above cited.
2 Stothard's "Monumental Effigies," 1817, "The Black Prince."

* i.e., S times— sith is an Anglo-Saxon word,
t " Exodus," xv., 16, Vulgate. The " Song of Moses," from which these -words are taken, is ap-
pended to the " Greek Psalter," Venice, 1864, p 178. Iteration's much practised in the devotions
of the Greek Church, particularly of select verses after the recitation of a psalm. '• Horologion,''
Venice, 1864, pp. 36, 42. Triple iteration is frequently prescribed, e.g., Kvpie eXerjcrov ibid., p. 1*
A6£a iv v-^iaroLSf ibid , p. 35, et alibi. Compare "Utrecht Psalter," Autotype, Lond., pi. 5 a.
"Psalter of Robert deLindesey," fourteenth century, Soc. Ant, Lond. MS. No. 59, f. 209.
t " Maundevile's Travels," c. x.

126

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles

Although many may have used the above text superstitiously,
many may have used it religiously ; and as Mr. Pegge remarks in
contending against the alehymist interpretation, it is not reasonable
to suppose that even in the fourteenth century the text was placed
upon the public coin of this realm as a mere amulet or charm.1 The
true explanation seems to be that religion was in that day a pre-
vailing fashion of thought, and that many of the great offices of
state were held by ecclesiastics. Hence many of the inscriptions on
coins and medals were religious. Englishmen reflecting from a re-
ligious point of view upon the victory of Sluys would naturally re-
gard it as a great providential deliverance from annihilation by
overwhelming numbers. The experience of Crecy and Poitiers
would confirm the use of the favorite text. Other inscriptions in
use at the time were Exaltabitur in gloria, Ps. cxi., 9. Domine ne
in furore tuo arguas me, Pss. vi., 1 and xxxvii., 2. Posui Deum
adjutorem meum. Cf. Ps. li., 9. " Dieu et mon droit " was first
placed on his seal by Edward III. in 1339.2

Before some of the great battles, as Crecy, the soldiers of both
armies confessed and heard mass, and some received the Holy
Sacrament.3

Much light upon the gold coinage of Edward III. and religious
inscriptions is obtained by reference to the coinage of French kings,

1 At the conclusion of the reading of this paper, A. W. Franks, Esq., Director,
remarked that this text, " Jesus autem," &c, is certainly found in treatises of
alchemy, and on finger rings of the fourteenth century of Italian workmanship.
K. S. Poole, Esq., of the British Museum, has kindly called my attention to
" Botica de los Templarios," the wooden front of a druggist shop, fourteenth cen-
tury, formerly attached to a house of the Templars in Toledo, and now in the
Architectural Hall of the Kensington Museum, having carved upon it the same
text. In 1866 a gold ring was found about five inches deep in the ground at
Montpensier in Auvergne by a shepherdess, inscribed " S. Georgius. Jesus autem
transiens per medium illorum ibat." This ring was exhibited by Mr. Hailstone
before the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, as stated in "The Academy," p. 518,
June 8th, 1878. It was afterwards submitted to Mr. Franks, and by him pro-
nounced to be an interesting ring of Italian workmanship, fourteenth century,
but not necessarily connected with Edward III. or the Black Prince.

3 Longman's " Life of Edward III.," vol. i., p. 156.
3 Froissait's " Chron."

found at Bremeridge Farm, Westhury, Wilts. 127

particularly of Louis IX. (St. Louis), A.D. 1226—1270. This king
copied his florin from the " fleur de lis " of Florence, and afterwards
originated the " agnel d'or," having on the obverse an " Agnus Dei,"
with the inscription " Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi miserere
nobis/' and on the reverse " XPC vincit XPC regnat XPC imperat."
This coin with its inscriptions was imitated by Edward III. of
England and by John II. of France. Hence the " aignels d'ov,"
afterwards vulgarly called " moutons d'or/' when the sacred signifi-
cance of the emblem was forgotten.

The inscription " XPC vincit, &c./" was continued on the gold
coins of France till Louis XVI.1

French example and art had doubtless great influence in England,
but the particular device of the armed figure in the ship and the
quotation from St. Luke were originated by Edward III, and his
advisers.

The significance of the armed figure in a ship and of the quota-
tion as being both commemorative of the great naval victory off
Sluys, 24th June, 1340, is clearly explained by Thomas de Burton,
who was elected Abbot of Meaux, in Yorkshire, A.D. 1396 : —

" Ipsae autem naves Francorum prius catenatae erant, ne ab invicem possent
separari. Sed, ante primum congressum, Edwardo rege cum sua classe fugam
simulante, catenas suas rumpebant, et regem Edwardum inordinate sequebantur.
Quod videns Edwardus Bex, ordine disposito per medium ipsorum transibat, et
de illis victoriam ut praedicitur adeptus est. Quapropter iste rex Edwardus im-
pressionem monetae suae aureae f ecerat commutari. Unde in suo nobili, dimidiam
marcam valente, ex una ejus parte navem cum rege armato in eo contento, regio
nomine circumscripto, et ex altera ejus parte crucem imprimi constituens, hanc
circumscriptionem adhibuit, ' Jesu autem transiens per medium illorum ibat.' " *

1 Cf. " Tresor de Numism ," above cited, p. 3. The agnel d'or as adopted by
Edward III. or the Black Prince, had edwaed inscribed under the feet of the
lamb in place of lvd. eex.

Since the above paper was printed in " Archseologia," vol. xlvii., I have found
that the words Christus vincit, &c, are prescribed with triple iteration at the be-
ginning of a litany of the time of Charlemagne, A.D. 800, in Paris MS. 13159,
quoted in " Swainson on Creeds," p. 351, note, cf . p. 352 ; London, Murray, 1875.

An Edwardian agnel is in the British Museum, and also agnels of John II. of
France, &c. J. Baeon.

* " Chron, Monast. de Melsa," vol. III., p. xxxii. 45.

128

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles

The following notices from contemporary chronicles are interesting
as giving the place and date of the first issue of gold nobles, about
four years after the great naval victory off Sluys, and stating that
they were called nobles because they were handsome in appearance
and of pure gold.

[A.D. 1343.]

"Hoc anno apud turrim Londoniarum jussit rex florenos fieri ; scilicet de-
narium, obolum, et quadrantem." *

"Circa idem tern pus ordinavit rex primo florenos aureos pro moneta ad cur-
rendum in Anglia ; quod parum duravit, quia parum profuit." f

[A.D. 1344.]

" Circa festum Assumptions beatae Mariae, dominus rex ad utilitatem regni
sui prohibuit antiquam monetam florenorum, et ordinavit novam ; scilicet majorem
florenum de dimidia marca ; minorem de tribus solidis, quatuor denariis ; et mi-
nimam de viginti denariis ; et vocantur nobiles, et digne, quia nobiles sunt
pulchri et puri." f

Provision was made two years afterwards for coining these nobles
in Flanders as well as in England, but the Flemish coinage was first
established in close alliance and co-operation with our Edward III.,
and was as much under his authority and control as the English
coinage.1 This great king in his struggle with France was fully
alive to the importance of a close connection with Flanders, com-
mercially, politically, and strategically. He used every means to
cultivate this connexion, and in many of his efforts he was successful ;
but upon some points of intrigue he was outmanoeuvred by France,
as in his attempt in 1347 to marry his daughter Isabella to Louis
de Male, the young Count of Flanders, and afterwards, in 1364,
his son Edmund of Langley to Margaret, the heiress presumptive
of Flanders.2 In the coinage of nobles he made a great advance
towards establishing an international currency between England and
Flanders.

* " Chron. Angl Mon. S. Alb," MRS.
t «' Ad. Mur. Chron.," E H S.
1 See Appendix B.
Froissart's " Chron." and Walsingham's " Hist. Angl."

found at Bremeridge Farm, Westbury, Wilts. 1£9

The Bremeridge specimens bearing the name and arms of Philip
the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, were not de-
vised by that right royal duke nor copied by him from some imagi-
nary continental type, but are most interesting examples of an
adoption and continuation of the coinage of gold nobles established
in Flanders by our Edward III. the next month after the battle of
Crecy in 1346.

The style Dominus, in addition to Comes Flandriae, appears to
be a following of Dominus Hiberniae, part of the title of the English
kings.

The putting together for contemplation of a few dates, historical
events, and documents, will best illustrate the history of gold nobles,
both English and Flemish.

1327. Although Edward III. from his accession at the age of
15 asserted his claim to be King of France, he did not actually take
that title till about 1337, after consultation with Van Artevelde
and the Flemings.1 In 1338 his third son Lionel was born at
Antwerp, in the Dukedom of Brabant, and was afterwards known
as Lionel of Antwerp. Some suppose the name Lionel to have been
chosen in allusion to the lion which is the heraldic bearing of the
Duke of Brabant. In 1339 Edward formally and regularly took
the title of King of France, and quartered his arms with those of
France to satisfy the Flemings.

1340. The victory at sea off Sluys.

Edward III., as early as 1336, had claimed that "the kings of
England were lords of the English Sea on all sides.'" After this
victory and the equally splendid one over the Spanish fleet in 1350
he was called by his own subjects and others " King of the Sea." 8

Edward's fourth son John was this year born at Ghent, and hence
he was afterwards known as John of Gaunt.

1343-4. First issue of gold nobles.

In the following year William de Edington became Bishop of
Winchester. He was born at Edington, Wilts, and founded the

1 Cf. Longman, "Life of Edward III.," vol. i., pp. 124, 156.
2 Longman, " Life of Edward III.," vol. i., p. 328, and vol, ii., p. 217.
VOL. XXI. NO. LXI. K

130

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles

convent and Church there, to which Bremeridge, five miles distant,
afterwards belonged. He introduced Bonhommes, an order of
Augustin friars, into the convent by the persuasion of Edward the
Black Prince. He was Treasurer and Chancellor of England, took
much interest in the coinage, was a great favourite with Edward III.,
and was offered the Archbishopric of Canterbury, but refused it.
He invented and introduced, in 1351, the groat and half-groat,
which seem to have been intended as a boon to the poorer sort of
the community, and so a fit sequel to the gold nobles for the rich
and great. He died in 1366, and was succeeded as Treasurer and
Chancellor of England and as Bishop of Winchester by William of
Wykeham.1

1346. On Saturday, the 26th of August, was fought the battle of
Crecy, and on the 8th of September and 24th of March following
were signed by Edward III. at Westminster agreements for the
currency of English nobles in Flanders, and for coining nobles in
Flanders to be current both there and in England.2

In the same year was fought the battle of Neville's Cross, in
which David II. of Scotland was taken prisoner. He remained
captive in England eleven years.

1356. Battle of Poitiers.

John II. of France was taken prisoner with his fourth son Philip,
then 1 6 years of age, who, from his bravery on this occasion and
general character, was ever afterwards called " the Bold/''

1360. Treaty of Bretigni. Edward III. renounced his claim to
the throne of France in return for great concessions. This change
is noted on his coins.

1363. Philip the Bold created Duke of Burgundy and first peer
of France.3

1 The property at Bremeridge was not acquired by the Convent of Edington
till about a year after the decease of its founder ; but he had been brought into
near connection with the locality from having the care and profits of the manor
ofWestbury, &c, granted to him by Edward III. Hoare's " Hist, of Wilts,
Westbury," p. 59,

2 See Appendix B.

3"Geneal. Hist, des Mais. Souv.," above cited. "Hist, de Bourgogne,"
Dijon, 1739.

found at Bremeridge Farm, Westbury, Wilts. 131

1369. He married Margaret, heiress presumptive of Flanders.
Edward III. resumed the title of King of France, which title ac-
cordingly reappears on his coins.

1371. David II. had come to England in 1363 to negotiate for
the succession of Edward's third son Lionel to the Scottish throne,,
and was then cordially received and recognised as King of Scotland.
Shortly before his decease in 1371 he issued gold nobles in Scotland,
in imitation of those of England.1

1375. Great festivities and tournaments, lasting four days, were
given at Ghent by the Duke of Burgundy.

1377. Decease of Edward III. and accession of his grandson
Richard II.

1384. Philip the Bold becomes Count of Flanders by the de-
cease of Louis de Male/ and assumes the style which appears on his
nobles.

i 1399. Richard II. deposed, and succeeded by Henry IV.

1404. Philip the Bold dies, and is buried with great pomp in the
Carthusian Church which he had founded at Dijon. His magnificent
tomb was taken to pieces in consequence of an order of the Commune
in 1793 for its destruction ; but it was put together again in 1818
without much injury, and is now in the Museum at Dijon.3 His
widow survived him one year, and was buried in the Isle of Flanders.

1417. 5 Henry V. The nobles of Flanders, " vulgarly called
Bourgoigne nobles/'' are forbidden, under penalty, to be received in
England, as being of less value than those now coined in England.4

1 " Pinkerton's Essay on Medals," vol. II., pi. ii.

2 " At the same time [1384], the burghers' old foe, Louis de Male, Count of
Flanders, perished by an obscure death, probably in a brawl with the Duke of
Berri. Flanders then fell into the hands of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy,
who had it in right of Margaret his wife. He was wise and conciliatory, restored
the Flemish liberties, and was himself more a Fleming than a Lily prince. And
thus the foundations of the great Burgundian Dukedom, stretching in a curve
from the sea round the whole northern and much of the eastern frontier of Ft'ance,
were securely laid." Kitchin's " Hist, of France," 1873, vol. i., p. 482.

3 " Hist, de Bourgogne," above cited, t. iii., p. 204. Murray's " Handbook of
France."

4 See Appendix B.

K 2

132 On a Hoard of Gold Nobles

The nobles of the Bremeridge hoard are of various dates, as might
be expected, but within moderate limits, just as at the present day
we often have in our pockets coins not only of various dates in the
reign of * Victoria, but specimens also of the coinage of William IV.,
George IV., and even of George III. Some of the earlier nobles
can be assigned to the year 27 Ed. III., i.e., 1353-4, and are there-
fore now five hundred and twenty-four years old. The extreme
limit at the other end of the period would be 1417, when the re-
ception of the nobles called Burgundian was prohibited : but this
range can be reduced with much probability. As some of the nobles
are of Richard II., it is clear that the hoard could not have been
deposited before that reign, which lasted from 1377 to 1399, that is,
twenty-two years. The deposit is not likely to have taken place
much later than 1399, or it would, in all probability have contained
some coins of a succeeding reign.

" Burgundian " nobles may have been current in England from
3384, when they were first coined, to 1417, when their currency was
prohibited by Henry V. ; but it is only natural to suppose that the
Burgundian specimens in this hoard are not later than the latest
date which can reasonably be assigned to any of the English, that
is 1399.

The circumstances of the discovery in 1877, detailed above, seem
to indicate in some degree the manner of the deposit.

The nobles appear to have been put into a bag sufficiently narrow
to keep them piled one above another, and then to have been let
down into a hole made with a fold stake, locally called a f ' fossle,"
or some such instrument, and covered in with earth till wanted.1

The unexpected decease of the depositor, either by violence or
natural cause, would account for the treasure being lost.

The practice of hoarding nobles in a poke or bag is indicated by
the contemporary poet Chaucer : —

" Certes, were it gold
Or in a poke nobles al untold." *

1 The holes now made by a shepherd in pitching a fold are about fifteen inches
in firm greensward and about eighteen inches in looser soil.

* " The Milleres Tale," v. 3777,

found at Bremeridge Parm, Wesihury, Witts. IBS

The locality of Bremeridge is interesting, having belonged to
Philip Marmyon in the reign of Edward I., and afterwards passed
to Sir Philip Fitzwaryn and his wife Constance, who transferred it
by exchange to tbe prior and convent of Edington in 136 7-8. 4
Hoare gives three documents, of the years 38_> 40, and 41 Edw. III.,
A.D. 1364 and 1367, relating to Bremeridge, which are of great
interest as being contemporary with the coins, and as illustrating
the name and ownership of the locality. The payments mentioned
are also noteworthy, and possibly, by numismatic sifting, might be
found to correspond curiously to the amount of the Bremeridge
hoard.

The chief points to be gathered from these deeds seem to be, that
the Rector of the Church at Edington and the convent thereof be-
came possessed of the manor, &c, of Highway, in the parish of
Bremhill, near Calne, Wilts, in fee-farm, paying ten pounds, that is
thirty nobles, yearly to the Bishop of Salisbury as chief lord 2 in
right of his Church of the Blessed Mary, of Salisbury, and an oc-
casional "relief" of 6s. Sd., i.e., one noble, upon every avoidance
of the said rectory of Edington ; and the annual profits of the said
manor, after paying the fee-farm rent to the Bishop, were estimated
at 13«. 4>d., i.e., two nobles. Thus the whole annual rent of the
property, in exchange for which the Rector and Convent of Edington
obtained the manor of Bremeridge, amounts exactly to thirty-two
nobles.3 The two earlier deeds are in Latin. By the third deed,
which is in French, on Thursday next before the Feast of St.
Valentine, 41 Ed. III., A.D. 1367, Sir Philip FitzWaryn and his
wife Constance, grant to John, Rector of Edington, and to the con-
vent thereof, in exchange for the manor of Highway, &c, in the

1 " Cal. I. P. M.," vol. L, p. 57, vol. h\, p. 277. Also Hoare's " Hist, of Wilts,
Westbury," pp. 58 to 62, above cited. Aubrey and Jackson's " Wiltshire Col-
lections," 1862.

% The patronage of the Vicarage of Bremhill with Highway and Foxham still
belongs to the Bishops of Salisbury.

3 It therefore seems natural to surmise that this hoard may be the amount of
rent prepared by the tenant of Bremeridge for the Kector and Convent of Edington
between 1384 and 1399.

134

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles

parish of " Bremel," le manor de Bremelrugg ove housbote et heybote
renables estovers et communes en lez boys de Westbury et la voeson
d'une chauntrie de Hewode et une mees et quinze acres de terre in
Dulton,' &c, i.e., the manor of Bremeridge, with materials for repair
of house and fences, and with reasonable supplies and commons in the
woods of Westbury, aud the advowson of a chantry of Heywood [in
Westbury Church] and a messuage [i.e., superior dwelling-house]
and fifteen acres of land in Dilton.1

Bremel is, in Anglo-Saxon, a common form of the word now known
in English as bramble.2

Bremhill, the modern form of the name of the village above re-
ferred to near Calne, "Wilts, is a late alteration. The Norman scribe
in Domesday Survey writes the name " Brerae," of course intending
the final e to be sounded, and he states that part of the land there
was four acres of bramble wood.3 Bremelridge has clearly the same
origin for its first part, either from early connection with " Bremel,"
now called " Bremhill," or from its own supply of brambles in early
times. The shape of the land where the homestead stands is so
clearly a ridge, as marked in the Ordnance Map, that there can be
no doubt of the significance of the latter part of the name. Brem-
eridge or Bremridge is a conveniently worn down form of Bremelrugg,
&c, but Brembridge is surely an inconvenient and misleading cor- .
ruption, no considerable stream being near to require a bridge.

Doubtless further illustrations might be obtained by referring to
other documents connected with Edington, Salisbury Cathedral, and
the locality.

The Bremeridge nobles are most interesting as historical tokens,
giving life and reality to the English, French, and Flemish history
of the period, especially to the Chronicle of Froissart.

It is within the bounds of possibility that, by antiquarian research
or even by what may be called happy accident, it may yet be dis-

1 Apparently that part of Dilton called then as now Dilton Marsh.
2 In Genesis, iii., 18, the words of the Vulgate, " Spinas et tribulos germinahit
tibi," are rendered by the Anglo-Saxon translator " Thomas and bremelas heo
asprit the." " BibL der Anglesachs. Prosa, Grein, Cassel und Goettingen," 1872.
3 Jones's " Domesday for Wilts, 1865, p. 38, and note.

found at Bremeridge Farm, Westbury, Wilts. 135

covered to whom the money belonged about A.D. 1399,, and whether
it was hidden by a thief or by an honest man in fear of thieves, or
marauders, in troublous times such as attended the deposition of
Richard II.

One lesson to be learnt from the particulars of this discovery is,
the importance of upholding the laws of treasure trove, amending
them if need be, and making it understood that the Treasury will
deal liberally with finders if they act frankly and loyally. The re-
search which has been made in the preparation for this paper further
illustrates remarkably the value of contemporary evidence, the im-
portance of having recourse to the most authentic sources which are
accessible, and the help which may be derived from numismatists
and heraldry, but, above all, from the fraternal intercourse and
readiness of communication which exist amongst antiquaries. I am
bound especially to acknowledge valuable hints received from Mr.
Franks, Mr. Bond, Mr. Poole, and other officials of the British
Museum and of the Mint.

The chief points now fully illustrated, but before more or less
obscure, are, the hold of Edward III. on Flanders ; the significance
of the device of the armed figure in a ship,1 and the special intention
of the text on the reverse ; the English originality of the noble, and
yet the French influence traceable in the cross and ornaments of the
reverse ; the coinage of English nobles in Flanders and their cur-
rency both there and in England from 1346 to 1417, i.e., seventy-one
years ; the identification of the Flemish nobles found at Bremeridge
as belonging to Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who was Count
of Flanders from 1384 to 1404, and not to his grandson Philip the
Good, who held the same possession from 1419 to 1466.

1 In order to appreciate more fully the appropriateness of Edward III. repre-
senting himself as an armed figure in a ship, and also to account for the persistence
of this device on the English coinage, it should he remembered that he was a
great admiral as well as a great general, the army and navy not being distinct
services, as in later times, that he expressly took the command ofE Sluys, displacing
for the nonce the official admiral, Sir Thomas Beauchamp, that he was also a great
promoter of commerce, especially of the Flemish trade in wool. The form of the
ship is well illustrated by comparison with the illuminations of the Froissart MSS.^
and with the seal of Tenterden, of which there is an impression in the Archi-
tectural Museum, Tufton Street, Westminster.

136

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles
APPENDIX A.1

Readings of the Bremeridge Nobles.
(yjr represents fleur de lis.)

4. E DWABDI M DEI W GEA « BEX « ANGL m1* FBANC D B.

Arms, three fleurs de lis in both 1st and 4th quarters. Uppermost lion in 2nd
quarter nearly obliterated. On gunwale, lion lion >//■ lion.
Kev. In centre (J»

►J* iho X AVTEM * TEANCIENS JJ P M MEDIVM M ILLOEUM H IBAT.

Selected for plate as fig. 1, " Ed. III. General type, Bremeridge." N.B. in the
arms most of the other Bremeridge specimens indicate semee of fleurs de lis, at
least in 1st quarter.

5. ED WAED DEI * GEA g EEX Jj ANGL g DNS " HYB «1« AQVT.

Arms, decidedly seme*e in both 1st and 4th quarters. Fault of coinage in lions
of 3rd quarter.

On stern of ship, flag with a cross on it. On gunwale, lion yfryfr lion 1/^.

Kev. In centre a. Qy. for Calais as place of mint.

Selected for plate as fig. 2, " Ed. III. Type with flag, <fec. , Bremeridge."

26. BICHAED g DEI [J GEA EEX ANGL DNS HY DVX AQ.

Arms of France, semee in first quarter. On gunwale, yjr lion \jr lion yjr lion ty.
Flag with cross, on stern. Kudder well indicated.
Eev. In centre E.

Selected for plate as fig. 4, " Kic. II. Bremeridge."

27. (^D)W ED J DEI •[} GEA M EEX ANGL DNS JJ HB J % AQ.

Arms of France, semee in 1st quarter. Edge of shield beaded as in other
Bremeridge specimens. Armour on breast and below waist obliterated. On ,
gunwale, lion \jr lion \jr.

Eev. In centre e, but indistinct. Text curiously blundered : viz.

-r- IHCI m ^VTDOD « TR?EN(II£>NS * PBR £ 00 * ILLOROQ.

Badly coined. The blunders and the inferiority of execution seem to indicate

1 In this reprint only those readings are given which refer to the coins selected
for the plate.

found at Bremeridge Farm, Wesibury, Wilts. 137

either a forgery or great disorganisation in the proceedings of the mint at the
time. Piece scooped out by finder.

Selected for plate as fig. 5, " Bic. II. blundered, Bremeridge."

30. PUS DEI J GEA ** DVX * BVEG % COMES £f£ DNS J FLAND.

Sword and right side of figure somewhat defaced.

The arms beautifully indicated : viz. 1 st and 4th quarters, fleurs de lis within
a bordure compony, the coat of Philip the Bold as fourth son of John II. of
France ; the 2nd and 3rd quarters, bendy within a bordure, the arms of the first
house of Burgundy, which came to an end in Philip le Kouvre in 1361. On
gunwale, lion -v//^ lion ■v/z-v/r.

Rev. In centre p.

It seems noteworthy that the lions under crowns in the spandrils of the cross
on the reverse are passant, open mouthed, but not gardant, as on the nobles of
Edw. III. and Ric. II. in the same hoard.

138

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.
GOLD NOBLES.

Fig. 1. Edward III. General type, Bremeridge - App. A. No. 4

„ 2. Edward III. Type with Flag and Cross of St. George, Bremeridge No. 5
„ 3. David II. of Scotland, British Museum ....

„ 4. Richard II. Bremeridge No. 26

„ 5. Richard II. "blundered, Bremeridge No. 27

„ 6. Flemish, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, Bremeridge - No. 30

N.B. — Figures 3 and 4 of the quarto plate in Archaeologia, vol. xlvii., facing
p. 154, are in this reprint omitted, for want of room, as less necessary for
illustration. On referring to the readings, Appendix A., on the preceding page,
it will be seen that No. 26 is similar to No. 5, having the flag and cross on
the obverse, but the letter K in the centre of the reverse.

found at Bremeridge Farm, Westbury, Wilts, 139

APPENDIX B.

Patent Rolls and Close Roll.

Patent Boll, 19 Edward the Third, part 2, m. 14.
" De tractando cum illis de fflandria de moneta auri.

" Eex omnibus ad quos, &c, salutem Quia pro utilitate publica precipue mer-
catorum et aliorum hominum tarn regni nostri Anglise quam Comitatus fflandriae
desideramus quod moneta nostra auri vocata La Noble quam jam cudere fecimus
in Anglia eundem cursum habeat in fflandria quern habet iu Anglia et quod ad
majorem multiplicationem dicte monete moneta predicta videlicet denarii oboli et
quadrantes vocati nobles nomine nostro cudantur in fflandria Ita quod cursum
tarn in fflandria quam in Anglia habeant uniformem Nos de fidelitate etindustria
fidelium nostrorum dilectorum Willielmi Stury et Thome de Melchebourn plenius
confidentes assignavimus eos conjunctim et divisim ad tractandum et concordan-
dum cum dilectis et fidelibus nostris Gubernatoribus Capitaneis Scabinis Burgi-
magistris Advocatis Consulibus et probis hominibus villarum de Gandavo Brugges
et Ipres et aliorum locorum Comitatus fflandriae et omnibus aliis quorum interest
vel interesse poterit in futuro tarn super cursu uniformi dicte monete in Anglia
et in fflandria quam super dicta moneta in partibus fflandriae facienda et cudenda
et super emolumento ex ipsa cussione monete proventuro et super assignacionibus
inde faciendis prout melius viderint vel viderit expedire et ad ea que sic tractata
et concordata fuerint quacumque securitate firmanda Promittentes nos ratum
et gratum habituros quicquid dicti Willielmus et Thomas vel eorum alter nostro
nomine fecerint vel fecerit in premissis. In cujus, &c.

"Datum apud Westmonasterium viii die Septembris." (1345.)

Patent Roll, 20 Edward the Third, part 1, m. 19.

" De moneta auri vocata La Noble in fflandria facienda et cudenda."

This document is verbatim the same as the preceding, with the exception of the
above title, the substitution of the name Gilbertus ne Wendelyngburgh for Thomas
de Melchebourn, and the date, " Teste Rege apud "Westmonasterium xxiiii die
Marcii." (1346.)

Close Roll, 5 Henry the Fifth, m. 18 d.

" De proclamacione facienda

" Rex Vicecomiti Kancie salutem Quia datum est nobis intelligi quod nobilia
de fflandria que Burgoigne nobles vulgariter nuncupantur et que minoris valoris
et precii ac pejoris alaie quam nobilia de cuneo nostro Anglie do novo fabricata
existunt inter ligeos nostros infra regnum nostrum Anglie pro solucione diver-
sarum summarum de die in diem continue currunt et recipiuntur in nostri pre-
judicium et contemptum ac dictorum ligeorum nostrorum dampnum fraudem et
deceptionem manif esta necnon contra formam Statutorum in hac parte editorum

140

On a Hoard of Gold Nobles.

Nos indempnitati nostre ac ligeorurn nostrorum predictorum prospicere volentes
ut tenemur tibi precipimus firmiter injungentes quod statim visis presentibus in
singulis locis infra ballivam tuam ubi magis expediens fuerit et necesse publice
ex parte nostra proclamari facias ne quis cujuscunque status gradus seu condicionis
fuerit aliqua hujusmodi nobilia Burgoigne nobles nuncupata sub forisfactura
eorundem pro aliqua solucione exnunc fienda recipiat ullo modo set quod ipsi qui
nobilia ilia habent ea ad cambium nostrum infra Turrim nostram London(ie)
deferant ibidem de novo cunanda. Et hocnullatenus omittas. Teste Rege apud
Westmonasterium quinto die Aprilis. (1417.)

" Consimilia brevia dir(iguntur) singulis Vicecomitibus per Angliam ac Can-
cellario in Comitatu Palatino Lancastrie sub eadem data."

The Committee desires to express its obligations to Dr. Baron for
his generous gift of the plate which accompanies this paper. [Ed.]

II. F, BULL, Printer and Publisher, 4, Saint John Street, Devizes.

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IN COURSE OF PUBLICATION.

MAP OF A HUNDRED SQUARE
MILES ROUND A BURY :

With a ffiLey to the British and Roman An if putties
occurring there.

BY THE REV. A. C. SMITH,

Rector of Yatesbury, and Hon. Secretary of the Wiltshire Archaeological
and Natural History Society.

Y I ^HIS work, the materials of which have been accumulating for twenty-five
years, is the result of innumerable rides and rambles over the Downs of
North Wilts ; and deals with one of the most important archaeological Districts
in Europe. It will be published and issued to subscribers by the Marlborough
College Natural History Society, and it will consist of two parts : —

First. — The Great Map — 78 inches by 48 inches, on the scale of 6 linear
inches, or 36 square inches, to the mile ; it comprises 100 square miles round
Abury, and includes the great plateau of the Downs of North Wilts, extending
from Oliver's Camp, on Bound wa}^ Hill, on the west, to Mildenhall on the east ;
and from Broad Hinton on the north, to the Pewsey Vale on the south. The
district thus mapped measures 13 miles from west to east, and 8 miles from north
to south. Every square mile, marked off with faint lines, lettered with a capital
letter and numbered, will show the Barrows, Camps, Eoads, Dykes, Enclosures,
Cromlechs, Circles, and other British and Eoman Stone- and Earth- works of that
district ; every such relic, being lettered with a small letter in its own square, is
readily found and easily referred to. The Map will be printed in six colours,
viz., the Antiquities in red, the Roads in brown, the Lanes and Down Tracks in
green, the Sarsen Stones in yellow, and the Streams and Ponds in blue.

Second. — The Key to the Great Map, — which is by far the most important
part of the work and will form a general " Guide to the British and Eoman An-
tiquities of North Wilts," — will be a volume of large quarto size, and will contain
the whole of the large Map in fifteen sections, measuring 18 inches by 12, and
four supplementary sections, each measuring 6 inches by 12. The Letterpress
will contain some account of each of the Antiquities, with references to and
extracts from the best authorities, as well as figures of various Urns and other
objects found in the Barrows, views of the Cromlechs, plans of the Camps, &c.
An Index Map, on the scale of 1 inch to the mile, coloured, numbered, lettered,
and divided like the Great Map, will accompany the volume ; and the whole will
be a general account of the Antiquities of North Wilts, inasmuch as the district
thus delineated embraces nearly all the remains of earliest times which exist in
the northern portion of the County.

Subscribers' names and addresses (a list of which will be published with the
Index) will be received by the Eev. T. A. Preston, The Green, Marlborough,
The cost of the Large Map and Key complete will be, to Subscribers, One Guinea
and a half. Or, of the Map in sheet, and the Key only, (without' Map in Sections,)
One Guinea.

AGENTS

FOB THE SALE OP THE

WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE.

Bath R. E. Peach, Bridge Street.

Bristol James Fawn & Son, 18 Queen's Road.

„ C. T. Jefferies & Sons, Redcliffe Street.

Calne A. Heath & Son, Market Place.

Chippenham R. F. Houlston, High Street.

Cirencester Keywoiith & Everard, Stamp Office.

Devizes H. F. Bull, St. John Street.

Marlborough E. & R. A. Lucy, Post Office.

Melksham J. H. Maggs, Bank Street.

Oxford Jas. Parker & Co., Broad St.

Salisbury Brown & Co., Canal.

Trowbridge B. Lansdowne & Sons, 11 Silver Street.

Warminster B. W. Coates, Market Place.

H. F. BULL, PBINTEE, DEVIZES,

No. LXII. DECEMBER, 1883. Vol. XXI.

THE

WILTSHIBE

IrrjuEnlogiral unit Hotel Iraktj

MAGAZINE,

PufilfeijeU mitftv fyz mixutian

OF THE

SOCIETY FORMED IN THAT COUNTY,
A.D. 1853.

DEYIZES:

Pbinted and Sold foe the Society by H. F. Bull, Saint John Stbeet.

Price 5s. 6d. — Members

NOTICE TO MEMBERS.

Members who have not paid their Subscriptions to the Society for
the current year, are requested to remit the same forthwith to
the Financial Secretary, Mr. William Nott, 15, High Street,
Devizes, to whom also all communications as to the supply
of Magazines should be addressed, and of whom most of the
back Numbers may be had.

The Numbers of this Magazine will not be delivered, as issued,
to Members who are in arrear of their Annual Subscriptions,
and who on being applied to for payment of such arrears, have
taken no notice of the application.

All other communications to be addressed to the Honorary Secre-
taries : the Rev. A. C. Smith, Yatesbury Rectory, Calne ;
and H. E. Medlicott, Esq., Sandfield, Potterne, Devizes.

The Rev. A. C. Smith will be much obliged to observers of birds
in all parts of the county, to forward to him notices of rare
occurrences, early arrivals of migrants, or any remarkable facts
connected with birds, which may come under their notice.

To be published by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History

Society,

THE FLORA OF WILTS.

BY THE EEV. T. A. FEESTOIsf, M.A.

The Author will be glad if any who could assist him with a list of plants
in their several localities would kindly communicate with him. Early information
ie particularly desired. Address — Rev. T. A. Peeston, The Green, Marl-
borough.

WILTSHIRE

ItrjjMltgiral unit Natural Bisfonj
MAGAZINE.

No. LXII. DECEMBER, 1883. Vol. XXI.

Contents*

PAGE

Stonehenge Notes : The Fragments : By W. Cunnington, Esq.,

F.G.S 141

Diageams to Illustrate the Effects of the Weather upon

the Flowering of Plants : By the Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A 150

The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum : By the Rev. Canon

Eich Jones, M.A., F.S.A 154

A Contribution to the History of Sir William Waller (A.D.

1597—1644) and Malmesbury (A.D. 1643—1644) : By W. W.

Ravenhill, Esq., Recorder of Andover 170

Certain Old Documents relating to the Parish of Broad

Hinton : Communicated by the Rev. John A. Lloyd, Vicar 183

A Description of the Saxon Work in the Church of S. James,

Abury : By C. E. Ponting, Esq., Diocesan Surveyor and Architect ... 188
The Ayliffes of Grittenham : By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson,

F.S.A 194

On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds in

the Neighbourhood of Salisbury : By the Rev. A. P. Morres,

Vicar of Britford (Continued) 211

Some Un-Described Articles in the Stourhead Collection : By

W. Cunnington, Esq., F.G.S 256

The Stourhead Collections of Antiquities and Books 264

Donations to the Library and Museum 267

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Plan of Stonehenge in its Present Condition 1 42

Diagram of Flowering of Plants in 1882 150

Plate (Figs. 1 and 2) of Saxon Work in the Church of

S. James, Abury 189

Plate (Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6) of Saxon Work in the Church

of S. James, Abury 191

Portrait of John Ayliffe, Esq . 194

Large Funereal Urn (one of three) found in a Barrow at

Kingston Deveril, by Mr. Cunnington, in 1800 258

Drinking Cup found at Imber, Wilts 259

Funereal Urn from Durrington, Wilts, found by Mr.

Cunnington, November, 1803 „ 260

Two Spear-heads in the Stourhead Collection in the

Wiltshire Museum 262

DEVIZES :
H, F. Bull, 4, Saint John Street.

THE

WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE.

"multobum manibus gbande levatub onus."- -Ovid.

By Mr. Cttnnington, F.G.S.

N his valuable paper on " The Petrology of Stonehenge," 1
Professor Maskelyne speaks of the large number of chips or
fragments that may be found by searching beneath the surface soil,
immediately round the great circle of stones, especially on the south
and west sides of it. Connected with this subject some important
facts have since come to light, which we would now record in the
Wiltshire Magazine.

Many specimens had been found on the surface during the short time
that the Society was holding its gathering at Stonehenge, in August,
1876, but the attention of visitors having been directed to them, every
fragment has been picked up, and none can now be found. In 1880
Mr. H. Cunnington dug up several specimens under the turf just
within the vallum ; and in other excavations in July o£ the following
year he made discoveries which must not be passed by without
notice.

It is well here specially to mention the important addition which
he then made to our knowledge of Stonehenge by the discovery of
the stumps of two of the stones, the existence of which had pre-
viously been unknown. One of these is the base of an obelisk
belonging to the inner ellipse, situated between Nos. 56 and 58 of

1 Wiltshire Magazine, vol. xviL, p. 159.
VOL. XXI. — NO. LXII.

L

142

Stonehenge Notes: The Fragments.

the accompanying' plan.1 In position it ranges with the other
stones forming1 this ellipse, and it is composed of the same material
— diabasic rock. The block is about nine feet from No. 58, and
slopes somewhat towards the north-west. It is embedded in a very
tough substance, resembling concrete, of which we propose to speak
further on.

The other of these relics is all that remains of one of the small
stones of the inner circle. It was found six inches below the turf,
on the eastern side of the building, between Nos. 27- and 29,
about ten feet from No. 27. It consists of a soft calciferous chloritic
schist, foreign to the county of Wilts, and differing entirely from
any of the other stones of Stonehenge. Fragments of this stone
have been constantly turning up at Stonehenge, and in the neigh-
bourhood [notably in Barrow 41 (Hoare's Map),2 about a mile
from Stonehenge], and have been a source of much perplexity to
all penologists; not belonging on the one hand to any known rock
of this part of England, nor, as far as was then known, to Stone-
henge itself. The late Mr. Poulett Scrope was the first to find
a piece of it, now many years ago. Numerous splinters of it have
since been discovered, and it is mentioned by Professor Maskelyne
as a compact variety of rock, with a decided slaty cleavage and
character.3 Each specimen found added to the difficulty, but all
this has been removed by the opportune discovery of the original
stone as above-mentioned.

It is not surprising that the mere stump only remains, as the
stone is so soft as to be easily broken by excursionists, both ante

1 In the plan of Stonehenge which accompanies this paper the numbering has
been simplified, so as to render it more available for general use. Number one
commences with the stone on the left of the entrance, passing round the circle
of large sarsen stones, with their lintels (marked " L "), thence to the inner circle
of small foreign stones, then to the ellipse of the five great trilithons of sarsen,
with their imposts (marked " I "), and then to the inner ellipse of (diabase —
foreign) obelisks.

2 Long's " Stonehenge," p. 66.
3 Wiltshire Magazine, vol. xvii., p. 159.

William Gznrungtcnr, F.G.S. 18<

Whitem.an&]3ass, Jitho London

142

Stonehenge Notes : The Fragments.

the accompanying plan.1 In position it ranges with the other
stones forming this ellipse, and it is composed of the same material
— diabasic rock. The block is about nine feet from No. 58, and
slopes somewhat towards the north-west. It is embedded in a very
tough substance, resembling concrete, of which we propose to speak
further on.

The other of these relics is all that remains of one of the small
stones of the inner circle. It was found six inches below the turf,
on the eastern side of the building, between Nos. 27 and 29,
about ten feet from No. 27. It consists of a soft calciferous chloritic
schist, foreign to the county of Wilts, and differing entirely from
any of the other stones of Stonehenge. Fragments of this stone
have been constantly turning up at Stonehenge, and in the neigh-
bourhood [notably in Barrow 41 (Hoare's Map),2 about a mile
from Stonehenge], and have been a source of much perplexity to
all petrologists ; not belonging on the one hand to any known rock
of this part of England, nor, as far as was then known, to Stone-
henge itself. The late Mr. Poulett Scrope was the first to find
a piece of it, now many years ago. Numerous splinters of it have
since been discovered, and it is mentioned by Professor Maskelyne
as a compact variety of rock, with a decided slaty cleavage and
character.3 Each specimen found added to the difficulty, but all
this has been removed by the opportune discovery of the original
stone as above-mentioned.

It is not surprising that the mere stump only remains, as the
stone is so soft as to be easily broken by excursionists, both ante

1 In the plan of Stonehenge which accompanies this paper the numbering has
been simplified, so as to render it more available for general use. Number one
commences with the stone on the left of the entrance, passing round the circle
of large sarsen stones, with their lintels (marked " L "), thence to the inner circle
of small foreign stones, then to the ellipse of the five great trilithons of sarsen,
with their imposts (marked " I "), and then to the inner ellipse of (diabase —
foreign) obelisks.

2 Long's " Stonehenge," p. 66.
3 Wiltshire Magazine, vol. xvii., p. 159.

1

(
(
c

i

By Mr. Cunnington, F.G.S.

143

and post-historic, and it would probably be much affected by frosts.

Following out these discoveries, the bases of other buried stones
have since been found by probing* the turf with a pointed rod.

But another question arises respecting certain fragments of a very
hard dark quartzite with grains of feldspar. Of this material a large
piece was found in barrow No. 4i (Hoare's Map), by Mr. H.
Cunnington, in 1872, and more recently — July, 1881 — seven other
splinters of it were dug up within the temple. This too, is not a Wilt-
shire rock, nor is it like any of the stones at present visible, but judging
by the analogy of the soft schist, may we not fairly expect that
further exploration will discover the parent stone under the turf?
The same remark will apply to some three or four other fragments
found within the area, which though they have not been fully ex-
amined, are evidently foreign to the country, and as yet unknown as
Stonehenge materials.

Within the three years to December, 1881, four hundred and sixty
fragments of Stonehenge rocks found under the turf, in waggon
ruts, or in the barrows, have passed under examination. Many of
them have been cut for the microscope.1

The following specimens were found in three small holes, on July
8th, 1881 :—

Diabase 39
Felsite 62
Quartzite, with traces of feldspar 8 8
Sarsen 9
Calciferous chloritic schist 49
Micaceous sandstone (altar stone) 5

1 We are greatly indebted to Mr. Thomas Davies, of the Government Miner-
alogical Department, for his kindness in devoting much valuable time to the
examination of the specimens mentioned in this paper. They have all passed
through his hands, and the descriptions given may be relied upon as accurate.

2 Similar to the stone found in the Barrow No. 41, (slide S. 1.)

L 2

144

Stonehenge Notes: The Fragments.

Of these there were in the earth round the —
Stump of the obelisk, No. 57. Stump of schist stone, No. 28.

(see map.)

8 1

o . • • ...

Felsite

9»

1

Quartzite (as above)

2

1

Sarsen

38

Calciferous schist (as

above) 5

9

Micaceous sandstone

1

24

23 5

13

A small piece of oolitic freestone, and two specimens closely re-
sembling the Upper- Green- Sandstone of Wiltshire have been dug up.
One of the latter contains foraminiferous shells, recognised by
Professor Rupert Jones as Textularia globulosa, (Ehrenberg,) and
other microscopic fossils. It is difficult to account for the presence
of these three fragments, but they can have no immediate connexion
with Stonehenge.

The turf was taken up at about twenty feet within the vallum,
to the left of the entrance, but no specimens were discovered, and
here the soil was only from four to six inches in depth. Further on
in the same direction, and nearer the building, the fragments were
more numerous, including eight pieces of various felsites, some of them
more laminar in structure than others, three pieces of the soft schist,
the same as the stump of the stone found at S. 28 (see map) as men-
tioned above, p. 142, one of greenish diabase, one of grey diabase (un-
like the other specimens), a portion of the rim of an amber-coloured glass
cup or vase, described at p. 148, and several flint flakes. In another
hole dug close by, to the left, there were found two fragments of

1 Two varieties of this stone.
2 With very fresh-looking fractures.
3 Apparently differing from the sarsens of the temple.

4 One of these is darker in colour than the altar stone, but this may have been
caused by exposure to smoke.

5 Besides the fragments mentioned at page 145 as having been found in or
attached to the concreted mass round the base of the obelisk.

By Mr. Cunnington, F.G.S.

145

dense felsite with the small regular white specks, one of green
diabase, and one of the soft schist.

The concrete-like substance in which the base of the obelisk is im-
bedded has apparently been produced by ramming into the hollow
round the stone when it was erected, a quantity of soft chalk, mixed
very freely with small flints (chalk and flint constitute the natural
subsoil of Stonehenge), and with numerous fragments of all the
different kinds of stone of which the building is composed. By the
subsequent infiltration of rain-water, chemical compounds have been
introduced, which have filled up the interstices, solidifying the whole
in the course of ages, into the tough concrete-like mass found round
the foot of the obelisk.

This concreted mass contains, irregularly distributed throughout
it, certain compounds beside the carbonate of lime (the chalk), of
which it mainly consists. " These compounds, though not separable,
in a complete and unchanged condition, betray their presence by
physical characters, and by the occurrence in the concrete, of alumina
and ferric oxide as bases, and by silica and organic acids. Probably
rain and other meteoric water charged with oxygen and with carbonic
acid (and also with organic acids from the turf and roots) have
effected such changes in the silicious rocks and chalk as may now
be observed to occur in many chalk-pits where collyrite and allophane
are still being formed." 1

The following are the rocks found in the concreted mass-
Schist 22 specimens (some very minute).
Ditto harder 1 „
Felsite 6 „
Altar-stone 1 „
Diabase 12
Dense sarsen 8 „
Saccharoid ditto 1 „

1 Professor Church has kindly undertaken the chemical examination of this
part of the subject. The result of his qualitative analysis is expressed in the
above paragraph, hut he hopes some time this year, when his Royal Academy
lectures are over, to push on the enquiry, and to furnish a report to the next
number of the Wiltshire Magazine.

146 Stonehenge Notes: The Fragments.

Several artificial flint flakes, some wood ashes, and the tooth of a
small ruminant, have also been fouud.

The fact that specimens of all the varieties of rocks which con-
stitute the inner circle of Stonehenge have been found in the mixed
substance at the base of this obelisk proves that they were all on
the spot when the inner ellipse was erected. Thus it would seem
most probable that all the foreign stones were brought together at
the same time ; disproving the theory that the smaller stones of the
temple were damons, or the votive offerings of separate worshippers.
(See Mr. Fergusson).

Sarsens.

A very small proportion of chippings of sarsen stone has been
found in these diggings, or, it may be added, in the immediate
neighbourhood of the temple. This is more especially to be re-
marked, as the sarsens constituted, in bulk, as well as in number, by
far the larger proportion of the material of the structure. But on
this subject our lamented Secretary, the late Mr, E. T. Stevens, very
judiciously remarks: "It is not likely that the builders of Stonehenge
would have dragged a needlessly bulky or misshapen mass of stone
-~mile after mile — merely to have the pleasure of dressing it
into shape at the end of their laborious journey. Minor details may
have been carried out at Stonehenge ; but probably the stones were
squared before they reached Salisbury Plain, and chippings, for the
most part, have to be sought elsewhere." 1

Original Surfaces.

It has generally been supposed that the stones of the inner circle
have been placed in position in their unhewn form, without any
dressing ; but they were probably reduced to suitable heights or
otherwise trimmed before using. In no other way would it be easy
to account for the large number of chippings which from time to
time have been found on the spot; and it will be observed that
these chippings are not of a later date than the erection of Stonehenge

1 Jottings of the " Stonehenge Excursion," August 24th, 1876.

By Mr. Cunning ton, F.O.S.

147

itself, as is shown by the fact that they were largely used for ram-
ming around the bases of the obelisks.

Most of them have sharp fresh fractures, having been protected
by the covering of turf; and a certain proportion of them have on
one side a weathered surface, just such as might be expected if the
stones had been brought to the spot in their original unhewn condition.
The weathering of some of the diabase fragments, especially, is so
marked as to lead to the conclusion that they may even have been
exposed to the action of the sea-shore. It is more deeply marked
than on the surfaces of the stones now standing in the temple,
though the storms of so many centuries have passed over them.

We may fairly conclude that these foreign stones, like the
Wiltshire sarsens associated with them in the building, were never
quarried, but derived from boulders left on the surface, or brought
from some rocky shore.

Altae Stone.

Many small pieces of the altar stone have been found in various
places, in and around the building; one occurred in the concreted
substance. These are doubtless the chippings which were struck off
when it was originally worked into shape. A passage in a letter
from Mr. Cunnington, of Heytesbury, to Mr. Britton is interesting
in connection with this subject (date, April 12th, 1803). He says :
" I have dug two or three times before the altar stone, once to the
depth of six feet. At about three feet deep I found some Roman and
other pottery; at the depth of six jeet some pieces of sarsen stone, and
three pieces of coarse half-burnt British pottery with charred wood.
. . . I pledge myself to prove that the altar stone was worked
with tools of some hind" Sir R. C. Hoare refers to the digging,
but omits all mention of the suggestive facts stated in the paragraph
just quoted.

In another letter, dated 1802, he says: "The sides of the altar
stone still retain the marks of the tools with which it was originally
wrought.'"

I would here suggest that had the " Altar " stone been subjected
to the heat of sacrificial fires, as some authors (and artists) would

148

Stonehenge Notes: The Fragments.

lead us to believe, the colour of it would have been permanently
altered. On burning a piece of it, found in one of the rabbit holes,
in an ordinary fire, the colour changed from the natural greenish
grey to a dull light red.

It is satisfactory thus to have gained some facts connected with
this mysterious building, which time has left to us without a written
history. Geology and petrology have lately joined in the pursuit
of the time-hidden truth, and the microscope has been used with
some success in this direction, but much remains to be done.

It has been said that the spade is the hey to Stonehenge. In this
instance it has turned through some of the rusty wards of time,
but it must be handled with the utmost care and scientific skill amid
these venerated remains, now almost in ruin.

The present paper gives proof of what may be done by this means,
and we close with the hope that, ere long, opportunity may be
afforded for further research.

Fragment op Celt — Stonehenge.

In August, 1879, Mr. H. Cunnington found, just under the turf,
within a few yards from the main entrance of Stonehenge, a fragment
of a hatchet-shaped stone implement. It is two-and-a-half inches
in length, of a dark reddish colour, and extremely hard. A slice
has been cut from it for the microscope, and it is thus shown to be
a uralitic diabasic rock, distinctly differing from the diabases com-
posing the obelisks of Stonehenge. It is quite unlike any Wiltshire
stone, and must have been obtained from a long distance.

Glass — found at Stonehenge.

Among other fragments found within the area, two specimens of
ancient glass, probably of the Roman or Romano-British period,
deserve notice. Both are good specimens of glass-work — of good
quality and skilful workmanship. Of one of them a small piece of
the rim is preserved, sufficient, however, to show how exceedingly
thin and delicate was its form. It is of a bright amber colour. It
would appear to have been a drinking cup or goblet. If so it may
have been brought to Stonehenge on the occasion of the visit of

By Mr. Cunnington, F.G.S.

149

some eminent Roman family. Such a cup is not likely to have
belonged to any one not of the higher classes of the people. The
mishap of its breakage is not so remarkable, especially as Stonehenge
— we have it on good [Native) authority — is "a terrible place
for breaking glass." The other fragment is a good specimen of the
art. It also appears to have been a goblet, but it is of a bright
olive colour, and was ornamented with rows of small knobs of glass,
round the prominent parts of the vessel.

Roman Pottery at Stonehenge.

In the "Beauties of Wiltshire," vol. ii., p. 151, it is stated that
" Pottery of Roman manufacture was discovered, after the fall of the
large stones in 1797, in the soil which served for their foundation.33

This statement having been the cause of some misapprehension, I
have been requested to publish the following information.

The late Mr. Cunnington, of Heytesbury, first mentioned the
subject to Mr. Britton, but the most important point connected with
it seems to have been misunderstood. He consequently addressed a
letter to Mr. Britton, in which he explained the matter fully. It
is dated Heytesbury, October "22nd, 1801, and is now in my possesion.
He writes as follows 1 " I think you should correct the statement
respecting the Roman pottery found at Stonehenge. Your paragraph
conveys what I never meant it to convey, namely, that the pottery
was deposited before the erection of the stones. I conceive it to
have been in the earth surrounding the stones, and after the fall of
the trilithon the earth containing these fragments would naturally
moulder into the hollows, for in this loose earth recently fallen into
the cavity, the bits of pottery were found. " This can easily be
corrected in your preface to the 3rd vol. of the ' Beauties of Wilts/ 33

Mr. Cunnington confirms these facts in a MS. note on p. 131 of
my copy of the " Beauties of Wilts."

Willliam Cunnington.

Clapham,
January, 1883.

150

Jiagrami? to Illustrate t|e d&ffettu of % Meatjm:

By The Kev. T. A. Peeston, M.A.

(Read before the Soeiety at Malmesbury, August, 1882,)

HE diagrams, of which that for 1882 is herewith given, are in-
tended to represent graphically the variations of temperature,
sunshine and rainfall, and the effects these produce on vegetation.
I am not aware of any similar attempt having been made before, for
though both in England and on the Continent c< phenological obser-
vations " have been systematically taken, and averages deduced there-
from, yet nowhere have I seen any of them combined with the actual
observations on the weather, except in the case of the Cobham
Journals, as worked out by Miss E. A. Ormerod, where, however,
no diagram is given, and the later observations have not always been
taken with the same care as the earlier ones.

I may claim, therefore, a superiority for these diagrams in two
particulars. (1) Though the records have been kept by myself,
and thus a uniformity has been preserved both in the manner of
registration and the decision as to when a plant is in flower (a very-
important consideration, as observers are often very different in their
opinions as to when a plant may be considered to be in its flowering
stage), yet the number of observers who have helped to perfect the
tables has been^singularly numerous, and a completeness has been
secured which would be perfectly unattainable had only one or
two observers been working at them. At the same time no limit
has been made to the number of flowers observed, and hence
no selection has been made beforehand ; and thus we have drawn
up the tables from what we have found to be the best for our pur-
pose, instead of settling beforehand what we imagined would be the
best. This is a very important consideration, and one for which I

Diagrams to Illustrate the Effects of the Weather. 151

claim a very great superiority for our tables over any others that
have been made.

(£) The very full details of the weather of every year during
which the observations have been taken ; these details being taken
with verified instruments, and with the exactness required by the
Meteorological Society.

Referring now to the diagram, the lines at the bottom are intended
to represent the general state of the weather ; in the upper (double)
one the difference of the temperature of each week from the mean of
that week for the previous ten years is indicated by a black line when
below it, and a shaded line when above it. Thus if the temperature
of any particular week was 5° below the mean of the previous ten
years a black line of suitable length would be drawn, if above it a
shaded one.

The next line indicates the amount of sunshine. As this has not
been observed for ten years, the differences from the means cannot be
given, but I have indicated the percentage of the proper amount due>
which is always done by a shaded line, as the heat is intended to be
shown. Of course the shaded spaces will not indicate the actual
number of hours of sunshine, nor the same number of hours (if the
shaded lines happen to be of the same length), but merely the
proportion of sunshine which was experienced in that week. Thus,
if in one week we had had fifty out of one hundred hours due, and
in another twenty-five out of fifty hours due, these two quantities
would be indicated by lines of equal length, as in both cases we had
half the quantity due.

The lower (double) line indicates the rainfall, black indicating
that the amount was greater than the mean, and shaded that it was
less, as the greater the rainfall the greater the amount of chilliness
produced in the air.

The general state of the weather during any week can thus be
seen at a glance, as well as those elements which are considered to
have most effect on vegetation.

The lines at the top merely indicate the date to which each vertical
line refers, the upper line giving the day of the month, the lower
one that of the year.

152 Diagrams to Illustrate the Effects of the Weather

The horizontal line in the middle of the diagram is taken as a
base line from which the variations from the means in the times
of flowering are calculated. If a plant is observed to flower (say)
ten days earlier than the calculated date, a shaded line is drawn
downwards a certain space, if it is ten days later a black line of the
same length is drawn upwards. If several plants have tbeir mean
dates of flowering on the same day, the average of the differences
from the mean is taken to indicate the state of vegetation on that
day. Thus if there are four plants whose mean date of flowering
occurs on any particular day, and one was observed ten days later,
the second five days later, the third two days earlier, and the fourth
five days earlier, then 10 + 5 — 2 — 5=8, and as there were four
plants observed, 2 days late would be the average indicated in the
diagram.

There are certain objections (and no doubt serious ones) to this
method of registering, which may be remedied hereafter as the
number of years of observations increases. The most serious is that
the averages are not taken from an equal number of plants for each
day. It may be argued that a single species for each day would
give better results ; but the objection to this is that a pasture-loving
plant may be taken one day, a water-plant another, a wood-plant
a third, and so on, and the results would still be very far from the
truth. Where all are taken the general state of vegetation is, I
conceive, more truly represented.

Another objection, which I hope to correct in time, is that all the
plants have not been observed for the same number of years ; thus
the date for one plant may have been computed from seventeen
observations, and another from only fifteen, and so on. This error
has been partially obviated by only taking those plants which have
been observed not less than fifteen times, except in certain very
special cases. Twenty years is by no means too short a time for
securing proper averages, considering all the errors and omissions
which must necessarily occur in such an investigation as the present.
Such as it is it can be considered only approximate, and as such I
must beg my readers to consider it.

One other remark must be made. Each year was worked out from

upon the Flowering of Plants.

153

the average of the preceding years up to 1865, so that the average
is different for each year; thus the diagram for 1880 indicated the
differences of the flowering in that year from the means of the
previous fifteen years, that for 1881 from those of the previous
sixteen years, and that for 1882 (which is given herewith) from those
of the previous seventeen years. It must be observed, however,
that the variations are generally so slight (from the large number
of years already taken) that in most cases they are the same for all
three years.

A few words must now be said about each diagram. In that for
188U it was observed that January was very cold, February and
half of March were warm, and then every succeeding week (except
the first week in April) more or less cold. On referring to the
flowering it was seen that till the middle of March {i.e., as long as the
weather continued warm) plants were behind their proper averages,
and then for eight or nine weeks were before them, a break of a
cold week in the middle of April destroying the uniformity, and
after that vegetation was uniformly backward. Thus, as long as
the weather continued warm plants were late, and as soon as the
weather turned cold plants were early. The evident solution of this
apparent paradox is clearly that plants require time to get influenced
by the weather, and as far as this diagram showed that period is
about five or six weeks.

From the diagram for 1881 it was seen that during the first
six months there were only six weeks whose mean temperature was
above the average, and those only occurred at scattered intervals ;
it was also damp till the middle of March, and then singularly dry.
As might have been expected plants were almost uniformly late till
the beginning of June, and even then they might be considered, as
a whole, fairly backward.

A marvellous difference occurred in 1882. Till the end of the
first week in February, the weather was cold, but then a warm
period set in, lasting till about the end of the first week in April,
when the weather began to turn colder, and the temperature of both
April and May was hardly above its proper amount. June and
July were decidedly cold, but it was not till the middle of June that

154

The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum.

plants flowered later than usual, though throughout the month
vegetation was but very little in advance of its proper state.

One^ of the questions which I am anxious to investigate is the
connection (if any) between plants, more especially such as may be
of assistance to agriculturists. Certain operations are performed
when certain occurrences happen ; thus it has been said " When
mulberries begin to turn red the corn is fit to cut." At present I
have not been able to confirm this, or to trace any connection be-
tween the two. But another saying is decidedly correct : "When
the Timothy grass \_Phleum pratense] comes out, the hay is fit to
cut." The explanation of this is, that this grass is the last of the
common grasses to come into flower, and consequently when it
flowers, all the other grasses are in their prime. I have noted for
some years how far this is correct, and though the weather has not
always been favourable for haymaking, when it appears, yet no
better time could have been selected. The dates for this plant in
the three years under consideration were June 19th, June 18th, and
June 15th, respectively.

The rainfall was at no time excessive, though from the middle of
April (with the exception of a fortnight in May) the weekly amount
was in excess of its proper average.

t jitorg d a f)«fottkl JStall at jJsntm/

By the Eev. W. H. Eich Jones, M.A., F.S.A.,

Canon of Sarum and Vicar of Bradford-on-Avon.

^HERE are some, it may be, who, when they read the subject
of this paper — the " Story of a Salisbury Prebend " — may
be inclined to ask — " And what is a Prebend ? " And so, I will, on
opening my case, as the lawyers say, first of all explain the meaning
of the term.

1 This paper was read some time since before the Members of the Church
Institute, at Trowbridge. It is printed in the belief that it will be of interest,
at all events, to a good number of our readers. [Ed.]

By the Rev. Canon W. H. Rich Jones.

155

The word " prebend " means literally a " provision " or a " main-
ten ance"; it is from the Latin verb " prcebeo" which means to
" support." Thus " pra3benda equorum " in Domesday means the
" provision " or " provender " of horses — I suppose hay, and the like.
" Praebenda asinorum/' in like manner, would mean " asses' pro-
vender/' and might, besides hay, include, I suppose, a handful or
two of thistles. In fact our word "provender" which comes to us
mediately through the French " provendre," is our synonym for it ;
and not only so, but is the same word in an English dress.

Well, then, you will easily see how naturally the term " prebend/'
from meaning a provision, came to designate the manor or " estate "
which furnished that provision. In olden days there was very little
money stirring — people then had no bankers' accounts, or Three Per
Cents in which to invest their savings — their riches consisted in
their flocks and herds, and wool, and so forth. A great deal of
business was done in the way of barter. Naughty people, when
fined for some offence were not let off with " five shillings and costs/''
but had to pay in kind — a sheep, or so much corn, or other produce.
The word " mulct " is a traditionary memorial of this ; it is derived
from a mediaeval Latin word " multo" which means a sheep, and
which is of course from the same root as our word " mutton " and
the French "mouton" (=sheep) . So the word " pecunia" (= money)
is connected with pecus (=cattle). And of course, when people
wanted food for themselves, or fodder for their cattle, they had to
grow it for themselves.

As it fared with the people generally, so it fared with the clergy.
Tithes were paid in kind ; and more troublesome I fancy they must
have been to collect than our " rent-charge in lieu of tithes " now.
And as they, no less than their parishioners, needed meat and drink
for themselves, and for their cattle (when they were able to keep
them), certain small portions of land called "glebes " were assigned
to them, in their various parishes. Of course they needed a certain
portion of arable land, for their com — of pasture, for their sheep —
of meadow, for their hay (and this last must, where possible, have
been near a stream) ; and this accounts for the fact that glebe-lands
lie so dispersedly, some here and some there. What were called

156 The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum.

"capellani annui," who corresponded (as far as ancient and modern
can be compared) with what we now call " assistant curates/' were
paid, not in money, but for the most part in kind. Thus the
Chaplain of Erlegh, a dependency of Sunning, when called upon to
make a return of his income to the Dean of Sarum, in 1225, said
that it consisted of four measures [summoz) of corn, two measures
and a half of fine white wheat, and two and a half measures of
barley, besides one mark (=13*. 4sd.) in silver, 40 pence of which
came from the land of some " rusticus " — i.e., I suppose, some rural
tenant of a portion o£ land in the parish.

Well, then, when Osmund, Bishop of Sarum, wished, towards the
close of the eleventh century, to found a Cathedral for his diocese,
and to place a body of secular canons in it, he thought it only
reasonable to make some provision for them. Hence he set apart a
number of small estates — in his time they were, I think, thirty-four,
they afterwards became some fifty or more (for two prebends con-
sisted of certain offerings given from time to time at the high altar
in the Cathedral) — and these estates, to which the technical name of
"prebends " was given, formed the endowment of his several canons.
He took a far more common- sense view of matters, as it seems to
me, than our modern legislators some forty years ago, who thought
that an income was quite needless for nine- tenths of the Canons of
Sarum at all, and that they ought to be quite content with the
" honor and glory of the thing. " I do not entirely sympathise with
such a view of matters, and should not be sorry, with my bit of
"blue ribbon/' to have a small "honorarium" appended thereunto.
However, as the matter stands, the value of our stalls, for all save
four or five of our body, may be set down at nil. One is almost
tempted, when you contemplate the whole of your "prebend" as
consisting of a seat in the Cathedral choir, and that is all — notwith-
standing for that diminutive " all " we used, when I was appointed,
to pay some £9 in fees — to recall the anecdote of the Irishman, who
when placed in a sedan-chair without a bottom remarked blandly —
"If it were not for the honor of the thing, I'd as lief have
walked."

I have called the cathedral of Salisbury a cathedral of secular

By the Rev. Canon W. H. Rich Jones.

157

canons. Clergy, in olden times were divided into " Regulars 33 and
" Seculars." The former were those who belonged to monasteries
or similar religious houses and were bound by the " regula" or
" rule " of such institutions. The latter were those who lived in
the world and much as other people did, and of this class were
the canons whom Osmund appointed for his Cathedral. You
must dismiss from your mind at once the idea that there was
anything of the strictly monastic character about them. They
were bound by no religious vows ; in fact, if any canon became a
" Regular 33 he ceased at once to be a member of the Cathedral body.
They were, of course, bound to observe the " statutes and laudable
customs 33 of the Cathedral, but otherwise they were free ; they
lived each in their own houses and many of them, such at all events
as were in minor orders, were married men. And the provision for
their maintenance came from two sources — (1) from their "prebend/3
of which I have already spoken, and (2) from the <f communa 33 or
" common-fund/' arising from certain estates with which the cathe-
dral itself was endowed, and certain offerings and fines, of which
each canon shared according to his residence and performance of
given duties.

Now without all doubt the idea that lay at the root of a cathedral
institution such as you had at Sarum — and that was the normal
English type — was that it should be a centre of religious life to the
diocese. It was in truth to be a distinctly missionary organization,
gathering together as though in one centre all the rays of light and
causing them to radiate again throughout the diocese. As it has
been well put by that distinguished man, who has, I rejoice to say,
been elevated to the primacy of all England, there was a "centrifugal33
as well as a " centripetal 33 force in cathedrals ; they attracted to
themselves as to a religious home all the elements of holy worship
and life, and then scattered these same elements over all the prebendal
parishes which formed the endowments of the several canons of the
cathedral.

Of course, as a centre of religious life, the cathedral was to be
the model of worship for the diocese. There was to be the Precentor,
always in residence, directing its various services \ there, too, the

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXII. M

158 The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum.

Treasurer providing the necessary u ornaments ** for its elaborate
worship. There was also the theological school, with the Chan-
cellor at its head, giving his regular course of lectures, and
instructing the younger canons, and others, in divinity. There also
was to be the choristers' school, a special canon residentiary being
charged with providing for their maintenance and instruction.
There was, in short, to be the home, from time to time, of all who
were members of the cathedral body. The canons had their specific
work to do, and, if they did it, they certainly had little opportunity
of dreaming away their time in simply doing dignity. With the
Bishop at their head — the mother-church deriving its distinctive
name from the "cathedra" or "seat" of the Bishop — they formed
members of one household, each with their well-defined duties, and
all banded together by the common worship of the holy and beautiful
house, in which day by day, and seven times each day, they met for
the worship of Almighty God.

And with this central worship, and education, and preaching of
God's Word, was combined the carrying forth as from a fountain-
head the streams of spiritual life to the whole diocese, and especially
to those parishes which, as " prebends," were connected with the
Cathedral. For you must always bear in mind that every canon, in
addition to his work in the cathedral, was charged with special
duties as regards his "prebend." These prebendal estates or parishes
were for the most part, though not wholly, scattered throughout the
diocese. On each such estate there was a house of residence with a
familia, and usually a church, either served by the canon, or by
some one appointed by him. In fact he was responsible for the
spiritual as well as temporal well-being of the parish, for the ap-
pointment of the pastor, the education of the poor, the condition of
the labourer. On that prebend he lived, and there also he worked,
save at such times as he came to the cathedral for his appointed
term of residence ; so that each prebend became, in a faithful carrying
out of the cathedral system, the centre not only of the civilization
but also of the christianizing of each district. To my mind the idea
is a beautiful one ; it reminds one of the old Priests and Levites, each
going up in the order of their course to the Temple at Jerusalem,

By the Rev. Canon W. H. Rich Jones.

159

and thence returning, each to his own city, there to carry on the
same good work of serving God, and leading those also to serve
Him who were especially committed to his charge.

Now it is of one of these prebends of Sarum that I want, as far as
I can, to tell you the story. The one I select is that of Netheravon,
to which I was myself collated by my Bishop eleven years ago,
no long time after he came into possession of the see. The
place is in South Wilts, not far from Amesbury. The Church of
Netheravon was given to the cathedral some seven hundred and
fifty years ago, by a charter of King Henry I., during the episcopate
of Bishop Roger, about the year 1131. At the time of Domesday
the whole estate proper belonged to the King, but the Church, with
its tithes and glebe-lands, was in the hands of Nigel, described some-
times as " medicus, " who was the Conqueror's physician. He is in
one place spoken of as "presbyter." It was not at all an unusual thing
for medical men to be in holy orders in those days, and it would be
well, I think, if at least all missionary clergymen were instructed in
medicine now. At Salisbury we have several instances of physicans
holding stalls ; and amongst them, as late as the sixteenth century,
was the family-doctor of Henry VIII., who must have had rather
a difficult patient to deal with, and well earned his medical fees,
whether in money or kind. Anyhow, it was a convenient way for
kings to pay their doctor's bills, by the appropriation of a few
prebends in divers cathedrals for that specific purpose.

The prebend of Netheravon was never a valuable one, and, as I
have already intimated, it is still less so now. Nevertheless, profit-
less as it is materially, it has a history ; and what this is I will try
and tell you.

Now it is a remarkable fact, that, when people get on in the
world, they commonly shew a great interest in their grandfather,
and their great-grandfather, and are apt to exalt those same
venerable ancestors to a position which to themselves would perhaps
have appeared strange. And then they find out what they call the
old armorial bearings of the family, though the said great-grand-
fathers, if they could be appealed to, would perhaps answer as did
one who sympathised with Sidney Smith's friends—-" For my part I

M %

160 The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum.

do not trouble about such things, but generally seal my letters with
my thumb." Well, after all, it's only a little almost venial vanity, and,
i£ folks do not themselves " get too big for their shoes/'' there's not
much harm in it. But when you speak of your ecclesiastical or
spiritual forefathers — and can look back and tell them up one after
another, as I can, for more than six hundred years — then I think it
may be a matter not only of honest pride, but of devout thankfulness.
At all events it shows us the continuity of the Church of England ;
and encourages us to hope, that as the gallant old ship has battled
with many a storm already, and still rides the waves triumphantly,
so, with God's blessing, and the timely repair of a timber here and
there that from very age has become a little decayed, she may still
survive all the attacks of open enemies. And after all, her danger
arises not so much from the batteries of her foes, as from the mutiny
of her crew between the decks.

Of the earliest of my predecessors of whom we have any record —
Roger, and Hugo de Perth — I know nothing beyond their names.
It has been said " The world knows nothing of its greatest men."
This may have been the case here — but as I lack all information upon
the point, we will pass on to the next name, which is that of one,
not only well-known, but famous in the history of our diocese.

This was Roger de Mortival, who, after having held the Rectory
of Ambrosden, in Oxfordshire, and the Archdeaconries of Huntingdon
and Leicester, became Dean of Lincoln in 1310. He was also
Chancellor of Oxford in 1293. He was collated to the Prebend of
Netheravon in 1297, and, after holding it for eighteen years (for
some eight of them together with his deanery at Lincoln) he vacated
it, on being consecrated as Bishop of Sarum in 1318. And an
earnest-minded and brave bishop he seems to have been. Abuses
had already crept into his cathedral church through claims made
by successive Popes to appoint to vacant dignities and prebends, and
from the number of foreigners, most of them non-resident, who held
them. Thus there is a remarkable letter from the Bishop, to Pope
John XXI I., iu which he complains that out of some fifty dignities
and prebends in the gift of the Bishop, there were on March 21st,
1325, a dean, an archdeacon, and six prebendaries, who had been

By the Rev. Canon W. H, Rich Jones.

161

"provided " to their stalls by Pope Clement V. ; whilst no less than
seventeen prebendaries, a treasurer, a precentor, and an archdeacon,
had been "provided" by Pope John XXII. himself; and more than
this— for, bitterest woe of all, there were eight others who were " ex-
pectant " canons — that is, canons to whom the same Pope, in his
fatherly care of the church of Sarum, had granted the right of
succession to stalls as they became vacant. A dismal prospect,
indeed ! for of all the canons 60 appointed only some three were
resident. Our Bishop braced himself to the task, arduous as it was,
of grappling with these evils. His predecessor, Simon of Ghent,
had refused installation to Reymond de la Goth, a cardinal, who
had been provided to the deanery by Pope Clement V., on the
ground that the chapter of Sarum had the undoubted right of
electing their own dean, but had been forced at last to yield to the
overpowering influence of Rome. But Bishop Roger de Mortival,
though bound to accept the dean, took care that he should perform
his duties, and so issued his mandate to him, " cardinal " though he
was, to appear before him on a given day, in the chapter-house, to
account for his non-residence. In like manner he summoned the
Archdeacon of Berks for non-residence, and for perjury ! One entry
in the Mortival Register has more than once amused me. It is
headed " Indulgentia audientibus prcedicationes canojiicorum " (In-
dulgence to those who listen to the sermons of the canons). I know
not whether the " indulgence " was necessary because of the heavy
oratory of the canons, or the unreasonable length of their discourses.
In those days people had to stand to hear sermons, just as they do
in the Greek Church now, and in no ancient cathedral will you find
any original arrangement for seats in the nave. So that the in-
fliction, if such it were, would have to be bravely endured, and could
• not be palliated, as it is sometimes in these days of ours, by the
softening influences of slumber.

On the advancement of Roger de Mortival to the see of Sarum
— I may mention, by the way, in passing, that to him we owe our
statutes — he of course vacated his prebend. This was bestowed by
the Archbishop of Canterbury, Walter Reynolds, during the vacancy
of the see, on Gilbert de Middleton. He was not unknown in

162 The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum. .

Wilts ; and was, moreover, a predecessor in whom I feel an especial
interest. For he was the " firmarius " or " Lord Farmer," that is,
as we should call him, the " Lessee " of the Church of Bradford
under the Abbess of Shaftesbury ; and, as such, exercised the
privilege of rector by appointing1 to the vicarage. In 1316 he
became Archdeacon of Nottingham, and held the prebendal church
of Edingdon, in Wilts, then connected with the abbey of Romsey.
Besides these benefices, he had not a few others ; for at one and the
same time he held prebends at St. Paul's — Lincoln — at Chichester
— at Hereford — at Wells — and at Sarum. I suppose that even in
those days — which people will persist in calling the good old times —
the line had to be drawn somewhere ; and so we find that in 1321 our
prebendary had a special grant from the King (Edward II.) to this
effect— that he should not be disturbed in any of his benefices. I
have often thought that we may have been indebted to him, when
Prebendal Rector of Bradford, for an important addition to our
chancel, and also for the erection of that large and beautiful barn
(commonly called Barton Barn), which is so well known to archaeolo-
gists. Certainly the presumed date of the barn, and of the
additions to our chancel, correspond fairly enough with the time when
he so ruled among us. Well ! with all his preferments, and no
pluralities' Acts to interfere with him, he must have had plenty of
money to spare, which is more than can be said of some of his
successors. And as I really know nothing more about him, I can
only hope that he made a good use of it.

I now pass over two names, concerning which I can tell you
nothing, and come now to that of one famous, not only in our own
diocese, but throughout England. This was William of Edingdon,
so called from the village a few miles from Bradford-on- Avon, of which
I have just spoken, and where he would seem to have been born.
Educated at Oxford, he became successively Rector of Cottingham
and Dallington, in Northamptonshire, and afterwards of Middleton
Cheyney, in Oxfordshire. He obtained prebends at Lincoln and
Sarum ; then he became Dean of Westbury-on-Trym, in Gloucester-
shire ; and, by the patronage of Adam de Orleton, Bishop of Win-
chester, Rector of Cheriton, inH ants. On the death of the last

By the Rev. Canon W. H. Rich Jones. 163

named prelate, in 1345, William of Edingdon succeeded to the see
of Winchester, and was made Lord Treasurer. In 1357 he became
Lord Chancellor of England, and died in 1366, having some time
previously declined the metropolitical see of Canterbury.

His great work, as far as our diocese was concerned, was the
magnificent Church at Edingdon, which still remains to us though
in desolation, and the restoration of which we all so much desire.
The building rivals almost any sacred edifice in the county, both in
size and beauty of detail. It was by an arrangement with the
Abbess of Romsey that he obtained a licence from the Crown in 1351
to found at Edingdon, in the first instance, a chantry in connexion
with Romsey Abbey. Ultimately, however, he converted that
foundation into a regular monastery, and built an entirely new
monastic church. His fraternity were of the order of S. Augustine,
but of a particular class called " Boni Homines " or " Bonhommes.'"
There were never more than two houses of this order in England ;
the second was at Ashridge, in Bucks.

I have no time to do more than give a slight sketch of my pre-
decessors. In truth in this case it is hardly necessary, for the history
of William of Edingdon, as Bishop of Winchester (1346 — 67),
forms part of the ecclesiastical history of England.

We pass over now pretty well a hundred years, till we come to a
name — that of Robert Aiscough — which is of very frequent oc-
currence. There seem, in truth, to have been two of the same
name who were contemporaries, one holding in succession the pre-
bends of Warminster, Bishopston, and N. Alton, and being also
Canon of St. Paul's and Archdeacon of Colchester ; the other holding
successively the prebends of Netheravon, Farringdon, S. Grantham,
and Chute, and becoming Archdeacon of Dorset. I really know
little or nothing about the two archdeacons. They terribly puzzled
me in working out the history of the cathedral body — I hardly
knew " which was which. " They were name-sakes of the Bishop
of Sarum, and very probably a hopeful pair of nephews, upon whom
a benevolent and episcopal uncle, no doubt discerning their merits
was not sparing of promotion. It used to be said that the name of
a bishop lingered for at least three generations in a diocese, in the

164 The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum.

persons of his kinsmen. I hope we have changed all, or most of
that; perhaps I might say, it has been changed for us. For myself
I confess that in all promotion that is in the hands of a corporation
sole — whether bishop, dean, canon, archdeacon, rector, or vicar — I
should still like a controllng power vested in the hands of a body of
responsible advisers. For, after all, the best of men are but men
at the best, even when exercising a trust in which the interests of
many have to be considered.

We pass on now to another holder of the prebend of Netheravon.
This was " Thomas Rotherham alias Scott." Our witty prebendary,
Thomas Fuller, in speaking of a bishop of Sarum who had two
names, remarks that " bi-nominous prelates " were commonly im-
pairers of their churches. This was undoubtedly true of Bishop
Salcot alias Capon, of whom he was then writing1, for his im-
mediate successor, John Jewel, in mourning over the diminished
revenues of his see, said playfully, " Verily a capon hath devoured
all." However my " binominous " predecessor was a distinguished
man, and a benefactor of the church. One of the original fellows of
King's College, Cambridge, he subsequently became Rector of Ripple,
in Kent, and Provost of Wingham. He subsequently became
chaplain to Edward IV., Provost of Bromley, Bishop of Rochester
(in 1463) and three years afterwards Bishop of Lincoln. In 1473
he became Lord Chancellor; and in 1480 he was advanced to the
metropolitical see of York. He was one of the executors of Edward
IV. He was a munificent friend of Lincoln College, Oxford, adding
no less than five fellowships to the same. Of course in the Lives of
Chancellors, as well as in those of Archbishops of York, much will
be found respecting Thomas Rotherham alias Scott.

"Well, then, we have some six or seven worthy prebendaries, some
of whom held high office in the cathedral, of whom I know little
more than their names. One of them was Laurence Cocks, who
is described as a " Doctor of Decrees/' All that I can tell you about
him is, that he acted as professional adviser, I suppose I might say
as " Chancellor," or at all events as " Assessor," to Bishop Langton,
on the occasion of certain Lollards, or followers of WyclifFe, being
summoned before him at New Windsor, in 1490, and sanctioning

By the Rev. Canon W. H. Rich Jones. 165

the enjoyning of penance on them as presumed offenders against
ecclesiastical order and discipline.

But now we come to one of my predecessors of whom I confess
I do not feel very proud ; though, guaging him by the world's rule,
of always " taking care of Number One," he must have been a clever
fellow. Old Thomas Fuller mentions, among proverbs peculiar to
the county of Berks, this one — " The Vicar of Bray will be Vicar of
Bray still." And he gives us this illustration: — " The vivacious
Vicar of Bray, (a parish close by Maidenhead, and at no great
distance from Windsor,) living under Henry VIII., Edward VI.,
Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, was first a Papist, then a Pro-
testant, then Papist again, then Protestant again. He found the mar-
tyr's fire, near Windsor, too hot for his temper, and being taxed for
a turn-coat — Not so/ said he, c for I always kept to one principle,
to live and dye the Vicar of Bray/ "

Now this famous vicar held the Prebend of Netheravon for some
seventeen years, during the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI.
He seems to have been, if I may coin a word, irinominousy for he
is known, if I be not in error, as Simon Symonds, alias Simon Aleyn,
alias Simon Pendleton, a convenient plan, it may be, in troublous
times, when it might be useful to set up a plea of mistaken identity.
No doubt there is some truth in the story, though, like many other
tales, it has lost nothing in the telling. My worldly-wise predecessor
died in the reign of Edward VI., so that as regards all its details
the story cannot be true. He was appointed Canon of Windsor in
1535, on the deprivation of Miles Willen — so no doubt he swallowed
the oath of supremacy, and kept, not only his vicarage at Bray, but
got a good canonry besides. Perhaps, after all, people have been a
little hard upon Simon Symonds, who, to say the least, was no
"simple" Symon. He had before him the example of his bi-nominous
bishop, John Salcot alias Capon, who did keep his see, whilst he
pocketed his conscience, during portions of all four reigns. No
doubt, like many others, he tried — and in his own case not unsuccess-
fully— to keep his weather-legs, whilst the vessel of the church was
tossing in the storm of the Reformation.

And now we come, happily, to a name that needs no apology. I

166 The Story of a Prebendal Stall at Sarum.

well recollect, that, after the ceremony of my installation was over,
the chief verger came to me, and asked politely for the customary
fees due to him. I paid them ; upon which he made a low bow,
and said, " We congratulate you, Sir, on your appointment to the
stall of Richard Hooker. " When I named this afterwards to a
friend, I was told that my immediate predecessor was congratulated
in like manner, and was so delighted that he offered spontaneously
an additional half-sovereign in fees. I am afraid that I was not
quite so amenable to compliments ; but I assure you that I always
feel an honest pride in thinking of myself as a successor of so good
and learned a man, and hoping that a small portion of his mantle
may have fallen on my shoulders.

Of course you all know that beautiful and life-like sketch, that is
given to us by Isaac Walton, of Richard Hooker ; one or two
matters, however, not brought into prominence in that biography,
may be of interest to you .

Among the Royal Commissioners, in the time of Queen Elizabeth,
for visiting cathedrals and churches in the West of England, was
John Jewel, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury. In the course of their
enquiries they went to Exeter, where then lived the family of Hooker.
It soon became known that Jewel took a kindly interest in promoting
the advancement of poor, yet worthy, scholars. Soon after his con-
secration, an application was made to him in behalf of Richard
Hooker, a lad who had shewn more than ordinary ability. The
good bishop helped him materially, not only enabling him, at the
early age of 14, to enter Corpus Christi College, Oxford, but sup-
plying him also with a pension, which, added to the small means
furnished by his family, enabled him to prosecute his studies, and to
lay the foundation of his future renown.

Bishop Jewel died before Richard Hooker was of age for ordination.
He found a friend, however, in Archbishop Whitgift, who, during a
vacancy in the see, collated him to the sub-deanery, and also to the stall
of Netheravon. A private patron about the same time appointed
him to the Vicarage of Boscomb, in South Wilts, and it was there
that a considerable portion of his great work on the Ecclesiastical
Polity of the Church of England was written. The insight of the

By the Rev. Canon W. R. Rick Jones. 167

Archbishop in selecting Richard Hooker for promotion was the means
of raising up the most efficient instrument to contend against the
special difficulties and dangers that at that time beset the church
of England. Indeed Jewel and Hooker were perhaps the two most
powerful " apologists " that she ever had. The latter, indeed, speaks
of his early friend and benefactor, Bishop Jewel, as "the worthiest
divine that Christendom hath had for some hundreds of years."

Nor do we quite complete the list of defenders of the Church of
England who have held the stall of Netheravon, with Richard
Hooker. Within some thirty years after him we meet with the
name of Robert Pearson, who became Arehdeacon of Suffolk ; and
then in some twelve years more his illustrious son John Pearson,
who became Bishop of Chester, the author of the " Exposition of
the Creed," one of the grandest vindications of christian truth ever
published.

But I must hasten on ; for there are yet a few of my predecessors
of whom I should just like to make a passing notice. The first of
them was Thomas Ward, a namesake, and a nephew of the bishop.
And a hopeful nephew he must have been, for I chanced one day
upon a letter, among the Tanner MSS, at Oxford, in which Bishop
Seth Ward thanks His Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury, for a
dispensation, granted at his own request, for the said nephew to be
ordained deacon and priest in one day. Just one month afterwards
his benevolent uncle collated him to the stall of Netheravon. Within
two years he exchanged that stall, which was a poor one, for that of
" Gillingham," which — as Thomas Fuller, who held it, testifies —
was by no means the worst in the Cathedral, and the next year he
got that of Teynton, which was the gold en prebend" of Sarum.
Five years afterwards he was also safely landed in the Archdeaconry
of Wilts. Of his acts and doings for the Church I can tell you
nothing — and the probability is that he did nothing. He was well
appreciated by his episcopal uncle, but I fear by none besides. In
truth the appointment led to a serious quarrel between the bishop
and the dean— ^the latter of whom, by the way, had been refused a
prebend for his son — which so worried the bishop, that at last his
poor Lordship went crazy.

168 The Htory of a Prehendal Stall at Sarum.

The successor of Archdeacon Ward bore, indeed, an honoured
name, Isaac Walton — not, of course, our old friend " Piscator n — ■
who was not in holy orders, but his son. He held at one time the
Vicarage of Boscomb, once the home of Richard Hooker, and
afterwards was appointed by Bishop Seth Ward to the Rectory of
Poulshot. In due time he became a canon residentiary, and there
are several volumes in the Muniment Room which well attest the
diligence with which he arranged and indexed the various registers,
and other documents, belonging to the dean and chapter. But the
main interest that attaches to his name is of another character. The
good Bishop Ken, who, for conscience-sake suffered himself to be
deprived of his see of Bath and Wells, was his uncle — his mother
having been the sister of the bishop — and it was in the quiet par-
sonage at Poulshot, as well, possibly, in the residence-house at
Salisbury, that no less than at Longleat, Bishop Ken often found a
peaceful shelter. We can well picture him at his nephew's, often
singing a verse or two of one or other of those hymns, which now
for two hundred years have been the heritage of the christian world.
And who would not fain sing in spirit, with that uncle and nephew,
the verse in which he so beautifully describes the true lowliness of a
holy man, raised by a consciousness of coming glory to strivings to
glorify God :-—»

" Give me a place at some saint's feet,
Or some fallen angel's vacant seat,
I'll try to sing as loud as they
Who dwell in realms of brighter day."

Of those who have held the stall of Netheravon for the last two
hundred years I have little time to speak. Amongst them have
been William Coxe, Archdeacon of Wilts and Rector of Bemerton
(the home of George Herbert), who was the cotemporary and friend
of the poet Bowles; and Liscombb Clark, Archdeacon of Sarum
and Treasurer of the cathedral ; and Francis Lear, who ultimately
became dean ; and John Watts, my immediate predecessor, a
true,simple-hearted christian, always <e active in good works," Good
men they were, though perhaps not among those whom the world

By the Rev. Canon W. H. Rich Jones. 169

would call famous ; still doing their work for God humbly and
quietly ; and witnesses, that even in a generation when love was cold,
and when what religion there was seemed but a dull and spiritless
formalism, there was still a remnant in whom " the salt had not
quite lost his savour/''

And now I have told you my story. My special object has been
to put before you what was the true ideal of a cathedral, and to show
you, in the history of one out of some fifty-two prebendal stalls, some
illustration of its practical working. That any cathedral ever really
attained the high ideal which was before the mind of its founders
is too much to assert — in all things human there are defects, and
our cathedrals were not exempt from them — still, when I can point
to so illustrious a band of spiritual ancestors, as Bishop Roger
de Mortival, the framer of our statutes and the brave defender of
the rights of his see — and William de Edingdon, the builder of that
beautiful Church, but a few miles from my own home — and Thomas
Rotherham, the trusted friend and executor of Edward IV. — and
Richard Hooker, the learned defender of the policy of our church
against Geneva — and John Pearson, the able exponent of its
catholic doctrine against the Deist and the Socinian — and remember
also that this same church of Sarum reckoned first of all among its
canons and then as its bishop — John Jewel — its great apologist
against Rome — I may be pardoned in expressing a regret that it was
not deemed possible, some forty-five years ago, to remedy acknow-
ledged abuses, without the wholesale confiscation of all our prebends.

Happily there has been within the last few years a revival of real
interest in our cathedrals. At the present moment a Commission
is sitting, with the view of considering how best they may be
adapted to the wants of our day. The accession to the primacy of
a prelate, than whom no one is more intimately acquainted with
their purpose and their workings, may well give us good heart in
believing that recommendations will no longer, as was formerly
the case, be made hastily or without a full knowledge of the whole
matter. And so we will hope, that a real and useful work of
reformation will be carried out. We who have travelled the greater
part of life's journey may not be spared to see it. Still we will trust

170

A Contribution to the History of

that our children will once again recognize the cathedral as a
really necessary part of the church's system, as " a city set on a
hill/' whither " the tribes may go up/' as to Jerusalem of old, to
offer their united prayers and praises, and to bring from it, as from
a fountain-head, streams of blessings to the various parishes in
which their lot may be cast.

% Contnktion to % Jistorg of §fa Milliara
WMa @D. 1597-1644) anfc pal.
utthtg 1643—1644).

By W. W. Ravenhill, Esq.,

Recorder of Andover.
[Read before the Society at MalmeBbury, August 2nd, 1882.]

pippPglME is the great healer of wounds, and I may venture
llfiill to-day (1882) to mention Sir William Waller's name at
Malmesbury.

He was one of the foremost men in the wars of the King and
Commons, particularly during the early years of the struggle. He
was held in very high esteem by his own party, for he was a scholar
and a soldier, who had taken vast pains to educate himself for the
battle of life. Few careers, however, present greater contrasts — a
series of triumphs and defeats — rapid startling successes clouded by
heavy reverses, which it is difficult to account for.

Yet throughout all we see in him the well-bred courteous English
gentleman of strong religious feelings and liberal tendencies ; worthy
of record, though one of his troopers may have knocked off the nose
of your statue of King Athelstan, and he of his own wilful will

Sir William Waller and Malmesbury.

171

may have ordered to the melting-pot — -pro bono publico — Westport
Church bells, once the pride of Malmesbury.

Waller was born A.D. 1597, at Knole, in Kent, possibly under
the famous roof -tree of the Sackvilles, whose mansion is embellished
by the art, if not the architecture, of four centuries. His father, Sir
Thomas Waller, Knt., was Constable of Dover Castle. He was also
Chief Butler of England, an office which conferred on his family
hereditary rights to certain wine duties. His mother was daughter
of Sampson Lennard, Lord Dacre. There appears to be no account
extant of how, and where, and by whom, his early education was
effected. At the age of 15 years (A.D. 1612) he went to reside at
Magdalen Hall, Oxford, which then stood close to Magdalen College.
This he soon left for Hart Hall, whither Magdalen Hall (now
Hertford College) was in after days removed, and there completed
his university course.

" Afterwards," says Wood,1 " he went to Paris and learnt to fence
and manage the great horse. Thence he went to the German Wars,
where he served in the army of the Confederate Princes against the
Emperor."

Previously, as we learn from Waller's own " Recollections," 8 he
had been engaged in the campaign of the Venetians against the
Archduke (afterwards Emperor) Ferdinand, and was slightly wounded
at the siege of Rubia, his foot having been grazed by a ball.
During the same siege he had another narrow escape, when a cannon
shot passed between him and Sir John Yere.

The first act of the dismal tragedy of the Thirty Years' War has
an undying interest for Englishmen. The acceptance of the crown
of Bohemia in 1619 by the Elector Frederick and his fair young
consort — the beloved and lovely Elizabeth, daughter of King James
the First, and Princess Royal of Great Britain and Ireland, " The
Queen of Hearts," " The Pearl of Britain," the goddess of the day —
followed, after a little more than a year's sovereignty, by the terrible

1 See Wood's " Athense," vol. iii., p. 814, from which most of the above par-
ticulars are taken.

2 Published with the " Poems of Anna Matilda," London, A.D. 1788. The
original MS. is, I believe, at Wadham College , Oxford.

172

A Contribution to the History of

defeat and flight from Prague, A.D. 1620, can never be forgotten
here, and has been a favorite theme for authors of man}' countries.

There no doubt young "Waller was, fascinated by the cause, if
not by the Princess, and there, too, I think he must have made the
friendship of Sir Ralph Hopton, one of her most devoted friends.
At the defeat of the White Mountain, near Prague, during the
charge of a regiment of Cossacks, Waller's horse was shot under
him. On they came, death seemed inevitable, as the animal was
partly on him and his foot was entangled in the stirrup ; but they
passed over him, and he rejoined his friends without having re-
ceived any serious injury.

For these, and it may be other, services, Waller was knighted by
King James on his return to England, A.D. 1622, at Wanstead,
one of Queen Elizabeth's hunting lodges, in Epping Forest.

Soon after he married Jane, daughter and sole heiress of Sir
Richard Reynell,1 of Ford, Dorset, by whom he had an only daughter,
Margaret, who became the wife of Sir William Courtenay, of
Powderham Castle, ancestor of the Earls of Devon. Little did the
bridegroom think when he and his bride dwelt 'neath Lansdown Hill
of the shadows coming to him on that very spot before many years
had elapsed. Lady Waller died at Bath, 1633,2 and was buried in
the south transept of the Abbey Church there. Her monument, in
which her husband is joined, may still be seen, bearing this epitaph :

" To the deare memory of the right vertuous and worthy Lady Jane, Lady
Waller, sole daughter and heir to Sir Eichard Reynell, wife to Sir William
Waller, knight.

" Sole issue of a matchless paire,
Both of their state and vertues heyre ;
In graces great, in stature small,
As full of spirit as voyd of gall ;
Cheerfully brave, bounteously close,
Holy without vainglorious showes;
Happy and yet from envy free,
Learn'd without pride, witty yet wise,
Reader this riddle read with mee,
Here the good Lady Waller lyes."

1 This name not to be confounded with the Rosewells of Ford Abbey.
2 In his " Recollections " he says their eldest child was born seven years after
their marriage.

Sir William Waller and Malmesbury .

173

Whether these lines were written by Sir William Waller himself
I know not, but certainty they contain his notion of an English lady.

Several years subsequently 1 he married his second wife., the Lady
Anne Finch, daughter to the first Earl of Winchelsea, who gave him
one son to bear his own name, and a daughter Anne.

Later in life (his second wife having died) Sir William Waller
married thirdly the widow of Sir Simon Harcourt, and daughter of
William, Lord Paget. Lady Harcourt's son, Philip, by her first
marriage (afterwards Sir Philip Harcourt) married Sir William
Waller's daughter, Anne, and Sir William Waller thus became an
ancestor of the Earls of Harcourt, as he had by his eldest daughter
already become an ancestor of the Earls of Devon.

But to return. As the Civil War approached Waller showed
himself on the side of the Commons. Lord Clarendon attributes
his animosity to the Court to a quarrel he had with a relation
of the first Lady Waller, who was a personal attendant on the
king. " These two gentleman," he says, " discoursing with some
warmth together, Sir William received such provocation from
the other, that he struck him a blow over the face, so near the gate
of Westminster Hall, that he (the other) got witnesses to swear
that it was in the hall itself, the courts being then sitting ; which,
according to the rigour of the law, makes it very penal ; and the
credit the other had in the court made the prosecution to be very
severe : insomuch as he was at last compelled to redeem himself at
a dear ransom ; the benefit whereof was conferred on his adversary,
which made the sense of it more grievous." The value of Lord
Clarendon's literary portraits is well known, but we notice that
as a true party man he does not mention Sir William's education
and his strong opinions, liberal for those times, imbibed at home
and abroad.

A.D. 1641. Both parties became red hot, where they did not

! i 1 See introductory memoir to Waller's " Vindication." In his " Eecollections "
he details what he considered a miraculous escape of Lady Anne and himself.
They were in their coach-and-f our being driven to Yorkshire. The horses plunging
overpowered the coachman, and the reins got out of his hands. The horses then
dashed off, but in a short distance were stopped by one of them treading on the
reins.

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXII. N

174

A Contribution to the History of

muster and arm, but waited to see whether the tongue and pen
could not prevent the drawing- of the sword. The members of the
House of Commons (Long Parliament, elected October, 1640), at
least those who remained at Westminster, went about their daily
work. Sir William Waller was not amongst them.

A vacancy for Andover was reported, as Sir Henry Ransford had
died. Writ issued and returned ; and on " Die veneris, ult April
16415" we find the following on the Commons journals : —

" Andover Election. Ordered that the petition of Sir William Waller preferred
to this house concerning the election of a Burgess for the Town of Andover be
referred to ye -consideration of the Committee for Sir Lewis Dives."

This was the day after the House of Lords had consented to
Strafford's execution.

A momentous year passed and then another entry on the journals : —

" Andover Election. Die Martis 30 Maii 1642. Sir H. Herbert reports the
state of the election for Andover. ' There are in the town 24 Burgesses that
have right of election. That only 18 appeared, and that 9 were for Mr. Vernon
and 9 for Sir William Waller. That the Bailiff who challenged a casting voice
gave his voice to Mr. Vernon and returned him. That there was one Mr. Bourne
who was elected (Burgess), but not sworn, that was there at the door, but could
not be admitted during the time of election. The election being done, he came
to the Bailiff and said that he was there to give his vote to Sir John Waller.
The Bailiff answered him that he had no voice there, being only elected a Burgess
and not sworn. There were two other Burgesses Wm. Barwick and another,
that were at the Town Hall before the election began, but they were all generally
put out, as not being sworn. But they came not to give their voice during the
time of election, as the other did, but after the election ended then they said
that they were come to give their voices to Mr. Vernon.'

" Resolved upon the question ' That Mr. Vernon's election to serve as a Bur-
gess in this Parliament for the Town of Andover is void.'

" The question being proposed ' Whether Sir William Waller's election be good
The House divided
The Yeas went forth
Sir Philip Stapleton

(Borough Bridge) ( Tellers for 1 n»
Mr. John Moore f the Yea iU/

(Liverpool) J

Mr. E. Kirton ^

(Milborne Port) ( Tellers for ln9

Sir Edward Alford C the No ±u*
(Arundel) J

Majority 5

Sir William Waller and Malmesbary.

175

Resolved upon the question ' That the election of Sir William Waller for a
Burgess for the Town of Andover is a good election, and that the Bailiff of the
said Town do at the Bar mend the return.' "

" Die Jovis, 12° Maii 1642.

" Andover return amended by the Bailiff of Andover, who had formerly re-
turned Mr. Vernon to serve for Andover, whose Election is since judged void,
was by order summoned to appear here with the Clerk of the Crown to amend
the Indenture of return, and did at the Bar amend it accordingly, and made it
for Sir William Waller."

So the Court or Government party were defeated by a small
majority. We should like to have a report of the debate that
preceded it, which must have been somewhat interesting, if it touched
on the laws and customs of elections. We may gather that no
slight efforts were made to keep out such an avowed enemy of the
Court as Sir William Waller. They failed, and then we see the
long visage of the Bailiff of Andover at the Bar of the House, and
note that his hand appeared fit for the furnace, as he grasped the
pen on that memorable occasion. What effect this division had on
the rising storm is not clear, but it may have hurried the passing of
the ordinance for calling out the militia, which took place two days
later.

On the 4th July, 1 642, Waller was appointed by the Commons
to be one of the Committee of Public Safety, which consisted of
five peers — Earls Northumberland, Essex, Pembroke, and Holland,
and Lord Saye and Sele; and ten Commoners— Pym, Hampden,
Holies, Marty n, Piennes, Pierpoint, Glyn, Sir William Waller, Sir
Philip Stapleton, and Sir John Meyrick.

His first military commission for the Parliament was that of Colonel
of the 1 5th Troop of Horse. " He was," it is said, " much trusted by
Commons."" c:< He was known," says Whitelocke, " to be a man of
such honour and courage ; this silenced those envious against him,
and made the better way for recruiting for him."1 He divided
popularity with Lord Essex, his Commander-in-Chief, in times before
proper discipline, drill, and arms had been discovered by either of
them.

At the battle of Edge Hill his horse once more was shot under

1 See a letter from Pym to him, which shows that great man's respect for him,
given in Warburton's <4 History of Prince Eupert and the Cavaliers."

N %

176

A Contribution to the History of

him, and he had the mortification to see his major, Sir Faithful
Fortescue, an Irishman, desert to Prince Rupert, carrying with
him many troopers, raised at the expense of Parliament.

Early in December, 1642, Waller was sent into Sussex by Lord
Essex with a moderate force, and about the middle of that month
he appeared before Chichester. On the 21st a regular siege of the
town was commenced, and it surrendered to him eight days after-
wards. A goodly number of prisoners fell into his hands, including
Dr. King, Bishop of Chichester, the High Sheriff of the county,
Mr, Lewkner the Recorder, Chillingworth the Divine, and many
other notables. The number of officers taken is accounted for by
the fact that, though they had their commissions from the King,
they had not as yet been able to enlist their full complement of
soldiers. The inhabitants of Chichester offered a month^s pay to
Waller's men in lieu of being given over to plunder. This was
accepted.

On the 8th January, 1643, the House of Commons ordered " that
thanks should be given in all Churches and Chappels in London,
Westminster, and Middlesex, for the victories in Sussex. "

Malmesbury had been taken possession of by the Royalists in the
autumn of 1642, and the defences had been to some extent strength-
ened and a garrison of horse and foot placed there. At the beginning
of March, 1643, Sir William Waller, who had previously gone to
Bristol, determined to attack it, and commenced making preparations
for that purpose.

The news spread, as we gather from the following letter1 to
Prince Rupert from Captain John Hines, commanding at the neigh-
bouring town of Cirencester : —

" May it please yr Highness, havinge received this inclosed from the governor
of Malmesbury about 3 of the clocke this morninge I thought fitt in duty to
acquaint your Highness with this intelligence, and I humbly beseech your
Highness to tacke the strenth of our garison into consideracon which standeth
thus : Collonell Irvine's Regiment consisting of about 400 men whereof not 200
arm'd, Collonell Bamphield's 120, not sixty of them Armed, Collo. Cocke some
25 or 26 souldiers and as many officers, And the Armes that I received from

1 Hine's original letter is in the possession of Dr. Jennings, of Abbey House,
Malmesbury, by whose kind permission I am able to give it ; as also a second,
which will be foundifoelow.

Sir William Waller and Malmesbury .

177

Prince Maurice is but 40 muskets and 26 pickes, neither can I receve aney from
my Lord Chandoyes as notwithstanding your Highness letter and other invitations
soe that the enemy beinge stirringe this way my request to your Highness is that
you would be pleased to send some Regiment that is armed, and I doubt not wee
shal be able to withstand any opposiiion they shall dare to macke, soe with my
humble service to your Highness I rest your Highness servant to comande, Jo*
Hines, Cirencester, March 17th, 1642" [1643 present reckoning].

On the 19th of March Sir William Waller, says Rushworth,1
S( having raised a competent force [Clarendon says " a light party
of dragoons and horse'"], advanced from Bristol to Malmesbury,
where a Colonel " Herbert Lunsford, a stout gentleman, and a
good soldier (brother to Sir Thomas Lunsford, that was taken at
Edgehill) was governor ; who sent out some troops to encounter
him, but they being beat back, Waller assaulted the town, but not
prevailing, he prepared next morning for another and more fierce
attack : but they within, conceiving the place not tenable, desired a
parley, and yielded upon quarter; Colonel Lunsford, Colonel Cook,
some other officers, and near 300 common soldiers [Clarendon ' 6 or
7 score''], being made prisoners; and one piece of ordnance and
some ammunition taken."

But it is time to give Waller's own account of it, in his graphic
despatch to the Earl of Essex 2 : —

" A letter from Sir William Waller a member of the House of Commons to
the Right Honorable Robert Earl of Essex his Excellencie.
" My most honored Lord

" I have had the honour to receive two letters from your Excellency This met
me at Malmesbury, where I was engaged in a hot service for so long as it lasted.
I sate down before the place yesterday a little after Noon : At my first coming
their horse showed themselves in a bravado under the side of a wood, about a
quarter of a mile from the town, but upon the first proffer of a charge they retired
hastily towards Cicester-way before we could come up to them ; whereupon we
fell to worke with the towne, which is the strongest inland situation that I ever
saw ; In the skirts of the outer Town there were gardens walled in with dry stone
wall, from whence the enemy played upon us as we came on, but within half an
hour we beat them out of these strengths, and entered the outer or lower town
with our horse and foot and kept possession of it, the enemy withdrawing into
the upper where they had bin at coste to fortifie, we fell on upon the West

1 Pt. III., vol. ii., p. 263.
2 This is from the printed copy in the " King's Pamphlets," vol. xcix. Strange
to say it is not in Rushworth, though published by command of the House of
Commons.

178

A Contribution to the History of

Port, in which they had cast up a breastwork and planted a pieco of ordnance.
The streets so narrow at the upper end next the work, that not above four could
march in breast ; this businesse cost hot water : as we fell on we advanced two
Drakes and under that favour our musqueteers possessed themselves of some
houses near the Port, from whence we galled the enemy very much : If our men
had then come out soundly we had then caryed it ; but the falling of some
cooled the rest ; And so the first assault failed after a fight of neer half an hour.
Whilst we were preparing to renew the assault the enemy showed himself neer the
Town with seaven or (as some say) ten troops of horse ; whereupon Sir Arthur
Hazelrig fell out upon them with eight troops, but upon his approach they retired
speedily. In the meantime before his return that night, we gave on again upon the
Town, and had a very hot fight, which after an hours continuance at the least
we were fain to give over for want of ammunition, the main part whereof was
unluckily stayed behind by a mischance of the carriage, and could not come up
till the next morning ; I was in such want of powder, and especially ball ; that
if the enemy had fallen out upon me, I could have maintained a very small fight,
and I had no notice thereof from the officer, until I was reduced to this straight ;
whereupon I thought fit to draw off the Drakes that night, or rather morning for
it was neer two of the clock ; The better to effect this, and to prevent the hazard
of the enemies' sally, I caused all the Drums to beat and trumpets to sound,
drawing both horse and foot out into the streets ; As in preparation to an Assault
with all the strength I had ; which gave the enemy such apprehension, that
immediately they sent out a Drum, and craved a parley. They yielded upon
quarter, and gave the entrance about seven or eight of the clocke that morning.
They were about three hundred foot, and a troop of horse, but the horse I related
formerly shifted for themselves upon our first coming. We have prisoners
Colonel Herbert Lunceford, Colonel Cook, Lieutenant Colonel Dabridgecourt,
Serjeant Major Finch six Captains, six Lieutenants, six Ensignes, one cornet, and
four Quartermasters besides, ordinary soldiers, part whereof we mean to send to
Gloucester, the rest to Bristoll.

" This morning, in the name of God I propose to march to Cicester, where
there are seven hundred Foot and three hundred Horse and Dragoones.

" I must not omit to represent, Major Burghell's merit to your Excellencie
who on the 19 of this present having information at Bath, that there was a party
of two hundred and forty Horse Plundring Sir Edward Hungerford's house ;
drew out a hundred Horse and marched thither but finding they were gone from
thence, and quartered at Sherston a place about three myles from Malmesbury ;
he pursued them thither and about twelve of the clock that night, falling into
their quarters routed them took twenty five prisoners ; whereof there was one
Captain Two Lieutenants, and one Quartermaster, six or eight slain upon the
place, and three dead since, between forty and fifty horses taken with some Arms,
without the losse or hurt of any one man of our own. I shall upon all occasions
certainly advertise your Excellencie of what passeth herej I commit your
Excellencie to God's heavenly protection, and rest

" My Lord

" Your Excellence's devoted humble servant
"Malmesbury "William Wallee

23 Martii 1642" (1643)

Sir William Waller and Malmesbmy,

179

The superscription is r —

" A Letter from Sir William Waller to Kl Honble Robert Earl of Essex of a
great victory be obtained at Malmesbury 23 Martii in the Comity of Wilts."

And at the end of it : —

" Ordered by the Commons in Parliament that this letter be printed and pub-
lished. H. Elsynge CL Pari. D. Com., London, printed for Edw. Husbands, and
to be sold at his shop in the Middle Temple, March 28th, 1643."

There is sufficient mention made of the Westport and its neigh-
bourhood in this letter to enable us very fairly to picture to ourselves
to-day the assault, the defence, the surrender. If Rushworth is
correct, and only one piece of ordnance (doubtless placed so as to
sweep the approach to the Westport) was taken, and Captain Hine's
account of the want of arms amongst the garrison supports this
view, it does not appear that the Royalists had given Malmesbury
much power of resistance ; and so it fell by drum and trumpet into
the hands of exhausted foes who were all-but beaten off. Hard fate !

Cirencester was alarmed, as we gather from another letter 1 from
Hines to Prince Rupert

" Sr — Yesterday Sr. Will. Waler sett upon Malmesbury and play'd very hard
upon it with his great and small shott, about 2 of the clocke this morninge I sent
out such force of horse and dragoons as I could rayse for to aide them but they
came tow howers to late for the towne was deli v red up, but upon what tearms I
doe not as yeat sertainly heare, the enemy hath taken all the comanders and
officers prisoners with most of the souldiers, only some few excepted, which made
escape, wee expect them with us every hower, I thought futt to advertise your
Highness hereof that hapely in time your Highness might aiforde some reliefe to
them or ayde to us. Soe with my humble service I take leave and rest. — Your
Highness servant to comande, Jo. Hines, Cirencester, March 22th, 1642."

But " Sir William the Conqueror," as the newspapers began to call
him, stayed not for so small a quarry, and passing that place made
his famous " night-march." He crossed the Severn in boats not
far from Gloucester with a small force and fell suddenly upon the
rear of Lord Herbert's army, which consisted chiefly of recent Welsh
levies. The latter were completely routed, with a loss of five hundred
killed and thirteen hundred foot and three troops of horse taken

1 The original of this is in the possession of Dr. Jennings, who has kindly
permitted its use for this pa^er.

180

A Contribution to the History of

prisoners. Lord Herbert with difficulty escaped to Oxford. Tewkes-
bury soon heard the tramp of Waller's victorious troopers. Thence he
returned to Gloucester, where, scarce resting-, he hurried once more
across the river to Chepstow and Monmouth, which he reduced.
Soon after (April 25th), on a brisk cannonade, Hereford opened her
gates to him, and many cavaliers — amongst them Lord Scudamore's
son, Sir R. Cave, Sir Walter Price, Sir William Crofts, and others
—surrendered " on terms of quarter to officers and soldiers, plundering
to be prohibited, the ladies to be civilly treated/*

Some weeks later we find him opposed to his old companion in
arms, Sir Ralph, afterwards Lord Hopton, the gallant commander of
the Western Army, who, flushed with his successes in the West,
had arrived at Lansdown. Just previous to the battle between
their armies which occurred at that place, on the 5th of July, 1643,
Sir William Waller wrote the following answer 1 to a letter received
from Hopton: —

"Sir

" The experience which I have had of your worth, and the happiness which I
have enjoyed in your friendship, are wounding considerations to me, when I look
upon this present distance between us ; certainly, Sir, my affections to you are so
unchangeable, that hostility itself cannot violate my friendship to your person ;
hut I must be true to the cause wherein I serve. The old limitation of usque ad
aras holdeth still : and where my conscience is interested, all other obligations
are swallowed up. I should wait on you according to your desire, but that I
look on you as engaged in that party beyond the possibility of retreat, and
consequently incapable of being wrought upon by ante persuasion, and I know
the conference could never be so close betwixt us, but that it would take wind,
and receive a construction to my dishonour That Great God who is the searcher
of all hearts knows with what a sad fear I go upon this service, and with what
a perfect hate I detest a war without an enemy, but I look upon it as opus
domini, which is enough to silence all passion in me. The God of peace send us
in his good time, the blessing of peace, and in the mean time fit us to receive it.
We are both on the stage and must act those parts that are assigned to us in
this tragedy, but let us do it in the way of honour, and without personal ani-
mosity, whatsoever the issue of it be, I shall never resign that dear title of
" Your most affectionate friend

" and faithful Servant

"William Walleb."

There speaks " the man " Waller — the friend, soldier, and patriot.

1 This is taken from the introduction to Waller's " Vindication."

Sir William Waller and Malmesbury.

181

But T cannot on the present occasion follow him in his "retreat" 1 from
Lansdown, where, to use his own language, " he escaped a shower
of balls," or subsequent defeat at Roundway, and the mazes of his
long and eventful life, for I must return to Malmesbury, and pass over
its re-occupation by the Royalists, to notice the re-capture by the
Parliamentary forces under Colonel Massey, May, A.D. 16i4, and
we have this interesting record of it, which should be compared
with Sir William Waller's letter of the previous year : —

" The next day Massey faced Malmesbury, and summoned it for the King and
Parliament ; but Colonel Henry Howard, the Governor, returned answer ' That
he kept it for the King and Parliament assembled at Oxford, and without their
command would never part with it.' And for further answer fired upon them
gallantly. Massey's foot got into the suburbs, and broke their way through the
houses, till they came almost up to the works, and the only place of entrance into
the town, which is built upon the level of a rock ; Massey caused a blind to be
made across the street, to bring up the ordnance within carbine shot ; but in the
heat of business the fancy of an alarm seized upon his men, that those in the
town were sallying out upon them, which was nothing so ; and yet so prevalent
was this panic fear that those very men who at other times would brave it in the
face of an. enemy, venture on breaches, and almost to the mouths of discharging
cannons, now were smitten with such distraction and fear, that they all fled when
none pursued them, and left their ordnance in open street. The garrison, by
reason of the blind, perceived not this advantage, which otherwise had proved,
fatal to the assailants. Massey had much to do to rally his amazed soldiers*,
but at last they recovered both their courage and their ground. Yet by this
means the pretended assault was put off till the next morning ; when at break of
day a forlorn hope, seconded with a good reserve, advanced to the only passage
that had no drawbridge, but only a turnpike : to which they came up, and flung
in their granadoes. Those within made a shot at random, but by the disadvantage
of a rainy night their musquets lying wet on the works were little serviceable ;
so that Massey's men thronged in, and got possession of the town. Colonel
Howard was taken at the works, making as brave a resistance as was possible,
having received three several shots in his clothes, yet all missed his body. Upon
the first entrance Massey gave strict orders that the town should be preserved
from plunder ; nor would he at any time suffer his soldiers to ransaek any place
they took by storm, giving this reason, ' That he could not judge any part of
England to be an enemy's country, nor an English town capable of devastation
by English soldiers.'

" Colonel Devereux was left governor of the town, and hia regiment quartered
there. (Rushworth, Hist. Col., Pt. III., Vol. 2, pp. 738 and 739.)"

How Malmesbury was garrisoned by the Parliament after this

1 Tn the MS. of Waller's " Memoirs " he says " upon the retreat." In the
published edition this becomes " when I made the retreat from Lansdown."

182 A Contribution to the History of Malmesbury, fyc.

event appears well from the following' letter, preserved in the
Record Office 1 : —

" To the Honorble William Lenthall Esquier Speaker to the honnoBie house of
ye Commons these present

to the Honnotle House
"Right Honnoble :

" Being hear Intrusted by the noble Goveraor of Gloueestr not oneMe to receave
in the contributions for the maintenance of this garrison but allsoe to give him
Intelligence of all occurrences that may Annie way Accrew unto the gennera11
good. The wh uppon all occasions I have faithfullie done. And now lately
haveing sent out by vertue of his commission one Capt Sallmon to ffetch in som
money in Chippenham hundred wthin this Comc of Willtshire ; whoe by God's
providence seazed uppon Mr. Hayes Mr. Usher to herr Matie and found wth him
manie letters from his Matte the Earle off Digby and diverse others off great
Concernment whom the sd. Capt Sallmon brought into this garrison on thursday
last in the Afternoone and delivered up to Collonell Devereux governour hear by
Collonell Massey's appoyntment : with all the sd. letters, whoe eoppied out the
principall and sent the originalls to my Lord Generall. all wch was donne without
giveing the least notice thereof to the govemor of Gloucestr. wch. when I un-
derstood wth other particular passages in the caryedge of this mayn businesse of
consequence I gave the Governour of Gloucesfr notice theareof wth all possible
speed I could. Whoe I make noe question but will wth all expedition give an
Accompt thereof to this honnorble Assemblie ; And now this prsent Instant dining
wth the Governor Devereux hear hee finding by my poore Counsell to further him
in the genner11 good. Revealed unto mee the Coppie of the kinges prticular letter
written to the Queene whearein is more expressed to discover their great plott
against our nation than all the rest, being but in figures. Whereupon I demanded
Iffe he had sent Coppics of all to the Parliam1 as well as to his Excellency, whoe
tould me hee had not. therefore in consideration of the prsent necessitie as allsoe
in regard the letters though sent by his Excellencie for London might be surprised!
I gave him Counsell to send Coppies of the said letters to this honnorbIe Assemblie.
notwithstanding all former delay whoe takeing my advice I wth all speed that
might bee assisted him in writing these copies for the more secure and speedie
Information of this honnorble Assemblie in the prmises to web end I have sent upp
my owne servant this bearer for the more ffaythf ull & speedie deliverie, humblie
beseeching Allmightie God to give you the spirit of wisdome to discerne not onlie
these but all the blloudie plotts of the enemies of God's church for the utter
subversion of Antichrist

" Your honno" humble & faithfull
" servant till death
" Mallmesburye the 6 of Julie "An* Cabteight

A° 1644"

Leaving Malmesbury in such careful hands, I mast with regret
close this paper.

1 " State Papers, Domestic, 1644." There appears to be nothing in those of
1643 referring to this subject.

183

Certain Dlfr goatmfltts relating to % Ipatisjr
of IJt'oair ||int<m.

Communicated by the Rev. John A. Lloyd, Vicar.
$N the register of Saint Nicholas' Hospital, which is in the

SJ hands of the present Master — The Rev. George H. Moberly,
Principal of the Lichfield Theological College — ten closely-written
pages are to be found, containing matter relating to the parish of
Broad Hinton. Different deeds are there copied out, the titles of
which I am able to give, and also the Latin of one particular deed
(the second on the list), of peculiar interest as shewing the "metae
et bundse" of the original gift of land at Broad Hinton to the
hospital, through the courtesy of Mr. Moberly. The names are
curious, and seem lost to the parish, as T cannot trace either Lande-
laws, Fernhulleslade, Walfurlang beyond the bourne, or the Portway.

Contents, pp. 12 — 21.

'" 1. — Carta Ricardi filii Hugonis de Henton super advoeacionem ecclesiae de
brodehenton concessem Hospitali sancti Nicholai Sarum.

" 2.— Carta Ricardi filii Hugonis filii Ricardi de Henton declarans ubi praedictae
sex acrae tense jacent per metas et bundas.

" 3. — Carta Willelmi de Cawa de duabus acris tense collatis Hospitali Sarum in
Henton.

" 4 — Carta Willelmi Episcopi Sarum de appropriation e Eoclesise de brodehenton
per eundem facta magistro et fratribus Hosp. S. Nich. Sarum.

" 5. — Ordinatio vicarie de brodehenton facta per Egidium Episcopum Sarum.

" 6. — Declaratio Nicholai Episcopi Sarum super predicta carta Egidii supra
ordinacionem vicarie supradicte.

" 7. — Carta Johannis atte Elme de uno messuagio et una crofta in brodehenton
datis Walterio Shirburn et Ricardo Baynard.

" 8. — Carta Walterii de Shirborn facta Henrico Wodehay de terris praedictis.

" 9. — Carta Henrici de Wodhay super praedictis per quam dictus Wodhay dedit
easdem terras magister et fratribus Hosp S. Niclo. Sarum.

" 10. — Rector de Henton Hugoni de Henton, oratoria.

" 11. — Carta prioris et conventus Walmsford de duabus libris cere annuatim
ecclesiae de Henton solvendis."

184

Certai?i Old Documents relating to the

"Bkodehenton.

"2. — Carta Rieardi ftlii Hugonis filii Ricardi de Henton declarans ubi
prcedicta sex acrce tence jacent per metas et bundas.

" Sciant praecentes et f uturi quod ego Ricardus films Hugonis filii Ricardi de Hen-
ton miles dedi concessi et hac praesenti carta mea confirmavi des et beatae Mariae et
magistro Hospitalis Sancti Nicholai Sarum et fratribus ibidem deo servientibus et
capellariis sauis quam aliis infirmis et aliis in eodam hospitali coinmorantibus
sex acras tenae ineae cum omnibus pertinenciis suis in Henton una cum advocacione
parochialis ecclesiae beatie Mariae Virginis ejusdem villae cum suis omnibus per-
tinenciis viz. unam acram et dimidium quae vocantur landelaws et sunt jacentes
inter terram Roberti Swayn et terram claricie faires lof et unam acram et dimidum
in Walfurlang ultra burne quae sunt jacentes inter terram Willelmi de Calna et
terram Willelmi pyk et duas acras gardnum ejusdem ecclessiae

super Whetehull quae sunt jacentes inter terram Johannis de newbury et terram
alicie le Gay Et dimidiam acra propinquiorem crofte persone versus aquilonem
et dimidiam acra quae se extendit de ffernhulleslade in longitudine inter laportweye
et terram Willelmi de Calna. Habendum et tenedum dictis Magistro et Hospi-
tali et fratribus de me et heredibus meis in puram et perpetuam elemosinam
quieta ab omni seculari servicio consuetudine exaetione et demandatione in perpetu-
um Et ego Ricardus et heredes mei totam praedictam terram cum pertinenciis suis
et advocacionem praedictum cum eis pertinenciis praedicti hospitalis magistro et
fratribus et omnibus eis in predicto hospitali succedentibus contra omnes homines
warrantizabimus acquietabimus et defendamus inperpetuum sicut puram et per-
petuam elemosinam nostram Et per hanc donationem concessionem et praesentis
cartae consummacionem warrantisationem et acquietacionem et defensionem idem
magister et fratres praedicti receperunt me et heredes meos in singulis beneficiis
et oracionibus quae in prsedicto Hospitali inperpetuum Et de majore

hujus donacionis concessionis et consummacionis securitate huic scripto sigillum
meum apposui Hiis testibus dominii et magistris. Roberto Decano Sarum Radulpho
castellano Sarum et multis aliis."

The date of the above document is fixed by the foregoing deed,
which was executed at the same time, and conveyed the advowson.
This is dated August 20th, A.D. 1253.

An extract from the foregoing deeds was made by the Rev. Edward
Hickman, chaplain of the hospital from 1703 to 1728, and as it is
in English I venture to add it as an additional item of interest in
our parish history.

Extract from collection of copies of charters, donations, <Sfc, relating to St.
Nicholas Hospital, Salisbury, madebij the Rev. Edward Hickman, chaplain
of the hospital from 1703 to 1728.

"In the 37th of King Henry 3rd on September 14th Richard of Hinton the
son of Hugo de Hinton Knight hath given to God the Blessed Virgin the Hos-
pital of St. Nicholas in Sarum and to ye Master & brethren of the same six acres
of land with their appurtenances in the village of Hinton with the advowson of

Parish of Broad Hinton.

185

the Church of Hinton and all the profits and incomes of the same for a pure and
perpetual alms to be enjoyed freely and quietly from all secular exactions & de-
mands & I and my heirs will warrant it for ever.

[In about 1257.] " William de Cama son of Reginald de Calna Knight hath
given to God the Blessed Virgin and the Hospital of Saint Nicholas 2 acres of
arable land in the territory of Hinton for a pure and perpetual alms and also one
messuage with a Back side in the village of Hinton to be as peaceably enjoyed as
any alms can be for which grants Giles Bishop of Sarum hath granted to the
said William liberty to build a Chapel in his Court where himself children and
family may have Divine Service.

v£ In about 1248 William Bishop of Sarum did appropriate the Church of Broad
Hinton to the Hospital of St. Nich : but deferring what he would after order for
the Vicar which was done by Giles Bishop of Sarum in 1258 and confirmed by
the Dean and Chapter in 1259 but the disposal of any portion of it lay yet re-
served and was afterwards ordained by Bishop Nicholas in 1295 at Pottgrn.

" Henry de Woodhay for the salvation of the soul of his father mother &c
hath given to God the Blessed Virgin St. Nicholas and the Master & Brothers
of St. Nicholas Hospital for a pure and perpetual alms one messuage and a little
close in the village of Broad Hinton.

" Hugh Patron of the Church of Hinton hath given other things to the Rectory
for confirmation of his chapel (viz) that the way may be 16 foot wide 2 pr
ann. and pasturage for 4 cattle.

" The Prior and Convent of Wallingford gives 2 pr annum of the Church
of Hinton because they have tythes thence of 2 Hides of Land of Basset.

In more modern times we have an interesting deed of conveyance
by several of the trustees appointed by the Commonwealth Parlia-
ment for the sale of the estates and property belonging to the Dean
and Chapter of the Cathedral of Salisbury. The property conveyed
consisted of a messuage and about sixty-four acres of land at Uffcott,
which the Chapter had granted by a lease dated 25th April, 13th
Charles I., to Richard Weare, otherwise Browne, of Wroughton, for
the lives of himself and his sons Thomas and James : this property
is now in the possession of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who
obtained the estates from the Dean and Chapter, to whom they had
been restored, by a commutation effected in the year 1860, under
the provisions of an order of the Queen in Council. At that time
this land at UfFcott was held under a beneficial lease, granted by
the Chapter in the year 1856 to John Washbourne Brown, yeoman,
of Uffcott, and Lovegrove Waldron, of Eastridge, in the parish of
Ramsbury. The expiration of the leasehold brought the property
into the possession of the Commissioners in the year 1877.

186

Certain Old Documents relating to the

It will be noticed that one of the signatures is that of Owen
Rowe, a colonel in the Parliamentary Army, and one of the regicides
who signed the death-warrant of Charles I. He was a descendant
of Sir Thomas Rowe, Kt., Lord Mayor of London in 1568. He
died a prisoner in the Tower of London, and was buried at Hackney
amongst his relatives, 27th December, 1661. If the conveyance is
compared with the enrolled copy in the Court of Chancery, dated
28th May, 1650 (Close Roll, 1650, Part 6, No. 32), various dis-
crepancies will be found ; discrepancies very likely to occur when so
many confiscated estates had to be enrolled about the same time.
For example, there are no signatures to the enrolled transcript;
« Uffcott" is called " UfFord " ; " Jane Weare " is put for " James
Weare " ; and there is a small mistake in the value of the yearly
rent paid by the former lessees to the Chapter. The owner of the
deed of conveyance is Mr. John W. Brown, now living in Broad
Hinton, and who is possibly a descendant of the John Weare, alias
Browne, alluded to in the document.

" This Indenture made the eight & twentieth day of May in the year of
our Lord God, according to the computation of the Church of England, one
thousand six hundred and fifty, between Sr. John Woolaston Knight, Robert
Tichborne, Thomas Noel, Marke Hilodsley, Stephen Estwicke, William Hobson,
Thomas Arnold, Owen Roe, George Langham, John Stone, John White, William
Wyberd, Daniell Taylor, William Rolf and Rowland Wilson, Esquires, being (by
two several acts of this present Parliament the one entitled an act of the Commons
of England in Parliament assembled for the abolishing of Deans, Deans and
Chapters, Canons, Prebends, & other Offices & Titles of or belonging to any
Cathedral or Collegiate Church or Chapel within England and Wales, & the other
entitled an act with further instructions to the Trustees, Contractors, Treasurers,
and Registrars for the sale of the lands and possessions of the late Deans, Sub
Deans, Deans & Chapters, & for the better & more speedy execusion of the
former acts, commands & instructions made concerning the same), Persons,
trusted for the conveying of such of the lands & possessions of the said late
Deans, Deans & Chapters, Canons, Prebends and other persons named in the said
Acts, as by the same acts respectively are vested and settled in the said Trustees
& their heirs in such sort as in the said acts respectively is mentioned of the one
part, & John Weare alias Browne of the parish of Martins-in-the-fields, in the
County of Middlesex Gent, of the other part Witnesseth that the said Sir John
Woolaston, Robert Tichborne, Thomas Noel, Marke Hilodsley, Stephen Est-
wicke, William Hobson, Thomas Arnold, Owen Roe, George Langham, John
Stone, John White, William Wyberd, Daniell Taylor, William Rolf, & Rowland
Wilson, in obedience to the said acts respectively & by virtue thereof & in execu-

Parish of Broad Hinton.

187

tion of the powers and trusts thereby respectively committed unto them, & at the
advise &'by the warrant of Sir William Roberts Knight, Thomas Ayres, William
Parker, Robert Fenwick, & Edward Cressell Esquires, who together with others
named in the said act herein before first mentioned, or any five, or more of them,
are by the said acts or one of them, authorised to treat, contract & agree for the
sale of the said lands & possessions in such sort, as in the said acts respectively is
mentioned. And in considekation of the sum of one hundred sixty three
pounds one shilling & four pence of lawful money of England which the said
Thomas Noel & Stephen Estwick two of the Treasurers in that behalf appointed
by the said first mentioned act have by writing under their hands bearing date
the four & twentieth day of this instant month of May, now procured by the said
John Weare, alias Browne & remaining with him certified to be paid & satisfied
by him in such sort as by the same writing appears, Hath granted, alienated,
bargained, & sold, & by these presents doe grant, alien, bargain & sell unto the
said John Weare alias Browne, his heirs & assigns, All that messuage, & tene-
ment, with the appurtenances situate lying & being in Uffcott in the County of
Wilts, now or late in the tenure or occupation of Richard Brown ; & all houses,
edifices, structures, buildings, barnes, stables, orchards, gardens, yards, courts,
curtilages & backsides to the same belonging And all that one close of meadow
adjoining to the^said house containing by estimation two acres more or less. And
all those two closes of pasture called by the name of the common close, bounded
with the lands of Richard Baker on the east & the ground of the Widow Green way
on the north containing by estimation five acres more or less, And all those
certain parcels of arable land lying dispersedly in the common fields of Uffcott
aforesaid containing by estimation fifty six acres more or less. And all that
pasture for one hundred and seaventy sheep on the common downes and fields of
UfEcott aforesaid. And all ways, passages, easements commodities, watercourses,
profits advantages, and appurtenances to the said messuage or tenement, lands
& premises or any part or parcel thereof belonging or in any wise appertaining.
Which said messuage or tenement, lands, and premises are mentioned in the
particular thereof to have been late parcel of the possessions of the late Dean and
Chapter of the late Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary in Sarum, and to have
been by indenture bearing date the five & twentieth day of April in the thirteenth
year of the reign of the late King Charles demised by the late Dean & Chapter
of the said late Cathedral Church to Richard Weare alias Browne of Wroughton
in the County of Wilts Yeoman, for the term of his natural life, & the heirs of
Thomas Weare, alias Browne, & James Weare alias Browne, his Sons, under
the yearly rent of forty shillings & two pence thereby reserved & to be upon im-
provement of the yearly value of eighteen pounds nineteen shillings & ten pence
over and above the said yearly rent reserved, And the reversion & reversions,
remainder & remainders of the said messuages or tenement, land, & premises &
of any part and parcel thereof To have & to hold the said messuage or tene-
ment & lands, & all & singular other the said premises, hereby granted aliened,
bargained, or sold, or herein before mentioned to be hereby granted aliened,
bargained or sold, with their & any of their appurtenances unto the said John
Weare, alias Browne, his heirs & assigns for ever, to the only use & behoof of
the said John Weare, alias Browne, his heirs & assigns for ever as amply as the
said Trustees, or any of them by the said acts or either of them are enabled to

188

A Description of the Saxon Work in the

convey the same discharged of all demands, payments, & Incumbrances, as amply
as by the said Acts or either of them it is enacted or provided in that behalf. In
witness whereof the said parties to these indentures interchangeably have set
their seals : given the day & year first above written.

Tho: Noel Eowilson Owen Rowe Daniel Taylor

Marke Hildestry Will Rolfe George Langham William Wibeed "

% Inscription: of i\t $mm Mod in %

By C. E. Ponting, Esq.,

(Diocesan Surveyor and Architect.)

P^EATURES of unusual interest having been brought to light
g during the recent restoration of this Church, I venture
to place on record a brief description of them, with some
notes concerning the circumstances which led to their discovery*
In order to render this description more intelligible I illustrate it
by sketches of parts of the building as it now exists, and of the
various features referred to.

I am unable to give an account of the earliest stage of the res-
toration of this most interesting Church, which was commenced in
1 877 and carried on until 1881 under a well-known London architect,
for when, in July 188£, I was called in by the Vicar and church-
wardens, the restoration of the chancel, south aisle, porch, and the
clerestory of the nave had been completed, and I was requested to
undertake that of the remainder of the nave, north aisle and tower ;
but it is necessary, in order to complete the chain of evidence as to
the Saxon Church, that I should refer to one or two points in the
works previously done.

During their execution two round-headed windows— one on each
side in the western responds of the nave arcade — were opened out,
the sill of that on the north side being 8ft. 11 in. and that on the
south side 9ft. 8in. above the present floor-level.

These windows have rebates for shutters flush with the exterior

[ORIGINALLY THE OUTSIDE) AS AT PRESENT BUT WITH AISLE REMOVED

Ftc£ 2 . Inside of North wall of Nave

AS AT PRESENT.

"Whitemaa &Bass, Photo -Litha, London

J

Church of S. James, Abury.

189

face of the wall and the marks of the hooks for hinges could be
clearly seen. The openings on the outside average 3ft. 2 in. in
height from sill to the springing of the head, and in width taper
from 1ft. 5in. at the sill to 1ft. 3Jin. at the springing level. On
the inside they are splayed to about 2ft. 5in. wide, the splays of the
jambs and heads being of worked stone, the heads formed of whole
stones, but the sill-slopes are of rubble, plastered. An enlarged
section is given in Fig, 6. The early date of these windows is proved
(apart from their general character and rudeness of form) by their
having been cut into by the arcade of two arches, inserted on each
side in the twelfth century, when aisles were added to the previously-
existing nave. These arcades were removed in 1828 for the insertion
of others having columns of a pseudo- Classic kind ; but the shafts
and portions of the springers and label still remain in the responds,
as shown by Figs. 1 and 2 : the voussoirs of the present arches, too,
are the original ones only slightly re-worked.

Three new two-light windows had also been inserted in the nave
clerestory on each side in 1880, and these are indicated in the ele-
vations by dotted lines : I believe two of a debased kind existed
previously on the south side, but none on the north other than the
Saxon openings referred to below.

Amongst the debris in the churchyard I noticed two singular-
looking stones, averaging about 1ft. 8in. square and 12iin. thick,
pierced with openings of an irregular circular form and about 7in.
in diameter. These openings were splayed on both sides (more on
one side than on the other, the splays meeting at an obtuse angle)
and around the wider splay of each was a circle formed of fourteen
holes of about 1 in. in diameter and 3 in. in depth, the direction of
the holes inclining outwards towards the surface (see Fig. 5) . Upon
enquiry I learnt that these stones had been removed in inserting the
new windows in the north clerestory wall and thrown aside, being
considered of comparatively modern date and little interest ; 1 and

1 The two stones alluded to above were noticed by the Kev. W. C. Lukis and
myself on many occasions in the summer of 1881, when we were employed for
several weeks within the precincts of the Abury circles. They were the subject
of much speculation on our parts as to what purpose they could have served, and
we more than once tnrned them over, and examined them with much curiosity :
VOL. XXI. — NO. LXII. 0

190 A Description of the Saxon Work in the

that a third stone of similar form, and taken from the same wall, had
been sawn up for use in other parts of the building.

I then made a careful search for some clue as to their former
position, and on removing the plastering from the inside, and the
fifteenth-century roof of the north aisle (which was so much decayed
that no part of it could be preserved) a fourth of these stones was
found, happily untouched .and in situ, over the 1828 arcade, forming
a window on the exterior face of the wall, and having a wide splay
of the same circular form internally — as at A A Figs. L and 2.

The mason who did the work was confident that one of the three
which he had removed was taken from a position 3 in. to the west
of the centre of the westernmost new window, and another (the one
broken up) from about the like position as regards the easternmost
window.

The former I found to correspond vertically with the round-headed
window in the respond below, and measurements of the position of
the one in situ and of the ascertained positions of the two replaced
by the two modern windows showed the four to have been nearly
equally spaced laterally.

There were distinct traces of the fifteenth century roof of the
north aisle having been altered in post- Reformation times from the
original span form to that of a lean-to against the clerestory, thus
hiding the exterior faces of these windows from view. This roof
rested upon a heavy chamfered string-course of stone running the
entire length of the nave on the outside as at B Fig. 1 ; an en-
larged section of which and of the windows over is given in Fig. 4.
The character of this string is unmistakably Saxon. The outside
face of the north clerestory wall was found to be plastered around
the circular window and down to the string-course, the plaster being
connected with both ; this is composed of a fine white sand, and is
extremely hard. Plastering of a similar kind was found to exist
below the aisle roof on this wall and it had been retained as an inner

but it never occurred to either of us that they were old ; and it is only due to
Mr. Ponting to say that until he discovered the period to which they belonged,
it was never suspected by either of us, or by anyone else so far as I know, that
they were other than modern and valueless. All honour to him who so cleverly
found out their antiquity, and restored them to their original position. [Ed.]

Church of S. James : Rhury :

Plate 2

Feet.

CHANCEL

Ecuiy 14-^ Century.

Plan of half of existing
nave and north ai^le.

SECTION THRO SAXON

I AVE. WINDOWS OF UPPE.R

riELR AND STRING- COURSE

12 6 O
lNCKE.fi L. 1, .1 .1 I Z

FL«g ^ • SKETCH
SHOWING- JAUON WINDOWS
OF UPPER TIER AS FOUND
IfN CHURCHYARD .

Fief <S

SECTION THRO SAXON
NAVE WINDOWS OF
LOWER T I E_R .

"WMtam a-n ArB as g. o to'-Litha, L onctan .

Church of S. James, Abury. 191

lining in the alterations of the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. It was
in a very loose condition, but I have been able to retain a piece of
it near to C Fig. 1, by pouring thin cement behind it to secure it to
the wall. The antiquity of this plasteriDg was an interesting point
which further investigation proved in the most conclusive manner,
for on taking down, for the .purpose of re-building, a dilapidated
portion of the late twelfth century wall at the west end of the north
aisle which abutted against — but was not bonded into — the wall of
the nave, the plastering was found to be continued through the point
of connexion of the walls, as shown by dotted line at D on the plan
Fig. 3. It was also carried around the quoin and into the connection
of the fifteenth century tower with the nave, and, upon the portion
of it on the west side being removed, the quoin itself was seen to be
of Saxon long-and-short work reaching from the ground to the level
E (Pig. 1).

I then examined the south wall of the clerestory, on the outside
of which there are distinct traces of corresponding stones where not
interfered with by the modern windows. I was also informed that
a similar string-course to that on the north exists here, and that the
old roof rested on it, but it is now hidden by the oak ceiling erected
in 1880, having been kept below it.

The valuable evidence thus obtained clearly established the form
and dimensions of the Saxon nave, the half plan of which is shown
in Fig. 3. It appears to have been a parallelogram, 41ft. 7in. long,
22ft. 3in. wide (extreme dimensions), and 24ft. 6in. high from the
present floor-level to the eaves (this however, as will be suggested,
is probably not the full original height) ; the side walls pierced by
four windows on each side at about 9ft. from the floor, provided
with shutters externally, and an upper stage of small circular win-
dows or orifices which, so far as can be seen, were always open,
probably for light when the lower windows were closed in stormy
weather or " stormy 99 times. The two stages were separated by a
stone string-course 8 in. thick, and the whole of the exterior, with-
the exception of this course, covered with plaster.

The nave probably terminated at the east end with an apse : this
however would have been destroyed in building the present chancel,

o a

192 A Description of the Saxon Work in the

and, as the restoration of this part was completed before the com-
mencement of these discoveries, I had no opportunity of searching
for the foundations.

The system of fenestration adopted here is, I believe, very ex-
ceptional in buildings of this early period : a somewhat similar
arrangement may, however, be seen in the upper stage of the Saxon
tower of S. Benetfs, Cambridge. But it is to the peculiar con-
struction of the inner splays of the circular upper windows that I
would specially call attention.

The single stone forming the outer portion of each window had a
double splay (the lesser being on the exterior) and the circle of
radiating holes before mentioned : the use of these holes was in-
dicated on clearing out the filling of the window found in situ}
when it was seen that a f centre " or cage of the kind of work known
locally as " wattle-and-daub," around which to construct the splay,
was formed by inserting in the holes round sticks (apparently of
willow — those found had the bark still upon them), reaching to the
inner face of the wall (see Fig. 4 and dotted lines in sketch, Fig. 5)
and interlacing with them, in a transverse direction, smaller split
sticks, making a kind of basket or hurdle work, which was then
plastered on both sides. The " wattle " work was in a crumbling
state, but a small portion, with the plastering attached, is retained,
and may still be seen.

The two of these unique circular lights which remained have, of
course, been restored to their original position on the north side,
although not without some unavoidable injury to the appearance of
the 1881 windows, which I was instructed to retain. The splays
have been made to the ancient form, but without the sticks, the
holes in which the latter were inserted being exposed to view. The
easternmost of these windows, as stated, does not exist, but its
position is indicated by dotted lines.

The joints of the lower windows and of the long-and-short quoin,
are thin and close, which would indicate the date of the work to be,
at any rate, anterior to the eleventh century, and it is probably much
earlier than that period.

The Saxon walls are 2ft. 7in. thick, constructed of rubble masonry,

Church of S. James, Ahury.

193

consisting chiefly of unwrought sarsen boulders of small size with,
necessarily coarse mortar joints.

It is a point worthy of note that these clerestory walls (which
had been regarded as of post- Reformation date) have survived the
various alterations which they have undergone, without any sign of
settlement, and the strength of this early masonry is further shown
in the western wall of the Saxon nave, upon portions of which the
lofty Perpendicular tower was raised without any indication of
failure resulting from it.

The unusually lofty proportions of the nave as it now exists, as
well as the great width of the Church as compared with its length,
are due to its early origin and the adherence to its original dimensions
in the various alterations which have since been made — the enlarge-
ments having been effected by adjuncts to, rather than by any
extension of, the Saxon nave. The internal dimensions of the
present Church are : — 49ft. 9 in. in width across nave and aisles ;
whilst the length of the nave is only 35ft. Sin. The original
height of the walls is probably not fully represented by the 24ft. 6in.
above the present floor, since the bases of the fourteenth century
chancel arch jambs have been buried by a subsequent raising of the
floor. I have not, however, been able to discover any reliable in-
dication of the original floor-level.

The removal of these priceless relics of early Christian architecture
(in the fortunate recovery of which I have been privileged to be
instrumental) is another instance of the necessity for close and
constant watchfulness and care on the part of those engaged in
pulling about our old Churches, and for not taking for granted any
work to be " modern " until it is proved not to be otherwise. I
believe that early work is far more common than is generally sup-
posed, and that due care and observation would in many cases of
restoration have revealed traces of it which have been lost.

It may be of interest to add that the original fifteenth century
roof of the nave has been repaired and retained, and that the new
oak ceiling of the north aisle is an exact copy, line for line, of the
old one, the original position also of which — above the Saxon string-
course— has been preserved.

194

C|« ^%Ww of Inittoijmm.

By the Eev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A.

RITTENHAM is a manor in the parish of Brinkworth, in
North Wilts. Of the manor-house once there only a
fragment now remains ; and of the Ayliffe family, to whom it be-
longed for about two hundred years, nothing. Their estates at
Grittenham, Winterbourne Basset, Norton, and Foxley, passed
early in the last century, in a manner that will be described, to the
family of Fox, Lord Holland, and now belong to the widow of the
last lord, who died without issue in 1859. The right of the Ayliffes
so to transfer them was indisputable, but the exercise of the right
was the cause, at least, a chief cause, of leading into evil courses,
and at last to an untimely end, an unwise and misguided pretender
to the estates, the circumstances of which will form the principal
subject of this paper.

There were in different counties in England two or three families
of the name of Ayliffe. One in Kent claimed to be descended from
one Aluph, a Saxon, whose name still continues to be attached
to the village of Bough ton- Aluph, near Wye. Another, with a
baronetcy which expired in 1781, was of Braxtead, Brittaynes, and
Chissell, Co. Essex : but in their pedigree there does not seem to be
any link with the Ayliffes of North Wilts.1 These begin with Sir
John Ayliff, of Blackwell Hall, London, sheriff and alderman, a
famous surgeon, knighted by King Edward VI. : whose portrait
appears in Holbein's great picture at Barber Surgeons Hall in
Monkwell Street : being the second person from the king on his

1 The coats of arms of the two families are different. Ayliffe of Braxtead used
Sable a lion rampant between three crosses pattee or. The Wilts family, Argent
on a chevron raguly sable between three etoiles gules, three bucks' heads. Crest,
out of a ducal coronet an oak tree. For pedigrees see Harl. MS. No. 1165, f. 28 :
also No. 1443, f . 16b : and the Visitation of Wilts of 1623, lately printed by Dr.
George W. Marshall.

The Ayliffes of Gritienham.

195

right hand. This worthy's epitaph, inspired by the Muse of Stern-
hold and Hopkins, was in St. Michael's Church, Basinghall Street,
and is printed in Stow's London. Book III., p. 67 : —

"In chirurg'ry brought up in youth, a Knight here lyeth dead,
A Knight and eke a surgeon such as England seld hath bred.
For which so sovereign gift of Grod wherin he did excell
King Henry VIIJ call'd him to Court, who lov'd him dearly well.
God gave the gift : the King gave goods, the gift of God t'enhance
Where God and such a prince do join, such man hath happy chance.
King Edward for his service sake bad him rise up a knight
A name of praise, and ever since he Sir John Ayliff night."

&c, &c.

The " goods " given by King Henry were the lands at Grittenham,
part of the confiscated property of Malmesbury Abbey. From him
descended John AylifP, Sheriff of Wilts, 1609, and Sir George,
1635, described as "of Rabson, in Win terbourn Basset." There
were marriages with the families of St. John, Danvers, Goddard,
and others in the county. Anne Ay line, daughter of Sir George,
was the first wife of Edward Hyde, afterwards Lord Chancellor
Clarendon: and dying 1632 was buried at Purley Church, Co. Berks.1

We have a few notices of some members of the Grittenham
family who obtained a little notoriety. The first occurs in Mr.
Forster's Life of Sir John Eliot (Vol. I., 8). Speaking of the fatal
encounters that were common between gentlemen in the reign of
King James L, he says : — " Not even the latest display of de-
termined disapproval by James, which had brought to the very foot
of the gallows young Mr. Ayloffe of Wilts for slaying the cousin of
the Countess of Bedford, availed to suppress or check those blazings
forth of temper/' &c.

The Countess of Bedford of James the First's time was a very-
celebrated lady : by birth Lady Lucy Harington, the elder of the
two daughters of the first Lord Harington, of Exton, and coheirs
of the second lord, their brother. She married Edward, third Earl
of Bedford, in 1594. She was a lady of great taste and spirit, but

1 Her monument with portraitures of herself and infant, with a touching Latin
inscription, is mentioned in Ashmole's " Berks," I., 2. See also " Wiltshire
Collections," Aubrey and Jackson, p. 155.

196

The Ayliffes of GriUenham.

vain and bountiful to excess : a great patroness of poets, particularly
of Dr. Donne, B. Jonson, Drayton, and Samuel Danyell, on whom
she " rained sweet showers of gold" in return for which they were
not sparing in their eulogy. She spent so much of her own and
her husband's money upon Moor Park, in Hertfordshire (pronounced
by Sir William Temple to be the " most perfect garden that he ever
saw"), as to be obliged to sell it.1 The tC cousin " (i.e., relative)
killed by " young Mr. Ayloffe of Wilts 93 was, most probably, Mr.
Francis Harington, son of Thomas Harington, of Boothby Pagnell,
Co. Lincoln, who fell in a duel in 1623. One Mr. Arthur Samwell2
is usually named as the principal antagonist by whom he was killed,
so that young Ayliff would be implicated only as a promoter and
abettor. Brawls and quarrels, especially among the Scottish and
English courtiers, were of frequent occurrence at this period ; and
parties of young men under the names of " Roaring Boys " and
" Roysterers " infested the streets of London at night, to the terror
of the peaceful. It being the fashion also to wear swords, any
provocation was immediately followed up by violence.

The next of this family given to enterprize and movement was
one Mr. John Ayliffe, of whom this freak is mentioned in an original
letter among Sir Richard Veruey's MSS. correspondence : — 3

" 1673. Oct. 28. One merry story by the way. A sabot [French wooden
shoe] was found on or under the Speaker's chair, with the Arms of England on
the one side and of France on the other : with beads, &c, on one side, and 'Laws,
Liberty and Religion ' on'jthe other ; with this motto ' Utrum horum mavis accipe '
\_Chuse which you will have],

u P.S. — It was one Ayliffe that did it, and as soon released as apprehended."

That his name was John we learn from another paper, in the
Marquis of Bath's collection at Longleat : — 4

" Original Petition to the King by John Ayloffe who stands charged with
printing ' The Appeal ' and ' The Votes of Parliament ' : and for having laid in a
libellous manner a wooden shoe in the speaker's chair, for which he has suffered
two years exile. Asks pardon."

1 The engraved portrait of this lady is in Lodge's " Portraits," Vol. V.
2 There was a marriage between the Samwell and Harington families.
3 See Seventh Report of the Historical Commissioners, p. 491°.
4 Fourth Report of Historical Commissioners, p. 235a.

By the Rev, Canon Jackson, F.S.A.

197

The wooden shoe with its emblems and motto* pretending to come-
fro m France, was probably meant as a warning to the English
people, through their representatives in the House of Commons, of
things having now come to such a pass that the choice lay between:
absolute monarchy under Papal influence, on the one hand, or Pro-
testant freedom, on the other. It is therefore very likely that the
facetious John AylifFe who deposited the shoe was no other than the
Colonel Ayliffe who shortly afterwards appeared in arms for this
very cause, under the Duke of Argyle, who, in 1685 sailed from
Holland to invade Scotland with the object of displacing James II.
and setting the crown on the head of the Duke of Monmouth, the
champion of Protestant liberty.

In the account of this unlucky affair it is stated that, besides his
Scottish supporters, the duke was attended by " two Englishmen^
Colonel Ayliffe, a nephew by marriage to Lord Chancellor Clarendon,1
and Richard Rumbold, the maltster of Hertfordshire, famous for
being concerned in " The Rye House Plot." The expedition failed;
a fight took place at Killerne, near Dumbarton ; Argyle and others
were made prisoners. Some were hanged at once by my lord of
Athole. Colonel Ayliffe and two preachers, who had taken part in
the preliminary councils and done actual service in the invasion,
were brought to Glasgow. Ayliffe was civilly used, and it was
thought he might be saved, upon Lord Dumbarton's intercession.
Ayliffe thought otherwise, and to anticipate the vengance of his
enemies, who, he was sure, would not spare him, " he got " [says
Bishop Burnet] "a penknife into his hands and gave himself several
stabs : and thinking he was certainly a dead man, cried out, ( Now
I defy mine enemies J " But the wounds not being mortal, he was
sent to London to be examined : under the idea of his being able to
give much important information. " His relationship to the King's
first wife 2 might perhaps be one inducement to this measure, or it

1 It has been already mentioned in the text that Anne Ayliffe married Edw.
Hyde. She was aunt to Colonel Ayliffe. See extract of pedigree printed at p. 201.

2 Colonel Ayliffe was only connected with King James the Second's first wife,
Ann Hyde, the chancellor's daughter, in this way. Ann Hyde's father, the
chancellor, had married the colonel's aunt : but she had no surviving child. Ann
Hyde was the chancellor's daughter by his second wife, Frances Aylesbury.

198

The Ayliffes of Grittenham.

might be thought more expedient that he should be executed for
the Rye House Plot. When examined he refused to give any in-
formation, and suffered death upon a sentence of outlawry which
had passed in the former reign. King James examined him per-
sonally,, and finding him sullen and unwilling to speak out, said,
( Mr. Ayliffe, you know it is in my power to pardon you, therefore
say that which may deserve it ' : to which Ayliffe replied ' Though
it is in your power it is not in your nature to pardon.' " He was
hanged, drawn and quartered, before the Temple Gate in Fleet Street.1

The ignominy of being hanged depends very much upon what a
man is hanged for : Colonel AylinVs death was no disgrace to him,
for he was a victim for a cause which afterwards triumphed. The
same cannot be said of the next of the name who ended his days in
a similar manner — John Ayliffe, Esq., executed at Tyburn, 19th
November, 1759.

The writing of this person's history is not a very pleasant or
dignified occupation : but as our Magazine professes to preserve the
memory of Wiltshire events and persons of former times, it seems
not out of place to let our readers, who take interest in things long
gone by, know, who this " Wiltshire esquire " was, why he was pro-
moted to the gallows, and what the circumstances of his case were.
It created at the time a very great sensation, not only in the country
but in London : associated, as it was, with the respectable names of
Ayliffe of Grittenham, Horner of Mells, Co. Somerset, and more
especially with that of the Rt. Hon. Henry Fox, afterwards Lord
Holland, one of the most conspicuous statesmen of the day.

A short distance before reaching the Wootton Basset Station in
going from Bath to London, the railway skirts Tockenham Park, a
prettily-wooded bank rising on the right hand. The house is still
standing, but is hardly visible from the railway. Beyond this is
he village. At the beginning of the last century this place had
belonged for some years to Matthew Smith, Esq., who had married
the daughter of Edward Goddard, of Ogbourne St. Andrew. Their

1 For an account of this affair see " History of the Stuarts " (folio), p. 700,
707 ; C. J. Fox's " James II.," pp. 174, 180, 215 ; and Sir F. Graham's MSS.
correspondence, Seventh Report Hist. Commiss., p. 379.

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.S.A.

199

son, Mr. Goddard Smith, leaving no issue, his sister Mary became
his heir, and married Mr. John Jacob, of The Rocks, near Colerne.
By a subsequent marriage with an heiress of the Jacob family Toeken-
ham descended to Sir Robert Jacob Buxton, Bart., of Shadwell Court,
Co. Norfolk. Mr. Goddard Smith had in his service John AylifFe,
Sen., of an illegitimate branch of the Grittenham family. He married
the housekeeper at Tockenham : and letters extant speak of them as
perfectly respectable and honest persons. They had a son, the un-
fortunate John AylifFe, whose career has to be described, and who
was born at Tockenham about 1718 or 1719. Whether he was in
any way taken up by the Grittenham family with the object of
being ultimately adopted, or whether it was intended that he should
be qualified to be a kind of companion to young Mr. Jacob, is not
clear : but he certainly received an education above the rank of his
birth, being sent to Harrow School. That school (founded in
1571) had then by no means approached its present celebrity; but
still it was one where a lad of humble connections would be sure to
form ideas and associations above his natural rank. After leaving
school, and having apparently not much immediate prospect, he
applied for the mastership of a newly-founded charity school at
Lyneham, close to his native place. He was at first thought too
young, but ultimately obtained it.1 In May, 1738, being hardly
20 years old, he married Miss Sarah Brinsden, daughter of the then
Rector of Tockenham. Being very good-looking and of an ex-
travagant and aspiring turn of mind he began to play the fine
gentleman, and thereby earned among the neighbours the sobriquet
of "The Squire," Teaching the young clod-hoppers of Lyneham
how to spell was to his Harrovian tastes not nearly so fascinating
as the sports of the field, and the consequence was that the land-
owners round about Lyneham School soon began to complain of his

1 The appointment was not of a very lucrative kind : about £10 a year. Ralph
Broome, by his will, bearing date 14th February, 1715-16, gave unto the parish
of Lyneham £450, to be laid out in lands, the income whereof to pay a school-
master, who should yearly teach not exceeding thirty poor children of that parish
to read, write and cast accounts ; and instruct them in morality and the principles
of the Christian religion, according to the Church of England gratis.

200

The Ayliffes of Grittenham.

using their fields without leave first obtained, and of his neglecting
the school.1

Before very long he began to find himself in pecuniary difficulties,
and his heart yearned towards the broad acres of Grittenham, which,
for want of a male heir, were now in the hands of an unmarried
lady. The last male owner of the Ayliffe estate, George Ayliffe,
Esq., who died in 1712, had married Miss Judith Strangways, of
Melbury, Co. Dorset ; and her niece, Susanna Strangways, becoming
heiress of Melbury, married Thomas Horner, Esq., of Mella Park,
Co. Somerset. Mr. and Mrs. George Ayliffe were both dead before
John Ayliffe was born : they left no son, and only one daughter,
Judith Ayliffe, who on her parents' death became owner of Gritten-
ham, and continued unmarried. It was this lady to whom John
considered himself to be heir-at-law, though he must have known
very well that, being of an illegitimate stock, his claim had no legal
foundation. Miss Judith Ayliffe, however, taking no account of
the unfortunate schoolmaster squire of Lyneham, left, at her death,
all her estates to her first cousin, Mrs. Horner. That lady, again,
had an only daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, who married Stephen
Fox, Earl of Ilchester, and Mrs. Horner in her turn, instead of
recognizing John Ayliffe, made over the Ayliffe property to Lord
Ilchester, younger brother to Henry Fox.

Mr. Fox, wishing to do something for Ayliffe, obtained for him

1 Among some old letters of the Jacob family is one written by Mr. Walker, of
Lyneham, to Mr. Goddard Smith (uncle and guardian of young Mr. Jacob, of
Tockenbam), complaining of the poaching going on upon his lands : —

" 1742. Dee. 10. I've been out five hours today and have seen but one hare. We daily find
wires in the copses. I've had one watched for two nights without success. It was at last taken
away by a fine picked-toed shoe very like a Bean Schoolmaster's. Indeed he is a sad fellow : his
neglecting the school is so great an abuse of Charity I've resolved on my return to apply to Chan-
cery, His confederates are West and Romin. Unless we break the knot, you must hunt nothing
but red herrings It is quite shocking at Bath to see at the poulterers at least twenty brace of hares
daily, partridges and pheasants without number."

Mr. Goddard Smith, in reply, tries to appease the old gentleman's indignation :
and continues : —

u As to the other " (the Beau schoolmaster) • I can say very little to it. I know he has been talked
of, but I never had any reason from myself to think him guilty. I have often advised him and he
has as often protested his innocence, but that is no argument of it. To be sure he has been a fool in
other things and may be in this. I had a value for his fattier and mother and employ him in my
own and my nephew's affairs, because I can't well do without him but have often told him, upon
the first discovery I have done with him."

By the Bev. Canon Jackson, F.S.A.

201

a situation in the service of Mrs. Horner : and in this he so rapidly-
ingratiated himself with her as to become manager of her Melbury
and other estates.

The following table explains the legal relation of the various
persons mentioned in these transactions, J ohn AyliflVs name being,
for obvious reasons, inadmissible :—

Sir George AylifEe.
Sheriff of Wilts, 1633.

John Ayliffe.=Fanshawe. Anne Aylif£e,=Edw. Hyde, = Frances Aylesbury.

Col. John
Ayliffe.
Executed
1687,
after Ar-
gyle's re-
bellion.

d. 1632, set. afterwards
20. B. ofClar-

(First wife) endon.

George Ayliffe,= Judith Thomas =Ridout.

(Second wife)

Esq., last male
owner ofj Grit-
tenham, d.
1712, bur. at
Foxley.

Strang- Strang-
ways,d. ways.
1716,
bur. at
Foxley.

Anna-
Hyde.
(First
wife)

-K. James II.

Miss Judith
AylifEe, d.
unmar.

Thomas =Vaughan. Thos. Horner,=Susanna
Strang- of Mells, Strang-

ways, Esq. ,d. before ways,d.

d. s. p. 1743. 1758,

set. 68.
(Sister
and heir)
Stephen Fox,=Elizabeth
Earl of II- Strangways
Chester. Horner.

(Dau. and
heir)

Rt. Hon. Henry Fox,
afterwards Baron
Holland of Holland,
Co. Lincoln, and Fox-
ley. (Younger brother)

John AyliflVs ideas now expanded much too magnificently for his
means. Finding himself a person of importance in the county of
Dorset as agent to the Strangways estates, he proceeded to build a
fine house at Blandford, which he filled with expensive furniture,
books, and pictures : forming altogether a collection so large as to
require, when his downfall came, a 4to catalogue and six days' sale.
He now also began to embark in sundry wild speculations : lost
money in vain attempts to establish his claim on lands belonging
to various persons : was cheated by money lenders, and in short
became deeply involved. Then commenced his course of malpractices.

202

The Ayliffes of Grittenliam.

Certain acts were alleged for which Mrs. Horner might have prose-
cuted him : but she was unwilling to proceed to such extremities,
and was content with dismissing him.1

Mr. Henry Fox nevertheless permitted him to continue steward
of his Grittenham and other estates in North Wilts : and also ob-
tained for him some small offices as Commissioner of Musters and
Deputy Receiver in South Wales: and so late as 1757 writes to
him in language indicating friendly confidence. The unfortunate
man was, however, all the time greatly embarrassed, and continued
to have recourse to bad methods for extricating himself.

Mrs. Strangways Horner died in the latter part of the year 1757.

More than a year after her death AylifTe produced certain docu-
ments signed by Mrs. Horner, by which some time before her death
she had charged her Melbury estate with the payment of £8000 to
AylifTe ; besides the lease of a farm to him for three lives, as a pro-
vision for his wife and son. Lord Ilchester, then owner of Melbury,
had never heard a word from her on the subject. AylifTe accounted
for this by saying that she had pledged him not to mention it until
after her death, to save any possible personal dissatisfaction towards
herself on the part of the Ilchesters. Mr. Fox, however, persuaded
AylifTe to drop that claim, and to accept in lieu of it another lease
from himself for three lives, of a farm called Eushley, at the small
reserved rent of £35 a year. This was in November, 1758. AylifTe
then borrowed £1700 from a Mr. Clewer, mortgaging to him the
Rushley lease as the security for the loan : but to make the security
appear stronger he had a copy of Mr. Fox's lease drawn out, in
which he put down the amount of rent reserved to Mr. Fox as five

1 Mrs. Strangways was unfortunate in her stewards. Ayliffe's predecessor had
been one Mr. Adam Tuck, a professional who lived at Langle y, near Chippenham :
who was also steward of Lord Cornbury's estate near Wootton Basset : and Town
Clerk to the corporation of that place. From that office he was dismissed for
bribery, and on his departure disappeared also the charter and corporation books :
the former of which was discovered in 1850 by Meiler Owen, Esq., of Denbigh-
shire, in a box of papers belonging to a Captain Tuck. This Mr. Adam Tuck
was doubtless the same person who was concerned in the imprisonment of the
Sheriff of Wilts, in 1741, as mentioned in the Wilts Arch. Magazine, vol. iii.,
p. 228.

By the Rev, Canon Jackson 3 F.S.A. 203

instead of thirty -five. To this fictitious document Ayliffe with his
own hand attached Mr. Fox's name.

Being then sued by a different person— a Mr. Cruise, upholsterer
of Devizes — for the sum of £300, and this, with other debts
amounting to £1100, being pressed upon him, he was arrested and
detained at an officer's house in Stanhope Street, Covent Garden,
for six weeks. Meanwhile he had been so irregular in payment of
interest to Mr. Clewer that Clewer applied to Mr. Fox to take the
mortgage off his hands. Mr. Fox hesitating about this a discussion
arose. Clewer produced the document which Ayliffe had given him^
and the fraud was, of course, immediately detected.

Clewer then laid an indictment against him for forgery, and he
was removed to Newgate. A trial followed. He was found guilty
and sentenced to death.

Other frauds then came to light. One of the most inexcusable
was his treatment of a particular friend, a clergyman of the name
of Edwards. Ayliffe had prevailed on him to become security for
a considerable loan : giving him a letter alleged to have been written
by Mr. Fox, then patron of the living of Brinkworth, in which
was a promise of the next presentation to Mr. Edwards. 'This was
a forgery from beginning to end. The unfortunate clergyman was
ruined, and died broken-hearted. In his pocket, after his death, was
found this memorandum : —

" July 29, 1759. Wrote the following letter to John Ayliffe Satan Esq.
" Sir, I am surprized you can write to me after you have robbed and most
barbarously murdered me. Oh ! Brinkworth !

Yours, T. Edwards."

Ayliffe was distracted by his situation : and in the absence of all
composure of mind tried all kinds of appeal to Mr. Fox to interfere
and save him : first menaces of disclosure of facts that would ruin
Mr. Fox's reputation, and then the most piteous apologies. Lady
Caroline Fox did what she could on his behalf, but Mr. Fox left
him to his fate. Ayliffe made no very distinct expressions of peni-
tence, except in a general way, and such as his consternation and
the hope of reprieve elicited. The Chaplain of Newgate considered

204

The Ayliffes of GrittenJiam.

him " a very weak man, with something more blended and wrought
up with that weakness."

With respect to what was called " The Grand Deed " (viz., the
deed by which Mrs. Strangways Horner had engaged to give him
£3000, and an annuity) the chaplain (who published an account of
AylifiVs behaviour after conviction) says that he was very closely
pressed by several gentlemen to tell the truth, but he would not
even then admit anything to make it null and void. There is,
however, at Melbury a private diary kept by the Lord Ilchester of
that day, in which is the following entry, written 19th November,
1759, the day of Ayliffe's execution : —

" He forged various leases, and obtained many fraudulent leases and deeds of
Mrs. Horner's particularly one giving him £3000, and 400 guineas annuity for
three lives. This was called The Grand Deed : and he had the impudence to
declare that it was obtained honestly ; but when Death came very near him he
was stung with remorse, and about two hours before he was hanged he wrote a
paper voluntarily in which he declared that this deed was a fraud and imposition
and that Mrs. Horner knew nothing about it."

His behaviour after sentence is thus described by the chaplain :—
"The Morning of Execution.

" It is much to be wished we could assure the public he had spent
the last night like a true penitent, sensible of the approaching period
of his life ! The decisive moment ! in which his last lot must be
cast for eternity. But, alas ! no such matter ; For,

" On enquiry, it was said he had been calling for his wife, ranting,
raving, talking out of the window, more like one out of his senses
than in his right mind ; that though often intreated by one of the
keepers [who watched with him] to be quiet and betake himself to
his devotions, or to his rest, he could not be prevailed on either to
read or pray ; that they were alarmed at seeing him attempt to take
something out of a bottle, which, on their doubt, and endeavour to
prevent, the prisoner told them it was only a little medicine, but
which, on tasting, was found to be a glass of some warm cordial to
keep up his drooping heart ; and that he did not sleep above two
hours in the whole night. It was added, that one of the keepers

By the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.S.A.

205

had helped him to several pints of water, which he drank in the
night-time ; the expected agonies of such a death having set him on
fire, and parched him with thirst.

" On my going to his chamber, he appeared [after some little

discourse and consolation] composed. He readily went up to

chapel and joined in the necessary devotions, received the holy com-
munion with apparent attention, seriousness, and decency.

" After which a proper book of devotions was put into his hands,
together with his Prayer-book ; and he was desired to meditate on
the most comfortable articles of our precious faith, and to pray for the
graces most necessary for a dying person, as the most proper support
and employment, all the way to the place of execution.

" After all the usual and proper offices of devotion and adminis-
tration had been performed for him in the chapel, he desired I would
abide with him some time in his chamber [after we had parted and
taken leave in the chapel.] By this perhaps he partly intended to
favour his hope of a reprieve. While these minutes were spent in
private prayer, he was repeatedly sent for, and obliged at last to go
down and have his irons knocked off, in order to be put in the cart.

This was not done till about half an hour after nine ; an hour

later than usual.

" In the way, it is said, he appeared sometimes reading and some-
times meditating in a quiet posture, without any emotion of body
or mind till he came to the place of execution, when he appeared on
his knees in the cart. Soon after his arrival there, by some un-
accountable accident, whether of words spoken, or a paper appearing
to be handed about, the word a reprieve was cried, caught, and re-
peated by some part of the surrounding multitude, till the belief
prevailed for a minute or two, that he was reprieved, so far that
some distant spectators went away directly and reported it in town,
where I heard it after my return, and was obliged to explain and
confute it.

" Meantime the poor man continued [apparently unconcerned and
regardless of the outcry] on his knees, for which the executioner
had given him an unusual liberty, by relaxing the rope on this ru-
mour of a reprieve while the spectators imagined he was returning

YOL. XXI. — NO. LXII. P

206

The Ayliffes of Grittenham'.

thanks, for this sudden [I will not say unexpected] deliverance from
the jaws of death.

" Some explain this incident to be the effect of a contrivance be-
tween himself and a correspondent who sent him a letter, in hopes
either of the mob taking the alarm at the word reprieve, and at-
tempting to realize it by a rescue : or else that he might at least
gain a little time, in which he imagined it possible a reprieve might
come. This may account for his not being moved or surprized at
the cry, as being in the secret ; and seems to shew that he had a
scheming head to the last.1

" In this interval a message was brought me to the coach, by a
servant in livery, written wTith a pencil on a scrip of paper ; If Mr.
Ayliffe has a desire to speak to Mr. Fannen [who was one of the
principal witnesses against him] he is just at hand, and will come to
him, and prays God to forgive him and have mercy on his soul.

" When Mr. Fannen came to the cart, Mr. Ayliffe said, Oh, dear
Mr. Fannen, pray give my duty to Mr. Fox and Lady Caroline, and
thank them, and I am very sorry I ever did any thing to make Mr.
Fox bring me to this end. I hope Mr. Fox forgives me. I answered,
Mr. Fox had forgiven him from his heart long since, and I hoped
he would find the same forgiveness from God Almighty, and that I
hoped God would be merciful to him. He then said, Do pray for
me, or do pray with me ; after prayers, when he stood up, he said
aloud, Oh dear Mr. Fannen pray what is to come of my body ? I
answered him really Mr. Ayliffe I don't know. I hope Mr. Fox
will let me be buried ; I made answer, that I dared say he had no
objection to it.

" He then said again, Oh dear, dear Mr. Fannen, pray desire Mr.
Fox to let me be buried at Redbourn in Hartfordshire, it is the place
of my wife's nativity, and she will be buried there with me.2 I an-
swered I would tell Mr. Fox his request. About one minute before
he was turned off, (or not so long quite) he cried out, Oh dear Mr.

1 This is incorrect. It was a letter from his wife ; which, however, at that
moment he declined to read.

2 A heserse and four horses was in waiting for this purpose, provided at Mr.
ITox's expense.

By the Rev Canon Jackson] F.S.A.

207

Fannen, dear Mr. Fannen, as if he wanted to say somewhat more."

The public were never quite satisfied with AylinVs execution. It
seemed cruel on the part of Mr. Fox, considering that he was in
the enjoyment of some thousands a-year from the Ayliffe estates, and
that he sustained very little pecuniary loss, to allow a man to be
put to death for altering £35 into £5 in his name and without his
authority. They insisted upon it that Mr. Fox was eager to get
him out of the way as being privy to some proceedings that would
tell unfavourably against himself. Mr. Fox was not a popular man.
He was a shrewd and clever politician, but not much liked. The
following character of him is given by one who knew him well, but
who, it is only fair to say, was at the same time his chief political
opponent — William Pitt the elder, afterwards created Earl of Chat-
ham, who " thought Mr. Fox the blackest man that ever lived ; that
he was a great dealer in anonymous letters to set people at variance
with each other, and suggest to each such opinions as he thought
convenient ; that he carried it so far that, to his latter end, whenever
he went about purchasing an estate, he bad recourse to such methods
of undervaluing it and deterring others from bidding for it ; that he
dealt much also in newspaper abuse, though he was continually com-
plaining and crying about it ; that he educated his children without
the least regard to morality, and with such extravagant vulgar indul-
gence that the great change which has taken place among our youth,
has been dated from the time of his son's going to Eton. His letters
to his sons still exist in his family, inciting them to extravagance."1
He was for a time Secretary of State and leader of the House of
Commons, but the post to which he clung persistently amid all the
changes was that of Paymaster of the Forces. When he consented
to leave the House of Commons he still stipulated for keeping this
office, and held it to 1765. " His next passion was covetousness ; he
had an opportunity of satisfying this to the greatest degree in the
Pay Office, by taking proper advantage of the rise and fall of the
public stocks with the public money, a great deal of which necessarily
lay in his hands." 2

1 " Life of William, Earl of Shelburne," by Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, Vol. I.,
p. 78.

2Ditf(vp, 173.

p 3

208

The Ayliffes of Grittenham.

The occasion, accordingly, was not neglected by the wits of the
day. In a " Collection of Epigrams from Martial, adapted to the
Nobility Clergy and Gentry," by the Rev. Mr. Scott, Trin. Coll.,
Cambridge, one addressed " To Lord H-l-d" makes allusion to this
affair :—

" Would I slip out and fling the Bailiff ?
As somebody once, 'tis said, did Ayliffe ;
No, not of Egypt were I Caliph ! " 1

But the severest hit came from Charles Churchill, a satirist whose
productions were eagerly looked for and were in everybody's hands.
It is said that a bribe was ineffectually offered, through Dr. Philip
Francis (the translator of Horace), chaplain to Lady Holland, to
stop the publication of the following verses : — 8

AYLIFFE'S GHOST,
Or The FOX stinks worse than ever.
By CHARLES CHURCHILL.

"I'd take the Ghost's word for a thousand pounds." — Hamlet.

RECITATIVE.

Who has not heard of Reynard's crafty tricks
His pride, his rapine and his politicks ;
His ways and means to plunder King and State,
Distress the needy and enrich the great ?
Then list ! O list ! while I a tale unfold,
Shall make your hair erect, your blood run cold.
At Holland House, not far from this great City,
Was acted lately this strange dismal ditty.

1 See " Notes and Queries," 3rd S., Vol. XII., p. 125, Also "New Foundling
Hospital for Wit," Vol. I., p, 125, ed. 1781.

2 Printed in the "Gentleman's Magazine " 1770, p. 478.

By the Rev. Canon Jackson F.S.A.

Air. — William and Margaret.
T'was at that time when Morpheus reign'd,

And Screech Owls take their flight ;
When injur'd Spectres walk the earth.

The guilty to affright.
The clock had told the midnight hour,

"When wrapt in winding sheet.
In glided Ay life's grimly Ghost

And stood at Reynard's feet;
His face was like a Barber's block

When newly powder'd o'er ;
And round his neck, for solitaire,

A hempen string he wore.
Stretched out upon his bed of down,

The drowsy Statesman lay ;
In dreams revolving future schemes

His country to betray.
Three times the angry airy form,

The curtains hard did shake ;
And three times cry'd in hollow tone,

Awake ! Awake ! Awake !
This unexpected awful sound

Soon reach'd the Villain's ear ;
Then like stern Richard in his tent

He started, pale with fear.
<{ Hah ! what, or who, or whence art thou

That thus offend'st my sight ?
Art ihou corporeal, quickly say,

Or visionary sprite ? "
" Behold (returned the throttled shade)

A face you well must know ;
By thee condemn'd to die with shame,

And suffer pains below.
What tho' I forg'd that fatal scrowl,

I only cheated you ;
But King and Country you have wrongM ;

What will not Traitors do ?

210

The Agliffes of Grittenham.

On aged Tyburn's triple tree

A victim I was made ;
For fear my tongue should blab such truths

Would make thy Honours fade.
But soft — I scent the morning air,

Brief let me be — then know,
1 came to tell thee whence I came

You soon must also go.
Nor all thy Art or wealth can e'er

Avert the strict decree ;
The same base hand that stretch'd my nock,

Shall do the same for thee.
Britannia's drooping sons once rid

Of thee, and Scottish Pride,
Again with joy shall raise their heads

And Pitt 1 shall be their guide. "
Here stop't the shade, and quick as thought,

Dissolv'd itself in air,
And left the troubled Man of State

O'erwhclm'd with sad despair.

Henry Fox, Lord Holland, died in 1774 : but Holland House
was not even then purified from the bad odour of the AylifFe case.
A Mrs. Elizabeth Harriet Grieve, calling herself the " Hon. Mrs.
Grieve/' a swindler and impostor, had contrived, about the year
1773, to make a fool of Lord Holland's son, the well-known Charles
James Fox, persuading him that she could introduce a wealthy
heiress to him, by whose help he might get out of debt. Some
time after, an extraordinary epistle, addressed to C. J. Fox, appeared
in the " Westminster Magazine," in which were these lines
" Am I to hang for looking o'er the gate

While you the gelding steal, yet ride in state ?

O Charles, thou vicious culprit of these times,

Were we rewarded justly for our crimes,

Many who thrive about a gentle King

Would in their ribbons upon Tyburn swing :

1 Created Earl of Chatham after the first publication of these verses.

On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds. 211

For if great things with small compared may be,
The knot of Ayliff may attend on thee I
O sacred knot by which the good have died !
Could I around thy neck but see it tied;,
Then transportation I'd embrace with joy,
And gaze with transport on^ the dangling boy."

The portrait of John Ayliffe, in a fancy dress, from which the
annexed photograph has been taken, is in the possession of Sir
Robert Jacob Buxton, Bart., of ShadwelL Court, Co. Norfolk.1

J. E. J.

[The Committee desire again to thank Canon Jackson, for his liberality in pre-
senting the photograph of his hero. — Ed.]

(M THK

§mxtma of some of t|e §ktet §&$tcus of
*§kh m % JeigPottr|ooir of BkIxbM^

By the Rev. Abthur P. Moebbs, Vicar of Britford.
(Continued from Vol. xx., page 185.)

MS8|N arriving at the Order of Grallatores, or "Waders," the
fSIlt wr^er a^ once feels that he is at a considerable disadvantage
from the following reasons,- i.e., that to form any acquaintance with
many of the species to be mentioned it requires, besides ornithological
ardour (of which he has plenty), at least three items to bring a man
within reach of the object of his search — " time on hand," e< a

1 The original portrait in oils had been, removed some years ago,along with several
other pictures, from Toekenham House. The card or ticket on it had been lost,
and it was not known to the owner, who the person represented was. But upon
being shewn again at Toekenham it was immediately identified. Thanks are due
to Mr. W. F. Parsons, of Hunt's Mill, near Wootton Basset — a member of the
Wilts Archjfiological Society — for mentioning the existence of the portrait, and
for some local traditional ^formation relating to the subject of this paper.

212 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

strong constitution/' and a " long pocket/' neither of which requi-
sites can he unfortunately lay claim to. For these birds can only
be met with, at least the rarer ones of their order, amid the " waste
and solitary place/' or the damp and stagnant marsh, where the
sound of no intrusive footstep breaks the brooding stillness of Nature;
where the wary Heron or the skulking Rail enjoy their diurnal
rambles or nocturnal watches without fear or thought of man's
presence; spending their days in such complete seclusion that, at
times, it forces the thought upon the mind, " Wherefore the use of
their existence ? " a thought, however, tinged with far too great an
idea of man's own importance, and showing but a cramped and un-
loving perception both of the magnitude and liberality of God's
creation ; as though man himself was not only the last and best
production, but also the sole cause and reason of all God's works ;
and giving no place to the thought of that all-embracing love in
creative power which shines through the whole universe ; and which
is suggested in those miraculously-preserved words of Holy Writ,
which describe the attitude of the Divine Creator at the end of the
six days' work, " And God saw all that He had made, and behold
it was very good." Nay ! we can, after all, but fall back in faith
upon the commonly-received truth, that everything in Nature has
an allotted space to fill, and work to do ; and to record the fact,
rather than to explain it, which has been immortalised in those
lovely and thought-suggestive words of our poet Grey : —

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear !
Fall many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

Nature herself is stamped with the impress of the attributes of its
Creator — munificence, prodigality, large-heartedness — leading the
mind ever upward through its various links until it reaches God
Himself, and until it exclaims with the Psalmist, " What is man
that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest
him ? " for no man can view Nature with an appreciative eye, unless
he becomes lost in wonder at the sublime vastness of its conceptions,
and the marvellous forethought shown in its minutest details. No

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

213

wonder, then, that in whatever line of natural science the mind more
especially may revel, it finds itself thrown back upon its own little-
ness, and is compelled to allow its own ignorance. The wisest man
knows but little of God's works, and sees but skin deep into those
natural laws which so admirably govern the elements of Nature,
but which God holds in the hollow of His hand ; and when therefore
we allow ourselves to ask such a question as we have suggested,
" What can be the use of such-and-such a creature, inasmuch as it in
no way immediately ministers to man's use or comfort ? 33 is it not in
itself a sufficient answer to return, " In order to carry out the in-
tentions of its Creator-"? an intention, perchance, more sure of
, completion if at times man intermeddles not in its history ; for God
loves every work of His hand, and has created each for a definite
purpose of His own.

But I must not thus digress, lest I be accused of sermonising,
but return to the subject matter in hand, the " Grallatores/' or
(e Order of the Waders." They are especially attractive, because
they seldom intrude themselves upon our notice ; and, deny it who
will, there is an attraction in novelty, which is a thing " sui generis/''
and which attaches to everything around us. What ornithologist
does not return from his outing in extra good humour with himself,
and with the world in general, when he has secured — or even seen —
a specimen he has never observed before ? It is not that the bird is
more curiously formed, or perhaps more beautifully-plumaged than
many another he possesses, but it is partly the indescribable pleasure
of breaking new ground, and of pondering, perchance, on the tale
that that rare bird could tell, if it had a voice to recount its own
history. Where may not have been its nesting-place ! in the Arctic
or the Torrid zone. O'er what far distant countries may it not
have roamed ! What sights may it not have witnessed which have
been denied to the eye of man ! even as suggested by the poet when
contemplating the burial of Moses : —

" Perchance the bold old eagle on grey Beth Peors height,
Out of his lonely eyerie looked on that wondrous sight."

Anyhow we may feel that that wandering specimen, which may have

£14 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

met its untimely fate at our hands, has looked on many a vision
which man's eye has never rested on, and visited many a shrine of
Nature, which man's impious tread shall never desecrate; and we
surround our newly-acquired prize with a fictitious value, with
which our wandering and romantic imagination (if you will, my
prosaic reader,), has invested it. Yes ! it is not merely the selfish
feeling of possessing a specimen which nobody else possesses ; nor
simply the good fortune which has accrued to you personally in the
obtaining so highly-prized a rarity in the ornithological world, that
enhances the value of the bird you turn over and over in your hand
with fond and lingering eyes ; bsst it is rather the mystery of its
untold life, which has thus suddenly been brought into contact with .
your own, and the vague imaginings which throng in upon your
mind as you inspect it.

Grus Cinerea. " The Crane." First and foremost in the list of
the Grallatores stands the Crane; the sole reprsesentative of its
family that is, or rather was, indigenous to our shores. It is a
magnificent bird of some five feet in extreme length ; making our
better-known Heron look but a pigmy at its side. Amongst the
village folk the Heron is very commonly called the Crane, just as
they will term the Buzzard a Kite, or any kind of the smaller Falcons
a Hawk ; causing some confusion, and at times much disappoint-
ment, to the young ornithologist or collector. This species now-a-
days is very rarely met with in our islands, though it seems to be
scattered very generally throughout the length and breadth of the
Old World. I remember when I was a boy at Winchester my
ornithological ardour being excited by the account of three Cranes
which had been frequenting for some time a place called Hele, near
Exeter, and close to which my especial chum, Joseph Were, had
one day managed to creep : and I well remember my taxing him
with these Cranes being common Herons ; and he as vigorously
asserting that they were veritable Cranes, inasmuch as he knew
both the species well, and was quite aware of the extreme rarity of
the latter birds. The nearest authenticated instance I can hear of

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

215

is a fine mature specimen which was shot on the Wareham river by
a gunner, on May 18th, 1369, and which is now in the collection of
Mr. H.J. Pan ton, of Wareham. Another specimen stands recorded
in Mr E. Hart's notes (the well-known naturalist of Christchurch)
as having been killed by a Mr. Bullock, of Iford, on the river
Stour, in the year 1825. A young bird of the year was killed about
1862 by Mr. Haddon, of Taunton, on the moor at North Curry,
not far from that town. This specimen, which is now in Mr.
H addon's collection, where I have often seen it, is an immature but
good-plumaged bird. He and a friend of his detected it from its
large size a long way off upon the moor, and managed to get within
shot easy by driving a large herd of cows slowly towards it, under
cover of which they crept up to it. The Crane is one of those birds
in which the migratory instinct, if you like to call it so, is so ex-
traordinarily developed. So punctual is it in its migrations that
it is said never to vary more than a day or two in the time of its
flight during the October month, and that it has been observed to
travel, or pass, over a certain spot, within a thousand yards right or
left, for many years in succession without variation. Thus it is
mentioned in Scripture, as my readers will remember, for our ex-
ample, as knowing and obeying unfailingly the unwritten law of
its Maker.

Ardeim.

Ardea GarzeMa. " Little Egret/-' This elegant and picturesque
little bird is quite a rare and occasional visitant to our shores, though
I believe more frequently found formerly than now. The only
specimen I can hear of is one killed by a William Lockyer on the
river near Christchurch, in 1822, and which is now in Hart's museum.

Ardea Cinerea. "Heron-''' — "Jack/-' as he is christened by the
people. Common as it is on the banks of most of our rivers, and
all round our coasts, it is a bird you cannot but stay and mark as it
passes high over your head with its steady flopping flight, or calls
your attention to its presence by its loud hoarse cry in the distance.
It is quite common in our immediate neighbourhood, as there is a
small heronry in the parish, in Longford Park, belonging to the

216 On (he Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

Earl of Radnor. The nests are built on the tops of the tallest beech
trees, from one of which my gardening boy who was then with me
extracted, at the risk of his neck, an egg for my collection. When
he reached the summit he found in the nest three half-grown
fledglings and one addled egg, which answered my purpose as well
as any other. I have counted as many as thirty-three congregated
in our water-meadows at one time, which I think must have com-
prised nearly the whole of the heronry. On one occasion I surprised
" J ack " vigorously pecking at some prey in one of our smaller
" drawings/'' and on frightening him up I found he had just killed
a nice eel of more than lib. weight, which I took home for my
dinner instead of his. I have been often startled, on returning
from Duck -shooting in the gloaming, by the unearthly and weird
noise they make as you suddenly surprise them from some favorite
fishing-ground. A kind of suffocated screech emanates from their
throat, as though they were in the act of strangulation, emitted
hastily and spasmodically, before, as it were, they can find the full
play of their lungs ; the sound appearing to struggle for exit from
their gullet between the mass of undigested fish they have cleverly
stowed away. It is most amusing sometimes to watch the tactics
of a pair of Crows, which will most perseveringly mob some un-
fortunate Heron as it rises gorged from the side of the water. One
will dart upon it from above, the other from beneath, making it twist
and twirl and utter the most pitiful cries for help ; pursuing it
relentlessly with the apparent purpose of making it disgorge some
of its prey, that they may descend and feed upon it at their leisure.
I have often watched their proceedings, reminding one of some
similar scene, often enacted in former days at school, where two
bullies will pitch into some hulking lout, who has never learnt, or
if so, has not the pluck to use, the noble and necessary art of self-
defence. The plumage of the adult bird is very pleasing and
graceful, the head and back being adorned with long feathery
plumes, while long black feathers depend from the head, nearly
reaching the back as it stands in an erect posture, rendering it very
unlike the uniform grey of the immature bird of the year.

Ardea Ralloides. " Squacco Heron. " A rare and occasional

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury,

217

visitant from warmer climates, such as the south of Europe and
Egypt, I have a note of one that was killed at Boyton, in Wilts,
in 1775. Another specimen was shot on June 8th, 1832, near
Christchurch, which is now in Mr. Hart's collection. A third was
shot by a Mr. Jackson, at Encombe, in the Wareham district, on
May 5th, 1865. His attention was first drawn to it by seeing a
flock of Rooks mobbing some strange bird, as they often will, and
he succeeded in stalking and procuring it. It is rather a small bird
compared with many others of its tribe, being in length about 17
inches. It would seem by no means a shy or timid bird, and is
very fond of associating with cattle. Meyer observes that in
Hungary it is often found keeping company with large droves of
swine.

Ardea Stellaris. " The Bittern." One of our most handsome
and attractive birds, and one that would be by no means uncommon
were it not for the incessant drainage of all its chosen haunts. The
first one I ever saw, and which I recognised by a kind of ornitho-
logical instinct, was in Yarn ton Withy-bed, between Godstow and
Ensham, when I was at Oxford. It rose within fifteen yards of me,
with a perfectly noiseless flight like that of an owl ; but what was
my dismay, when my watch chain caught in the hammers of my
gun, and it sailed away unsaluted. I spent a useless hour hunting
every hedge and cranny within a mile of the spot, but not then
knowing sufficiently the habits of the bird, I could not flush it a
second time ; and two days after I had the vexation to see it lying
in the stuffer's shop, it having been killed by a Christchurch man
in the very same withy-bed from which I had flushed it. I un-
doubtedly missed finding it the second time because I looked too far
ahead, instead of at my feet, in the same way that you so frequently
overlook a hare in its form, which you as often kick up with your
foot as discern by the eye; and this Bittern had undoubtedly dropped
in again at the end of the same withy-bed, where there was a patch
of thick rushes which I never properly beat out. In 1861, when I
was a curate near Taunton, I remember a bargee running into Mr.
H addon's shop, who was a great bird-fancier, and telling him that
he had just seen a yellowish bird as big as a hen standing in some

218' J On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

rushes close to the town, on the bank of the river Tone. On hearing
it my friend at once left his counter, and took his gun, and in ten
minutes returned with a fine Bittern, which is now in his collection.
In some seasons they are numerous in suitable places. In the
winter of 1875-6 three were killed on our river Avon; one just at
the back of the Vicarage, by F. M. E. Jervoise, Esq. ; a second, by
the Hon. Buncombe Bouverie ; and a third, by Mr. J. Taunton.
In the same season five more were procured from the neighbouring
river, the Test. Christchurch Harbour is a favorite landing-place
for them at their migrations. On one occasion a boy ran in and told
one of the gunners that there was a fowl in one of the clumps of
rushes fringing the river, and that he had been pelting it with
stones but could not make it move ; it turned out to be, as he
thought, a Bittern, which was soon brought in. Another pair,
about the same time, were killed by a gunner right and left as they
flew over his head in the evening. In one season, about twelve
years ago, they were so numerous that Hart had more than thirty
specimens sent in to him from various quarters. And again, in
1879, he had ten specimens sent in between December 3rd and
December 16th, besides one or two others previously. Its being so
seldom seen is easily accounted for by its never willingly showing
itself during the daytime ; and also from the extraordinary postures
it assumes when hiding in the rushes, so that it looks, even if the
eye happens to light upon it, more like a patch of dead rushes than
a living bird. It will never take wing unless actually compelled,
and will often escape being flushed by a dog, by clutching hold of
the rushes with its long claws, and thus drawing itself up beyond
reach of danger.

Arclea Minuta. "Little Bittern. 99 Sometimes, doubtless, over-
looked from its "littleness." The adult male is a very pretty little
bird, showing a beautiful mixture of olive greens and buff. The young
bird, however, is entirely different, being streaked and spotted with
ochrous browns. I have various notices of its occurrence. Mr.
Baker tells me one was killed at Stourton, in 1820, by Jacob Biddick,
a gamekeeper of Sir B. C. Hoare, a mature male bird. One very
good adult specimen was killed here in the parish by J ames Butler,

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

219

the keeper, about 1850-1. This is now in the possession of F. M.
E. Jervoise, Esq., at Herriard Park; but is a good deal faded in its
plumage. Another specimen — a young bird in its immature garb
—was shot by Mr. Haddon, of Taunton, not far from where he
procured the larger Bittern mentioned before ; about the same time
as the other. One was killed at Heme Court, in April, 1862, by
George Bacon, a keeper of Lord Malmesbury's, in whose possession
the bird is. A fifth specimen was procured at Wilton, by Mr. C,
Parham, on September 8th, 1869. While at Christchurch a good
pair were shot on June 15th, 1869, by Cull, a gunner, which are
now in Mr. Hart's collection. He is fortunate also to be possessed
of another equally good pair, the female of which was shot by Mr.
E. Elliot, in May, 1869, while the male bird was killed by Hart
himself, at Gargoinge, on Easter Monday, April 22nd, 1878. One
day an officer, staying in the neighbourhood, came into Hart's
museum, and seeing the Little Bittern amongst his birds, enquired
of what species it was, as he had shot one only the day before, and
could not make out what bird it was he had killed, Hart replied
that if he did not particularly value it he should be happy to give
him five guineas for it, if it was a good specimen, as a gentleman
wanted one badly for his collection, and had given him an order to
get one. But the officer (who was evidently not an ornithologist)
had given it to his servant, who had eaten it the night before for
his supper, but had not found it, I expect, an over-savoury morsel.
It only occurs amongst us in the warmer months, generally in the
spring and autumn, as it avoids cold and frost. It is said to be a
most pugnacious little fellow ; and twists and contorts itself into
the most unnatural positions, so that it often escapes detection, even
when surprised in an unsheltered spot.

Ardea Leniiginosa. " American Bittern." A very rare visitor
to our islands indeed, and only occurring at long intervals. Hart
has one in his collection, but he cannot give definite information
about it : but he believes it came from the Devonshire coast in his
father's time. It is in any case a British specimen. One of these
birds occurred, however, in the New Forest, as communicated in
" The Field" in 1876, which I believe, is quite reliable; and only

220 On the Occurrence of some of the Barer Species of Birds

in last month the same paper mentions one killed in County Down,
on November, 18th, of the present year (1883), in which county it
also appeared in 1845 — specimens also having been obtained in
Louth in 1868, 1870, and 1875. These certainly are not local
specimens, but worth mentioning in passing.

Ardea Nycticorax. " Night Heron. " A bird widely diffused but
not often found in Britain. A young male was killed by Turner-
Turner, Esq., at Avon Castle, some four miles up the river, on August,
4th, 1880. Another was killed at Christchurch, in 1836, by J.
Sloman, Esq. Hart himself has a good pair in his collection, one
of which, a female, was killed at Ringwood, on July, 22nd, 1868,
by W. Emis, and the other, a very good adult male, in the Christ-
church meadows on August 7th, 1879, by Charles Campbell. I
have never handled one of these birds myself, but I have a very
good specimen of its first cousin, the Nankeen Night Heron from
Australia, which was given me kindly by the late Mrs. Prior, of
Salisbury. It is a most beautifully-coloured bird, exactly of the
same size and appearance as our British species, but the general
colour of the bird is of a lovely cinnamon browu, instead of the
grey tint prevalent in our own species.

Ciconia Alba. " Stork." It is more than curious that, whereas
these birds are so common on the other side of the Channel they
should so very rarely be known to visit our shores. From what-
ever cause, however, it proceeds, it is certain that very few of my
readers will be able to say that they have seen a White Stork
with their own eyes on British soil. Perchance they are waiting
for the accommodation of the Channel Tunnel to afford them
a passage on dry land, not caring for so lengthy a flight. But
perhaps the real reason is that they are so inhospitably received
when they do come, that none are left to represent their species
amongst us ; for they would not certainly be held in the same
veneration with us as they are on the other side of the water,
where they are not only superstitiously preserved, their lives
being quite as inviolable as a fox's in our own country, but
breeding-places are often said to be erected for them near the farm-
yards, which are annually repaired and kept in order, inasmuch as

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

221

it is considered an omen of ill luck indeed should these birds desert
a breeding-place they have once pitched upou. I am able, however,
to record two notices of its occurrence more recently among us. A
good specimen, a male, was killed by Hart in the early autumn of
1881, which he has now preserved in his Museum. He had gone
out early in the dusk of the morning, when being some fifty yards
below the town quay at Christchurch he perceived several large
birds passing over his head, and on firing brought down the bird in
question. There were, he believed, two others with it, but the light
was too indistinct for him to speak for certain. The second specimen
was killed at Codford, in this county, on September 5th, 1882. It
was shot (as I am informed by Mr. White, the taxidermist who set
it up, and who now lives in Fisherton Street, Salisbury,) by Mr.
Cole, of Codford, on a chimney-stack in his premises. It is still,
I believe, in his possession, and naturally greatly valued by
him.

Meyer relates a very curious anecdote, recorded in a German
newspaper, illustrating the wonderfully strong affection this species
has for its young. " A house, on the top of which was a Storks
nest containing young birds, took fire. In the midst of the con-
flagration the old birds were seen flying to and from the nest, and
plunging into a neighbouring piece of water, in which they soaked
their feathers, and returning again and again to the nest sprinkled
the water over their young in such abundance that they not only
preserved their young ones, but saved from destruction that part of
the building on which the nest was situated. "

Their plumage, when in good feather, is very pleasing from its
strong contrasts — -the pure white of its entire plumage being
strikingly set off by the pure black of the quill feathers, and the
bright scarlet of its formidable beak and legs.

Ciconia Nigra. " Black Stork. " A much rarer bird than the
preceding, both in our own island and also across the Channel.
There is a fine specimen of this bird, however, in Lord Malmesbury*s
collection at Heme Court, which was killed, as Hart informs me,
on Friday, November 22nd, 1829, by a clay-boat man on the south
side of Poole Harbour. There was also another procured in 1849,

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXII. Q

222 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

I believe from the same spot, but I have not been able to discover
its whereabouts.

Platalea Leucorodia. " Spoonbill." This bird, so unmistakable
both from the whiteness of its plumage and the peculiar shape of
its bill, is not of such quite rare occurrence amongst us as would be
at first sight supposed. Until lately few years passed without some
specimens being observed at the mouth of the Avon, or on the mud
flats of the Solent ; and it may be hoped that the recent restrictions
of the Birds Preservation Act may tell considerably in its favour.
One was killed at Seaton, on the banks of the Axe, by a coast-
guardsman, in 1870, and is now in the collection of Mr. E. Baker,
of Mere. At Christchurch Hart has not unfrequently met with
them. Two specimens were killed there in 1857 ; another in 1863 ;
a third, in the same neighbourhood, in October, 1864 ; a fourth on
January 3rd, 1869. Another very good specimen haunted the Solent
and the harbour for a considerable period in 1876, and was at last
shot by Hart himself, near Hurst Castle, in the August month.
This specimen is now in his Museum. Since that Hart has noticed
three birds in the harbour, which escaped the hands of the gunners;
and in 1878 he got within twenty yards of another bird of the
same species, which also went away unmolested.

Ibis Falcinellus. " Glossy Ibis." This bird, like the former, has
not been unfrequently procured from the mud flats of Poole and
Christchurch harbours, which in spring and autumn are so admirably
adapted for arresting for a time many of the water birds in their
migratorial flights. The plumage of this bird is most effective,
reflecting, as it does, one mass of metallic lustre, of dark green,
purple, and deep red. I remember a beautiful specimen of this bird
being shot, when I was a boy, in the peat moors of Shapwick,
which lie between Glastonbury and Bridgewater, about the year
1850. A pair of these birds were also seen flying over the town of
Odiham, near Basingstoke, in 1881, by a Mr. Forster, a photographer.
One of these birds was shot, a few days after, on September 24th,
by an under-gamekeeper of Sir H. Mildmay's, at the lake in Dog-
mersfield Park, while another was killed, a few days later, in Norfolk,
possibly the remaining specimen. They have been frequently

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

223

procured from Poole. About the year 1856 there were several about
there. In 1859 Mr. Hart's father killed a pair in the harbour.
Another was shot at Wareham, on October 22nd, I860, and four
more from the same district in 1870. And there were other speci-
mens procured besides these. The most recent occurrence was one
at Christchurch, in 1876, a very good bird, which Hart has in his
collection.

Scolopacid^:.

Numenius Arquata. " Curlew." So called from the shrill cry
that it utters, resembling- in some degree the name it bears. Oc-
casionally met with in our parish and district. I remember a few
years ago, as I was walking down Catharine Street, in Salisbury,
on a dark still night, hearing a flock of Curlew passing over the
town. The glare of the town lights had, doubtless, attracted them,
and their reiterated cry overhead was most fascinating to the ear,
now sounding directly over your head, so that it caused you to peer
into the darkness, in a vain endeavour to discern it ; and now dying
away in the extreme distance, like a far- sounding echo. They ap-
parently circled round for some time, for it was many minutes ere
the last note died away upon the ear. These birds are exceedingly
wary, and difficult to approach, and as they never shelter themselves
in herbage, it is not an easy matter to obtain a specimen just when
you want one. Sometimes you may make a successful drive, by
ensconcing yourself behind some bank near the shore, while they
are started from their feeding-ground a little way inland. But you
must pit your wits against theirs anyhow. The only one I ever
shot myself was on Sturt Island, a mud flat about a mile off Burn-
ham, where, having dug a hole in the sand at high tide, we waited
for the ebb of the water. I managed to obtain a shot at one in
this way, but the bird, being hard hit, flew out to sea, and dropped
dead in the water some two hundred yards off, and having no dog
with me I lost it. Some few years ago three birds of this species
frequented our water-meadows for some little time ; they were shot
by James Butler, the keeper, who was a thorough sportsman, and
grudged no pains in stalking any bird he wished to procure. I had

224 On the Occurrence of some of the Barer Species of Birds

been often told that these birds bred occasionally on our downs,
and was promised some eggs by a person who unhesitatingly
affirmed so ; but when they were sent they turned out to be the
eggs of the Stone Curlew, or Norfolk Plover, as I had all along
imagined they would be found to be, as they generally nest far more
north, in the North of Scotland, and even, I believe, in the Arctic
circle.

Numenius Phoeopus. " Whimbrel." " Jack-curlew/' as they are
sometimes called, from their bearing to the Curlew the same re-
lationship as to size and appearance that a Jack-Snipe does to a
"Whole. " May-birds 33 they are called by the gunners in the
Bristol Channel, from their usual appearance on the coast during
their migratorial flight in and about that month. It is not un-
common round our coasts in the spring and autumn, and is often
seen at the mouth of the Avon. This bird is always connected in
my mind with one of the most interesting days in my ornithological
rambles. Having heard a wonderful report of the number and
variety of birds that resorted at low water to the mud flats round
Burnham, I started for that purpose early one morning, with some
other enthusiastic bird collectors, in the May of 1861, and crossing
over to Sturt Island at high water, we dragged our boat up on the
shingle, and prepared for action. The tide in the estuary there
recedes at low water to the extent of some 40 feet ! leaving miles of
mud banks and sand flats, the delight of innumerable species of
water birds and wildfowl. We posted ourselves at different parts
of the island, and having dug holes in the sand and made a slight
breastwork of sea weed and other debris, to form a partial screen
around us, we hid ourselves therein and waited patiently for the
tide to recede. At that time there was not a bird in sight, saving
a solitary Oyster Catcher, whose nest we found shortly afterwards
close by, and a flock of Bald Coots swimming about on the water
some hundred yards off shore. I could not help saying5 to my
friend " Fm afraid we've come on a fooFs errand after all." But
he replied " wait a bit, and you will see " ; and our patience was
well rewarded. No sooner did the ebbing tide leave a small margin
between high water mark and the receding wavelets than flocks of

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 225

birds began to wheel around and above us. First came the Dunlin,
or Purre, in clouds, flying so close and thick together that with a
double discharge you could have " filled a hatful]/" as the old gunner
said who was with us. Mixed with them were the Ringed Dotterel
and a little apart were small parties of Sanderling. The Purple
Sandpiper also put in an appearance here and there, and a rather
larger bird to be noticed among the others now and then, declared
the presence of the Turnstone. As the tide still further receded the
Oyster Catcher, in his pied plumage, flew over your head in small
parties, peering down upon you with its painted bill hanging down
at right angles to his body, whilst our friends the May birds, or
Whimbrel, were scattered over the sands in some numbers, enlivening
the scene with their shrill whistle. Far over your head, and the first
to detect you in your hiding-place, was the watchful Curlew, only
one of which came within shot, as I have recorded in the last
paragraph, and which fell dead far out to sea ; while Gulls of various
sorts, and also the swallow-tailed Tern, added their presence and
cries to the rest. Soon the tide, receding very rapidly as it does in
the estuary, left our hiding-places far out of gun-shot, and sallying
forth we traversed the flats in different directions, in search of
whatever species we might come across. Soon a new sight greeted
us. Flocks of hundreds of Ducks appeared on the scene. The
Mallard with his partner came in scores ; the Widgeon in flocks of
twenty or thirty ; the red-headed Pochard, Tufted Duck, and other
varieties, while here and there, amid the throng of Anatidae several
pairs of the beautiful and unmistakable Shield-drake added variety
and colour to the mass of birds, which otherwise looked like dark
patches of weed where they alighted. In vain, however, we tried
to add any of these to our bag. There was no kind of cover for us
to make use of, and although they allowed us at times to creep up
within some hundred yards or so, they invariably at that distance
took wing and circling round pitched again some mile or more off,
in perfect security upon the wide-spreading sands. And now some
hours had glided by, and the tide had once more begun to flow,
when a new species of bird I had not before observed attracted my
attention, the Grey Plover, winging its way with such rapidity of

226 On the Occurrence of some of the Barer Species ef Birds

flight as to lender ineffectual the one or two shots I poured in upon
them from a long distance off. So engrossed was I in my pursuit,
that I quite forgot my time and reckoning, and all of a sudden
noticing a difference in the appearance of some sand banks, I looked
round, and to my dismay found that the tide had been coming in in
strides, every wave covering three or four yards of fresh ground,
and quickly threatening to cut off my escape to my companions.
These I descried some half-mile off, waving their hats and shouting
lustily to attract my attention, as they had already got the boat
afloat again, and were all in it. Putting my best leg forward I ran
at the best pace I could muster, and managed to reach the boat just
in time, having, however, to wade knee-deep to get into it. Our
bag, though not heavy, was a varied one, consisting of Whimbrel,
Grey Plover, Oyster Catcher, Sanderling, Ringed Dotterel, Dunlin,
Turnstone, and the one Curlew, which, however, we lost ; and the
pair of Whimbrel now in my collection constantly recall this, one
of the pleasantest reminiscences of the time of my first curacy in
Somerset.

Totanus Fuscus. "Spotted Redshank/' At once to be distin-
guished from others of its tribe by its long slender legs. By no
means common, although they have been occasionally met with in
Christchurch Harbour. One was shot there by a gunner named
Caines, on September 6th, 1875, and another on September 8th,
1877, by Hart himself; while other nice specimens in transition
plumage were also killed by Hart at the mouth of the sand-bar in
1881. I see a notice in the Field for last month (November, 1883,)
of one killed out of a flock of seven in Norfolk.

Totanus Calidris. " Redshank." Not uncommon on our sea
coasts and suitable localities. It is a very pretty bird, able to be
detected at once from its congeners by the predominant white of its
feathering, and its long red slender legs. It runs very daintily on
the tops of its toes, scarcely touching the ground with the ball of
its foot. You can also detect it amongst others by its peculiar
manner of alighting on the ground, always turning up its wings,
and showing the white under surface, as you sometimes see the
Green Plover doing on a fallow. I noticed a great quantity of these

In the- Neighbourhood of Salisbury, %Wt

birds last summer in company with the Curlew, on the sand flats at
the mouth of the Black water, near Youghal, in Ireland.

Totanm Ochropus. " Green Sandpiper/' A bird always to be
found in the water-meadows ronnd Salisbury. When I say always,
I think I can say I have seen them in every month here except
June. There would seem to be a mystery in some folks' minds
concerning1 the locality of their breeding-places. I have heard it
confidently asserted that they make use of old crows' nests and other
similar places for the purposes of nidification, which would seem
highly improbable, from the habits and structure of the bird, it
seeming far more probable that it hides its nest so cleverly amongst
the herbage and thick grass of the places it inhabits that it is but
rarely found. It would seem, anyhow, to travel northwards for
breeding. I have often shot it, and seen it shot, in our Britford
meadows, where there are very favourable opportunities for stalking
it, owing to the high banks of the " carriages " that intersect them
in every direction. It is a solitary bird, and you rarely flush more
than one or two at a time, though I have seen four or five on the
wing together occasionally. It requires very accurate marking down^.
for it generally flies very low under the cover of the bank ere
alighting y and unless you mark the exact spot it pursues the same
tactics on rising, and then, when it is out of shot, it rises suddenly
into the air with a zig-zag flight, uttering its shrill clear cry, and
continues circling round for some time until, having selected its spot
to alight on, it darts down precipitately, with closed wings like a
ball, breaking its fall by a few sharp turns to the right and left ere
it actually pitches. Its plumage is very pretty, the snowy white of
its tail coverts marking it at once from any other bird of its species,
as it stands out in strong contrast from the dark olive green, which
is the general tint of its upper feathering. It is sometimes called
here the Summer Snipe, as well as its first cousin, the common little
Brown Sandpiper.

Totanus Ghreola. " Wood Sandpiper/' Bare amongst us, but a
bird which is liable at times to be mistaken for the former
species. There is one difference, however, which will at once enable
anyone to distinguish between the two birds (as detailed to me by

228 On the Occurrence of some of the Barer Species of Birds

Cecil Smith, Esq., of Lydeard House, near Taunton, author of the
" Birds of Somerset"), i.e., that, whereas in T. ockropus the axillaries
are dark with white markings, in T. glareola they are just the reverse,
being white with dark markings. The general appearance of the
two birds is otherwise somewhat similar, though T. glareola is much
more spotted on the back than the other. [There is also a third
species, very like this, which has, however, only once been recorded
as having visited us (and that on the banks of the Clyde, I believe) ,
T. solitaries y or the Solitary Sandpiper, but in this species the tail
coverts are dark instead of white, unlike those in the Green and
Wood Sandpipers.] I came across a nice specimen of T. glareola
in Reading, a year or two ago, when Harbor, the naturalist, showed
me one of these birds ; he not being sure as to what it really was,
but calling it a Summer Snipe. It was killed by a Mr. Tarrant, of
Hartley Bow, about the year 1874. Three or four occurrences of
these birds have been noted at Christchurch ; one in January, 1864,
two in 1868, in the August month, and another on August 19th,
1873, now in Hart's collection.

Totanus Hypoleucos. " Common Sandpiper." Found scattered in
the summer months along the banks of almost all our rivers, but
not in any numbers together. I see them every summer in this
parish, but have never found their nest, which is always most care-
fully hidden. No bird fancier would overlook this pretty but sober-
coloured little wader, as it skims along the surface of the water with
arched and half-expanded wings, or as it trips along the margin, or
runs lightly over the water-weeds in front of you. This is the
genuine Summer Snipe, a name given commonly to any other
Sandpiper which may fall into the hands of a partial observer, such
as the last two species commented on. This summer I had a skin
of the young of the Spotted Sandpiper given me from America, which
so exactly resembles our common bird that I could not for some time
believe it to be a specimen of the spotted sort, of which I can gain
no tidings in these parts. But the great similarity which exists
between the young of both species may sometimes have caused the
rarer one to be overlooked and mistaken for the other.

Totanus Glottis. " Greenshank." A bird that always causes a

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 2 £9

dissatisfied feeling to arise within me ; inasmuch as I lost a specimen
which I had had given me from Berkshire, together with some
other forty skins of various birds, through the negligence of a bird-
stuffer at Taunton ; and further, because I failed to make the most
of an opportunity of securing some specimens of these birds, when
a little more patience might have brought success. I was out
Rook-shooting in the parish in May, 1865, when the old "drowner,"
knowing that I was a lover of birds, called out to me and said,
" There be some main funny birds down in Sixteen Acre ; there Fve
been fifty year or more in the meadows, and ne'er saw any like 'em
before — and they've bided there by the water this three or four
days. I seed 'em now, just as I come along." This was enough
for me, Leaving the Rooks to their fate, I sallied down to the
Sixteen Acre, and sure enough descried three birds, standing quite
still by the margin of a flooded " drawing." They were evidently
wide-awake, and the question was how to get near them. I saw,
however, that by making a detour of some half-mile or more, I could
get behind a small piece of hedge that had been left standing in
the meadows, and from which I judged them to be about fifty yards
off, and after some delay I reached it in safety. On peering through
there were the birds, exactly as they were when I first saw them,
not moving a muscle, as we should say were we describing a man's
face. They were evidently just out of shot of me, and what was to
be done ? After waiting half-an-hour or more, and they making
no sign, my patience became exhausted, and thinking that by good
luck I might possibly cripple one, I aimed high and let fly. The
shot peppered the water all around and beyond them, but, alas ! with
no effect, and off they flew, being saluted with my second barrel,
as they passed high over my head, but with a similarly nil result.
I watched them till I lost sight of them, and in high dudgeon I
was preparing to leave the scene of action, when to my utter
astonishment I saw them once more descending with wonderful
velocity, and throwing themselves violently from side to side to
break the impetus of their fall, they expanded their wings to
their full extent, and alighted exactly in the same place from
whence they had risen. It was a regular case of " Slap bang,

230 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

here we are again/' and there was I again in the same fix that
I was before. I waited, however, until I was so stiff and cramped that
I was obliged to change my position somewhat abruptly, and being
more wide-awake than they were before, off they were again, and
that day I saw them no more. However my ornithological ardour
was thoroughly aroused, and I determined to go again the next
morning, on the chance of their being once more at their favourite
halting-place ; and having secured the aid of a young brother-in-law
we sallied out before breakfast, and on arriving at the spot, to my
intense delight, there they were again, within a foot of the same
spot. 1 made the same long detour as before, as that was the only
possible chance of getting near them at all, and reached my covert
in safety, whereupon my brother-in-law walked down straight upon
them, and tried to drive them over my head. But, alas ! the fates
were unkind, and they passed over my head at the same discreet
distance as before, some eighty or ninety yards off, and it being
before the days of choke-bores, I saluted them with a despairing
right and left, and they came no more to their favourite " drawing."
I saw a beautiful pair of these birds also, in 1859, on the North
Curry Moor, in Somerset, keeping company on the flooded waste
with a flock of some thirty Teal. I watched them with great in-
terest for some time through a good telescope, but they were far too
wary to approach. They occur frequently at Poole and Christchurch,
too frequently for individual notice. Hart killed a beautifully-
plumaged bird on October 25th, 1881, at Blackberry Point, at
Christchurch ; and three others were obtained on August 8th, 22nd,
and 24th, 1882, in the harbour.

Reeurvirostra Avocetta. " Avocet." One of the most strikingly-
marked birds amongst all the Waders, from its clearly defined
black and white plumage, and also remarkable for the peculiar
shape of its bill, which is turned up the wrong way! instead of
down, as in the Curlew and Whimbrel. I have a nice specimen
in my collection, which was one out of four, killed near Eastbourne,
about 1870. Time was when they were not uncommon at the
mouth of the Thames, and on the mud flats, and estuaries of our
rivers, but now, like so many others of their tribe, they are but

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 231

occasionally seen. Hart has two nice pairs in his collection, killed in
the harbour. One pair was killed by a gunner on September 25th,
1872, the other pair being shot by Stride, on November 28th, 1879.
Besides these a specimen was obtained from the harbour on May
4th, 1865; another, on March 20th, 1867, by a fisherman ; and a
third, on January 3rd, 1869, by a Capt. Bretton. They are said to
be plentiful in Holland, so that it is a wonder they are not oftener
met with on our side of the Channel, but perhaps the universal
persecution they meet with is sufficient to account for it.

Himantopus Melanopterus . " Black-winged Stilt." A great
rarity, and such a one as nobody could certainly mistake for any
other species. Its length of leg is unparalleled in any bird of its
size, and is as peculiarly characteristic in flight, as when the bird is
on the ground, for, carrying them as it does straight out behind it,
they look like some appendage tied on to its body. Hart has a good
specimen in his collection, but cannot give date or circumstances,
although he has but little doubt that his father obtained it some-
where in the neighbourhood. The bird has also been seen in Poole
Harbour.

Limosa Melanura. " Black-tailed Godwit." An occasional
visitant in the spring months to Christchurch. Hart tells me they
were to be seen in unusual numbers there in 1875, and on May 10th
of that year he shot five himself in the Solent. Another was picked
up wounded, on the same day, by Montague Baily, Esq., on the
shore ; and he was so struck with the beauty of the bird that he
made a little grave for it on the shore, and heaping up a little cairn
of stones over it, left it there, saying it was too beautiful a bird to
molest. Another pair was killed on April 2nd, 1872, in the harbour,
but they are not common. I examined an unusually large skin of
this species last summer at Mr. Cecil Smith's. I never saw any
approaching it in size ; the beak along the upper ridge was more
than 4Jin. long ; the wing from the carpus to the tip of the longest
quill was 8 fin. ; and the tarsus 3 J in.

Limosa Rufa. "Bar-tailed Godwit." Much more numerous than
the last-named species. It is seen every year in the harbour at
Christchurch. About the year 1875 an immense flock of some

232 On the Occurrence of *ome of the Rarer Species of Birds

hundreds visited the harbour in fulJ summer plumage, their red-
brown breasts being most conspicuous and attractive to an orni-
thologist's eye. They remained about there undisturbed for a week
or two, ere they passed on to resume their migratorial journey.
Four or five good specimens were picked up, and reached Hart's
hands, but the Birds Act prevented their being disturbed, as doubt-
less they otherwise would have been.

Scolopax Rusticola. " Woodcock."" That man is truly to be
pitied who has never had the thrill of excitement aroused within him
as he listens to the stirring cry of " Mark Cock," Surely it is the
prince of game birds — both as to appearance and flavour — in the
wood, and on the table. They occur in some seasons far more
plentifully than others. But if you want real Cock shooting you
must travel to the east of Europe. To show the numbers there I
will just quote a passage from Mr. A. E. Knox's " Game Birds and
Wild Fowl/' which shows what sport may at times be had by the
fortunate tourist. Colonel Parker with a party of friends, in the
Morea, killed the following number of Woodcock in six of their
best days' shooting : —

I shall never forget the excitement I was in when, in 1856, I killed
my two first Cocks, which I have now in my collection. I was
taken by an elderly relative to a small wood, on the borders of
Devon and Cornwall, which always had the reputation of holding a
Cock or two, if there were any in at all ; and various and sundry
were the explanations and exhortations given me to enable me to
recognize Rusticola, if I should be fortunate enough to see him ;
advice which I thought highly superfluous, as I was^not likely at

Woodcocks.

Two days on the Fanara, or Acheron River

Two days on the Achelous River

Two days at Butrinto

Grand total of six days

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

233

that time to let any ' ' Brown Bird " of his size go away without
doing my best to stop him. However, in we went into cover, and
I had not gone far ere a " Brown Bird " fluttered up over some
brambles just in front of me. No sooner was he up than he was
down again, and my first Cock was safely bagged. Soon after a
second got up in front of my elderly relative, who missed him with
both barrels; but the bird circled round, and I marked him down
accurately between two spruce firs, where I had seen him double
down sharply from the top of the wood. My friend and all the
beaters, however, excitedly declared they had marked it down by a
watercourse lower down in the copse, in which direction it had first
flown, and my remonstrances, being but a youngster, were utterly
disregarded and ridiculed. Well, said I at last, "you go your way,
and Fll go mine, and Fll join you in a minute if my eyes have de-
ceived me ; 33 and after they had departed, pitying my self-confidence,
I walked up to my two spruce firs, kicked him up, and knocked him
over as he was just clearing their tops. And those were the only
two we saw that day, A short time after I remember surrounding
a little wood on Loo Down, on Dartmoor, and bagging twelve out
of thirteen Cocks we flushed there. Those were, indeed, days one
would like to have over again. But their very remembrance is
exhilarating, returning as I did from a three weeks' visit with eight
couple of Cocks bagged to my own gun, and having missed many
more than I killed.

Scolopax Major. " Solitary Snipe." I have several notices of
this bird, kindly supplied by Mr. Hart, but have never come across
one myself in this district. He has one in his collection, killed by
E. Budden, of Christchurch, on October 1st, 1849 ; another was
killed by Laidlaw, in the Marsh at Christchurch, on August 9th,
1876; a third, at Christchurch, on September 14th, 1880; a fourth
was killed on October 4th, 1880, by Hart himself; while I have a
note of a fifth specimen, killed at Pewsey, on September 23rd, 1868.
It is not so devoted to water as the ordinary Snipe, preferring such
spots as the Jack Snipe more generally selects ; which bird, also, it
resembles in the manner of its flight, as it seldom flies far before
alighting again, nor does it make any sound when it is put up, like

234 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

the " scape-scape " of its congener. It can be distinguished at once
from 6'. Gallinago by its greater size, as well as by having all the
under parts mottled and streaked with brown, instead of being
white, as in the other species — although, in the common Snipe the
colouring on the under parts varies much, and you often kill one
almost, though not entirely, dark underneath.

Scolopav Sadini. " Sabine's Snipe."" Whether this bird is a
distinct species from S. Gallinago, or merely a melanism, has been
much disputed, but I certainly incline to the opinion that it is
merely a variety of plumage. I have several notices of its recent
occurrence. One was sent in to Harbour, the Reading naturalist,
by the late Sir C. Russell, of Swallowfield Park, on September 14th,
1873. Another was killed by Mr. Bennett, of Stapleford, at that
place, on December 20th, 1873, as communicated to me by Mr.
Baker, of Mere ; a third, at Picket Post, in the New Forest, in
1859 ; while at Christchurch it has occurred not infrequently of late
years, as will be seen by the note kindly furnished me by Mr. Hart,
one in each of the years 1852, 1860, 1867; two in 1868 ; four in
1869 ; one each in 1870 and 1876 ; and one on January 12th, 1881,
killed by Hart himself, at Mitchell's Hole, near the ferry boat.
There seems to be no essential difference in this bird, in shape or
formation, from the common Snipe, which itself is not infrequently
met with of various shades of colour, so that there would seem to be
no material reason for thinking this to be a totally distinct species.

Scolopax Gallinago. " Snipe/' It is one of our common winter
birds. But they do not stay with us in the summer, or breed in
our meadows, though I believe they occasionally do at Compton
and other places on the banks of the neighbouring river, the Test.
I have always found the November month the best for them in this
parish, when you could generally bag, with two good guns, four or
five couple. One day in November, after hard rain all the morning,
the sun came out warm and bright, and I took two friends out for
a turn in the meadows, not expecting there would be a Snipe in ;
but we found the meadows full of them, and from 12 to 4 we bagged
nine couple and a half, and should have bagged at least twelve
couple, had one of my friends been accustomed to Snipe ; and on

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

235

leaving off for the day we left the meadows full of them, as the
failing light did not give us opportunity of thoroughly beating our
ground. There is one place in the adjoining parish of Homington
where you are almost always sure of finding a whisp, even when
there are few or none elsewhere. It is a spot consisting of thick
damp flags interspersed with tall arbele trees ; a spot not likely, at
first sight, to harbour them, and by no means easy to kill them in,
but where they are always to be found if they have not been pre-
viously disturbed. I remember once having a grand opportunity of
filling my bag with five or six couple at once, which — though it
may occur now and again — does not often happen. I was beating
a field of turnips, near Oxford, when up got a whisp of some forty
or fifty Snipe within twenty yards of me. Foolishly thinking they
were but larks I never fired, until a straggler getting up and
" scaping " showed me the true nature of the chance I had thrown
away; though that one, with three other single birds, paid the
penalty of staying behind their neighbours. I must confess once to
have been very cleverly detected in the unsportsmanlike act of
shooting a Snipe on the ground. I noticed a Snipe on the gravel
of a " drawing " by the side of a thick withy-bed, where I saw I
should have but little chance of getting a shot if I put him up ;
and being in much want of a couple of Snipe that day I let fly and
ignominionsly killed him. Conscience, I suppose, upbraiding me, I
holloaed to the keeper, who was inside the withy-bed, beating, at
some little distance off, " All right, I've got him." Upon which he
immediately replied, " Ah ! Sir, you shot that bird upon the ground ;
I heard your shot rattle on the stones." To which I could make
no satisfactory reply, having been detected in the very act. I
mention this to show the keenness of observation which, as in the
case of this keeper, becomes engendered in the sportsman. There
is no better sport than Snipe shooting, requiring as it does quickness
of decision and keenness of eye ; you must be always on the alert,
expecting to kill ; and then, with small shot, and the wind in your
favour, and above all things keeping your eye well on the bird,
and not on your gun, over they will come. There is no better
advice to a young beginner than this, " Keep cool, and your eye

236 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

well on your bird, and let your gun take care of itself." In archery,
if you look at the point of your arrow (a mistake very prevalent,
and hard at times to guard against) you will never hit the target.
At cricket, if you think about the position of your hands you will
never field the ball. The eye must be rivetted on the object in
motion, and then the hand, bow, or gun — as the case may be — will
take care of itself, and come into the right place by magic.

Scolopax Gallinula. " Jack Snipe/'' Quite common amongst us,
at the right times, and in the right places. They have, from their
diminutive size and jerky flight, the character of being very hard
to kill ; but if your shot be small enough, and yourself cool
enough, they need not be so. They lie so close generally that you
actually all-but tread upon them ere they rise ; and they are generally
missed from the gun not being cool and collected. Not infrequently
a dog will snap them as they rise from under his nose, they lie so
closely. I have known it to be so on two occasions. I once found
four of them all congregated together, but they are not generally
sociable birds, and you rarely flush more than one of them at a
time. They are most amusing little birds ; and if you miss them
they will obligingly keep on pitching within a hundred yards or so,
so that they seem to chaff you with a " Never mind, better luck
next time." I have often seen four or five barrels go off at Mr.
" Jack," who has at last escaped scot free, by pitching on the
further side of the river, where you could not follow him.

Machetes Pugnax. "The Ruff"; his partner being called the
a Reeve." It is one of the most curious birds of its order we have,
both as to the shape and colouring of the plumage of the males in
the breeding season. The ruff round their necks and heads, from
whence their name, vary in the most indescribable manner : they
vary literally from glossy black to pure white, from bright rufous
colour to every conceivable shade of brown. Some are plain, some
spotted, some quite regularly striped, and you rarely, if ever, find
two quite alike. They are nothing like so frequent as they used to
be. A good specimen, in dark black summer plumage, was killed
by a Mr. Ward, at Ringwood, on July 3rd, 1869. Six were pro-
cured in the Christchurch district in September, 1875, and Hart

In the Neighbourhood oj Salisbury.

237

killed one (with a Reeve) , in nearly perfect summer plumage, on
August 11th, 1879, in the harbour. The only time I ever came
across them personally was on the North Curry Moor, near Taunton.
The moor had been flooded all the summer, the hay actually rotting
in the swath ; and having been told that there were all kinds of
birds on the moor, from the Hooper to the Dunlin, I sallied out
one evening to try my luck. I started, however, too late, and the
miasma and stench from the decaying vegetable matter was so great,
that I tied a muffler round my mouth, and returned. The next
morning, however, I sallied forth again ; and after walking some
distance, and seeing nothing, my eye at last alighted on a large
flock of common Plover, which — from want of some better object of
attraction — I determined to stalk. I soon got knee-deep in the
water, not knowing the mode of irrigation in those moors, and just
as I was thinking of returning, the effort necessary not seeming worth
the cost, my eye rested on a brown bird amongst the Plovers, and my
energies, at once returned. They were very tame, and let me ap-
proach them in the open ; and as they rose, keeping my eye well on
the brown bird, I let fly, and not only knocked him over, but also
a second bird of the same species, which I had not previously noticed,
while immediately after I detected a third on a tussock of grass,
which was peering above the water, which I also secured. They
were the young birds of the year, and so totally unlike the full-robed
male that at first I had no notion what they were.

Tringa Canutus. " The Knot." This is one of the birds, like the
Bar- tailed God wit and others, whose summer plumage so entirely
differs from the winter dress that you would scarcely recognize them
as being of the same species, the winter plumage being of a uniform
grey tint, while that of the summer is reddish-brown. They are
occasionally to be met with at Christchurch and Poole. On May
18th, 18M), Hart observed a small cluster of these birds in the
harbour, in full summer dress ; and he tells me he has more than
once shot them with the eggs fully developed, and the yolk quite
formed, so that they must have been within a few days of laying;
and yet they are never supposed to breed in any more southerly
district than the Arctic regions. In the recent voyage of the Alert

VOL. XXI.— NO. LXII. R

238 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

and Discovery to the North Pole, they found the young1 birds just
hatched, I believe ; but, if I remember right, could not meet with
any eggs, which have scarcely, if ever, been found. The bird itself
can be easily distinguished from all others of its tribe, by its short
plump figure.

Tringa Temminckii. "Temminck's Stint." One of the very
smallest of the Sandpipers ; occasionally found at the river's mouth,
nearer than which, of course, there is but little chance of meeting
with it. There were several specimens procured in 1 881 ; and Hart
killed three on September 14th of that year ; and two more on the
16th of the same month were killed by a gunner of the name of
Derham.

Tringa Minuta. " Little Stint." Another small species, a trifle
bigger than the last-named, but having nothing to spare to win the
prize for minuteness. Almost yearly a specimen or two occurs in
the Christchurch Harbour. There is one way by which you can at
once distinguish between this and Temminck's Stint, which at all
times is not easy to do ; which is, that in the latter the outer tail
feathers are always white, while in the Little Stint they are of a
pale brown colour. These distinctions, mentioned to me by Cecil
Smith, Esq., of Somerset, are worth remembering in such birds as
this, as anyone may be very easily at a loss to determine what they
really are, especially in their first plumage.

Tringa Maritima. " Purple Sandpiper." Also found on our
neighbouring coasts occasionally. Five of these birds were killed
by Mr. Hart and a friend of his in the autumn of 1860. I have a
pair in my collection, from Teignmouth. They would seem to be
peculiarly addicted to rocky places, more than any other of the
Sandpipers ; and the remarkable purple gloss on their feathering,
and a certain general plumpness of figure, at once distinguishes
them from others of their tribe — as well as the bright orange colour
of their legs.

Tringa Variabilis. " Purre," or " Dunlin." The most numerous
of all its tribe, and to be found in many places on our coasts, in
flocks, not only of hundreds, but simply of thousands. At Sturt
Island, off Burnham, as mentioned before, when some way off, they

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 239

appeared like a shifting1 cloud, being too thick to be discerned
individually ; and I shall never forget my excitement, never having
seen such a flight before, when I realised that the seeming cloud
was in reality but myriads of birds in motion. Their classical name
is evidently taken from the varying plumage of the old and young,
and the difference of appearance in their winter and summer garb ;
which, however, does not vary so much in their case as in that of
the Knot and Phalarope, the Bar-tailed Godwit, and the next-
named species.

Tringa Subarguata. " Curlew Tringa," or " Pigmy Curlew," so
called from its bill being slightly curved downward, after the manner
of the Curlew or Whimbrel. This bird is not nearly so numerous
as the one last mentioned, though it is generally scattered over our
south coasts. It occurs yearly at Christchurch, and was unusually
plentiful in 1880 and 1881. In 1873 Hart obtained a specimen in
full summer plumage, which is uncommon to meet with. In its
winter dress it is not altogether unlike the Purre, but it can at once
be distinguished from it by its white tail coverts, the same feathers
in the Purre being dark. There is another rare species, somewhat
similar to this (Bonaparte's Sandpiper, Tringa fuscicollis), which also
has white tail coverts, but which very seldom occurs. It has been
met with, however (as Mr. Cecil Smith informs me), four times near
Instow, North Devon ; three times in Scilly, and twice in Cornwall,
besides having been procured in Shropshire and Sussex, and once in
Ireland ; making its appearance generally in October.

Rallid^3.

Crex Pratensis. " Land Rail/' or " Corn Crake." Known by
everyone who has ever carried a gun in September. Some few
years ago there was a cry raised that these birds were deserting our
shores ; but I think without foundation. Their numbers vary from
year to year, very likely from natural causes, such as the shifting of
the wind at the precise time of migration, which may sometimes
cause them to act on the motto " Second thoughts are best," and so
stay on the other side of the water at the last moment. They are,
with the Turtle Dove, one of the assured harbingers of actual spring,

r 2

240 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

or, rather, approaching summer, as they are rarely heard before the
first week in May, when their " crake-creek " on a still quiet night
is a most pleasing sound to the naturalist's ear. This bird is a
wonderful mesmerist, as, though it may not move its position, its
cry seems to come upon your ear, now from a long distance off, and
now again to vibrate almost from the ground beneath your feet. In
the evening when everything is quite still its call has a most peculiar
effect; it seems to run along the ground towards you, like an object in
motion, rather than being a mere sound. Meyer mentions a curious
incident concerning these birds, viz., how they will answer to the
sound of the winding up of a fishing reel; and he has more than once
known a Land Rail to run up within five or six yards of the fisherman,
evidently thinking that the sound of the reel was a summons from
one of its own species. The Land Rail is one of those birds that sorely
puzzles you as to its capabilities of crossing the sea, for no one who
has only seen it flitting over the clover-heads could imagine that it
could ever sustain a flight across even the narrowest part of the
ocean. They are the most inveterate runners, evidently never
having forgotten the lesson instilled into their minds by their
parents, that legs were made to use before wings ! In rainy weather,
when the clover is wet and the grass damp and moist, you may
often run them down with a good dog, their plumage becoming so
saturated that they lose their power of rising. One year I asked
the mowers in the field just opposite the Vicarage to be careful to
keep the eggs of this bird for me, if they should happen to cut a
nest out ; as there had been a pair there all the May month, and I
felt certain they must be breeding there. They found the nest, as I
suspected, during the mowing, with ten eggs in it, and taking them
out they carefully placed them on the top of the swath they had
just mown, intending on their return at the end of the next swath
to stop for luncheon, when they meant to bring them in to me.
But they " reckoned without their host," for when they came to the
place, at the end of their next turn, after an interval of some five
minutes or so, they looked for them in vain — the watchful Jackdaws
from the churchyard elms having carried off every one of them in
that space of time. In 1881, near Abergavenny 3 I surprised a

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 241

newly-hatched brood of these birds, and it was most interesting to
watch the devices of the old birds, who practised every conceivable
art to draw you off from their funny little black-coated brood, just
as the Partridge and the Wild Duck, the Plover and the Reed
Bunting will often do.

Rallus; Aquaticus. " Water Rail/' or " Velvet Runner/' as it is
sometimes called, taking the place of the Land Rail in wet and
marshy places. Scattered generally over our water-meadows, but
more often met with in the winter than in the summer months. I
have never found its nest in our district, though often looking for
it, but I have no doubt it breeds with us, as the nest is generally so
cleverly hidden, that it is a rare thing to find it at any time. They
run so persistently, and lie so close, that they may now and then be
captured with the hand, I have had two of them brought alive to-
me in this way. On October 11th, 1869, a jet black specimen was
shot in the New Forest, by the Rev. A. F. Gurney; and on June
* 16th, 1882, a very curiously-marked one was killed, having its back
and wings white, freckled with dark spots, while its breast and head
were of a blackish colour. This bird was killed at Wareham, by a
Mr. Hutchings, and a very curious looking bird it was, as I can
testify, having seen it in Hart's museum. The egg is very like
that of the Land Rail, but the birds are not at all similar, except,
perhaps, in the markings on the back. The beak, especially, is
very different in the two birds.

Crex Porzana. " Spotted Crake." A bird, I believe, far more
frequently occurring than is commonly supposed, but which, from
its skulking habits is rarely flushed, and when obtained, sometimes
not recognised, or not sufficiently known to be recorded. I shot
one when I was at Oxford, just below the Sandford Lasher, thinking
it was an ordinary Water Rail, and knew not my prize until I took
it out of the retriever's mouth, who had brought it from the opposite
side of the river. In 1869 a pair were killed at Hinks-Mill pond
in Mere parish in the autumn of 1869, by Mr. Forward; and on
October 12th, 1878, another specimen was killed in the very same
field as the pair before-mentioned. In October, 1873, one was
picked up dead at Gillingham, having been killed by flying against

242 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

the telegraph wires, and another met its fate in the same year, and in
the same way, near Westbury. In 1879 a friend of mine from
Salisbury, Mr. Mangin, brought me a wing of this bird for
identification, which had also been picked up under the wires near
Salisbury, and which had been apparently quite severed from the
body by the force of the concussion ; and these three occurrences
happening so near together would certainly prove them to be more
numerous than they are usually believed to be, for none of these
three specimens would have been heard of, had it not been for their
singular misfortune. The young birds, Hart informs me, have been
found near Christchurch, and on the 14th of June, 1881, as Mr.
Baker writes me, a nest containing twelve eggs was cut out in a
clover field adjoining a marsh beside the stream at Mere. Mr. Baker
sent up one of the eggs to the Field Office, and it was pronounced
to be an undoubted specimen of the Spotted Crake {vide Field, Nat.
Hist, notes, June 18th, 1881). The eggs, one of which Mr. Baker
very kindly sent me, strongly resemble the Quail's, but they are
more thickly blotched, and are more uniform in shape at the two
ends.

Crex Baillonii. " Baillon's Crake " Several of these rare little
Crakes Hart has in his collection, one of which he bought recently
from the collection of the late well-known Grantley Berkley. It was
killed in the meadows bordering the Avon between Christchurch and
"Winkton, which is about one and a-half mile across the meadows,
in the year 1863. The entire length of this little bird is only
6 Jin., so that, even if pressed, it is rarely seen or procured, as the
thick sedges and rank herbage of the places it frequents afford it
so secure a shelter. It is said not to be uncommon in France, and
to have a large and extended range, specimens having also been
procured both from Asia and Africa.

Crex Pusilla. " Little, or Olivaceous Crake." One of these
birds was killed in the same place as that of the last-named species,
between Christchurch and Winkton, in the year 1866, and is also
in Hart's museum. He has also other notices of these Crakes, he
tells me, but not on the Avon side of the district, but on that of
the Stour. This and the latter species are both of much the same

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

243

diminutive size, though this, perhaps, exceeds the other by about
half-an-inch in measurement ; but the chief difference in the plumage
would seem to be, that, while in Baillon's variety the back and
wings are spotted with white, in the "Little, or Olivaceous Crake/*
there is very little white in the back, and none on the wing — while
the under parts of the latter bird are lighter in tint than the other.
It is said to be rarer than Baillon's, and also to be very susceptible
of cold, only having occurred in our island from May to August
while Baillon's bird has been procured at all seasons of the year.
Meyer says,, in his account of this bird, " The present species has a
very great peculiarity, that belongs solely to itself, namely ita
curiosity ; if a person who is acquainted with the habits of this bird
very carefully approaches the spot where an individual is known to
be, it may be seen to come to an edge of the swamp and utter its
piping call-note, as it were, in astonishment at what it sees."

Gallinula Chloropus. " Moorhen." A very common but very
pretty adjunct to all our rivers, lakes, and ponds. The bright scarlet
shield on the head, with the graceful white markings amongst the
grey plumage on the sides, just under the wing, affording a very
pleasing contrast to its otherwise generally dusky appearance. They
are furnished with remarkably sharp long claws, which are able to
inflict very un pleasing reminiscences on your hands, if you handle
them incautiously when only slightly wounded ; and which enables
them when only winged, to dive and hold on by the water-weeds at
the bottom, until at times they tire out your patience and escape
At Harbour's, at Reading, I have noticed for some time a most
peculiarly plumaged bird of this species. The general tint of the
bird all over the body is of a light grey, the neck being of a light
olive green ; but the most extraordinary feature in the specimen is
that the entire plumage resembles the feathering of the Emu more
than anything else, which gives it a most peculiar look. The stoat is
a most implacable enemy of the Moorhen in our water-meadows ; and
I have frequently heard their unmistakable cry of terror as they are
suddenly sprung upon in their hiding-places by their keen-scented
antagonist. I came across one one day which a stoat had thus just
pinned. It had seized the bird by the leg, just on the edge of the

344 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

bank, and was holding1 on like grim Death, with its fore paws planted
firmly on the ground in front of it, while the poor bird was screeching
with terror, and with its whole body hanging over the river was en-
deavouring to dive into the water beneath it. Which would have
gained the victory in this battle of" French and English" I cannot say^
as my retriever caught sight of and made a dash at them, which caused
the stoat to let go its hold, when the Moorhen immediately disappeared
beneath the water. Some years ago one of my parishioners, a keen
observer of Nature, Mr, John Gay Att water, was walking along the
bank of the river, when he noticed a Moorhen with its trip of young
ones gambolling about on the bank and in the edge of the water ;
when all of a sudden up went the Moorhen's tail (a most expressive
member in this bird) and at the same time she uttered a shrill cry
of warning. On looking about he observed a stoat on the opposite
bank of the stream, which had scented his game, and was evidently
debating with himself what was the next move. He soon, however,
came to a conclusion, for descending the bank he began deliberately
to swim across to the place where the birds had quickly hid
themselves amongst the sedges. He had not got half-way across,
however, before the parent bird flew straight at the stoat, and
catching its head with a raking stroke of its long sharp claws as it
was swimming, turned the stoat fairly head over heels in the water,
which so surprised and discomfited the animal that it turned tail,
and swam back to the opposite bank again. However he could not
give up his dinner so easily, and acting on the motto "Labor
omnia vincit^ began once more to cross the river. But the Moor-
hen was equally decided, and flying at him again, repeated the
operation once more, with precisely the same effect ; and so the battle
went on between them, until the stoat was so upset, both bodily
and mentally, that he turned tail and made off ; and never surely
were the long claws of the Moorhen used in a better cause. The
flesh of these birds is of an uncommonly good flavour, as might be
conjectured from the strong scent they have, which will enable a
good dog to catch sometimes one or two couple a day ; as the little
retriever I now have has often done. It is most amusing to watch
"Gyp" draw carefully down the bank, lifting up one paw quietly

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 245

after the other, like a cat, when, with her head knowingly cocked
on one side, and her tail stiffened, she will pause for several seconds,
and having- satisfied herself of the exact whereabouts of " Chloropus"
with one pounce out he comes.

Aramides Cayannensis. " Cayenne Rail.-" I must apologise for
mentioning this bird amongst my list of the rarer birds of Wiltshire,
but as I can vouch for the following facts I really think they deserve
a place in this paper. In the October of 1876 I walked into Footed
shop, at Bath (the bird-stuffer's there), as is my usual custom
whereverl go, and enquired if he had come across any rarities of late.
To this he answered, " Well, Sir, I have had a bird brought to me
in the flesh only yesterday, which was killed on the river between
Trowbridge and Bradford, and the like of which I have never seen
before " ; and on his producing it, sure enough it was to me a " ram
aois" I knew not what it was, saving that it was evidently a
Gallinule, and not a British one. It was rather larger than our
Moorhen, and quite of a different colour. The legs and iris of eye
were of a rich crimson lake ; beak light green, inclining to yellow
at the base ; head, neck, and thighs, pure grey ; back, bright olive
green ; tail, tail coverts, and vent, black ; its breast was rich rufous
brown, and its wings bright brown, with a touch of crimson on the
quills. On the underside of the wing the axilliaries were beautifully
barred with rufous and black, and taking out one or two of these
feathers I sent them to the Rev. A. C. Smith, of Yatesbury, with a
description of the bird and details of its capture. In return he
wrote me the following : — " I sent it on at once to my friend, Pro-
fessor Newton. I could not make out the feather at all, and no
wonder, for it is a most triumphant fact that Salvin did. Clearly
it is an escaped convict, probably from the Zoological Gardens at
Clifton or elsewhere ; but though not British, it did its very best to
acclimatise itself, and become naturalised ; poor thing, it did not
succeed, still its efforts must be duly recorded/'' Professor Newton,
on receiving Mr. Smith's letter, wrote back to him thus : — " I did
not know the feather, but Salvin almost at once recognized it as
being from ( Aramides Cayannensis,' and looking at some specimens
we saw that it was so. In proof hereof I enclose another feather

246 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

which almost exactly matches the feather sent. I purposely chose
one that is not exactly the same, that there may be no confusion,
the larger feather being the one I had from you, the smaller one
from a specimen in the Swainson collection. As its name implies,
it is an inhabitant of Cayenne and adjoining parts, occurring in
Trinidad, but I should think nowhere nearer to this country ; it has
been brought over several times to the zoological gardens, and
probably you might see it there now. I can't imagine that it
should find its way to us unassisted, but if it should make good its
escape I daresay it might continue to exist for some weeks or months
in this country, except in winter. Aramides is a rather aberrant
genus of Rails, found only in the New World. I hope your friend
will record the capture, but I should not thing of regarding the
species as a British bird." Upon this I enquired at the Clifton
Zoological Gardens, but they had never had such a bird, and where
it could possibly have come from I know not. I would fain believe,
as it was a water bird, that it was a veritable straggler from America,
but the authorities quoted are too mighty to contend against. The
most curious circumstance, however, is, that some time after this,
occurred, I remembered a bird, exactly of the same size, though not
of such bright colouring, that stood in the hall of a friend of mine,
Edward Everett, Esq., with whom I dined regularly on the Sunday
for seven years. This bird faced me whenever I entered the hall,
and I never could make out of what species it was. Determining
to sift the matter, I enquired after the bird one day, which had been
taken away at the removal of the widow of my late friend to another
house, and on inspecting the bird surely enough under the wing
were the rufous and black feathers of Aramides Cayannensis ! But I
could gain no positive information about it, except that it had been
shot many years ago by some friend, and that Mr. Everett had had it
set up. But it was not considered of much value, as it was uncased
and therefore very dusty and tarnished in plumage. Mrs. Everett
kindly gave me the bird, which I still have, and all I can say is,
that it is a most curious coincidence that I should come across
these two specimens of this rail (if this duller specimen should turn
out to be of the same species as I think it is) which I have never

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

247

seen or heard of elsewhere ; as well as most unfortunate my not
being able to clear up the matter further. But these are the facts,
and they must go for what they are worth.

Lobipedid^i.

Fulica Atra. " Coot." Common in our meadows at times, es-
pecially in the winter and spring. It breeds freely amongst us;
and I have found the eggs of the Moorhen in the same nest as that
of the Coot, in some of our withy-beds. This bird has a peculiar
habit of sinking itself in the water when suddenly surprised, lowering
its head and neck close to the surface, and slinking into cover as
soon as may be. The young birds, when recently hatched, are far
prettier than at first sight you might fancy they would be, their
little heads being marked with bright blue and red down, which
doubtless soon disappears. They are heavy birds on the wing, and
afford an easy mark to the young sportsman. They migrate in vast
numbers in the autumn ; and I observed a great number in the sea
off Sturt Island, as already mentioned, in the May month. I was
out shooting in our meadows one day with some young brothers-
in-law, when I saw a most peculiar circumstance, hard to ac-
count for. A party of Coots rose from the Broad in our river,
and making a wide detour over land, endeavoured to reach a bend of
the river, some half-mile above us. But just as they got opposite
us, though out of gun shot, one of the birds turned head over heels
in the air, and fell dead to the ground, without a shot having been
fired at it. Whether its nervous system was so acted on by the
very proximity of a gun, as suddenly to stop all the forces of Nature,
I really can in no way determine. The flesh of these birds, unlike
the Moor Hen, is tough and dry, and not worth eating.

Phalaropus Lobatus. " Phalarope.-" This is another of those
birds which assume, in a very striking manner, the red brick-dust
colour in its summer plumage, whereas in its winter garb it is
whitish grey ; from which latter state of plumage it is often called
amongst us the " Grey Phalarope.31 They are usually but occasional
visitants ; but in the year 1859 they visited this country in great
quantities, and were killed by hundreds. Two of these birds were

248 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

killed at Woodlands, in Mere, in the winter of 1870-71, and several
others during that year ; they were so tame that you could nearly
knock them down with a stick. Another specimen was killed at
Pert wood, on November 17th, 1875 ; and a second on November 19 th,
at Codford, in the same year. About the same time a nice specimen
was brought me by a Mr. Edwards, who had knocked it over with
his oar, as he was rowing on the river near Salisbury. They seem
very unsuspicious of danger, but when fairly on the wing are ex-
ceedingly rapid in their flight.

Phalaropus Hyperboreus. " Red-necked Phalarope." The only
notice I can find of this bird, which is far rarer than the last-named
species, is that of a male bird, in the breeding plumage, which was
shot by Mr. Elgar Sloper, in the brickfield at Old Park, in May>
1841, which was kept alive for some weeks, it having been only
slightly injured in the wing. This is taken from the Rev. A. C.
Smith's notes on the Ornithology of Wilts.

Charadrid^i.

Hamatopus Ostralegus. " Oyster Catcher." Common on our
sea coasts. Most frequent at Christchurch in the autumn months.
A very handsome bird with its pied plumage and richly -coloured
bill. They present rather a curious appearance when on the wing,
as they fly with their heavy bills pointing perpendicularly to the
ground, as though they were too heavy to be held up in the usual
horizontal position. I found their nests on Sturt Island, off
Burnham, but only one had an egg in it — one or two others, being
mere depressions in the shingle, evidently awaiting their first deposit.
I unfortunately lost two nice specimens on Sturt Island, as they both
fell into the water some way from the shore, and the tide being on
the ebb carried them quickly out of reach, and I scarcely thought
them worth while swimming for. It lives ehiefly, as its name
would imply, on mussels and other shell-fish, which its strong bill
is able to manipulate.

Strepsilas Interpresr " Turnstone/'' The adult male of this
species, in its full summer plumage, is a most pleasingly-marked
bird, and is not at all times easy to secure, the rich chestnut and

Tn the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

249

black and white of its plumage affording most pleasing contrasts.
The young birds are quite of a different colour, and are of rather
an uninteresting appearance. I see Meyer asserts that the " adult
birds (male and female) resemble each other perfectly, and are
not to be distinguished from each other," but I was not aware that
the adult female was also adorned with the same rich colouring as
its mate. Their name well determines their habit of life and means
of existence, viz., turning over the stones and debris on the shingle,
and searching for* the marine insects and larvee hid underneath them.
They are most persevering in their efforts to turn over any stone or
other object they have once set their hearts on ; and a most interesting
account of this habit will be found in the "Life of a Scotch Naturalist
(Edwards)," in pp. 243 to 246, where he gives a most graphic
description of the way in which two little Turnstones, eventually
helped by a third of their species (who came most opportunely to
the assistance of his fellows) turned over a dead cod ; first by in-
dustriously undermining it on the lower side of the beach by scraping
away the sand, and then by running round to the other side and
pushing under it with their beaks and breasts, until, after one or two
failures, they effected their object — tumbling after the cod for some
distance as it fell over, through the impetus of the efforts they used.
The fish he describes as being nearly three feet and a half long, and
had been embedded in the sand to the depth of about two inches. Any
naturalist who has not read the above-mentioned book ought not to
delay a day in procuring and reading it. Hart tells me he has
known the Turnstone to remain all the summer in the Christchurch
district.

Olareola Torquata. " Pratincole." My notices on the Charadridte
would not be complete were I altogether to omit the mention of
the single instance of this extremely rare bird which has occurred
in our neighbourhood. In November, 1852, Mr. Hussey, of
Tilshead, shot one of these birds near a sheep-fold, where it con-
tinually settled among the sheep after it had several times risen and
returned to the same spot. He describes the flight of the bird as
being exceedingly swift and rapid. Meyer mentions their habit of
returning to some favourite spot which they may have selected for the

250 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

time. u "Where they meet with suitable ground/-' he says, " they
remain some time in the neighbourhood, flying away in a body,
and often returning again in a moment, to the great surprise of the
beholder, who may happen to have startled them up." This corres-
ponds exactly to the account given by the Rev. A. C. Smith of the
motions of the specimen mentioned above, which is now in his
collection.

Vanellus Cristatus. " Lapwing/' " Peewit," or " Green Plover/'
One of the commonest and prettiest birds of our district. They
breed freely in the parish, and all around us, and assemble in large
flocks in the neighbourhood during the autumn and winter months.
A flight of these birds is very interesting to watch, as they twist and
twirl simultaneously, as though under the direction of some leader ;
now showing snowy white against the dark rain-clouds behind them,
and now nearly vanishing out of sight as they turn against the
wind. The Peewit is one of those numerous birds which most
adroitly draws off attention from its young by various and cunning
manoeuvres. It will tumble over, both on the ground and in the
air, until it has succeeded in making you take your eye off the spot
where the young ones are hiding under any vantage-ground they
may have been able to secure. They are very hard birds for any
Hawk to strike ; and I have seen a Peregrine Falcon completely
outdone by the twists and twirls of one of these birds. An old bird,
I expect, is not often taken by them, anyhow single-handed ; though
the young birds of the year, or one out of a large flock, often fall
an easy victim to their terrible adversary. It is astonishing that
they increase so rapidly as they do, when you consider the hundreds
of dozens in which their eggs are taken and sold weekly during
the breeding season ; these delicacies, when they first come in,
fetching, in London, as much as four shillings a dozen ; though,
after the first week or so, they rapidly decline in price.

Squatarola Cinerea, f* Grey Plover." " Not uncommon of late
years," writes Hart, " in Christchurch Harbour, in their summer
plumage," which differs considerably from their winter garb the
whole of the neck and breast (as is also the case in the Golden
Plover) being of a rich jet black, while in the winter it is of a dull

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury,

251

grey. The young of these and of the Golden Plover may at times
be almost mistaken for each other; but there is one definite mark
by which you may always distinguish them, the hind toe of the
Grey Plover being entirely absent in the Golden. The Grey Plover,
also, is of a stouter and heavier build, and the beak is stronger and
thicker. The flight of this bird is wonderfully rapid, and as it
generally flies very low to the ground it is not always easy to bring
down ; and it is so shy that it is very difficult to approach it.

Arenaria Calidris. "The Sanderling." Not infrequently met
with in company with others of its class. I found it on Sturt
Island, in company with the Purre and Ringed Dotterel. It is not
altogether unlike the Purre, but it has a shorter bill, and no hind
toe.

Charadrius Pluvialis. " Golden Plover." Often to be seen in
the parish during the autumn and winter. It is of rapid flight,
appearing generally in flocks, though one single specimen was shot
here in October, by my brother, which had stuck to one especial field
for a day or two. It is an especially fast runner ; and on one oc-
casion, when my brother had killed one near Wokingham, in Berk-
shire, a man who saw him shoot it came running up in great haste
to know what kind of bird it was, inasmuch as he had just winged one
in the next field, which had run him to a clean standstill, and had
effected its escape in safety. It is of very handsome plumage in the
summer, assuming the jet black breast, as the Grey Plover also does,
and turning also very dark on the back, on which the golden spangles
of its plumage stand out very attractively. I once saw a large flock
in the parish in the March month, some of which were fast acquiring
the black breast of the perfect summer feathering. Mr. Baker, of
Mere, towards the end of February, 1869, tells me that he shot three
Golden Plover, at one shot in three distinct stages of plumage, out of
the same flock — summer, winter, and intermediate — but to his great
regret afterwards he only had the latter bird of the three set up,
which, on consideration was the very one he did not much care to
have preserved. They constantly occur on Mere downs, where
there are two pieces of arable, which, during the open weather in
winter and early spring is an almost certain find for them ; but he

252 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

has never known them breed there. I need not add that they are
considered great luxuries for the table.

Cursorius Isabellinus. " Cream-coloured Courser." This bird
also has once been recorded as having occurred in Wiltshire : and
that also in the very same district that the Pratincole was shot in.
One was killed by Mr. W. Langton, of Wandsworth, when out
shooting near Tilshead. This bird lay so close that his dog nearly
chopped it, and after settling again, some two hundred yards off he
shot it as it was running along the ground. The bird was shot on
October 2nd, 1855, as also recorded by the Rev. A. C. Smith.

Charadrius Morinellus. " Dotterel." At one time this pretty
and sprightly bird was by no means uncommon on our downs, but
they are not now-a-days often seen. Mr. At t water, of this parish,
tells me he used to meet with them frequently some years ago ; and
not long ago put up a single bird once or twice in the parish. But
on enquiring of a friend of his for me, whose farm lay in a district
which they used to frequent, he wrote thus : — " My friend tells me
they occasionally get Dotterel on the Plain, both at the barley sowing
time and in the barley harvest, which would be in March and
September, but not so regularly or in such numbers of late years.
This agrees with what others have told me." In 1854 Mr. Hart's
brother killed five out of a pack of fourteen, in summer plumage,
near Christchurch. In 1873 a female Dotterel was killed out of a
flock of three, at Stockton, by Mr. Brown Gifford, in the spring
months. Another immature specimen was killed on a piece of fallow
at Fonthill, by Mr. Coombs, October 1st, 1876; and Mr. Baker,
tells me " On two or three occasions I have seen Dotterel on Mere
Down. On March 7th, 1881, I shot at one at a long range, but
failed to bag it." And in the month of April or May, about 1868,
being on horseback, he rode quite close — within ten or fifteen yards
— to three birds of this species that were running before him up a
furrow, and seemed scarcely to notice his presence. I had two
specimens given me from Jersey not long ago, but they are im-
mature and not' in good plumage.

Charadrius Hiaticula. " Ringed Dotterel." Not uncommon on
pur coasts in the South of England, and generally distributed. I

In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury.

253

once saw one of these birds, to my surprise, in our water- meadows,
immediately behind the Vicarage, but it is the only occasion on
which I have seen it so far inland. They breed freely at Christ-
church and Muddeford, from whence I obtained some eggs.
I also shot them on Sfui t Island, where they were in some numbers;
flying out a little distance to seaward when you disturbed them, and
soon curling round to the shore again from whence they had started,
and enlivening the scene with their shrill but pleasing whistle.

Chararlrius Minor. " Little Ringed Dotterel." This greatly re-
sembles the former species, so much so that it may have been often
confounded with it. It is, however, far more scarce than the other.
If, however, there is an opportunity of comparing the skins of the
two birds, you can distinguish them in this way, that, whereas in
C. Riaticula the shaft of the second quill and the others are white,
in C. Minor the same are brown. Mr. Hart has given me a note of
one of these birds having been killed at Christchurch on April 26th,
1879, by H. Preston; another also having occurred there many
years ago ; but they are rare.

Charadrius Cantianus. " Kentish Plover/'' This is another
species somewhat resembling the two former which is occasionally
met with in the Avon mouth district. Mr. Cecil Smith found it
breeding, and took the eggs of it, in Guernsey, in 1876 ; and the
following occurrences have been noted at Christchurch : — two speci-
mens in 1859, which are now in Hart's collection ; one in 1873 ;
and two others in 1874 off Needsour Point, in the Solent.

(Egialitis Vocifera. " Kill-Deer Plover." I am indebted to Mr.
Hart for enabling me to mention an instance of the capture of this
American species at Christchurch, which, I believe, is the only
European instance of it recorded. It is now in Hart's collection,
where I have seen it, and was shot at Knap Mill, by Tom Dowden,
belonging to the Royalty Fishery, in 1859. In is an American
bird, and takes its name from its peculiar cry. It is not unlike the
Ringed Dotterel in general colouring and appearance ; but it is a
larger bird with a longer tail, and has a double black band across
the breast, by which it can be at once recognised.

(Edicnemus Crepitans. " Thick-knee," " Stone Curlew," or

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXII. S

254 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds

" Norfolk Plover." We come now to the last species to be named
in the Order of the Grallatores, and it is a bird which is — or must I
say was ? — by no means uncommon on our downs ; and until quite
lately its eggs, of which I have several local specimens, eould be
easily obtained from many of the surrounding parishes. But I fear
this bird is fast getting scarcer amongst us than it used to be. It
is a very shy and wary bird, and hard to approach ; and the un-
usually large bright eye which it possesses it would seem to make
the best use of. It assumes the most curious attitudes, standing on
one leg, with its head shrugged up to its shoulders; and moving
about for short distances with jerks and starts, as though it had
rheumatism in its legs, or were walking on stilts. I had a young
one brought me some time ago from the downs, which I kept alive
for above a week, in the stable, but it did not relish its captivity,
and soon pined away and died. My brother noticed a nice pair of
these birds in the parish of Stratford Toney last year.

And now I must wish my readers farewell, if any should, indeed,
have waded through what, I fear, to some may appear a needlessly
protracted paper. But the Order is a numerous, and also a
very interesting one ; and no one with any observation can fail to
notice how accurately every species in it has been exactly suited for
the kind of life it is destined to lead. Nothing is wanting. The
long tarsus o£ the Wader, the short stout bill of the Turnstone, the
pointed beak of the Heron, the mottled colouring of the young of
most of the Order, which renders them well-nigh invisible, though
lying at your very feet, all testify to a perfect wisdom and provi-
dential care, that has omitted nothing suited to their need. How
different it is when man interferes in Nature's work. Not one man
out of an hundred can even put a bird into a natural and pleasing
position, when he has all the materials before him to enable him to
do so ; whereas if he attempted to create a new species out of
his own unassisted intelligence, how surely he would turn out to
be like the architect, who is said to have designed a most gorgeous
palace, perfect in every way, but in the simple fact that he had
forgotten the staircase. Or, if he failed not so signally as this, and
managed to make no mistake in the adjustment of the principal

In (he Neighbourhood of Salisbury

255

organs, how surely he would be found guilty of some oversight,
perhaps making the bill turn up instead of down, or the tarsus
short instead of long, which would mar all his efforts, and end in
the simple failure of all his design. But let us reflect, good reader!
If God has fitted the birds of the air with such minute and fault-
less wisdom for the exact manner of life they have to lead, surely
we may also believe, to our individual comfort, that He has, as truly,
bestowed upon each one of us such qualities as are necessary for the
life to which He may have been pleased to call us ; and that nothing,
therefore, but our own self-will can defeat His gracious purposes,
or cause us to fail in carrying out to a successful issue those good
works which He has before ordained that we should walk in. Only
let us use our pound with as much assiduity and perseverance as
those little Turnstones did their bills, and our mountains shall be
cast into the sea before our honest endeavours, as surely as they
turned over their codfish ; and well will it be for us, if we take as
little note of our performances, however successful we may be, as
they did, simply making the best use of what has been given us,
and then thinking no more about the matter ; but " leaving no stone
unturned " that may contain a prize beneath it, and as soon as
one task is finished immediately setting about the next.

I must not omit to thank those kind friends who have assisted
me with so much information in the preparing of this paper, more
especially Mr. Edward Hart, of Christchurch, whose carefully-kept
and accurate notes have furnished me with a host of information ;
as also Mr. E. Baker, of Mere, and Mr. Cecil Smith, of Somerset,
with many others. Without their aid this would have been but a
most imperfect and meagre list, whereas it will be seen that our
neighbourhood, including the mouth of our river Avon — which
we may well press into our service, is as rich a locality for our
water birds as the South of England possesses.

s 2

256

Some fcgmtikir Jrtkks in %
^towr^ai Colledioit.

^jlNCE the Stourhead Collection has passed into the possession
g o£ the Trustees of the Wiltshire Museum, the Curator has
found that some of the articles have not been described in " Ancient
Wiltshire/'' and that others could not be identified, owing to the loss
or decay of the labels respecting them. Much information has,
however, been obtained by reference to the drawings and MSS. in the
possession of Mr. Cunnington's family. It is proposed to publish
some of these particulars from time to time in the Wiltshire Magazine.

Note on an Ancient British Urn or Drinking Cup, pound at
Mere, Wilts. In the Wiltshire Museum, Devizes.

This cup was found by Mr. Fenton, a friend of Sir R. C. Hoare,
in a barrow on Mere Down. An account of the opening of this
barrow and a description of its contents are given in " Ancient
Wiltshire/'' as follows : — 1 " At the depth of about three feet and a
half he found a cist six feet in length, from east to west, containing
the skeleton of a large man, with his limbs gathered up and crossed,
and that of a younger person by his right side. From the position
of their heads they seem to have been placed in the affectionate
attitude of embrace, as the two skulls nearly touched each other,
Close to them was a richly-ornamented drinking cup, and near the
left side of the adult was a small lance-head of brass [bronze], and
a piece of grey slaty stone, perforated at the ends. He also found
a small instrument of bone, and two circular ornaments of thin but
pure gold : these were also perforated, and used like the blue stone
as ornaments of dress. Towards the eastern side of the cist was a
great deal of charred wood, the use of which it is difficult to con-
jecture, as the tumulus presented no apparent signs of burning."

1 " Ancient Wilts," vol. i., p. 44.

Some Un-D escribed Articles in the Slourhead Collection. 257

The articles found are engraved in Plate II. of the same size as
the originals, and may now be seen in the Museum at Devizes.
The cup, however, was broken, and only one fragment of it was
engraved. When the Stourhead Collection was removed to Devizes
it included many loose pieces of ancient pottery : among these five
more fragments of this same cup were fortunately found, and it has
now been succesfully restored and forms an interesting addition to
the collection. It differs materially from the ordinary type of
Ancient British drinking cup (so called). It is much more elegant
in outline, and the ornamentation is gracefully disposed so as to
suit the shape. A similar though larger vase was found by Mr.
Cunnington in a barrow at Boyton, in 1804.1 Of this he remarks : —
" The wide brim and large size rather militate against appropriating
these vessels to the purpose of drinking/''

A smaller vase of the same type, but not so boldly moulded at
the rim, was found in a barrow on Roundway Hill, in 1855, described
in Wiltshire Magazine, vol. iii., p. 185, and figured in i( Crania
Britannica, vol. ii., with Plate XXXII.2

The design and ornamentation are so similar in these three cups
as to suggest that they may have been made by the same person.

The general similarity of the barrow on Roundway Hill to that
opened by Mr. Fenton at Mere, is quite remarkable. Allowing
that the gold ornaments and bone netting- mesh belonged to the
second skeleton (presumably a female), the other articles found —
the small well shaped urn, the bronze dagger, and the tablet of
chlorite slate — are similar in both interments.

It may be well here to note that the purpose for which these
plates of slate were anciently used has since been satisfactorily de-
termined by Canon Ingram and other authorities.3 There can be
little doubt that they were used as wrist-guards, to protect the left
arm of the wearer against the rap of the string in shooting with
the bow.

1 See " Archfeologia," vol. xv„ p. xvii.

2 Also in Waring' s " Ceramic Art," PI. XIX.

3 See " Wiltshire Magazine," vol. x., p. 109.

258 Some Un- Described Articles in the Stourhead Collection.

Laege Funereal Ubn (one of three) found in a Barrow at
Kingston Deveril, by Mr. Cunnington, in 1800.

The opening of the " Flint 33 Barrow at Kingston Deverill is
described in " Ancient Wiltshire/' vol. i., 47-8, and in Mr.
Cunnington's MS. he speaks of it as having given him more
trouble than any he has ever opened, except the vast Long Barrow
at Tilshead ; as in the course of the work the labourers had to throw
out more than fifty loads of large flints. Of the largest of the
urns, which contained burnt human bones, and a bronze spear or
dagger head, he says, " I have preserved the fragments, and from
these a drawing has been made by Mr. Crocker. (See No. 1,
coloured drawings.) It was very large, and differently ornamented
from any I have ever seen."" (The above woodcut has been copied
from the drawing.) All that remained of the urn itself has been lost.

This barrow, raised in a district where large flints are exceedingly
abundant, is chiefly composed of that material : so at Rockley, near
Marlborough, the barrow opened by Mr. H. Cunnington, in 1879,1
is mainly formed of the large sarsen stones, which are scattered in
such profusion in that neighbourhood. It would appear that both
barrows are of the same — the Early Bronze — Period, and the sug-
gestion arises that this flint barrow may resemble the barrow
1 " Wiltshire Magazine," xix.} 68.

Some (7)i- Described Articles in the Stourhead Collection, 259

at Rockley still more closely ; for it is probable that the Deveril
barrow had a central interment at the base, which, through the
great difficulty of the excavation, owing to the presence of the vast
quantities of flints, as described, was not at the time discovered.
If this were the case the urns would correspond in number and
position, as well as in their relation to the chief central interment,
with those in the Rockley barrow.

Drinking Cup found at Imber, Wilts.

The drinking cup figured above was found by Mr. Cunnington
at Imber, Wilts. It seems worthy of more notice than it has re-
ceived in "Ancient Wiltshire''' (vol. i., 86),

Mr. Cunnington speaks of it as being so superior in colour and
quality, that many persons might even think it to be of Roman
make, but careful comparison would prove the contrary. " Borlase,"
lie says, " gives a drawing of a similar cup, in his ' Antiquities of
Cornwall/ and erroneously supposes it to be Roman." 1

" It was crushed to pieces, but with some pains I have joined it
together so as to enable Mr. Crocker to make a water-colour drawing.'"
(From this the woodcut has been engraved.)

The ornamentation is of the characteristic style of Ancient British,

1 See Borlase's Ant. Corn., PL XYIIL, Tig. 6. " From the neatness of the
lace-work round the urn I should judge it to be Roman." It was from a barrow
at Chikarn, Cornwall, in which fifty urns were found by the occupier of the land
round a central interment, but such was the want of intelligence at the time that
only one of them all — that engraved by Mr. Borlase — was preserved.

260 Some Un- Described Articles in the Stourkead Collection.

drinking- cups, but in form it was much more elegant. It was
probably too much injured to bear the casualties of seventy years,
and there is not even a fragment of it in the present Stourhead
Collection.

Funereal Urn from Durrington, Wilts, found by
Mr. Cunnington, November, 1803.

The above engraving represents a fine Ancient British urn, be-
longing to the Stourhead Collection, which has hitherto been un-
deserved. It is not mentioned in " Ancient Wiltshire/' nor indeed
had it any label or other means of identification attached to it.
But for the fortunate circumstances that Mr. Crocker's drawing and
a MS. account of it are preserved, in Miss Cunnington's possession,
its history would have been altogether lost.

It was found in a barrow on the edge of Durrington Down, in
November, 1803.

This barrow is No. 69 in the " Map of the Environs of Stone-
henge/' "Ancient Wilts/' p. 170, and is mentioned in "Tumuli
Wiltunenses," p. 27, as having been opened by Mr. Cunnington " at
a prior period." His MS. note is as follows " The barrow was
40ft. in diameter, and not more than lain, in elevation; in it
we found, in a neat cist, cut in the solid chalk, a fine urn (see

Some Un- Described Articles in the Stourhead Collection. 261

drawing 12), which contained the burnt bones, without ashes. The
cist was made to fit the urn exactly, and to this I attribute its fine
preservation. On taking it up we discovered a considerable quantity
of decayed linen cloth, (and some pieces which I conceived to be
woollen), but although we could see enough to remark on the
coarseness and thinness of the texture, it would not bear exposure
to the rough wind we had that day. I think it is more than
probable that after the body was consumed, the bones were carefully
collected in this perhaps (then) fine linen cloth, and put into the urn."

The urn is of imperfectly-burnt clay of a coarse quality. The
rim is deep and well-formed, and ornamented with ten rows of
oblique dots, apparently produced by pressing on the surface while
soft, a twisted thong or cord. The lines are irregular and sometimes
overlap. The edge of the urn has short lines of similar dots very
irregularly-marked, sometimes at right angles, and sometimes
diagonally. It is 13jin. in height, 11^ in. in width across the
mouth, and I2in in its greatest diameter.

On Two Spear- Heads in the Stourhead Collection
in the Wiltshire Museum.

In Dr. Thurnam's very valuable report on the Round Barrows o£
Wiltshire, " Archaeologia," xliii., 447, an error occurs with respect
to a socketed spear- head, of which an engraving is there given. It
is desirable to correct this error, as important arguments have been
based on the occurrence of this variety of spear-head in British
barrows.

The description of a riveted dagger, from the Wilsford group of
barrows, as given in " Ancient Wiltshire," vol. i., 208, has been by
mistake applied to a socketed and looped spear-head from a barrow
near Stonehenge.1

Woodcuts are here given of both implements, for the purpose of
comparison.

The first mentioned, the dagger from the Wilsford Group, No. 5
(it is more correct to speak of it as a dagger than as a spear) , was

1 It is not surprising that this mistake was made, as the specimens were not
labelled, excepting with a number referring to Mr. CuDnington's private catalogue.

262 Some Un-Bescribed Articles in the Stourhead Collection.

found with a deposit of burnt bones, and " appeared to have been
almost melted into a rude lump by the heat of the funeral pile."
The engraving here given, Fig. 4, shows how fitly this description
answers to the actual condition of that weapon. The dotted outline

Fig. 4. Fig. 5.

exhibits the original shape. It is an early form, with two bronze
rivets, and has no ornament. Towards the point, which is folded
quite over, it has been melted, and in one part the metal appears to
have run into a drop. The other end has not been so much heated,
as one of the rivets is still in its place, and is quite uninjured.

The other implement, erroneously described by Dr. Thurnam as
having been found in the Wilsford Group (figured by him in
" Archseologia," p. 447, fig. 153), was obtained by Mr. Cunnington,
in 1802, from a barrow near Stonehenge, and the identity of the
specimen is proved by the following extracts from Mr. Cunnington's
MSS. (B. 2, p. 50). Speaking of the group of barrows, " No. 14,"
near Stonehenge (in one of which the large " Stonehenge 3i TJrn
was discovered), he says: — "in one of them we found a brass
[bronze] spear-head. It was immediately under the turf, and was
much corroded, but in form it is similar to one figured in Gough's
Camden, vol. iii., pi. 39, fig. 3." [The engraving here spoken of
is a socketed looped spear-head.]

Some Un- Described Articles in the Stourhead Collection. 263

I have lately acquired the original drawing of this weapon, by
Mr. Crocker. It was evidently made at the time of the discovery,
when more of the thick coating of earth and rust adhered to it, and
when it was longer than at present, as a broken off point is repre-
sented. On the same sheet is a sketch of the group of barrows
south (west) of Stonehenge, in one of which (No. 3) it was found*
and a drawing of the Stonehenge Urn, found in No. 1.

This specimen is the only one of the kind in the Stourhead Col-
lection.

The description given in "Ancient Wiltshire" of the weapon
from Wilsford, as affected " by the action of fire," does not apply to
this specimen, for though much thickened, particularly at the edges,
by the oxydation of the metal, it bears no appearance of having
been burnt. Its form is not distorted, and the side loops are well
preserved. It is fairly represented in the woodcut, Fig. 5.

Bronze dagger and spear-heads have been grouped into three
divisions according to their structure : — I., such as are inserted in
the handle by means of a single tang; II., those fastened to the
handles with rivets (sometimes of wood, sometimes of bronze) ; III.j
those which were formed with a socket into which the handle was
inserted, and furnished with side loops for tying on. The last-men-
tioned are the most modern, extending down to the Roman or even
to later periods : and it has been argued that if these are found in
British barrows, the date of such barrows must be comparatively
recent. But in this instance only, has a socketed spear been found
in a Wiltshire barrow, and that under exceptional circumstances,1 as
it did not occur with the original interment, but was dug up " im-
mediately under the turf," and consequently can only be regarded
" as a mere waif," as Dr. Thurnam himself expresses it, and can
afford no evidence as to the age of the barrow.

All the daggers and spear-heads that have been found in Wiltshire

1 An implement of this form was found at Hagbourne, Bucks=, in 1805, but it
affords no evidence on the question ; for the interment in which it was found
contained horse- trappings and gold and silver coins. It was of Soman or Saxon
date, certainly not Ancient British. Vide '* Archseologia," vol. xliii., p. 446.

264 The Stourhead Collections of Antiquities and Books.

barrows are of the more simple forms, with plain tangs, or with
rivets, not socketed, and consequently indicate greater age.1

It is so difficult to obtain the truth in connection with these
remote antiquities that this attempt to remove an error out of the
way will, it is hoped, be deemed a sufficient reason for the present
notes.

W. CUNNINGTON.

London , 1883.

attir Ijoofo.

ARLY in the year 1883 it was announced to the Committee
that the " Stourhead Collection of Antiquities 93 was for
sale, in common with many of the books, drawings, and other
objects of interest in connection with the archaeology of Wiltshire,
which had also been collected by Sir R. C. Hoare.

It will be remembered that the " Antiquities " consist chiefly of
the contents of the barrows of Wiltshire exhumed early in the
present century by the eminent antiquary, Sir R. C. Hoare, and his
coadjutor, Mr. William Cunnington : and that, some three years
ago, they were removed, by the courtesy of the present owner of
Stourhead, to the Museum at Devizes; and here, owing to the
painstaking exertions of the Curators, the various articles of which
the collection consists have been carefully arranged, labelled, and
displayed in cases.

1 " Side looped spear-heads are almost peculiar to the British Isles, and are more
common in Ireland than in England. Where there are no rivets there are loops."
" Horae Ferales," edited by Mr. Franks.

The Stourkead Collections of Antiquities and Boohs. 265

It was immediately felt by the Committee that strenuous efforts
should be made to retain in the county these collections, of such
extreme value to all who are interested in the history and antiquities
of Wiltshire : and for this purpose an appeal was made throughout
the county for contributions to enable the Society to purchase the
antiquities, and such of the books, MSS., and drawings as seemed
most desirable.

This appeal was very generally and liberally responded to, and
the sum of £389 7*. 6s. was collected; by means of which the an-
tiquities, and a portion of the books relating to Wiltshire, have been
secured, and are now in the possession of the society.

It should be added that our special thanks are due to Sir Henry
Hoare, for the liberal terms in which he has dealt with the Society.
Neither should our obligations to Canon Jackson be forgotten, to
whose wise discretion the selection of books to be purchased at the
sale in London was confided.

The Committee desires to congratulate the Society on these
valuable acquisitions to its Museum and Library.

The following is the summary of the " Stourhead Collection
Fund":—

DECEIVED. £

d.

PAID. £

s.

d.

By subscriptions 389

7

6

By purchase of antiquities 250

0

0

By balance from General

„ purchase of books, &c,

Funds of the Society 0

7

9

16

6

„ printing circulars, and

18

9

£389 15

3

£389 15

3

LIST OF

SUBSCRIBERS.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

The Marquis of Lansdowne

Brought Forward £75

0

0

(Patron) ... ... 25

0

0

Alfred Morrison, Esq. ... 25

0

0

The Earl of Eadnor (Lord

George Morrison, Esq. ... 25

0

0

Lieutenant) ... 25

0

0

Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice,

A. Mackay, Esq. ... 25

0

0

M.P 20

0

0

Carried Forward £75

0

0

Carried Forward £145

0

0

266 The Stourhead Collections of Antiquities and Boohs.

10 10

£ s. d.

Brought Forward £145 0 0

0
0
0
0
0

10
10
10
10

Sir John Neeld, Bart.
The Earl of Pembroke .
The Earl Nelson
The Rev. Canon Jackson
Alfred Seymour, Esq.
The Right Hon. E. P.

Bouverie ... 10 0 0
The Rev. J. Baron, D.D.,

F.S.A 5 5 0

A. Meek, Esq. ... 5 5 0

John Mullings, Esq. ... 5 5 0

The Marquis of Bath ... 5 0 0
The Right Rev. Bishop

Clifford ... ...5 0 0

C. W. Curtis, Esq. ... 5 0 0

G. P. Fuller, Esq. ... 5 0 0

A. L. Goddard, Esq. ... 5 0 0

R. S. Holford, Esq. ... 5 0 0

R V. Leach, Esq. ... 5 0 0

E. C. Lowndes, Esq. ... 5 0 0

Sir John Lubbock, Bart.,

M.P 5 0 0

N. Story Maskelyne, Esq.,
M.P., F.R S. (Presi-
dent) ... ... 5 0 0

Michael Palmer, Esq. ... 5 0 0

C. Penruddocke, Esq. ... 5 0 0

J. P. Stancomb, Esq. ... 5 0 0

C. H. Talbot, Esq. ... 5 0 0

R. Walmesley, Esq. ... 5 0 0

The Rev. Canon Goddard 3 0 0

The Rev. C. Soames ... 3 0 0

Lady Charles Wellesley ... 3 0 0

The Rev. E. L. Barnwell 2 2 0

J . Ireland Bowes, Esq. ... 2 2 0

R. Clark, Esq. ... 2 2 0

G. S. Estcourt, Esq., M.P. 2 2 0

J. Jackson, Esq. ... 2 2 0

The Rev. Canon Kingsbury 2 2 0
W. H. Long, Esq., M.P. 2 2 0
William Long, Esq. (Wring-
to11) ... ... 2|2 0

Godfrey Lushington, Esq. 2 2 0

R. W. Merriman, Esq. 2 2 0

W. P. Morgan, Esq. ... 2 2 0

Brought Forward £328

Carried Forward £328 7 0

s. o
7

2 C

2 0

2 0

2 0

2 0

The Rev. C. E. Seymour 2
Edwin Sloper, Esq. ... 2

Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart

(High Sheriff) ... 2
William Stancomb, Esq. 2
S. Watson Taylor, Esq. ... 2

Sir Thomas Bateson, Bart.,

M.P. ... ...200

Henry Brown, Esq. (Black-
lands Park) ... 2
Miss Ewart ... ... 2

A. B. Fisher, Esq. ... 2

Miss Chafyn Grove ... 2
Hon. and Rev. Sidney

Meade .., ... 2

The Rev. A. C. Smith ... 2
The Hon. Percy Wyndham,
M.P. ... ... 2

Lord Arundel of Wardour 1
H. G. Barrey. Esq. ... 1

The Rev. G. C. Bell ... 1

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

The Rev. W. P. S, Bingham 1

James Brown, Esq. ... 1

The Ven. Archdeacon

Buchanan ... 1

The Rev. F. J.Buckley ... 1

Samuel Dodd, Esq. ... 1

The Rev. W. Dowding ... 1

Mrs. Fisher ... ... 1

J. G. Godwin, Esq. ... 1

J. Haden, Esq. ... 1

J. H. Mayo, Esq. ... 1

The Rev. De Courcy Meade 1

H. E. Medlicott, Esq. ... 1

W. Nott, Esq. ... 1

The Rev. T.A.Preston... 1

William Stratton, Esq. ... 1

G. S. A. Waylen, Esq. ... 1

Mrs. Whinfield ... 1

The Rev. E. Duke ... 1

Miss Margaret Ewart ... 1

The Rev. E. Goddard ... 1

C. Hitchcock, Esq., M.D. 1

The Rev. Canon Hutchings 1

Mrs. C. Kemble ... 1

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

Carried Forward £381 17 0

Donations to the Library and Museum.

£ s. d.

Brought Forward £381 17 0

J. E. Nightingale, Esq. ... 10 0

The Rev. H. A. Olivier ... 1 0 0

J. D. Stokes, Esq. ... 1 0 0

The Rev. Canon Warre ... 1 0 0

Lt.-Col. Winterscale ... 1 % 0 0

Mr. H. F. Bull ... 0 10 6

Carried Forward £387 7 6

267

£ s. d.

Brought Forward £387 7 6

The Rev. R. C. Christie... 0 10 0

A. C. Mitchell, Esq. ... 0 10 0

The Rev. W. C. Plenderleath 0 10 0

H. A. Wadworth, Esq. ... 0 10 0

£389 7 6

The Committee have the pleasure to acknowledge the following
donations to the Library and Museum : —

Retrospections, Social and Archaeological, by C. Roach Smith, Esq., F.S.A. Pre-
sented by the author.

Records of the Seasons, Prices of Agricultural Produce, &c, by T. H. Bakeb,
Esq. Presented by the Rev. Canon Jackson.

Ancient Epitaphs from 1250 to 1800, by the Rev. T. F. Ravenshaw, M.A., F.S.A.
Presented by the author.

Historical Memoirs of the Family of Duckett, by Sir G. F. Duckett. Presented
by the author.

First Annual Report of Bureau of Ethnology to Smithsonian Institution, by J.
W. Powell, Esq.

Ancient Stone Gouge — North American Indian — found at Owen Sound, Canada.
Presented by Mr. Paintee. per Mr. J. A. Smith, Devizes.

Ancient Quern, ploughed up at Broomsgrove Farm. Presented by J. Kingston,
Esq. (This specimen has the central pin of iron.)

Roman Coins, Pottery, &c, &c, from a Roman well near Silbury Hill. Pre-
sented by Mr. H. Cunnington. Also, by the same, Roman Roofing-tile of
coal-measure sandstone ; Roman Brick with impression of dog's foot, Pottery,
&c, from Silchester.

Casts of Carpal Spine of Omosaurus, from Kimmeridge Clay of Wootton
Bassett ; two large Spongoid fossils, from Upper Green Sand, Savernake.
Presented by Mr. Cunnington.

268

Donations to the Library and Museum.

Iron Furnace Slag, from Roman iron works at Chittoe. Presented by the Rev.
C. Raikes.

Ancient British Urn, from Collingbourne, Wilts. Presented by G. Pike, Esq.
(This urn was found in Barrow No. 4, opened by the Rev. W. C. Lukis, in
1861, but this part of the interment was missed on that occasion. It contained
burnt human bones.)

Saurian Remains and Ammonites, from Kimmeridge Clay, Westbury. Presented
by H. Withebs, Esq.

Ammonites, fine specimen, from Inferior Oolite, Fifield, Gloucestershire. Pre-
sented by C. Baeton, Esq.

Fossil Wood, from the Gault, Westbury. Presented by Mr. E. Geeenland.

Six fine Urns ; an Ampulla of light-coloured ware ; an Urn m red ware, with
inside impressed ; several portions of Querns of Millstone-Grit and Upper
Green Sand, &c, &c. Presented by the Westbuey Ieon Company, per
S. Andebson, Esq.

Bust of an Aboriginal Chieftain of Van Dieman's Land. He was one of the
last of the tribe. He surrendered to the late Admiral Montagu, and laid down
his battle club at his feet. Presented by Mrs. Dashwood Lang and Miss
Montagu.

n. F. BULL, Printer and Publisher, 4, Saint John Street, Devizes.

IMMEDIATELY.

MAP OP A HUNDRED SQUARE
MILES ROUND ABURY:

With a Key to the British and Roman Antiquities
occurring there.

BY THE KEY. A. O. SMITH,

Hector of Yatesbury, and Son. Secretary of the Wiltshire Archceological
and Natural History Society.

rpHIS work, the materials of which have been accumulating for twenty-five
-L years, is the result of innumerable rides and rambles over the Downs of
North Wilts ; and deals with one of the most important archaeological Districts
in Europe. It will be published and issued to subscribers by the Marlborough
College Natural History Society, and it will consist of two parts : —

First. — The Great Map — 78 inches by 48 inches, on the scale of 6 linear
iriches, or 36 square inches, to the mile ; it comprises 100 square miles round
Abury, and includes the great plateau of the Downs of North Wilts, extending
from Oliver's Camp, on Roundway Hill, on the west, to Mildenhall on the east ;
and from Broad Hinton on the north, to the Pewsey Vale on the south. The
district thus mapped measures 13 miles from west to east, and 8 miles from north
to south. Every square mile, marked off with faint lines, lettered with a capital
letter and numbered, will show the Barrows, Camps, Roads, Dykes, Enclosures,
Cromlechs, Circles, and other British and Roman Stone- and Earth-works of that
district ; every such relic, being lettered with a small letter in its own square, is
readily found and easily referred to. The Map will be printed in six colours,
viz., the Antiquities in red, the Roads in brown, the Lanes and Down Tracks in
green, the Sarsen Stones in yellow, and the Streams and Ponds in blue.

Second. — The Key to the Great Map, — which is by far the most important
part of the work and will form a general " Guide to the British and Roman An-
tiquities of North Wilts," — will be a volume of large quarto size, and will contain
the whole of the large Map in fifteen sections, measuring 18 inches by 12, and
four supplementary sections, each measuring 6 inches by 12. The Letterpress
will contain some account of each of the Antiquities, with references to and
extracts from the best authorities, as well as figures of various Urns and other
objects found in the Barrows, views of the Cromlechs, plans of the Camps, &c.
An Index Map, on the scale of 1 inch to the mile, coloured, numbered, lettered,
and divided like the Great Map, will accompany the volume ; and the whole will
be a general account of the Antiquities of North Wilts, inasmuch as the district
thus delineated embraces nearly all the remains of earliest times which exist in
the northern portion of the County.

PRICE TO NON-SUBSCRIBERS.

(1) Map, Key, and mounted Map, complete 2 2 0

(2) Map and Key (without mounted Map) 1 11 6

(3) Map only 086

Apply to Mb. W. Gale, High Street, Marlborough.

NOTICE TO MEMBERS.

Members who have not paid their Subscriptions to the Society fit
the current year, are requested to remit the same forthwith to
the Financial Secretary, Mr. William Nott, 1 5, High Street,
Devizes, to whom also all communications as to the supply
of Magazines should be addressed, and of whom most of the
back Numbers may be had.

The Numbers of this Magazine will not be delivered, as issued,
to Members who are in arrear of their Annual Subscriptions>
and who on being applied to for payment of such arrears, have
taken no notice of the application.

All other communications to be addressed to the Honorary Secre-
taries : the Rev. A. C. Smith, Yatesbury Rectory, Calne ;
and H. E. Medlicott, Esq., Sandfield, Potterne, Devizes.

The Rev. A. C. Smith will be much obliged to observers of birds
in all parts of the county, to forward to him notices of rare
occurrences, early arrivals of migrants, or any remarkable facts
connected with birds, which may come under their notice.

To be published by the Wiltshire Archwological and Natural History

Society.

THE FLORA OF WILTS.

BY THE EEV. T. A. PKESTOK", M.A.

— •

The Author will be glad if any who could assist him with a list of plants
in their several localities wonld kindly communicate with him. Early information .
is particularly desired. Address — Rev. T. A. Peeston, The Green, Marl-

LARGE MAP OF ONE HUNDRED SQUARE MILES
ROUND ABURY,

BY REV. A. C. SMITH.

In sheets, 7/6. In sections, bound in Atlas, 12/6.

Apply to Me. W. Gale, High Street, Marlborough. The Volume which
accompanied it is out of print.

THE

WILTSHIRE

Irrjjtrologiral info lateral Iratatj

MAGAZINE.

No. LXIII. JULY, 1884. Vol. XXI

Contents*

PAGE

Account of the Twenty-Ninth Genebal Meeting, at Andovee 269

" Andovee and its Neighbouehood " : By the Eev. C. Collier, M.A.,

F.S.A 293

The Museum at Andovee : [Communicated by the Rev. R. H. Clutter-
buck, Rector of Enham] 315

" Ludgeeshall Castle and its Histoey " : By the Rev. "W. H.

Awdry, Rector of Ludgershall 317

Notes on the Boedee of Wilts and Hants : By the Rev. Canon

J. E. Jackson, F.S.A 330

Old Chuech Plate in Wilts : By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A 355

Silchestee : [Read before the Society at Andover by the Rev. R. H.

Clutterbuck, August 16th, 1883] 389

Some Account of the "Vyne," Hants 393

Appointment of Oveeseees, with insteuctions to see that
Paupees weae a badge : [Communicated by the Rev. Canon
Goddard, Vicar of Hilmarton] 395

S. James, Avebuey : By the Rev. Bryan King 396

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Chalice and a Paten, Berwick S. James 368

Chalice and Paten-Cover, Dinton, Wilts 371

Chalice, Wylye Church, Wilts 383

Plan of Silchester 389

View of the"Vyne" 393

DEVIZES :
H. F. Bull, 4, Saint John Steebt.

THE

WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE.

"multobum manibus gbande levattje onus."- —Ovid.

THE TWENTY-NINTH GENERAL MEETING

OF THE

ratltsfjtre Archaeological & Natural ©fetors Soctctg,

HELD AT ANDOVER,
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, August \hth, \§th} and 17 tk,

1883.

HE Annual Meeting was held this year at Andover,1 which,
though beyond the borders of the county, offered a warm
and hospitable welcome to the Members of the Society, and proved
an excellent resting-place from whence to visit the south-eastern
portions of Wiltshire, to which the Society had never before pene-
trated from any other centre. This was not the first time that the
Annual Meeting had been held outside the county, for in 1861
Shaftesbury was selected, and proved an excellent basis from whence
to explore the south-western districts of Wiltshire. On the present
occasion, too, the Meeting, though thinly attended, was eminently
successful, and when those parts of Wiltshire which were nearest to
Andover had been examined, as was meet, on the first day's ex-
cursion, a visit by rail to Silchester and the Vyne, on the last day,
proved a special treat to all who were so fortunate as to join in it.

The proceedings opened with the General Meeting of the Society,
at the Town Hall, at two o'clock, for receiving the Report and

1 The Editor of the Magazine desires to acknowledge the very great assistance
he has derived, in preparing the report of this Meeting, from the columns of the
Andover Standard, the Andover Advertiser, and the Devizes and Wiltshire
Gazette. i

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXIII. T

270 The Twenty-Ninth General Meeting.

transacting the usual business. At the outset, the Be v. A. C. Smith
(General Secretary) moved, in the name of the Committee, and in
the absence of their late President (Lord Edmond Eitzmaurice) ,
that Mr. Nevil Story Maskelyne be elected President of the Society
for the next three years. It was needless, and it would be im-
pertinent on his part, to describe Mr. Maskelyne's qualifications for
the post ; his name was known all over Europe in connection with
science, and it was a great honour to the Society to gain the services
of so eminent a man as their President. This proposition was
seconded by Mr. H. Cunnington (Curator of the Society's Museum
at Devizes), and carried by acclamation.

The President Elect, in taking the chair, said he would do his
best to fulfil the duties they had imposed on him. He then called
upon the Rev. A. C. Smith to read the annual

REPORT FOR 1883.

" The Committee of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural
History Society has again the pleasure of congratulating its Mem-
bers on the continued prosperity of the Society.

" It is true that we have lost several valued members by death,
withdrawal, or removal from the county ; amongst whom we must
especially mention Mr. Miles, of Wexcombe, in the parish of Great
Bedwyn, who has been a Member since the formation of the Society
in 1853 ; and, within the last few weeks, Major Spicer, who most
hospitably entertained the Society at Spye Park during the Chip-
penham Meeting, in 1874, and very effectually aided the efforts of
the Committee in the purchase of its present Museum and Library,
by coming forward when High Sheriff of the county, and taking
the chair at a public meeting held to consider the question, and
heading the subscription list with a donation of £50.

" But though we have lost no less than thirteen Members during
the last twelvemonths, our numbers have been in some degree re-
placed by the enrolment of eleven new names, giving us a total of
three hundred and seventy Members, which is a very slight decrease
on the number announced last year.

" With regard to Finance, the annual account shows a balance in

Report.

271

favour of the Society of £251 15s. 10^. (including £150 invested
in Consols), being an increase of £12 14<?. hd. in the year, this
increase being more than made up by the balance, £18 4,?. 6d.,
handed over to the Society by the Local Committee in respect of
the Malmesbury Meeting.

" During the last year two more numbers of the Magazine have
been issued, the twentieth volume having been completed and the
twenty-first begun. Of the value of these publications it does not
become the Editor to speak, but it is hoped that they are (thanks to
many able and valued contributors) not inferior to the Magazines
of kindred Societies in other counties.

" This has been an eventful year of work for the Society.

" The threatened desecration of the honoured precincts of Stone-
henge, by the e Bristol and London and South Western J unction
Railway/ which proposed to cut through the Avenue and Cursus,
aroused the active interference of the Society in January last; and
by stirring up the 1 Society of Antiquaries ' and the e Archaeological
Institute of Great Britain/ to protest and petition Parliament ; and
by appealing to every Member of the House of Commons (wherein
they were cordially supported by most of the County and Borough
Members of Wiltshire) : and especially by the active opposition of
the former and present Presidents of our Society (Sir John Lubbock,
Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, and Mr. Story Maskelyne,) the injury
contemplated was prevented, and the line of railway averted from
its proposed course.

"Another railway (the ' Pewsey, Salisbury, and Southampton
Railway/) also threatened to invade ' Vespasian's Camp/ near
Amesbury, and the ' Durrington Walls 3 ; but the timely interference
and energetic remonstrances of our President (Mr. Story Maskelyne)
in Parliament, preserved those relics of antiquity from such pro-
fanation.

" We come now to the ' Slourhead Collections' which — as is well
known — have been lately brought into the market : and which (as
being of the greatest value in the county where they were collected
and to which they refer), your Committee immediately made every
effort to secure. A general appeal was made to the Members of the

t 2

272 The Twenty-Ninth General Meeting.

Society, and others interested in the antiquities of Wiltshire ; and —
thanks to the very liberal manner in which that appeal was met — a
sum of money amounting to £380 has been collected, which has
enabled the Secretaries to secure the c Antiquities 1 (which for some
years have been deposited in their Museum, classed, cased, and
catalogued) ; and to purchase such books as especially related to
Wiltshire, to the amount of about £135 ; thus preserving to the
county to which they appertained the archaeological treasures which
Sir Richard Hoare had collected with such perseverance in Wiltshire,
but which were in imminent danger of being dispersed.

" The labours of the Society afield during the past year have been
confined to the examination last autumn of a large barrow on Overton
Hill, the details of which have been given by Mr. Cunnington in
the Magazine published last Christmas, and the examination of a
Roman well, near Silbury, which has yet to be described.

"The Museum and Library have been immensely enriched by
additions from the Stourhead Collections mentioned above, and have
also been gradually increased by donations from several kind friends,
amongst whom we must again especially mention Mr. Anderson,
the director of the iron works at Westbury, who has forwarded
many more and very admirable specimens of British-Roman pottery,
as well as vases and implements of metal dug up in the immediate
neighbourhood of Westbury.

" It remains to thank all those good friends who have so liberally
supported us in various ways during the past twelvemonth, more
especially in regard to the ' Stourhead Collection Fund ' ; and herein
we would record our special obligations to Canon Jackson, through
whose kind offices the books which now grace our Library were
selected and purchased for us at the Stourhead sale.

" In conclusion, your Committee desires once more to impress on
all the Members the absolute necessity of hearty co-operation in
carrying on the work of the Society. It is only by watchfulness,
and careful observation, and accurate attention to apparently trivial
details, that the objects of the Society can be efficiently attained.
But by diligence and perseverance on the part of many Members in
various districts of the county, it is hoped that not only the ancient

The Opening Meeting..

273

history of Wiltshire, but its Natural History also, in all its branches^,
is being effectually, though gradually, opened out."

Mr. Cunnington said he had been requested (possibly because he
was the oldest Member of the Society) to move the adoption of the
report, and in doing so he wished to congratulate the Members
upon the improvement in the position of the Society which the
report indicated. Unquestionably the important additions made to
the Library, by the purchases on behalf of the Society at the recent
Stourhead sale by Canon Jackson, had greatly increased its value ;
and while regretting the loss to the county of a large number of
books which the Society would gladly have obtained had the finances
at its disposal have allowed, he sincerely hoped they had gone into
the hands of gentlemen who would be inclined to remember the
claims of the public library of Wiltshire at a future time, and that
some of the valuable works referred to (which were so much more
valuable in Wiltshire than they could be elsewhere) might ultimately
be found in the position they ought to occupy, in connexion with
the Wiltshire Collection of antiquities in the Museum at Devizes.
The recent addition to that Museum of the Stourhead Collection
was an event of much importance, and the Society was to be con-
gratulated on the position it now occupied as the owner of a very
valuable local museum. He hoped it would not be long ere a
general catalogue was published, giving the history of the antiquities
there exhibited, as attached to the particular barrows in which they
were found, which would do more than anything else to promote a
knowledge of the ethnological phase of the subject, this being one
of the most important uses to which the Museum could be applied »
Many of the specimens were valuable and unique, and the Society
was deeply indebted to Sir Henry Hoare for the liberal terms upon
which he had allowed the purchase to be made.

The Rev. Canon Goddard seconded the motion, and after alluding*
to the satisfactory nature of the report, he referred to the progress
which the Society had made since its inauguration.

The report was adopted.

Upon the motion of the President, the Officers of the Society
were re-elected for the ensuing year.

274

The Twenty -Ninth General Meeting.

The President then delivered his

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

I have never ceased to wonder how I came to be in this chair
to-day. My only point of contact with archaeology has been one
far removed from the region in which Britons strove with Jutes,
and Engles or Englishmen with Dane or Norman hosts. To find
myself at all at home I should have to go behind the days of fossil
Silchester, to those when Greece and her pupil in art — -Rome — were
living intellectual powers, and to the perhaps narrow department of
their arts, the engraved gems in which they have made beautiful
stones more beautiful, as speaking to the mind as well as to the eye,
by animating them with the engraved legends of Greek mythology
and hero-worship. But I fear that a discussion of engraved gems,
my only archaeological study, would be out of place here. So, in
my perplexity two or three weeks ago, I asked my old friend and a
more worthy predecessor in this office for his advice. Sir John
Lubbock gave it at once. The Wilts Archseo logical Society, he
said, is also a Natural History Society. Tell them something about
flints. Well this, then, is what I propose to do : and when we look
round us from any of those old-world " Castles/'' whose ramparts
crown so many points of vantage on our chalk downs, whether in
Wilts, Berks, or Hampshire, and see in the foreground of the
panorama the rolling stretches of English turf, that grows and so
grows only on our English chalk, I cannot help thinking that flint,
the ubiquitous denizen of our chalk, ought to have some interest for
all of us ; at any rate, if we trample it under our feet or grind it to
dust by our chariot wheels, we may for half-an-hour try to exalt it
into an object of interest.

Well, then, I am going to speak to you of flints not as the rolled
-pebble, an alien and wanderer rolled about through ages in river-beds
and on sea-beaches, or finding temporary rest from its wanderings
in some gravel-bed, nor yet of flints as the favourite and favoured
material for the implements of savage man, but flint as we find it in
repose in the quiet layers of its first home, the chalk. Our lamented
friend, Mr. Stevens, has made the archaeological aspects of this

The Inaugural Address,

275

material classical in his " Flint Chips/'and there is hardly an author,
who has written on pre-historic man, who has not added something
to our knowledge of what may be called the human relations of this
constant universal companion of man in his less civilised condition.
How recently, as compared with the span of man's existence, flint
has afforded him an implement for war — leaving the flint gun-lock
out of the question — is witnessed in the fact that the soil of Marathon,
that battlefield to which every civilised man looks back as if " he
too was a Greek/' is full of flint arrow-heads.

The geologist, too, has of late stepped in to claim as common
ground with the archaeologist the record and history of whatever
relates to the more primeval forms of fashioned flint.

For if the geologist is not one of those philosophers who consider
that " the proper study of Mankind is Man/'' he at least recognises
the importance of fossil man as the link that connects the long roll
of the world's phases that have succeeded each other and have passed,
with that living phase of the contemporary world in which man
stands supreme among the creatures of God.

My purpose to-day is to trace the history of this mineral, flint,
so ubiquitous and so important from the point of view of human
development, not as the alien from its original birthplace in the
chalk, but as we find it there, and as it may have been before it and
the chalk that contains it were lifted from the depths of the cre-
taceous ocean. And my endeavour will be to put before you in a
logical and I hope intelligible form the evidence that the flints
themselves afford as to their origin beneath that ocean. That history
is not complete, but I think at least we can fill in its general
outlines. If the archaeologist and the historian, for whom he finds
the materials, reason from the written records of the past, as in-
terpreted by still extant relics of the outer world to which those
records refer, no less must the geologist, who is a historian in the
large sense of the word, draw his records from the evidence written
in the flint itself, and from the conditions in which the flint is found
in its first home, the chalk.

For stones are never mute if you know their language. What
then do these flints say ? Let us first study their language and

276

The Twenty-Ninth General Meeting.

their kindred. I remember an old answer to the question, "What
is flint ?" was one a Roman might have given. " Why it's silex."
The mineralogist will give a fuller bnt still an incomplete answer,
for the biologist will have yet to add an important contribution to
it. The mineralogist will tell you that flint is a mineral similar in
composition to quartz crystal and to chalcedony, and therefore also
to agate, onyx, sard, chert, jasper, and a tribe of substances, beautiful,
many of them, and wonderfully varied in aspect and colour. He
will tell you that these minerals have a common composition, or,
rather, have for their predominating ingredient the substance called
silica, or silicon di-oxide, which is the oxide of an element, silicon,
and which further has the nature of an acid, and forms when com-
bined with bases a series of compounds or " salts " termed silicates.
And he will tell you that the crust of the world is, to a very largely
predominating amount, composed of the classes of rocks, the
ingredients of which are silicates or silica, or both : i.e., that
most rocks are either mixtures of different silicates, or of such
silicates with an admixture of quartz, the crystallised variety of
silica ; or again they may consist of sandstone, which is little else
than silica, generally as quartz, in the form of a compacted sand.

Hollows in certain of these rocks that have at one time, under
the influence of subterranean heat, flowed as lavas, are found to
contain the uncrystallised form of silica known as chalcedony in a
variety of mineral forms, such as agate, jasper, &c. But chalcedony
is found in mines and elsewhere under conditions where no fusion
and no heat has ever come near the place in which the mineral
occurs.

It may be seen, for instance, frequently coating the hollows of
the flints you may pick up in Pewsey Yale, or at Folkestone, and
other places, covering them with a beautiful botryoidal or smooth
grape-like surface, with often a sort of bloom on it like a plum.
Here no subterranean heat has approached the beds in which the
flints have lain.

Indeed the facts regarding properties of chalcedony and its forma-
tion in Nature all point to the conclusion that it has been deposited
not by the agency of heat, but from solution in water, generally as

The Inaugural Address.

277

the result of chemical changes in the solution ; and even crystallised
quartz has in most cases certainly had a similar origin, though its pre-
sence in certain igneous rocks points to its being also in some cases
formed where a high temperature reigned. The beautiful mineral,
agate, is chalcedony for the most part. Its banded structure, its
waved succession of parallel layers, some translucent and some
opaque, are too familiar to need description; but, numerous and
delicate as are the layers, which are the characteristic features of
agate, they point to the certain conclusion that each successive layer
has been deposited after one on which it lies. Indeed, each layer
has in general a character of its own, by which it differs from the
adjacent layer, it may be in thickness, or in colour, or in transparency,
or porosity.

These latter differences are in general due to the variable pro-
portions in which the amorphous (or uncrystalline) kind of silica,
chalcedony, is mixed with the crystalline variety of the same sub-
stance, quartz, which is intimately associated with the chalcedony
in crystalline particles too minute for distinct recognition in the
microscope.

Let us consider this for a moment, for it bears in an important
manner on our flint problem. Quartz and chalcedony, though
identical in composition, present very remarkable points of differ-
ence : chalcedony is lighter than quartz in the proportion of about
four to five, and it is very readily dissolved in the alkalies potash or
soda, or their carbonates. Quartz is not so. Let us go a little
further into the chemistry of these dual phases of the same substance.
When silica is first separated from certain of the silicates — and this
is easily effected by means of a stronger acid — the separated silica
presents itself as a hydrated silicic acid in a more or less jelly-like
form ; and in this condition, though very soft and gelatinous, and,
when dried, brittle and fragile, it can under proper conditions be
obtained of a hardness sufficient to scratch glass. It then has a
horn-like aspect, much resembling chalcedony, though in composition
it is more nearly allied to another mineral form of silica, containing
a considerable amount of combined water, namely, opal.

But if the experiment of separating the silicic acid be performed

278 The Twenty-Ninth General Meeting.

with certain precautions; if, for instance, a dilute solution of so-
called " water-glass/'' which is an alkaline silicate, be poured into
an excess of acid ; the silica does not all fall as a jelly, but a certain
amount of it remains in the liquid as dissolved silica. It was with
silica so dissolved that the late Professor Graham made some of his
remarkable observations on diffusion, that is to say, on the greater
or less facility with which two liquids can permeate, each the other ;
an enquiry founded on the principle that the velocities with which
the molecules of one substance will spontaneously interpenetrate
between those of another substance, in the process of mutual trans-
fusion, are very different. This process plays an important part in
the chemistry and physics of Nature, and I must ask your attention
to it in so far as it affects the problem we are discussing. If the
liquid containing silica separated by an acid, from an alkaline silicate,
and retained dissolved in the liquid, be placed in a vessel with a
bottom or a side formed of some porous material, such as a bit of
parchment paper, and dipped in a beaker of water, the other ingre-
dients will pass away through the porous diaphragm in the outward
direction, leaving behind the silica dissolved in water, for some of
the water will pass inwards into the inner vessel from the beaker.
The reason of this is, that substances of the type which Graham
termed colloids, move through the pores of such a diaphragm, or
indeed along any tube of fine bore, with extraordinary sluggishness,
as compared with the facile transit with which other substances,
belonging to what he called the crystalloid type, will permeate the
diaphragm or traverse the narrow tube.

The acids and the salts in the solution belong to the latter type,
and are thus dialysed more rapidly into the outer beaker than is the
case with the silica solution, which being of the colloid or gelatinising
type, is left almost entirely behind.

* The particles of colloid bodies such as gelatinised silica have,
furthermore, a remarkable tendency to adhere together, and to shrink
to a compact mass ; and they shew a preferential tendency in one
colloid body to aggregate to itself the particles of any other colloid
body not necessarily of a similar nature with itself, and to
cohere with it : while towards a crystalloid body, on the other

The Inaugural Address.

279

hand, a colloid body presents great indifference in this respect.

Albumen and isinglass are colloid bodies, for they are incapable
of crystallisation ; so also is glass, and Graham cites as a curious
illustration of the property just alluded to, that isinglass allowed to
dry in a glass vessel adheres to it so firmly and itself contracts so
resolutely as to tear the glass asunder as it dries and contracts upon
it; whereas it will not adhere with any force to quartz crystal or to
a plate of mica. The silica contained in solution in water continually
tends to separate in a colloid condition, and to contract and ulti-
mately become hard, but this separation takes place more slowly as
the solution is more dilute and cold, provided there is no gelatinous
colloid to draw the dissolved portion to itself. The phenomena
presented by agate direct the mind at once to this process of dialysis
as the clue to the enigma of agate formation.

I have stated that agates are found in igneous rocks, and that
they occur in round or oval almond-shaped masses. To explain them
we have to suppose that the amygdaloidal cavities formed by gases
confined in the flowing lava have, after the rock has cooled, been
left empty of all but gas, and during a long succession of ages these
cavities have been continually filled and refilled with water per-
meating the rock, perhaps intermittently, according as wet and dry
periods or seasons may have succeeded each other, and this water,
perhaps thermal, would from the nature of the rock it has traversed
be highly charged with silica, or at least with silicates in solution.

The laminae that we see following the form of the cavity generally
exhibit an apparent streaming towards a tube-like entrance into the
cavity from without; sometimes there are several of these. By
these the water in the rock must be supposed to have entered the
cavity; and the circulation or introduction of fresh supplies of
mineral-charged water into the cavity will correspond to the changes
in saturation in the rock, and probably also in the nature of the
chemical substances it may hold in solution. Intermittent conditions
in these latter respects may cause repetitions of exchange by trans-
fusion between the liquid in the cavity and that in the rock,
through the open feeding tubes. But while this goes on
through the tube-entrances., another process is in action on the walls

280 The Twenty-Ninth General Meeting.

of the cavity. These act as a diaphragm for the dialysis of the
imprisoned liquid, a film of silica deposited on them in a gelatinous
form would be the first step in the dialysing process ; and this will
be one of exfiltration of the ingredients other than the silica, which
remains behind, these ingredients passing through the walls of the
cavity, while the silica remains in a colloid form ; and this will have
subsequentlyshrunk and passed by the ultimate depravation of its water
into a delicate layer of chalcedony, or what we may term incipient
chalcedony, for its conversion into that mineral will need enormous
time. The repetition of the process, sometimes more slowly, some-
times more rapidly, would cause the deposition of the agate material
in successive layers, some with more and some with less of the
foreign substances, to which varieties in colour would be due. In
some of these layers quartz has been deposited, in the so-called
mycrocrystalline condition, that is to say, in microscopically minute
crystals disseminated through the still colloid chalcedony. In all
of them some of the silica has changed from the soluble to the
insoluble and denser condition. Perhaps the nature and the character
of the other ingredients present and extruded from the crystals
regulate the amount of the colloid silica that passes into the in-
soluble crystalloid form or becomes actually crystallised. Colloid
silica heated to a strong red heat passes into the insoluble variety.
But the problem of the conversion at ordinary temperatures of
colloid silica into crystallised quartz, or into the crystalloid form of
silica no longer easily soluble in alkalis, is one for the solution of
which we must look to analogies only ; for we have no actual ex-
perience as witness of the change. The spontaneous conversion of
transparent barley sugar (a colloid form of sugar) into opaque and
in fact coryptocrystalline sugar is a ease in point. Arsenious acid
will also, after the lapse of many years, spontaneously develop a
crystalline form in the substance of its glassy and colloid mass.
And probably it is in this way that the insoluble silica which alkalis
do not attack in flint and agate- — and the crystals of quartz which
often line the cavities in both substances — have taken their origin.

I have dwelt on the case of agate as being one in which we can
foreshadow the method— however incompletely we can explain it—

The Inaugural Address.

281

by which the chalcedony has been deposited in one important illus-
tration.

In the case of flints, however, we have not to deal with lamina-
tions like those of an agate, though the problem has many points of
analogy with that of the formation of agate.

We have on the other hand a singularly homogenous material,
marked, it is true, with variegations of tint when we examine the
interior, but the forms and contour assumed by flints are sufficiently
often recognisable as those of organisms to prove that we have not
in dealing with them to do with a simply inorganic product formed
in the heart of an already solidified rock, but with an organism con-
verted into flint by a process that has caused silica, accompanied it
is true by more or less of impurities, to penetrate every pore and
portion of the organism, and to preserve it in the place where it
once lived, or at least where its dead form once lay. Its very colour
is, in part at least, due to organic matter retained in it. In the
agates we were dealing with an exfiltration from within outwards,
an outward directed dialysis of the more easily flowing material.
It is possible that in the case of flint we have, at least in the majority
of cases, a very slow process of infiltration, involving a gradual
penetration and retention in the canals and pores of the organism of
the colloid silica originally contained dissolved in small amount in
the water of the ocean, or as alkaline silicate, or even possibly in a
more complex condition as a double silicate.

II. — But we are anticipating in these statements the verdict o£
the biologist as to the nature of flint. Microscopic research has
shewn both chalk and the flint that traverses it to be composed
nearly entirely of protozoic organisms ; the chalk consisting in a
very large degree of an aggregate of the minute cellular (or for ami-
niferous) Rhizopod (or root-like footed) class of creatures. These
minute organisms secrete a shell covering of carbonate of lime, in
certain rarer cases of silica, and some again secrete no shell — the
calcareous Rhizopods then must have existed through long ages
in countless billions at the bottom of the chalk ocean, and built
up by their remains the vast deposits which now rise around us in
our downs as chalk. Flints, on the other hand, show in their form,,

282

The Twenty -Nint/i General Meeting.

and often in the traces of internal structure, that the great majority
of them once were sponges, which always contain silicious spiculse,
and of which many deep sea species are largely composed of an en-
tanglement of fibrous spiculse, consisting of silica. The protozoic
animals [Porifera) that occupy the porous and tubular structure
of the sponge have their wants supplied by a circulation throughout
that structure, propagated by a ciliary movement of their own, of
the water of the ocean-bottom on which they live.

The canals which this circulation traverses, as well as the whole
sponge itself, are lined with a gelatinous envelope, and the minute
zoids that build and inhabit the sponge take their nourishment at
orifices in this envelope. Now, supposing sea-water to contain dis-
solved silica, such a structure as a dead sponge is evidently well
calculated to form an apparatus for attracting the silica from the
water along the whole course of the canal-system, and in the interior
of the sponge so soon as the organism is no longer able to carry on
the necessary vital processes of ingestion and expulsion of the
materials brought to it by the sea-water for its nourishment. But
flints exhibit the structure of bodies other than sponges. Occasion-
ally the shell of a dead echinus or of some other denizen of the upper
water of the ocean is found silicified as flint ; and here it is evident
that silica has been deposited inside the shell, and not outside of it,
which is hard to be explained, except on the supposition that the
dialysis was in this case from within outwards, the silicic solutions
entering by the two orifices of the empty shell, in the case of the
dead echinus, and depositing their silica, while the more limpid
liquid found exit through the dead shell structure ; and this process
would continue until the whole was filled with silica, provided that
the entrance orifices were not closed to the sea-water. Where they
are so a hollow is left, and generally quartz crystals are then found
in- it as in the case of the agates. Minute remains of diatomaceous
and desmidian plants in the form of silicious shields secreted by the
plant bear witness to a large development of this class of life at
and near the ocean- surface, the indestructible debris of these forms
of life falling gradually to the sea bottom, and adding to its silicious
material.

The Inaugural Address.

283

Thus far, then, we have drawn out our subject to this point, that
at the bottom of a tranquil ocean calcareous mud was deposited by
the continual accretion of minute foraminiferous organisms, the vast
cemetery of whose dead structures was perpetually growing in thick-
ness as fresh millions upon millions of globigerine and other forami-
ferous creatures lived and died upon it. In this calcareous mud
would, of course, be imbedded any shells of shell-bearing animals
whose life was passed and ended in the supernatant ocean. At the
same time, and at the dark and tranquil depths at which this ocean-
floor lay spread, the conditions were present for sponge life to be
luxuriant, and when one generation of sponges became overgrown,
or gave place to fresh successors in the struggle for life, admirable
conditions would be afforded by the perished or perishing organisms
for the adherence and the dialysis of colloid silica into their interior.
There it would adhere to their spiculse, which consist of silica, itself
in the colloidal condition. It would enter and ultimately fill the
whole canal -system of the sponge, and finally surround and seal it
with a silicious envelope of adherent matter, not, however, concealing
its general outline and form. The diatom — and desmid — shields
would be entangled in the mass, and the formation of a flint bed as
the result of this process continuing through a certain era of time
would be conceivable.

Yes, conceivable : but only to be received as a true possible cause
of the mode in which chalk and flint have been formed if two further
requirements can be satisfied, viz., that the sea-water contains silica
in solution to an appreciable amount, and that the separate formation,
whether contemporaneous or successive, of the calcareous rock and
the silicious flint-bed can find a reasonable explanation in the con-
ditions that must, or that with probability might, have prevailed at
the profound depth of that ocean-floor, from 10,000 to 15,000 feet
below the region to which the last traces of light could reach. To
the first of these questions the answer has been given by Forchammer,
who found in sea- water one part of dissolved silica in thirty thousand
to fifty thousand parts of the water. In fact, the existence of
swarms of minute vegetable organisms secreting silicious shells or
shield- cases in mid-ocean is its sufficient answer. But an abundance

284

The Twenty-Ninth General Meeting.

on the sea-bottom of silicious sponges has been supposed to indicate
that under the enormous pressure of the deep ocean, and in the
presence of accumulated and accumulating" silicious remains of poly-
cistina and other silicious organisms, the dissolving action of the
water on the colloid silica so accumulated may be enhanced ; or, on
the other hand, it may be that the opposite result might take place,
and that the dissolved silica in the sea would more readily separate
in gelatinous form under the conditions of the sea-bottom. It
seems probable that in one way or other colloid silica is accumulated
in the neighbourhood of the sponges; but if it-be not so, time, ihe
inexhaustible paper-money of the geologist, has only to be drawn
upon largely and the sponges would be as completely (perhaps more
entirely because more gradually) saturated with the silicious ingre-
dient which is now flint. An answer to the second question has
been given by Dr. Wallick. The Atlantic ocean-floor is at this day
covered, over considerable portions of its area, by a species of slime
which has had many explanations. It is of the nature of an or-
ganism of an elementary type, presenting sarcoid characters under
the microscope. Dr. Wellick considers it to be what he calls sponge
protoplasm. Whatever it be, it is associated with the globigerine
(a foraminiferous) ooze which forms the deep mud of the Atlantic,
and which is so nearly identical in feature with the chalk as the
chalk must have been when itself a white mud, that the question
is gravely asked whether the chalk ocean has ever ceased to roll from
the day when a great part of Europe was under its waves, to this
day, when its boundaries are the shores of the Atlantic. Dr.
Wellick''s view is that during the period when the upper chalk was
being formed this light protoplasmic film may be said to have in a
certain sense floated on the denser foraminiferous mud ; that the
silicious materials of dead organisms fell on it and accumulated
there ; that the amount of silica in an assimilable form continually
increased in that horizon of the ocean, as a consequence ; and that
the Porifera so formed the best conditions for their growth.

After a time the accumulations of silicious organisms and ma-
terial became too compact for buoyancy, and then the layer con-
taining them became fixed in situ} while over it fresh generations of

The inaugural Address.

285

foraminiferous life were developed and perished in building* their own
vast cenotaph of calcareous ooze. Soon, however, would a fresh era of
poriferous life begin ; a new protoplasmic scum would appear, and
again the great silicious sponges would rear their forms and float on
the calcareous ooze ; and so in oft repeated succession foraminiferous
and poriferous life would alternately wax and wane and leave the
records of their history in what is now the chalk cliff and its inter-
calated bands of flint. No doubt in the long struggle for existence
the w^axing and the waning of its own form of life would be gradual
in each case. As the sponge layer became denser the rhizopod layer
would find the conditions for its existence less favourable. But as
the former became more rigid the foraminifera would again assert
themselves in their former vigorous growth, and under the wreck of
their succeeding generations would eventually cover over and deeply
bury the silicified and still silicifying sponge-bed with chalky ooze.

Such an explanation has much to recommend it to our minds as
a vera causa. Silica would be absent, or nearly so, from the chalk-
ooze, since the dialysing process would be continuous — nay, might
be continuing now in our chalk hills if there were still silicious
matter to be eliminated by rain water from the chalk. Indeed, a
process of this kind is going on in the action of the water on the
flint itself. Agate and flint alike, when exposed to the action of
weathering, that is to say, to the action of rain or river water,
charged as the former always is with carbonic acid and ammonia,
and as the latter generally also is with alkaline carbonates and salts,
undergo a change. Soluble silica — chalcedonic silica — is extracted
from them, and the surface of the agate or flint is eroded and be-
comes porous, the solid residue being silica that has become insoluble
in the manner I alluded to before as a probable result of a change
very slowly affecting the original chalcedony. The sponge-like
surface, however, is now found to have its hollows filled with car-
bonate of lime and other ingredients foreign to the original mineral.

There is still much to be done in completing the explanation of
the origin of flint. The sketch I have given represents, I think,
the most probable account of the matter from our present point of
view. The history of a curious silicious substance that occurs in

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXIII. U

286

The Twenty -Ninth General Meeting.

layers also in the hard chalk — the well-known rubble stone of the
downs — may throw some further light on it. It appears to be
incompletely -formed flint, and needs investigation.

I have now concluded my task : one, I fear, not entirely congenial
with the interests and the lines of thought that belong to archaeology.
But one thing at least I may ask you to recognise, while apologising
for so dreary a discourse, and that is the continuity of historical
sequence in the long roll of time of which, through at least the later
ages of our venerable world, the subject of my discourse, flint, has
been a constant, and, I hope you will allow, a not un-eloquent
witness.

The Rev. Canon Jackson proposed a vote of thanks to the
President for the able address he had delivered. Mr. Maskelyne
had (he said) shown by the ability and the masterly knowledge of
the subject, which the address displayed, that he was well qualified
to take the chair not only in their little county society, but in a
society of natural philosophers, who were much further advanced
in that subject than the Wiltshire Archaeological Society could
pretend to be. Their's was an archaeological society, it was true, but
while they simply pretended to explain the history of a Church, castle,
or any other building, Mr. Maskelyne could tell them the history of
the very stones of which those buildings were constructed. That was
what he (Canon Jackson) called an archaeologist of archaeologists.
Mr. Maskelyne was the author of a most valuable paper which had
appeared in the Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine, containing the
history and an analysis of the substances of which the different
stones of Stonehenge are formed, and he (Canon Jackson) sincerely
hoped he would allow them to add to the Magazine the address he
had just delivered. They should then be able to hand down to
♦posterity the history not only of the stones of Stonehenge, but also
of the chalk and flint with which they were so familiar.

Mr. F. W. Buxton, M.P., in seconding it, said he hardly knew
why he had been called on for this most pleasant duty, but it might
be that being outside their world he could show that they were
united with the elect in returning thanks to him for his paper. He
was sure as one of the laymen, and one of the uneducated laymen,

The Opening Meeting.

287

he was equally interested and surprised with what the chairman had
told them, as he had carried them much farther hack in the subject
of archaeology than he had expected. He had looked for some re-
marks on the history as concerned man, but he found the chairman
had gone much deeper into the subject and had carried them back
into the history of the soil itself. From what the speaker knew of
Mr. Maskelyne he felt sure their society had taken a step that would
prove of immense advantage to them, and from the care in which
he had prepared the paper read he felt confident that as President of
their Society he would advance their prospects during his term of
office. (The vote was carried with acclamation.)

The Vicar of Andover, The Rev. C. Collier, F.S.A., President
of the Andover Archaeological Society, then read a very interesting
paper on " Andover and its Neighbourhood," which will be found in
an after part of this Magazine.

Mr. W. W. Ravenhtll, Recorder of Andover, thought that one
of the most pleasing duties that had ever fallen upon him fell upon
him now, and that was to propose a vote of thanks to Mr. Collier
for his able paper. From his reports they would get a most valuable
history of the town, one worthy of the town, and one worthy of his
long-tried experience in one of the most archaeological of towns-
Winchester. It was a happy thought for the Wilts Archaeological
Society to come here, where parts of Wilts could easily be reached ;
and it was also a happy thought that they came here before Mr.
Collier was translated to a bishopric. From the first, Mr. Collier,
their kind Mayor, and everybody in the town had given them much
assistance, and a very warm welcome, and in saying that he thought
he had said enough for the present.

The Mayor said he was very pleased indeed to have the oppor-
tunity of seconding the vote of thanks to Mr. Collier for his very
able paper. He was sure it was most interesting, especially to the
inhabitants, and very gratifying to find that he had gone so deeply
into the matter, and searched (as he must have done) to get so
much information to place before them on this occasion. There
was only one thing to which he would allude, and that was to the
point that, as Mayor of the Borough, he happened to be the custodian

u %

288

The Twenty -Ninth General Meeting.

of some thing's belonging to the Church. They might be very
valuable, and they might have got into a bad state, but as it was
they would be taken care of, and, no doubt, would be accessible to
the Vicar at any time.

The Vicar said for much of the information he had given them
he was indebted to the Corporation, for never was a Corporation
more liberal, nor a Mayor more kind to him than Mr. J. Moore, in
this matter.

The Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck then gave a brief but lucid and
interesting account of the objects contained in the Loan Museum,
and on the proposition of the President, the thanks of the Meeting
were warmly accorded to him, and also to the Mayor for the assis-
tance he had rendered to the Society.1

The company then dispersed for a stroll through the town, and a
visit to the Church, the bells of which rang out merry peals.

THE ANNUAL DINNER

took place at the "Star and Garter Hotel/' at 6, p.m., the President
in the chair, when the usual loyal and complimentary toasts were
given ; and at its conclusion the company adjourned to the Town
Hall, where a conversazione was held at 8, p.m., the President of
the Society in the chair. Two excellent papers were read, the first
on "Ludgershall Castle and its History/'' by the Rev. W. H. Awdry,
Rector of Ludgershall ; and the other, " Notes on the Borders of
"Wilts and Hants/' by the Rev. Canon Jackson, F.S.A.; both of
which, it is hoped, will appear in the Magazine.

At the conclusion of the papers the Chairman proposed a hearty
vote of thanks to their authors, which was carried by acclamation ;
and then called upon the Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck to give a short

1 We deeply regret to say that Mr. J. Moore, the late Mayor of And over, who
was indefatigable in his efforts to promote the success of the Meeting, and threw
himself, with all his heart, into the work, died at the early age of 52, on the first
of January last ; to the sincere sorrow of his fellow-townsmen generally, a sorrow
which will be shared by every member of the Society who was present at the
Andover Meeting,

/Second Day, Thursday, August IQth.

289

account of Bury Hill, but that gentleman thought the evening too
far advanced, and proposed to reserve his remarks for the following
night. The company then accepted the hospitable invitation of the
Mayor and Mayoress of Andover to partake of tea and coffee, which
were served in the Council Chamber, and this terminated the first
day's proceedings.

SECOND DAY, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16th.

This day's excursion was devoted to the south-eastern portions of
Wiltshire; and at nine o'clock some forty excursionists assembled
at the Town Hall, and started for Pen ton Mewsey, where they were
met by the Rev. W. H. Simcox (Rector of Weyhill), who most
obligingly pointed out the objects of chief interest in the Church,
of which a fourteenth century window and the bell-turret were most
admired by the archaeologists. Thence to Weyhill, where again
Mr. Simcox acted as cicerone, and where again there was much of
interest to delay the visitors, the chancel roof, the windows, and
certain carved stones let into the wall giving rise to much discussion.
The next move was to Ludgershall, where the Rev. W. H. Awdry
(Rector of the parish) took the party in hand and pointed out the
various objects which he had so ably described the previous evening.
The. Castle was the first place examined, and here Mr. Awdry called
attention to the traces which remained of the outer and inner circles
of the ancient fortress, and gave it as his opinion that in the rude
and massive fragments of the building certain portions of herring-
bone masonry suggested Roman formation; though this was not
universally accepted ; but all agreed that the window was un-
doubtedly Norman. The banks and ditches encircling this castle
are still of formidable dimensions; the well, too, still remains,
measuring 110 feet in depth. Proceeding round the encampment
Mr. Awdry now conducted the party to the curious old cross, with
its much-mutilated and weather-worn sculpture, and told how this
ancient relic once had a narrow escape of being used as building
material, having been rescued, after its demolition had begun, about
thirty years ago, by the then curate of the parish. From the cross
the visitors were conducted to the sites — and only the sites, for no

290

The Twenty-Ninth General Meeting.

vestige of them remained — of the old banqueting-hall, the bowling
green, and the " Cursed Plot/' as one portion of the castle was
called : and then to the Church, which showed traces of the original
Norman building, as well as much interesting work of the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries. And now the hospitable Rector conducted
the archaeologists to the rectory, where he had provided refreshments
on a liberal scale, of which he invited his numerous guests to partake.
After suitable acknowledgments to him for his liberality and courtesy
towards the Society on the part of the President, the party next
visited the Church at North Tedworth, which presented many details
of interest ; and then drove to the foot of Sidbury Hill, where they
left the carriages, and climbed to the camp which crowned its
summit. Probably nothing in the whole day's excursion elicited
such warm approval as the situation of this immense camp, whose
area occupies the flattened crown of this most commanding and
isolated hill. On all sides stretched the downs below the hill, and
on almost every side the prospect embraced a very large tract of
country : indeed it was asserted by more than one enthusiastic
visitor that no other camp in North or South Wilts could compete
with Sidbury in situation. The archaeologists were not content until
they had walked round the outer rampart, said to be a mile in
circumference, and then it was with considerable reluctance they
turned their backs on this charming spot, and descended the hill,
though it was to assemble at the luncheon tables prepared in a tent
amongst some trees at the foot of Sidbury.

South Tedworth Church was the next halting-place, an old Church
well restored, and containing much of interest : and then a visit
was paid to the highly-decorated and very beautiful new Church in
Tedworth Park, where everything that costly material, admirable
workmanship, unlimited funds, and artistic skill could effect, was
lavishly supplied. A very short drive now brought the party to the
mansion, where Sir John Kelk courteously received his numerous
guests, and conducted them first through the picture gallery and
library, pointing out the many valuable works of art there, and then
to the dining-room, where light refreshments — tea and coffee and
fruit — were liberally provided; and afterwards through the gardens,

Third Day, Friday, August \lth.

291

pleasure-grounds, and stables, from which our archaeologists seemed
unwilling to part. At length, however, though not until long after
the hour named in the programme, the Secretary's whistle was
obeyed ; but there was only time to pay a very hurried visit to the
interesting Church of Thruxton, where the Rector (the Rev. H. D.
Baker) pointed out what was most worthy of notice; and then
omitting altogether Abbotts Ann and Bury Hill, both of which had
been proposed for inspection, the archaeologists drove straight
back to Andover, which was not reached till nearly eight o'clock.

The conversazione did not begin till nearly nine o'clock, the
President in the chair, when two able papers were read ; one, " A
Dismal Depression in 1622/' by the Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck ; and
another, "A Crime of the Seventeenth Century/-' by W. W,
Ravenhill, Esq., Recorder of Andover ; both of which papers will,
it is hoped, appear in the Magazine, and for both of which the
President offered the thanks of the Meeting.

The Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck then gave a short general description
of Silchester, to be visited in next day's excursion, and an outline
of what remains of that Roman town, and a summary — so far as is
known — of its history. The President (as this was the last occasion
of meeting in Andover) said he could not take leave of those who
had. so kindly received the Society without expressing their hearty
thanks ; first to the Mayor, for his hospitality and for all the trouble
he had taken to make the Meeting successful : then to Mr. C.
Clarke, for the arrangements he had made for their comfort, which
he had carried out with so much ability : last, but not least, to the
Vicar, and to the Rev. R. H. Clutterbuck, for the great aid they
had respectively rendered in putting before them all that was most
noteworthy in the town of Andover and its neighbourhood. After
a cordial vote of thanks to the President, on the motion of the Rev.
A. C. Smith, and after partaking of the refreshments, again provided
by the Mayor and Mayoress, the archaeologists separated, after a
long but very interesting day.

THIRD DAY, FRIDAY, AUGUST 17th.
The archaeologists, somewhat reduced in number, assembled this

292 The Twenty-Ninth General Meeting.

morning at Andover Junction Station, on the main line, at 8.15;
and went by rail to Basingstoke, which they reached at 9.10. Here
they found carriages awaiting them, and drove first to Sherborne
St. John, where they found enough of interest to detain them for a
considerable time, but when they reached the Vyne, where they
were most courteously received by the owner, C. W. Chute, Esq.,
they were so charmed with the fine old house and its contents, which
were in turn carefully pointed out to them by Mr. Chute, as he
personally conducted them up-stairs and down, over the building,
that they could with difficulty tear themselves away from so fasci-
nating a spot : so that when (the President having expressed the
obligations of the Society to Mr. Chute) the carriages made the
best of their way to Silchester, the morning was already far ad-
vanced, before the walls of the old town were entered. Here
the party was received by Mr. J. Martineau, of Park Corner,
Heckfield, who had most kindly consented to conduct it over the
ruins, and very able and thoroughly acquainted with Silchester the
cicerone proved himself to be. The Rev. A. G. Joyce also, in the
most friendly manner, offered his services, and acted as guide to a
detachment of the excursionists. Much lamentation was generally
expressed at the sad state of neglect and the daily injury to the ruins,
which were permitted by the noble owner of this very interesting spot.
Mosaic pavement which had been carefully uncovered and protected,
now broken up, exposed to the atmosphere, and scattered over the
ground ; the foundation walls of buildings which had been traced and
unearthed, and the flues which heated them, now broken down, carried
away, or destroyed. Still, enough remains of these buildings and of
the massive walls, a mile in circuit, which surround the town, to make
Silchester one of the most interesting examples of Roman occupation
left in England ; and it was not till the archaeologists had thoroughly
satisfied their curiosity, by wandering over every part of it, that
they assembled for luncheon in a barn hard by, which the forethought
of the Commissariat Sub-Committee at Andover had secured for
them. So long a delay had taken place, first at the Vyne, and then
at Silchester, that again the return journey was somewhat hurried,
and the picturesque ruins of the old Chapel at Basingstoke could

" Andover and its A Neighbourhood."

293

alone be visited, other intended halts having* been necessarily omitted:
and then the party returned to Andover by rail, in time to disperse
over North and South Wilts and elsewhere by the last trains from
Andover Junction ; carrying* with them, we feel sure, a lively
recollection of the hospitalities of Andover, and of the success of the
Andover Meeting-.

This very brief outline of a most interesting* day's excursion would
seem unsatisfactory, but that it will be supplemented, in an after
page of the Magazine, by Mr. Clutterbuek's general description of
Silchester, mentioned above, as well as by some description of the
Vyne, by no less competent an exponent than the courteous owner.

"^titofar imir its Jagkw|oo^/'

By the Eev. C. Colliek, M.A., F.S.A.,

Vicar of Andover, and Pretident of the Andover Archaeological Society.
(Read before the Society at the Meeting at Andover, August 15th, 1883.)

,HE name of our town, Andover, is probably from Dwfr — the
Celtic word for water — pronounced Doover, and the prefix
an. This prefix may have been derived in this way. There was a
great king of East Anglia named Anna, son of Eni ; and, as Wilkes,
the Editor of Woodward's " History of Hants/'' states the case,
" Kenwalh, King of the West Saxons, who was driven out of his
kingdom by King Penda, took refuge with Anna, and probably,
therefore, Kenwalh gave a grant of land in this district to Anna on
the return of the former to his kingdom. It is a fact that the
country around here was called the An country and the word enters
into the structure of many names of places in this district, as Abbots
Ann, Anton, Enham, and others."" The Saxon name is Andefer ; and
in Domesday Book we have Andovere. In many later documents
we have Andever.

Our town is so near Wilts that we come within the range of its
history. The prehistoric remains of the east part of that county are
to some extent the same as ours. The ancient pit-dwellers near
Redenham Park would frequent the borders of both counties. The

294

" Andover and its Neighbourhood."

British oppida of Wilts seem to run in the same great range with
ours. Our Bury Hill and the neighbouring Worlbury, Danebury,
Fosbury, form a line with Sidbury, Ogbury, and grand old Sarum.
Andover, therefore, is surrounded by the most ancient of all remains,
and may have been a settlement (as its name would imply) of the
aborigines of this district. The dwellers here were amongst those
who shared in the protection afforded by the neighbouring Bury
Hill ; and in all probability when the Belgse drove the people (then
dwelling here) from their lands, the people of Andover would be
amongst the plundered and homeless. Bury Hill is a fine specimen
of the British oppidum. It would seem to me to have been after-
wards occupied by the Romans as one of their castra sestiva, and I
would ask the visitors to notice on Bury Hill a somewhat extended
platform beyond the ditch to the north, an unusual part of such oppida.
The Devil's Ditch, beyond Finkley Farm, is a portion of the boundary
lines or Belgic ditches, many of which exist in this neighbourhood.
I would remark that the theory is given up which would interpret
the word Ando, on the reverse of some Celtic gold coins, as Andover.

It may be well here to give the notices of Andover in pre-historie
times which are found in the recent work of Dr. Guest — the " Origines
Celticse." The words of such a master have a very high value.
He says : — ffWe may be allowed to conjecture that the Amesbury
mounds were once connected with the Devil's Ditch, east of Andover,
and with the Belgic boundary -line, a fragment of which still remains
to the south of Walbury."" Elsewhere he says : — " At this ditch,
which was raised by the Atrebates, the wayfarer from Old Sarum
must have halted and paid the toll/' 1

1 At a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries in 1854, Mr. Akerman read an
.account of his researches in Hants during that year. At Wallop (a village not far
from Andover) he explored a tumulus known as Kent's or Canute Barrow, in the
interior of which was found a cubic yard of rude masonry, the flints of which it
was composed were held together by mould, and so firmly set was the mass that it
required some force to separate them. Nothing of a similar description has been
observed hitherto in England, and it remains a question whether this mass was
formed for an altar or a cenotaph. Mr. J. M. Kemble, who was present at the
opening of the tumulus, questioned its Celtic origin, but Capt. Durrich and Mr
Wylie were of a different opinion.

By the Bev. C. Collier, M.A., F.S.A.

295

Was Andover a Roman settlement ? I am not aware that any-
bronze remains or stone buildings of that people have been found
in the town ; but we have ample evidence that Andover was in the
midst of the villas, roads, and camps of that people.

We are surrounded by Roman remains — east, west, north, and
south. On the east we have the Roman road, running to Cirencester.
On the north, the road to Silchester, called the Port WTay, sometimes
called the Icknild Street. On the south we have Rooksbury, or, as
it is sometimes called, Balksbury, a camp below Bury Hill. And
on the west and north-west the villas of Thruxton and Redenham.

At Redenham Park were found the floors of four rooms of a Roman
villa. They ran south-east and north-west, and altogether measured
some 40ft. by 17ft. The two middle rooms were each 13ft. across,
and those at the end 6ft. The remains at Thruxton consisted of a
pavement, probably of a dining-room. In the centre was represented
a Bacchus on a leopard. Above ran the legend " Quintus Natalius
Natalinus et Bodeni. To the north of the pavement were graves con-
taining five skeletons. Coins of the Constantines and later Emperors
were found on the site, close to the old Roman road running to Sil-
chester. Southward, in the minster field at Abbot's Ann, were found
traces of a large Roman villa. There can be no doubt that a large
Roman settlement existed in the district, west, north-east, and south-
west of Andover.

The Roman road leading fromVenta Belgarum to Cirencester crosses
the Port Way within a mile of Andover. The first-named retains
all its original features as it passes through Harewood Forest, about
two miles from Andover ; and every traveller by the rail between
Grateley and Porton must have observed how clearly the Port Way
is seen close to the line. The appearance of Roman remains at the
junction of the two roads near Finkley induced Sir R. Hoare to
place there the itinerary post of Vindomis. Where Vindomis was,
however, we know not. Camden says Silchester was Vindomis, and
Stukeley says the same. Horsley places it at Farnham. Reynolds
in his commentary on the Itinerary of Antoninus says it was at the
Vyne, near Reading, and Mr. Long argues that it was at Basingstoke.

Perhaps the line of the Roman roads with which we are connected

296

" Andover and its Neighbourhood"

at Andover, may be understood better by the aid of the map. The
road from Silchester goes by Tadley to Baughurst, and leaviug
Woolverton a quarter of a mile to the north, ascends the chalk hills by
Hannington Church, passes Freemantle Park, and runs to the south
of Litchfield, then passes Egbury, probably a mansio, goes by St.
Mary Bourne to Finkley, runs between Andover and Charlton,
then through the 100 acres corner, through Monxton, Thruxton,
and Amport, between Grateley and Quarley, to Old Sarum. The
Roman road from Cirencester to Winchester crosses the Port Way
at Eastanton, near Andover, after passing Tangley (near which is a
mansio), and from thence it runs over the downs, crossing Harewood
Forest, where the road is just as the Romans left it ; it then crosses the
Test at a place called Cold Harbour, and goes thence to Winchester.
This road is in some places two or three feet above the surface.

In 1867 the Rev. E. Kell and Mr. Charles Lockhart examined a
field at Andover Down Farm, called Castle Field, and on which had
been frequently found fragments of Roman pottery. By means of
a long iron rod they found the walls of a Roman villa, which, on
further investigation proved to be of oblong form, 65ft. in length,
and 41ft. in breadth, with a portico on its western side. The roof
had been supported by six or eight massive pillars, the vestiges of
six of which remained. Many roofing tiles were found in good
preservation. Two fire-places were discovered There was no hypo-
caust, nor bath, nor any portion of a tesselated pavement. Various
coins were found. Stukeley and others have stated that Andover
was a Roman station, and some foundation for this opinion is found
in the discovery, in our town, of coins of Tetricus, senior and junior,
and of Victorinus.

We have no Anglo-Saxon remains in or about Andover, though
we have traces of their settlements in words such as Enham,
Thruxton, and Redenham. Nevertheless, Andover was not an un-
important place in Anglo-Saxon times. We read in the Chronicle
that in the year 994 Anlaf and Sweyn came to London on the
Nativity of S. Mary, with ninety- four ships, and they then continued
fighting stoutly against the Burgh, and would have set fire to it.
" The Holy Mother of God," continues the Chronicle, " delivered the

By the Rev. C. Collier, M.A., F.S A.

297

townsmen from their foes. They went from thence plundering1 and
burning in the land of Kent, Sussex, and Hants. The English
King then promised them gifts if they would cease from plundering.
Anlaf and Sweyn, with their forces, took up their winter quarters
at Southampton. The English King sent Bishop Alfeah and
iEthelward the Alderman, to them, and from Southampton they
brought Anlaf to Andover. Here King iEthelred received Anlaf
at the Bishop's hands, and royally gifted him. Then Anlaf made a
covenant with the King, which he fulfilled, that he would never come
hostilely to the English nation. " " Thaet he nsefre eft to Angelcynne
mid unfrithe cuman nolde," Florence of Worcester tells the same
story, and so does Henry of Huntingdon. Kemble tells us that at a
treaty at Andover in the year 994 iEthelred and his witan made certain
laws respecting ports for merchants' ships in bad weather. Gemots
were certainly held at Grately, near Andover, about that time, and in
the time of Edgar — 978 — a gemot was held in the town of Andover.
A very remarkable and rare coin of the Saxon King Beorchtric was
found in 1854, within two miles of Andover, and is now in the
possession of Mrs. Shaw, the widow of our late estimable and
talented townsman, Mr. Shaw. Beorchtric was one of the Kings
of East Anglia in the ninth century.

We are connected with Saxon history in another very interesting
way. About three or four miles from Andover was the once famous
nunnery of Wherwell, founded by Queen Elfrida, the Lady Macbeth
of England, in expiation of the murder of her son-in-law, King
Edward the Martyr, and of her husband Ethelwold, by Edgar. Not
far from this spot — and near the Roman road — in the midst of
overhanging trees, is a place called the " Dead Man's Plack. It is
a weird spot. While hunting here in the forest, Edgar slew
Ethelwold, and on the spot where the body lay, Col. Ire monger has
erected a plain but bold obelisk, on which is this inscription ; —

" About the year of Our Lord 963, upon this spot, beyond the time of memory,
called Dead Man's Plack, tradition reports that Edgar, surnamed the peaceable,
King of England, in the ardour of youth, love, and indignation, slew with his
own hand, Earl Ethelwold, owner of the forest of Hare wood, in resentment of
the Earl having basely betrayed his royal confidence, and perfidiously married
his intended bride, the beauteous Elfrida, daughter of Ordgar, Earl of Devonshire,

298

" Andover and its Neighbourhood."

afterwards wife of King Edgar, and by him mother of King Ethelred II , which
Queen Elfrida after Edgar's death murdered his eldest son, King Edward the
Martyr, and founded the nunnery of Wherwell."

In Freeman's "Old England" he is at a loss about Harewood.
He knows the story of the murder, but he cannot identify the place
where it took place. Harewood, in Yorkshire, the only place of
that name he knows of, " cannot possibly," says he, " be the scene of
the murder." Doubtless the difficulty has now been solved by him.

The words in the Domesday Book about Andover are : — " The
King holds Andover in demesne, and King Edward held it. The
number of hides is not mentioned. Here are two ploughlands in
demesne, and sixty-two villeins, thirty-six borderers, three freemen
and six servants with twenty-four ploughlands ; also six mills, worth
72*. 6d., eighteen acres of meadow, and woods for the pannage of
one hundred hogs." Or, in modern language : — " Andover belongs
to the King. It was formerly part of the property of King Edward.
"We do not know exactly how much land the manor contains. There
are two ploughlands, sixty-two copy-holders (or men working on
the land for the lord of the manor), thirty-six cottagers (who work
on the estate), three freemen and six slaves cultivating twenty-four
ploughlands. There are six mills, worth altogether 725. 6d.'f eighteen
acres of meadow land, and woods sufficient to supply mast and other
food for one hundred hogs." There is no mention of a Church, but
it by no means follows that the Norman scribe mentions all the
Churches which existed in the manors that he describes. It is
almost certain that a Church existed in Andover at that time, as the
events which then took place at Andover would almost necessitate
such a building.

The Church and benefice of Andover were under the alien priory
of St. Florent, in Normandy. It may be well to observe that the
alien priories were cells in England which belonged to foreign
monasteries. When manors or tithes were given to foreign convents,
the monks, either to increase their own rule, or probably in order to
have faithful stewards of their re veuues, built a small convent on
the manor, or on the tithe land, for a number of monks, and placed
a prior over them. Within these cells there was the same distinction

By the Rev. C. Collier, M.A., F.S.A.

299

as in those priories which were under the great abbeys. Some of
these became societies within themselves, and received the revenues
belonging to their several houses for their own use and support,
paying only the ancient apport or acknowledgment to the foreign
house. Others depended entirely on the foreign houses, who ap-
pointed and removed their priors at pleasure. The " Monasticon "
gives a list of one hundred of these priories. These alien priories
were first seized by Edward I. in 1285, on the breaking out of the
war between France and England. Edward III. confiscated them
and afterwards restored them in 1361. They were eventually all
dissolved by Henry V., and their estates vested in the Crown, except
Fotheringhay. In general, the lands w ere appropriated to religious
uses. Our Church, with its appurtenances, a hide and thirteen acres
of land, several rents, and other possessions, such as the tithes of
the demesne within the parish, viz., tithe of yearly increase of little
pigs, of horses, of cheese, of special pannage, one pig on the feast
of S. Martin, free range in the King's woods for ten hogs, wood
for fences, for making the monks' sandals, fuel for the bake and
brew-houses, and pasturage for the King's own beasts, were given
to the French abbey of St. Florence, at Saumur in Anjou, by
William the Conqueror, and it became a cell to that monastery.
Some say the Church was granted to that Benedictine monastery
by William Rufus. Dugdale says the Conqueror granted it, but Foss,
in his " Lives of the Chancellors," says : — " The deed of gift begins,
f The King W having subjugated the land of Engld->' &c," and states
that if the king, William, had made the grant, he would have used
the first person. The first witness to the deed is Robert, Bishop of
Lincoln. There was no bishop of that name in the Conqueror's
time, while there was a Robert Blase, bishop of Lincoln in 1093.
S. Florent was a Benedictine abbey in the province of Anjou, founded
by the Emperor Charlemagne. In 1414 (2nd of Henry V.) the
Priory of Andover was dissolved by deed (and this deed was con-
firmed by Edward IV.), and its possessions given to Winchester
College, by whom it is still held. This priory is said to have been
one of the first acquisitions of Winchester College after its foundation
by William of Wykeham. There is some evidence that it was

300

" Andover and its Neighbourhood"

purchased with money left for that purpose by Bishop Wykeham.
When it was conveyed to the College there was a stipulation made
that Nicholas Gwyn, the last prior, should receive a pension for his
life of fifty-two marks. The annual value of the priory in 1 Henry
VI. appears by the charter of that King, confirming the title of the
college, to have been one hundred and ten marks. The college had to
pay to Queen Joan, consort of Henry IV., twenty marks. A frag-
ment of ivied wall in the churchyard was probably a portion of the old
priory. The present Church stands almost on the site of the old
one. A sketch of the old Church now hangs in the vestry. The
principal doorway of the old Church stands at the west entrance
to the churchyard. It is a good specimen of bold Norman work.
Judging from the sketch of the old Church it would seem that
the nave was of transition work, the tower Norman, and the
chancel debased Perpendicular. The present Church — Early
English in character, and built of Caen Stone and flint — was erected
entirely at the expense of the Rev. Dr. Goddard, the Head Master
of Winchester College. The cost was said to have been from
twenty-five to thirty thousand pounds. Several of the monuments
which were in the old Church are missing. Some are in the vestry
and in the vestibule of the Church, and two, which were memorials
of two liberal benefactors of the town, were placed in the tower
where no person could see them ; indeed, so thoroughly were they
concealed from the eye of the public that persons born in the town
had never seen them. I have had one of them placed on the north
and the other on the south of the chancel. The one near the vestry
door is to the memory of Richard Kemish, whose will was proved
in 1611. The other is to the memory of R. Venables, who died in
1621. The old brass plate on the wall near the Venables monument,
bears an inscription to the memory of Nicholas Venables.

The inscription on the centre panel of the Kemish monument is : —

" Here lyeth the Lady Ann Lawarr the 1st wife of Thos. Olver Esq.,
2nd of the Rt Hon Sir Wm "West Kt. Lord Lawarr on whose right hand
lyeth her mother Elizth the wife of Hen: Swift Esq & on her left hand
lyeth Rich Kemish Gent, her late husband who gave to the town £400
to purchase land, perpetual payment of 5£ to Lectr. 5£ to ye Free School,
5£ for bread & 5£ to ye poor every Good Friday."

By the Rev. C. Collier, M.A., F.S.A.

301

This inscription is not in its proper place : it must have been once
placed on a separate stone or mural monument erected to the memory
of the lady herself.

On the same monument are the following inscriptions : —

"This Benefactor Richard Kemis Gent gave to this towne of Andever
400£ to purchase 20 acres of land for the perpetual payment of 5£ to
the Free school, 5£ in a dole of bread weekly to ye poor, and 5£ to
them every Good Friday.

" Also he gave to this Church in ornaments 50£, towards the paveing
of this towne, 100£, to the poor of Andever 40£, of Winchester 10£, of
Wherwell 10£, of Houghton, Stockbridge, and Longstoke x£, of Up
Clatford 5£, and the remainder of his estate to like uses. Obiit Sexto
die Octobris 1611."

The Latin inscription to Nicholas Venables is, in English

" Here lies N. Venables, gentleman, the pious father of two sons and
three daughters. He died aged 73 years Jan. 3, 1602. Richd Venables
his younger son placed this memorial to his memory."

The brass to the left of the monument is to Richard Venables and
Dorothy, his wife. The wife died in 1612, the husband in 1621.

There was at least one chantry in the Church. This was founded
by Peter de Brugge and his wife in the year 1374. In searching
among the archives of the Corporation I found there the original
deed of the foundation. In the same bundle of papers were several
licences granted to priests to minister at the altar. This chantry
was dissolved by Hen. VIII., and its endowments were granted by
Edward VI. to Daniel and Alexander Pert, of Tewkesbury, but
eventually they were acquired by Winchester college in 1556.

It is almost a natural sequence from the Church to the grammar
school. The ancient grammar school buildings were in the grounds,
now a shrubbery, opposite the vicarage.

An indenture made between the bailiff, approved men, and bur-
gesses of Andover, of the one part, and William Blake, of Eastanton,
in the parish of Andover, gent., of the other part, recites that one
John Hanson, gent., deceased, in 1569 gave £&00 to be put forth at
the rate of £16 per annum, for the maintenance of a free school
vol. xxi. — no. lxiii. x

302

" Andover and its Neighbourhood."

within the town. The schoolmaster was to be a graduate of Oxford
or Cambridge.

The money was placed in the hands of Bishop Horne, then Bishop
of Winchester, to be employed by him as Hanson requested. This
money the bishop gave into the hands of a William Blake, and a
William Blake, his son, and they, in connection with a Mr. John
Blake, gave a bond to the bishop for payment of the £200 and the
£16 yearly, at a certain time. This bond could not be found at the
death of the bishop. The deed recites that William Blake, being
moved in conscience for that the said sum of £200 was given to so
good a use and purpose, was contented to enter into another
obligation unto Walter Waite, gent., then Bailiff of Andover, in
the sum of £400, to make good the loss. Richard Blake gave the
site, and the Corporation built the school-house. In the will of
Bichard Kemis, dated 1611, September 25th, we find that he left,
amongst other charities, £5 to the free school. The school is poorly
endowed, but very successful, and such funds as the trustees are
possessed of — whether for the use of the school or town — they ad-
minister fairly and honourably.

I cannot mention all the charities of Andover; but that by John
Pollen should be noticed. The said John Pollen, who was born in
1686, built an almshouse on a piece of the rectory land, and in
December, 1702, endowed it with Seymour's or Sotwell's farm. By
deed of September 29th, 1716, he gave to Winchester College the
middle parsonage garden for five thousand years at a peppercorn
rent, in exchange for the site of the almshouse and school-house.
The Pollen school endowment was charged on Marsh Court Farm,
then in King's Somborne parish.

Besides the bread gifts of Venables and others, there were certain
charities administered by the Chamberlain of Charities, as the Spital
Lands for the Spital Houses, and the Common Acre, said erroneously
to have been left by Catherine Hanson, in 1570, as a town-playing
place. This Common Acre was leased to a William Gold for twenty-
one years, in 1560, at a four-shilling rent, he conditioning to keep
up a pair of butts and give no hindrance to the people playing on
the ground. There are now four almshouses on the ground. The

By the Rev. C. Collier, 31. A., F.S.A.

Common Acre is now utterly useless ; the dusting of carpets is the
only use to which valuable building' land is now put — land which
might be exchanged for a small park, or, at all events, for a cricket
ground for the people. I may state here that in one of the council
books we read that the Common Acre was let to Robert Maynsak
and Thomas Hode for eleven years, at the annual rent of

By some means or other the Corporation have become possessed
of an ancient churchwardens'' book for the year .1471; indeed
one cannot but express surprise how many of the books and deeds
which should be in the Church chest are amongst the archives of the
Corporation. And we ought not to grieve over this, for while the
early registers are literally dropping to pieces, the archives of the Cor-
poration have been most carefully preserved and catalogued — with one
exception, however — for a great number of Latin deeds were tied up
in a bundle, and labelled " Miscellaneous Papers." But to return to
the churchwardens' book. We learn from it that the Church had
a steeple and bells. At Easter were the usual services in connexion
with that feast — the Easter sepulchre, the watchers and the torches.
The town could then supply ironmongers, for Richard Jumper and
John Roche found the iron and nails necessary for the repair of
the choir and the bell furniture. Richard Peynton and Robert
Carpenter were carpenters. William Clifford was a bookbinder and
a repairer of surplices. John Helier was a bell-hanger. William
Gunter was a writer. William Plomer and William Sadler repaired
the bellows (wind-bag it is in the book) of the organ. Richard Curtis
and Philip Morant's wife were brewers. Agnes was the laundress for
the Church ; and here, speaking of laundresses, I may remark that the
people of Andover seem to have made great provision for clothes wash-
ing. There are numerous entries in the Corporation books of this kind,
viz., Memorandum. — "It was granted that Wm. Broughton should
have a washing-house upon the king's stream for a certain term, at a
yearly rent of 24s. Sd. We learn, too, from the churchwardens' book
that the price of oil for the Church was Q\d. per gallon. The board of
a man and his horse was ^d. a day. There was a wedding door to the
Church, and Poche's man was paid Id. for repairing it. The pay of
a carpenter was 6d. a day. The Duke and Duchess of Clarence, the

x 2

304

" Anclover and its Neighbourhood."

"brother to the King and the daughter of the Earl of Warwick visited
Andover at this time, and the ringers were paid vid. for ringing the
bells on the occasion.

Under a commission given by Edward VI. the Church goods were
sold, and amongst the Public Records is a certificate of Sir Henry
Seymour and others as to the restoration of these goods. This
certificate is of the date 2 and 3 of Philip & Mary. The Church
goods of the villages around are given. Under Andover we read,
iC certain ornaments sold to Richard Sedgwick and to William
Spenser and to Wm. Sentlove," and this note: — "A suit of vest-
ments of white damask sold to John Bedham for 23s. 3d. — not paid."
Amongst the chantry certificates are the following notes : — " Our
Lady's Chantry "A Stipendiary " ; " An Obit."

In the reign of Henry VII. Thomas Bekington left to S. Mary's
College, at Winchester, amongst other gifts, one messuage with
three tofts at Andover.

Andover, had, like many other towns, her dorms Dei — God's
house — which was here dedicated to S. John the Baptist. In 1247
a royal charter was granted for the Hospital of S. John at Andover,
and in 1251 license was given to the master, brethren, and sisters
of the hospital to take in a certain open place lying opposite their
house, and to build a chapel upon it. Edward III., in 1340, gave
the wardenship of the hospital to his clerk, John de Derby. The
seal of the hospital represented a John the Baptist holding an Agnus
Dei in his hand. I cannot find any document, either amongst the
town archives or in the parish chest, connected with this hospital,
but it is mentioned in a churchwarden's book of the date 1471.
The entry is peculiar : — " Item receptus de hominibus de la spetyll
14^. pro uno rame." And also, in the council book named Liber A
we read of a piece of waste ground opposite the Hospital of S. John,
near Andover. In the Liber A council book is the following entry : —
"Mem. it is condescended and agreed by the whole twenty-four
forward men that the tenement called S. John's House with all the
lands thereunto belonging shall be taken as part of the chamber
lands of Andover, and the chamberlains of the said town shall
receive the rents of the same and give acct thereof." On the 20th

By the Rev. C. Collier, M.A , F.S.A.

305

September, 16 Elizabeth, it was agreed that at all times thereafter
the sole rent of S. John's House should be paid to the chamber,
and that the chamberlains of the same should pay yearly, as well,
£10 to the Right Hon. the Earl of Leicester for his life, and 20*.
to the Right Worshipful Mr. Richard Inkpenne for his fee. The
whole income of the lands of S. John's House has, from 1552, been
received by the Corporation. The name of Spital is probably the
only vestige of this once important hospital. Tradition says it stood
at the bottom of New Street, on the east side of the road going
north. The spot was, some few years ago, used as a place for piling
fagots. Tytheridge, in his report on the archives, says :. — " A person
named Richard Steele, born in J 706, used frequently to say, when
in his ninetieth year, that he had often rung the bell in the old
Market House, which was built (of timber) previous to the one in
1725, and that the bell therein was the identical one that came from
the Spital chapel."

About the trade of Andover we must make some remarks. We
have records of the times of Henry II. and John, shewing that the
men of Andover were busy as merchants and tradesmen. Merchant
guilds were in existence here in the time of Henry II., for in the
22nd of his reign Hugh de Gundeville rendered an account of the
Farm, of Hants in the Treasury, £16S 10*. 3/1. silver. The men of
Andover render an account of ten marks for having the same liberty
as the men of Wilton and of Sarum have in their guilds ; and in
the 6th year of John (1200) that king granted a charter, in which
he says " Know ye we have granted to the men of Andover that
they may have a gild of merchants/' This privilege of a guild of
merchants was again confirmed in the 12th year of Henry III., and
in the 29th of Edward III. These charters prove that there was
trade in the town, but what it was and what its extent we have no
evidence to shew. Trade fluctuated at Andover, as elsewhere, for
we find that in the 2nd of Richard II. the men of the town owed
over £80 white money of fee farm of their town. The trade of the
tanner was followed here to some extent, for in the maneloquiums of
the Corporation we find records stating that the bailiff and forward
men gave the membership of trade guilds to those, who, being

306

" Andtver and its Neighbourhood.

properly recommended, applied for them, and also let oat to the
townsmen the privilege of having shops or stills for the sale of
goods ; and amongst these notices tanners and Tanners' Row are
often mentioned.

It would seem that the guild of merchants of Andover was divided
into three guilds of merchants, viz., the leather-sellers, the haber-
dashers, and the drapers. These guilds had ordinances, or laws, by
which they were ruled. The laws for the haberdashers commence
with this preamble: — "Ordinances of the Guild of Merchants in
Andever in the County of Souths- which Guild is divided into 3
several Fellowships whereof these are only of the Fellowship of
Haberdashers." It then goes on to say that the men of Andover,
otherwise called the approved men of Andover, were incorporate by the
letters patent of Henry III., and by the same letters patent, among
other things have granted unto them a guild of merchants, &c, and
have divided their whole company into three several fellowships.
The deed recites what persons may be members of the guild of
haberdashers. They are, haberdashers, milliners, mercers, grocers,
inn-holders, vintners, bakers, brewers, smiths, cappers, hat-makers,
barbers, painters, and glaziers. There is a similar deed for the
Leather-sellers' Co. ; members eligible for which society are, tanners,
saddlers, glovers, pewterers, braziers, shoemakers, curriers, collar-
makers, butchers, chandlers, dyers, and upholsterers. Then follow
orders for the times of meeting, the apprenticing of youths to the
various trades, laws about foreign tradesmen who came here to
pursue their craft, and the election of the warden and officers.

The tradesmen of Andover issued tokens. Boyne gives a list of
nineteen Andover tokens. Seven were issued by grocers, and bear
the grocers' arms. The names were, William Waller, Abraham
Waller, William Sweetapple, John Seagrove, Robert Millet, Benjamin
Bradborne, and Robert Bird. Two bear the mercers' arms, those
of William Gold and Richard Blake. Anthony Tatnell's token
bears a fish, and Thomas Paine was probably a chandler, as the
token has upon it a man making candles. Such was the trade
of Thomas Olives, who issued a token in 1656. William Cornelius,
the glover, issued a token having on its reverse a glove. John

By the Rev. C. Collier, M.A., F.S.A.

307

Staneford's bears a wool pack. Three were issued for the payment
of the poor ; the one dated 1658, and having the legend " Remember
the poor/' with the figure of a cripple, is very rare. Andover
issued tokens in its corporate capacity.

There are deeds in the town chest in connection with lime-burning,
and this seems to have been a trade of some extent. John Selyd,
Roger de Clatford the Steward of Andover, John Asselyn, and
others, grant the use of the chalk-pit on the way leading from
Andover to Barton Stacey to William le Halyere, of Ambresbury,
and Olive, his wife, for digging the chalk and burning it. Andover
was formerly famous for the manufacture of druggets, serges, and
shalloons, but these trades have left the town and passed away
completely. The district in the town called the Racks is the only
relic of the trade and of the place where it was carried on.

Ample materials for the history of the rights and privileges of the
town exist in the archives of the Corporation. We have, too, an able
analysis of all the documents relating to these matters in a case
drawn up for Serjeant Mere wether. The point for the learned Serjeant's
opinion was, whether the right of voting was with the Corporation
or with the inhabitants. The drawer of the case recites or mentions
every deed, document, and reference relating to the town that he
can find. We give some of the points mentioned in this singular
case. The men of Andover paid a fine to Henry II. King John
granted two charters to the townsmen. King Henry III. confirmed
the previous grants. Members of Parliament for Andover were first
summoned in the 23rd year of Edward I. They were likewise
elected to the parliament summoned by Edward II. in the 1st
year of his reign. The town continued to send Members, but
not regularly, until the 27th of Queen Elizabeth. Edward
III. granted a charter, or rather an inspeximus, to the in-
habitants, confirming one by Henry III., by which was given to
the men of Andover the manor with the outer hundred. Richard II.
confirmed Henry the Third's grant. Henry IV., by inspeximus, con-
firmed Richard the Second's charter. In the time of Henry VI.
Richard Wiredrawer and Laurence Alexander, late Bailiffs of the
town of Andover, stood charged in the great roll with several

308

Andover and Us Neighbourhood."

summonses for escapes, Henry VIII. granted to the town a charter
dated November 20th, 2nd year of his reign (1510), confirming
one by Edward IV. In the 27th year of the reign of Elizabeth,
the town was summoned to return burgesses to parliament and
when the borough was about to act in obedience to the Queen's
command, the Earl of Leicester, then high steward, addressed the
following letter to the bailiffs : —

" After my hearty commendations — whereas it hath pleased her Majesty to
appoint a parliament to be presently called ; being steward of your town I make
bold heartily to pray you that you will give me the nomination of one of your
Burgesses for the same and if minding to avoid the charges of allowance for
the other Burgesses you mean to name any that is not of your town, if you will
bestow the nomination of the other burgess also upon me, I will thank you for
it, and will both appoint a sufficient man and see you discharged of all charges
in that behalf ; and so praying your speedy answer herein I thus bid you heartily
farewell. From the courte Oct. 12 1584

*' Your loving friend,

"R. Leicester."

" P.S. — If you will send me your election with a blank I will put in the names."

"To my loving friends the Bailiffs Aldermen and the rest of the town of
Andover."

My late friend, Mr. S. Shaw, informed me that this letter was given
to Lord John Russell, shortly after the passing of the Reform Bill,
by Mr. Mann, with the permission of the Town Council.

The town of Andover was burnt in the time of Henry VI. (about
the year 1440). In the Patent Rolls we have a deed of license for
obtaining one hundred marks on the land, by reason of the losses
sustained at the burning of Andover and New Alresford. The losses
caused by the fire made it almost impossible for the inhabitants to
pay their public rates and dues. The inhabitants of the town and
of the hundred without, had been accustomed to pay annually a fee
farm rent to Edmund, formerly Earl of Kent, and his heirs, of £104
sterling at the feasts of Easter and St. Michael the Archangel, of
which sum £30 125. \\\d. had been apportioned to Lord Tankervill
as his share. This sum, with arrears, his lordship generously re-
mitted by deed, and for twenty years one hundred shillings were to
be deducted from the gross sum due to him. The deed is now in
the possession of the Corporation.

By the Rev. C. Collier, M.A., F.S.A.

309

There was another fire in the town about the year 1647. The
Bursar of Winchester College, T. F. Kirby, Esq., hai kindly given
me the following translated extracts from the bursar's book of that
year :—

" Paid £1 to Robert Mountain, of Andever, who lost property at the fire valued
at £500."

" Paid to other poor persons, viz., eighty-two families who lost their goods. £5."

It may be as well to note here that in Dugdale we read that
King Edred gave fifty hides of land at Andover to Hyde Abbey,
but in the <f Historia Major" we read that the gift was Andover
with five hides ; but the historian goes on to say " Quse omnia
Wilhelraus Conquestor pro voluntate sua abstulit et militibus suis
dedit."

We may now relate matters in connection with the general history
of Andover. In 1155 Matthew Croc (after whom Crux Easton was
named) was Warden of the Forests of Andover, Wittingley, and
Dingley. The Forest of Andover was called the Brills of Andover.
Tithes of these forests were paid to the Canons of Salisbury. In 1165
the King (Henry II.) gave to Salisbury Minster, by charter, amongst
others, all the tithes of Andover. In 1213, June 7th, the King
(John) sent Robert de Kerely to the Sheriff of Hants, at Andover,
with two servants and their two horses, two boar hounds, three
veltrariis, twenty-eight hounds de mota, and sixteen greyhounds.
He sent, with Robert, William Croc and Peter de Cemel, and for
these men, their horses, and their dogs, the sheriff was to supply
whatever they needed. In 1217 King John re-granted the manor
of Andover to William Longs word, Earl of Salisbury, who held the
manor till his death. By a writ of May 20th, 1226, the Sheriff of
Hants is commanded to give Matthew de Columbariis the Brills,
the hunting" woods of Andover which the sheriff had taken into the
King's hands on the Earl's death.

John visited the town twice. In the Patent Rolls we find that
Edward I. was here on February 20 th and 21st, 1291, and from the
Close Rolls we learn that Edward II, was in Andover on February
1st, 1317. Where did they find quarters in Andover ? Probably

310

"Andover and its Neighbourhood"

at the inn now called the " Angel Inn." That this is an ancient
hostel we have clear proof. It is now held of Winchester College
under a lease, and Winchester has held lands here since the sup-
pression of the alien priories. In that part of the house inhabited
by Mr. Reynolds we have some stone shields of arms of very early
date. In one of Mr. Reynold's rooms, too, was found a wooden
panel containing the arms of Wick ham. The cellars shew masonry
of old and massive character. Tradition points out to you the room
in this house where King John slept.

In 1329 Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, and his wife,
were seized of the towns of Andover and Basingstoke. In or about
the year 1299 Queen Margaret, second wife to Edward I., had
amongst her endowments, the manor and town of Andover.

When King Henry V. hastened down to meet the French fleet
at Southampton, amongst others we find Andover required to send
men-at-arms to assist the King.

We have an allusion to Andover in the narrative of the visit of
the Spanish nobleman — the Duke of Najera — to England in 1543-4.
The duke left London on Tuesday for Hownslow, thence to Hartford
Bridge on Wednesday, and on Thursday he was at Basingstoke, " a
place," he says, " of eight hundred houses/'' On Friday, at Andover,
( ' a place of five hundred houses." Taking five persons as an average
per house, Andover would, in 1544, have had two thousand five
hundred inhabitants.

James I. visited Andover, as we learn from a letter written by
him to Matthews, Archbishop of York, which ends, " Given at
Andover," &c.

We had some connexion with the Civil Wrar in the time of
Charles I. Clarendon tells us that just before the second Battle of
Newbury " WTaller lay at Andover with three thousand horse and
dragoons. Prince Maurice, with his troops, began his march on
Andover, and was within four miles from the town before Waller
had any notice of their motions ; when he drew out his whole body
towards them, as if he meant to fight; but upon view of their
strength, and the good order they were in, he changed his mind,
and drew back into the town; leaving a strong party of horse and

By the Rev. C. Collier, M.A., F.S.A.

311

dragoons to make good his retreat. But the King's van charged,
and routed them with good execution, and pursued them through
the town, and slew many of them in the rear, until the darkness of
the night secured them, and hindered the others from following
farther. But they were all scattered, and came not quickly together
again ; and the King quartered that night at Andover/'' I do not
know of any signs of earthworks thrown up by either party round
or near the town. This was a mere sharp skirmish when the troops
were on the move.

The unfortunate James II. visited Andover. "We read in Maeaulay
an account of the retreat of the royal army from Salisbury : — " James
went that day as far as Andover. He was attended by his son-in-
law, Prince George, and by the Duke of Ormond. Prince George
and Ormond were invited to sup with the King. The meal must
have been a sad one. The King was overwhelmed by his misfortunes.
His son-in-law was the dullest of companions. ' I have tried Prince
George sober/ said Charles II., 'and I have tried him drunk, and,
drunk or sober, there is nothing in him/ At length the repast
terminated. The King retired to rest. Horses were in waiting for
the Prince and Ormond, who, as soon as they had left the table,
mounted and rode away from Andover/7 James lodged at the Priory-
House, then the property of the Pollens.

Wilkes tells us of other worthies who passed through or stayed
for a short time in our town. Through Andover passed Sir Walter
Raleigh, when he was taken to London. In the account of the
journey we read "Raleigh went on his journey to Andover, and so
to Hertford Bridge, and thence to Staines."

Charles II. stayed at the White Hart, Andover, on October 16th,
1644.

We have no evidence as to the date when the first place
of worship for the Nonconformists was built in Andover. Two
cottages, situated in S oper's Lane, were formerly pointed out as
having once formed part of an old Presbyterian place of worship.
The Rev. S. Sprint, of Trinity College, Cambridge, is thought to-
have been the first pastor of the body. He was a friend of Dr.
Barrow, and was at one time master of the Newbury Grammar School.

312

u Andover and its Neighbourhood.

He was ejected in 1662 from South Tedworth Rectory. Bishop
Morley protected him from prosecution, and would have presented
him to a living had he been willing to use the Book of Common
Prayer. Mr. Sprint was thirty years at the Soper's Lane meeting-
house, and died at Clatford. The Rev. Jacob Ball, who succeeded
Sprint, became eventually an Arian. He died in 1747. In the
same room in which the Presbyterians worshipped, a Congregational
Church was accustomed to hold its services. The latter had for
their first minister the Rev. Isaac Chauncy, a physician, who had
been ejected from the living of Woodborough, in Wilts. The Rev.
Samuel Tomlyns, M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, succeeded.
He had been ejected from Crawley. He writes, " Mr. Sprint and I
for several years did peaceably go on at Andover, both preaching in
one pulpit to the same congregation/'' Nevertheless the two
Churches did not then coalesce, but the congregation eventually be-
came entirely Congregational. Calamy, the eminent Nonconformist,
visited Andover. The Presbyterians have no meeting-place here.
The Chapel in East Street was called the Upper Meeting-house, and
had for its first minister the Rev. Samuel Chandler. He settled here
in 1700, when the first Chapel in East Street was built. The Rev.
Samuel Say, whose father had been ejected from S. Michael's, South-
ampton, succeeded Chandler. He was fellow-student with Dr.
Watts. In the ministry of the Rev. David Millar the pews of the
meeting-house were bought and sold. The price of one is given at
12s, 6d. ; of another, £1 2s. 6d. ; and of a single sitting, 56'. In
1761 a house was purchased for the minister, the cost being £182.
About the year 1838 the Independents, Baptists, and some few
Episcopalians, erected a school to be conducted on the British system,
and the house adjoining the Congregational Chapel was purchased
for the minister. There are Chapels for the Wesleyans, Baptists,
and Primitive Methodists, in the town, but none for Roman Catholics,
Quakers, and Unitarians.

The old and now unused names of streets that I have met with
in the records are, Back Lane, Rowlie's Lane, Frog Lane,
Duck Street, Brick Kiln Street, King's Head Street, Whytchurch
Street, Littlebury Street. New Street is really a most ancient street,

By the Rev. C. Collier, M.A., F.S.A.

313

and the name is old ; I have found it in documents of the six-
teenth century. The Town Hall, in which we are now assembled,
was erected in 1825 on the site of one built in 1725. Hiffh Street
had formerly trees planted on both sides of the pathways. The last
relic of one of our oldest shops was taken down recently. There was
a high cross in the centre of the Market Place. The Globe Inn, in
this street, is an ancient hostel, though not the oldest. Cobbett, in his
" Rural Rides/-' mentions his holding a meeting at the George Inn, in
High Street. It was at the Globe that Sir Francis Delaval, the candi-
date for the representation of Andover, held his committee meetings.
He was a singular character. I extract from the " Quarterly
Review " the following notice of Sir Francis : — " Sir Francis Blake
Delaval, of the fine old Norman Delavals, the rake and humourist
of about a century ago, was one time canvassing Andover. There
was a voter there, as far as every appearance went, insensible to all
temptation. Money, wine, place, flattery, had no attractions for
the stoic. Sir Francis puzzled himself in endeavouring to discover
this man's weak point. At last he found it out. The man had never
seen a fire-eater, and doubted if there existed a class endowed with
that remarkable power. Off went Delaval to London, and returned
with Angelo in a post-chaise. Angelo exerted all his genius. Fire
poured from his mouth and nostrils — fire which melted that iron
nature, and sent it off cheerfully to poll for Delaval ! This was the
Delaval whose attorney sent him the following bill after one of his
contests : — ' To being thrown out of the window of the George Inn,
Andover ; to my leg being thereby broken ; to surgeon's bill and
loss of time and business; all in service of Sir Francis Delaval, £500/''''
In Chantry Street was an ecclesiastical building of some kind,
but I can find no allusion to it in the archives. Looking down
Chantry Street from the top to High Street, the view is peculiarly
picturesque. In Church Hill, now called Marlborough Street, are
the Pollens' Almshouses, and the Pollen Infant School. They were
founded by John Pollen, Esq., A.D. 1686. At the south entrance
to this street are the industrial and infant schools, founded by,
and named after, Miss Gale. In East Street is the oldest Non-
conformist Chapel in Andover, and at the south end of the street >

314

ee Andorer and its Neighbourhood"

on the site of the Primitive Methodist minister's house, were the
Quakers' Chapel and burying-ground. In Bridge Street is our
Public Library and Institute, with its modest museum. In Win-
chester Street is the Wesley an Chapel, and at the south end of it
an unused burial-ground for Quakers. London Street contains a
somewhat antique hostel, named the Red Lion. At the top
of London Stre et, where the road runs into Wool vers Dean, were
found, a few years ago, five Roman coins, third brass. In Soper's
Lane was the first meeting-room of the Nonconformists. Calamy
gives an interesting account of his visit there. In Barlow's Lane,
now South Street, were found, on the evidently scarped hill, several
skeletons. On the roof of a shed behind the Wellington Inn, in
Winchester Street, was found a part of a fine tesselated pavement.
This came into the possession of Mr. Shaw. New Street contains
many very old thatched cottages and a mission-room. At the north
end of it was S. John's House.

And now my story is told, but briefly and hastily. There is
matter enough for two or three other papers ; but to me there is no
time to write it down. One dut}r, however, I have to perform, and
it is a pleasant though a sad one. Not long ago was taken from us
one who would have enjoyed these meetings, and added very much to
their interest. I never knew a more accurate and a more reasonably
enthusiastic archaeologist — a more liberally disposed man with his
vast store of mediaeval lore — than Mr. S. Shaw. His kind son, and
equally kind widow, have placed at my disposal his MS. collections,
and they have been of service to me. Andover lost a real antiquarian
when good Mr. Shaw was taken away. He was a thoroughly good
man, of playful wTit and of ready knowledge. He was a good
numismatist — had an excellent knowledge of old literature — and
had collected an immense number of curious books. I enjoyed his
society greatly. He was a friend whom I deeply respected. How
I miss him now ! May he rest in peace.

315

[Communicated by the Rev. R. H. Cluttekbuck, Rector of Enham.]
||!jSjj|HE " Loan Museum 33 arranged in the Court Room of the
g|g| Town Hall contained much that was interesting, gathered
almost exclusively from the immediate neighbourhood.

The Mayor of Andover kindly allowed the chain of office and the
maces to be exhibited. The chain is modern, but the two maces — -
though they have apparently undergone various alterations — are of
the time of Charles II. They are of silver, of a well-known type ;
the heads bowl-shaped and surrounded with a coronal. But the
chief interest of the Museum centred in some specimens of the
magnificent series of charters and documents possessed by the Cor-
poration. Among those shown were two charters of King John,
and one of Queen Elizabeth, with a fine impression of the great seal.
In the same case was the " Maneloquium Book," which, although
in the earlier folios it is a transcript made 35 Henry VIII., has
accounts of the " morow speche 33 (usually held on the Sunday
mornings), from 3 Edward III.

Drawings and prints of the pavements found in the neighbourhood,
the chief of which were at Abbots Ann and Thruxton, were exhibited
by Mrs. Dixon, of Linkenholt, and the same lady also showed two
mediseval seals, one round, lin. in diameter having a well-shaped
fieur-de-lys, surrounded by the legend + s. gavfridi de lamoi'e;
the other, round, lin. in diameter, bears the device of a squirrel on
a branch, beneath which reposes an animal of truculent aspect but
doubtful description. The legend is * wake me no man. This
seal was found in the wall of a tower which once stood in the
churchyard attached to Salisbury Cathedral. Mrs. Dixon also
exhibited a repeater watch in a most exquisite case of filigree work,
temp. James I., and medals of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.

A very interesting cabinet of medals was exhibited by F. R.
Loscombe, Esq., of Clatford, comprising medallion of Charles II.,
1662; Russian medallion of Catherine II., 1782; silver medallion
. of Admiral Van Tromp, Clement XII., Charles II., on the occasion
of his embarking at Scheveling, 1660 ; Pius VII., the scarce

316

The Museum at Andover.

medallion with Florian amphitheatre of Rome on the reverse ;
coronation medal of Edward VI. ; medal of Charles I., with ship in
full sail on reverse ; marriage medal of Napoleon with Marie Louise
of Austria ; medal struck to commemorate the union of England and
Scotland; jubilee medal of confession of Augsberg ; medal of Arch-
bishop Sancroft, non-juring bishops, Luther, 1 661 j medal struck
on the death of Charles I., with representation of the mob as a beast
with many heads standing over the head of the King; Anglo-Saxon
gold coin ; medal of Charles I. on his return from coronation in
Scotland, 1638.

Andover possesses a local Museum, which, among other things,
has some interesting collections of remains discovered in excavations
in the neighbourhood. This Museum was thrown open for the
Society's inspection during their visit, and the following were lent
to the temporary Museum : — a boat cloak worn by Lord Nelson; a
curious piece of needlework, temp. Charles II. ; two pistol tinder-
boxes, one of the common type, with the machinery of the lock
exposed, the other of holster size with an arrangement for the
candle in the barrel.

Messrs. T. & J. D. Butt exhibited coins and tokens of local in-
terest, including Roman coins of Carausius, shilling of Charles I.,
ditto of Charles II., farthing of Charles II., and half-penny of
George I. ; Andover tokens with the legend " For ye poore's benefit./'
Hungerford token, Whitchurch token, and Sarum and Southampton
tokens, all found in the construction of the Andover waterworks.

The bowl of the ancient font of Knight's Enham Church, ap-
parently of Saxon work, was lent for exhibition by the Rector, who
also showed an iron chest of sixteenth century Italian work, and a
small collection of old silver-plate.

Amongst other things shewn were a copy of " Cocker's Arithmetic,
1677," by Mr. Alderman Hammans — a book still remembered in the
saying " according to Cocker " ; and a copy of the first edition
of " The Christian Year," some early numbers of " The Stamford
Mercury," and No. 1 of " The Tatler," by Rev. H. Cheales.

The walls were decorated with rubbings of brasses lent by E.
Clarke, Esq., and the platform with some fine skins lent by Col. Briggs.

317

ynbgetsjall Castle an& its Pistorg/'

By the Rev. W. H. Awbry,

Rector of Ludgershall.
(Read before the Society at the Meeting at Andover, August 15th, 1883.)

HEN, in reply to your Secretary's request, a few weeks ago,
I consented to read a paper at the forthcoming Meeting of
Wiltshire archaeologists, I really did not expect to be called upon to
address this honourable company at the Town Hall of Andover. I
supposed that at some stage of the proceedings a visit would be
paid to Ludgershall, and that then and there some one, and that
some one a resident of the place, would be expected to furnish an
account of its probable history. " Ludgershall Castle and its
History " seems a somewhat pretentious title to a paper emanating
from one so utterly un- given to archaeological research as myself.
However, here I am, and here you are, and it only remains for me
to acquit myself as best I may, craving your forbearance if I am
dull and inconsequent ; and, above all, asking you to believe that I
only profess to be " a gatherer and collector of other men's stuff."

Of local information respecting the old ruins there is almost nil.
Indeed, the very existence of such a place as Ludgershall Castle
was till very recently unknown to some of my neighbours. Perhaps
I ought to mention that, although standing on high ground, it is
almost hidden from view by the trees which have grown up round
it in recent years. I remember, when I first came to Ludgershall,
some years ago, I naturally wanted to find out what I could about
the place, and I betook me to an aged crone, who, I was told, had
lived all her life in the same cottage, and certainly not 200 yards
from the ruins of the castle. I asked her a question or two with
little success, and at last discovered that in all her life — and she was
fourscore years old — she had never been at the pains to examine the
old pile herself, but was contented with the glimpse she got of it

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXIII. Y

318 " Lndgershall Castle and its History."

among the trees from the village street. The gossips, however,
were not slow to inform me that the said old lady and her next-door
neighbour on one occasion had had enterprise enough to trudge as
far as Portsmouth, after the colours of a marching regiment that
had been billetted in the village. So much better is " a living dog
than a dead lion."

The ancient name of Ludgershall, or, as it is commonly called,
Lurgeshall, was Lutegars' Hall, the residence of some Saxon owner.
It was held at the Conquest by Edward of Salisbury, but must
afterwards have reverted to the Crown, as the vill, domain and
castle were in the hands of the Kings of England from Henry II.
Governors were often appointed to this and Marlborough Castle to-
gether. Various suppositions have been made as to the derivation
of the name. In Domesday Book it is written " Little Garselle."
One idea is that it comes from the words Leod — gars — legh=people
(who lived in a) — grass — flat. A long flat common sprinkled with
gorse and scrub extended for nearly a mile both east and west of
the village till within the last fifty years, and on which many people
had grazing and other rights. It is certain that the successive
cultivators of the soil have found it an easy farm to work, owing to
its level character, and those who have had the good fortune to shoot
over the manor on a broiling day in September — days, however,
that have been few and far between in late years — have been wont
to congratulate themselves on the absence of hills to be breasted in
their day's sport.

It is generally acknowledged that the castle was built soon after
the Norman Conquest, but the date of its building and the name of
the architect are alike unknown. A parishioner of mine took the
trouble to procure for me from a relation in London a book which
was said to contain " all about " Ludgershall Castle. I could only
discover this short paragraph : — " Luggershall Castle, built 1199 99 :
clearly a wrong date. That it was in existence before 1141 is
certain, for in that year the Empress Maude took refuge in it as
she fled before Stephen's victorious army. Stowe thus describes
her visit to the castle : — " The Empress fled to the castell of Lute-
garshale heavy and almost dead for feare— from thence she was

By the Rev. W. E. Awdry. 319

brought to the castell of Vies, and from thence to GWter bound
in a horse litter like a dead carcase" Another account says that
u she escaped on a swift horse." If this be so, she probably arrived
at her destination with more speed than we nineteenth century
people are able to make, thanks to the squabbles of rival railway
companies. In Agnes Strickland's lives of the Queens of England
I find this account of her escape : — " The Empress Matilda having
decided to leave Winchester, her brother the Earl of Glos'ter cut
a passage for her through the besiegers [i.e., the army of Queen.
Matilda, wife of Stephen] at the sword's point. She and her uncle
David, King of Scotland, by dint of hard riding escaped to Ludgar-
shall, while the Earl arrested the pursuit by battling with them by
the way, till almost all his followers being slain, he was compelled
to surrender after a desperate defence. This skirmish took place
September 14th, 1141. The Empress, whose safe retreat to Lud-
gershall had been thus dearly purchased by the loss of her great
general's liberty, being hotly pursued by the Queen's troops to
Devizes, only escaped their vigilance by personating a corpse,
wrapped in grave clothes, and being placed in a coffin, which was
bound with cords, and borne on the shoulders of some of her trusty-
partisans to Gloster, the stronghold of her valiant brother, where
she arrived faint and weary with long fasting and mortal terror."

A seal belonging to her faithful adherent, Milo of Gloucester,
was turned up by the plough at the end of the last century, six
hundred years after it was lost or thrown away. It bears this in-
scription : — " sigillum milonis de GLOCESTR1A," and represents a
knight in chain armour, on horseback, holding a lance and shield.
An impression of this seal may be seen in " Archseologia," vol. xiv.
The seal itself — which is of silver — is, or was, in the possession of
the Selwyn family. As Milo Fitzwalter was with the Queen when
she made her escape, it is probable that, following in her track,
while passing through Ludgershall, he either lost the seal or threw
it away to avoid identification in case of being taken prisoner.
Robert, Earl of Gloucester, was captured. Milo, having adopted
the disguise of a beggar, escaped, but with great difficulty.

On the accession of Richard I. to the throne "the castles of

Y %

820 " Ludgershall Castle and its History.33

Marlbro," i.e., " Ludgershall with the Forest/' were among what
are called by our old friend Mrs. Markham " the many kind but
ill-judged gifts" of that monarch to his brother John. In 1215
Geoffrey Fitz Piers, Chief Justice of England, and (after marriage
with Beatrix, daughter of William le Saye) Earl of Essex, was
governor. He appears to have been called after it, as one record
speaks of him as " Ludgershall named Geoffrey." He was a rich
man, endowed with much talent and learning, but feared by the
king himself on account of his great influence. When King John
heard of the death of this nobleman he exclaimed " Now I shall be
King and Lord of England." From the year 1200 to 1216 King
John seems constantly to have stayed at Ludgershall. He dates
thence a mandate to the Provost of Winchester " to send for the
king's use a good chariot with all its furniture and four horses to be
at Northampton on the Tuesday after the close of Easter." — Ex-
cerpta Hist., p. 400, " Close Rolls."

On July 11th, 1205, Hugh de Neville was ordered to send to
Southampton a " good and strong carriage to convey thence such
wines as Daniel should deliver, 2 casks of white wine and 4 alnet to
Ludgarshall." Festivity seems to have been the order of the day,
for in the same month two tuns of wine were ordered to Ludgarshall
for the queen's use, the King also being there. No doubt they had
" a good time."

3 John. The king had a stipendiary chaplain at Ludgershall.
14 John : —

" Spent in alms for dinner given to 100 poor persons by the King, because he
had eaten meat twice on Friday next after the Feast of St. James, at Lutegarshall
ixs. iiijd., delivered to Brother Thomas the Almoner." — (" Rotulus Misse," p. 236.)

(There are in the book from which this extract is made several
other instances of this very curious habit of King John.)

In 1215 the king made a stay here on his way either to or from
Runnymede. The castle of Ludgarshall continued in the possession
of the same family of Fitz Piers until the tenth year of Henry III.,
when Jollan de Nevill, a justice itinerant, was appointed governor.
He is supposed to have been the compiler of the book of fees called

By the Rev. W. ff. Awdry.

321

f< Testa de Nevill." He was also principal warder of the king's
forests.

A.D. 1227, 11 Hen. III., 20th July:—

" Mandate to Hugh de Neville to deliver to Gunhilda, the widow, the goods
of John Blund of Ludgershall who was hanged for killing a man. She also to
have his house ; to be held at the King's pleasure."

King Henry III. was here November 26th, 1239, as we learn
from Walpole's u Anecdotes of Painting." There is an order extant
for certain additions to the king's apartments, and for the history of
Dives and Lazarus to be painted.

In the 44th year of this reign Robert de Waterman had the
government of this castle, but was soon afterwards removed to
make way for Roger, Lord Clifford, who appears to have fallen from
:s allegiance and joined Simon de Montfort and the rebellious barons.

This visit of Henry III. is, as far as I know, the last time but
one that royalty visited the place. I say the last time but one, for
is not the visit of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, fresh in our
memories ? did we not decorate our railway station, and did we not
all cheer him lustily as he passed through on his road to Marlborough?
Happy Marlborough people, and happier Marlborough boys, who
could bask in the light of that gracious countenance, while but a
glimpse of a white hat — and that very much tilted forward — was
vouchsafed to the disappointed but most loyal inhabitants of our
ancient borough.

27 Edward I. The manor of Ludgershall, worth Xxx a year,
formed part of the jointure to be settled on the king's marriage
with Margaret, sister of the King of France.

We hear no more of our castle till the reign of Edward III. It
had, no doubt, been dismantled with a great many other strongholds,
in order to diminish the power of the barons. In the 14th year of
Edward III. John, Lord Molines, held the lordship of Ludgershall.
He, for the better support of his dignity as a banneret, obtained from
the king an order to impark his woods. Castles being about that
time the nurseries of rebels it is probable that the king kept many
of them in his own hands, and this among others, since no mention

322

" Ludger shall Castle and its History.31

is made of any governor in this or the succeeding- reigns.1
And though Edmund of Hadham, Earl of Richmond, held the
manor of Lutegershall in fee tail and died possessed of it 35 Hen. VI.,
and George, Duke of Clarence (that Duke of Clarence who is
popularly supposed to have been drowned in a butt of malmsey),
though he had a grant of it in special tail, 16 Edw. IV., with all the
knights' fees thereunto belonging, yet nothing is said of the castle,
which renders it probable that it was either dismantled or that the
king did not choose to trust it in the hands of a subject. In
Leland's time, the beginning of the sixteenth century, it was "clene
down/' but a " pratie lodge n had been built out of the ruins and
still belonged to the crown.

In the time of Edw. VI. it was granted to the first Earl of
Bedford, but soon afterwards became the property of the Brydges
family, ancestors of the Duke of Chandos. Sir Richard Brydges
was Member for the borough in 1553. He married Jane, daughter
of Sir William Spenser, of Wormleighton, in Warwickshire. There
is a fine old monument, but in a somewhat dilapidated condition,
erected to their memory in the Church. He died in 1558 ; she was
living at Ludgershall with her j^ounger son, Edmund, in 1587. I
cannot find any records of proprietors of the manor between 1587
and 1751, when it belonged to John Selwyn, Esq., who in the same
year bequeathed it to his father. George Augustus Selwyn, the cele-
brated wit of George the Third's time, succeeded to it in 1763.
Thackerary, in one of the early numbers of the "Cornhill Magazine,"
in one of his lectures on the four Georges, says of Selwyn that he
"represented Glo'ster for many years, and had a borough of his
own, Ludgershall, for which when he was too lazy to contest Glo'ster,
he sat himself. The subserviency of Ludgershall to its witty patron
was so well known that it is said he was once asked if he could not

1 " Robert Attewater perpetual chaplain of the Chantry of S. Mary of Ludgar-
shall by consent of John Mervyle and Wm. Allemore seneschal of the chantry
have granted to John and Margery North two burgages in Ludgarshall in the
street called Winchester St. for 101 years, paying 8d a year. Witness John Pille
Wm. Bushap, Walter South and John Sabbe then Bailiff of the vill : "

[One of the seals that of the town of Ludgershall.]
Dated Feast of All Saints, 7 Henry IV. (Heneage's Deeds.)

By the Rev. W. H. Aivdry.

323

return a negro, if he chose, as Member. The reply was, ' No doubt,
but I think he would have to come from the " Guinea 33 Coast/ ' I
have given directions for the election of Ludgershall to be of Lord
Melbourne and myself/ he writes to the Premier, whose friend he
was, and who was himself as sleepy, as witty, and as goodnatured
as George." This was in 1780, and he died in 1781. George
Selwyn's heir was Lord Sidney, who sold his interest to Sir James
Graham, of Kirkstead, who in turn was succeeded by Sir Sandford
Graham, who was one of the Members of the borough at the time
of its disenfranchisement. Everybody knows that Ludgershall re-
turned two Members to Parliament from 1295 to 1831, a complete
list of whom may be found in Hoare's " History of Wiltshire."
The manor has changed hands twice since that time (1832), the
present owner, Mr. Nathaniel Young, having purchased it from the
executors of the late Mr. Maund.

Of the castle, to which of course Ludgershall owed all the im-
portance it ever possessed, but little remains, but from some round-
headed windows still to be seen it was pronounced by Mr. Britton
to be of Norman origin. It stands in a Roman encampment nearly
half-a-mile in circumference. A print of the ruins as they were in
1775 shews that little or no alteration can have taken place since
that time. The old well still furnishes an ample supply of water.
It has never been known quite to fail, but it was so low in the dry
summer of 1869 that the then occupier of the Castle Farm had
decided to have it cleaned out, and we all looked forward to the
discovery of many curious relics of bygone times, but — it began to
rain that night, other work was found for the hands on the farm,
and the treasures, if any, still remain, like Truth, at the bottom of
the well. Some old names still linger about the place. There is
the " Bowling Alley " hard by the " Banquetting House." We
have our " Butts." There is a " West Park," a " Long Park," and
a "Wood Park." There is the "Deer Leap," where, no doubt,
many a noble hart fell a victim to his pursuers, and when restoring
the walls of the chancel of the Church, ten years ago, we found
some pieces of horn — I believe those of the red deer — in the old
" put-log " holes, a fact which seems to bear out the description I

324 " Ludger shall Castle and its History."

have seen in an old gazetteer, which somewhat curtly dismisses
Ludgershall with the remark that " it is celebrated for its tumuli
and is the resort of sportsmen."

I must not forget to mention the market-cross which stands in
the middle of the village. The carving is almost effaced, but it is
just possible to make out the four subjects, viz., the Crucifixion,
the Ascension, the Three Marys, and " Feed my Lambs." Some
of its larger stones, I believe, form part of the foundation of the
opposite house, and its total demolition was happily prevented by a
stranger, who happened to he driving by at the time and who re-
monstrated with the local authorities orT thS subject.

Trees there used to be in plenty, both elm anJ ^]nut, on either
side of the street, but in 1827 many were cut down by tfi'e £ ^ewar<l
of the manor and the proceeds employed, I believe, in repairing* ^ne
house in which I myself at present reside. I am also indebted to
the jealousies and strifes of former inhabitants for the group of elms
in front of my windows. The story runs that an occupier of the
" Queen's Head" hostelry, then the " George and the Dragon,"
having a quarrel with a near neighbour who possessed a windmill,
promptly planted a belt of elms the windward side of it. The
windmill is no more. The trees have thriven. Truly "it is an
ill wind that blows nobody any good."

The Church, dedicated to S. James, was probably founded as
early as the twelfth century, the north wall of the present nave
appearing to have formed a portion of the original Church. The
chancel and tower perhaps date from the middle of the thirteenth
century, the chancel especially having all the characteristics of a
simple village Church of that period. The north transept was built
about a century later, and was no doubt dedicated as a chantry, for
though the altar has, of course, been removed, the piscina still re-
mains. A window on the north side of the nave is also of the same
date as this transept. Still later the windows on the south side
were inserted, and probably about this period the high-pitched roofs
were replaced by others less lofty. It is very possible that the
south wall of the nave may have been re-built about this time. A
rood screen was also added at the entrance to the chancel ; portions

By the Rev. W. H. Aw dry.

325

of the staircase leading' to it still remain, and until very recently part
of the old screen itself was in existence, and occupying its original
position. This was the age of large windows, and, in obedience to
the prevailing fashion, the eastern triplet was walled up or removed,
and a Perpendicular window of three lights substituted. The next
addition was a south chantry, probably erected by the representatives
of Sir Richard Brydges and his wife, whose tomb stands in the
archway which communicates with the Church, and is dated 1558.
The chancel has recently been restored with the ancient triplet. The
body of the Church has been re- seated, and it is hoped some day to
re-roof both the nave and the south chantry.

In the chancel east window are the arms of Henry Chicheley,
Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry Chicheley, born about 1362,
was an intimate friend of Mitford, Bishop of Salisbury, who gave
him several preferments in Sarum Church. He was Archdeacon of
Dorset, 1397, and of Sarum, 1402 . He had for sometime the vicarage
of Sherston, North Wilts, and Melcombe Bingham, Co. Dorset.
He became Bishop of St. David's, and afterwards Archbishop of
Canterbury, 1414. He died 1443. He was founder of All Souls
College, Oxford.

The presentations to the Rectory of Ludgershall, as recorded in
the Sarum Registers, run in the name of Budesden, or Biddesden,
from 1306 to 1446; in the names Ludgershall and Biddesden till
1465 ; after which Ludgershall alone appears. Biddesden belonged
to the Ambresbury (Amesbury) Monastery. There is still a " Chapel"
Copse and a " Lady " Lawn. At a later period it belonged to
General Webb, the great friend of the Duke of Marlborough. He
was at the siege of Lisle, whence he brought home the great
bell which now hangs in the turret at Biddesden House. He was
killed at the battle of Malplaquet in 1709.

In September, 1708, Marlborough was besieging Lisle, and would
have been obliged to raise the siege but for General Webb. A
convoy of provisions — seven hundred waggons — was on its way,
which the French wanted to intercept. General Webb, by an action
at Wynendale, saved it. Marlborough wrote to the English Govern-
ment thus : —

326 " Ludgershall Castle and its History "

" Webb and Cadogan have on this occasion, as they always will do, behaved
themselves extremely well. The success of this vigorous action is in a great
measure owing to them, If they had not succeeded, and our convoy had been
lost, the consequences must have been the raising of the siege next day."

Coxe then says : — " The first information of the brilliant exploit
at Wynendale, which appears to have been transmitted by some indirect
channel, ascribes the principal merit of the achievement to General
Cadogan, as the senior officer. This statement being printed in the
Gazette, General Webb was deeply offended, and quitting the army
in disgust, published an explanatory narrative in support of his own
fame. Every endeavour was made by Government to counteract
the consequences of the misstatement. The gallant general was
honoured with the recommendation of his commander and the re-
wards of his sovereign, and appears to have been satisfied with the
reparation he received. The Duke of Marlborough was loudly
accused by his political enemies of having felt envy towards an
inferior officer, and of having acted partially towards his favourite
(Cadogan). " (Coxe's " Life," iii., 3.)

Webb was afterwards one of the officers in command at the battle
of Malplaquet, but in his description of the battle Archdeacon Coxe
does not make the least allusion to the victory being in any way
owing to Webb in particular.

There is a fine life-size portrait of this hero in the hall of Biddesden.

The estate was purchased by the grandfather of the present owner,
Mr. Henry Everett, c. 1780.

The registers of Ludgershall go back as far as 1609, and are in
Latin till the year 1620. They contain the usual eccentricities of
entry. A certain individual named John Coombs figures prominently
among the parish clerks. He gives great importance to the
christenings and marriages which happened in the great families of
the district, as also to those in his own family, these events being
chronicled with many flourishes and in larger characters than usual
— the embellishment which they receive being, perhaps, regulated
by the amount of his fee or the quality of the entertainment pro-
vided on such festive occasions. It is curious that when practising
caligraphy, which he often does, he is for ever choosing the

By the Rev. W. II. Aw dry.

327

well-known school-boys' copy, " If thou art ignorant, be not ashamed
. . . " but he never finishes the copy or practises the moral it is
intended to convey.

Ludgershall would seem to have had its tales of romance in later
years. I remember a nephew of mine who was staying with me
for his holidays getting hold of a then very popular novel, in which
he appeared deeply interested. I asked him how he liked his book.
" Awfully/' was the reply, " it's all about love and murder." It
was his idea of romance, you see, and I suppose the author's. If
it be a correct idea Ludgershall has had its share, for I read that a
son of a former occupier of the Castle Farm (1789) being crossed
in love, first destroyed the object of his affections and then died by
his own hand. He was buried as a suicide at the foot of Windmill
Hill. A tradition also exists of a maiden who drowned herself for
love (1729) in the village pond. It must have been a hard matter,
one would think, but the register tells me that by that time she had
reached the somewhat mature age of 39 years, and had, no doubt,
become a very determined character.

A few years ago there was found among the rubbish in a loft at
Crawlboys Farm a diary, written on parchment, kept by a certain
John Capps — who by his own showing was a servant to Mr. Borlase
Webb (the achievement hanging up in Ludgershall Church shews
that General Webb was twice married, (1) to one of the Borlase
family of Cornwall; (2) to a Vilett, of Swindon), which contains
many curious allusions to events which happened in his time. It
begins thus : —

" 1713. Dyed my grandfather, James Capps."
"1714. Dyed that great Princess Queen Anne."

It goes on to tell of eclipses, meteors, and the prices of provisions,
meat being very dear at 2>\d. a lb. in 1759; it had risen to hd. and
6d. in 1771. His accounts of the struggles of party politics in his
time are very interesting, but too long to re-produce here to-night.
I shall be happy to show the diary to anyone who is curious on the
subject. I must, however, read you the account of how there was a

328

" Ludgershall Castle and its History."

contest for Ludgershall in 1734, and how the election was won. It
all comes as follows, under the heading of the year 1734 : —

"1734. Mr. Richard Earle of Chute dyed in the month of April and on the
27th of this same month and year came on at Ludgershall an election of members
to serve in Parliament for that borough. The candidates were my master Borlase
Webb Esq : John Dalston Esq : Peter Delme Esq : Daniel Boone Esq : and a
great, great struggle it was at the polling. But as there happened to be two re-
turning officers by name William Crouch and John Sturgess the latter of whom
was in the interest of Mr. Delme and Mr. Boone, and by means of art and power
obtained the writt and so returned them as duly elected to the sheriff of Wilts
who was also of the same side of the question, and likewise absolutely refused
William Crouch's return, tho' carried by Mr. Webb himself in person to Westbury
Leigh, the place where the sheriff: lived, whose name was Thomas Phipps Esq : I
likewise attended Mr. Webb in this journey. But the principal person interested
in this affair was John Selwyn Esq : commonly called Colonel Selwyn who had
at this time purchased a considerable number of valuable tenements so that Mr.
Delme and Mr. Boone was nominated by him (at least Mr. Delme was), and both
sat in all that parliament."

There is also an account of a contest for the county in the year
1772, between Mr. Herbert and Mr. Goddard, when Mr. Goddard
was returned with 1000 majority, and " 'tis said £20,000 was spent
in one week."

I will read only one more extract from the diary of this worthy
old man, and a very touching one it is : —

" Friday the 20th of October, 1752, about 11 o'clock in the morning dyed my
wife and left me four children, the eldest but 14 years of age, the youngest 6
years and a half and was buried Sunday Evening following in the Churchyard at
Ludgershall. Her bearers was Thos : Smith, Thos : Pavey, Wm. Stone, Thos :
Crouch, John Finn, and Wm. Munday. Mr. Yaldwyn buried her corpse — and
the children all attended at the grave. A dolefull time."

He died in 1778, and there is a gravestone which marks his last
resting-place.

He also speaks, or rather writes, of wars and rumours of wars, of
exploits by land and sea, of riots, cattle disease, &c , &c, but, as
I said before, if anyone is desirous of so doing, he may come to
Ludgershall and read for himself.

My paper has somehow spun itself out to a greater length than
I had anticipated, and than you in all probability have desired. I

By the Rev. W. H. Awdry. 329

can only thank you for your kind attention, and promise a hearty
welcome to any who are thinking of paying a visit to-morrow to
" Ludgershall and its Castle."

APPENDIX.

Among the royal letters in the Tower is one addressed by Henry
III. to the Pope, in which be mentions that one of his reasons for
desiring the marriage of his sister Eleanora (afterwards wife of
Simon de Montfort) with William Earl of Pembroke, was that he
should " restore unto us the castles of Merleberg and Lutegareshall,"
of which he had somehow become possessed ; accordingly, on his
betrothal, he placed them in the hands of the Papal Legate to be
held for the king until the consummation of the marriage.

In June, 1274, the Queen's mother, Eleanor of Provence, with
her grandchildren, Eleanora, afterwards Duchess of Bar, and Henry
(children of Edward I.), resided at Ludgershall. While here sugar
and oil were sent from London for their use. — Wardrobe Roll Account,

In 1292, Edward I. granted his daughter Mary, Abbess of Ames-
bury, forty oaks from the forests of Chute and Bakeholt.

The Abbess Mary and her young cousin (daughter of Henry of
Lancaster, and granddaughter of Edward Crouchback, afterwards
Abbess of Amesbury), Isabella of Lancaster, a nun, made a pilgrimage
to the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury. On a Tuesday they
reached Andover from Newbury, and thence visited Amesbury. On
the Wednesday they paused at Ludgershall, and remained in the
"royal palace there until Saturday, and thence proceeded to Stock-
bridge," after which their escort left them, as the road towards
Winchester was now considered safe. — Wardrobe Account.

Aug. 22nd, 1305. The Abbess Mary took her young half-brothers,
Thomas and Edmund, to Ludgershall and stayed there some time.

Henry de Lutgershall was entrusted with the remains of the
little Princess Eleanora, daughter of Edward I. and his second wife,
Marguerite of France, when in 1311 she was conveyed for burial
from Amesbury to Beaulieu. — Wardrobe Accounts of Edward II.

330 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

In 1316 Abbess Mary went to Court from Amesbury, again
passing through Andover and Ludgershall on the 1st of May. Here
she paid a guide 4?d. to show the way to Newbury.

Ahout 1317 Edward II. granted his sister Mary the manor of
Ludgershal]; valued at ££6 per annum, with its military fiefs, Church
presentations, &e. — Rot. Pat., 10 Ed. II.

In a letter patent, under date November 27th, 1377, we find
Richard II. making sure to his aunt, Isabella, Countess of Bedford,
daughter of Edward III., the manors of ff Cosham, Mershton,
Meysey, et Ludgarshall in comitatie Wiltes."

Jtotttj on % %whx of Milts m\b Pants*

By the Eev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A.*

j^pjJP^jUR Wiltshire Society having this year travelled out of its
own proper district, it seemed to me only a suitable return
for the welcome you have given us that, in the address which I have
been asked to make, such topographical points should be handled,
as, lying within our limits, are nearest in situation to you.

On the plan before you is the border line that divides Wiltshire
from Hampshire. I propose merely to give a cursory account of
some things that have happened, and of some that are to be seen,
on the Wiltshire side. All on the western side belongs to the
Archaeological Society of Hampshire, which it is to be hoped may
some day be formed.

Let me on this subject first say a few words. There is now no
longer any doubt of the utility of such societies. It is not merely
that they afford rational amusement for a few days to those who have

• Read at the Meeting of the Wilts Archaeological Society at Andover, August 13th, 1883.

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 331

a liking for local antiquities, but it is acknowledged that by their
means much is saved from oblivion that would otherwise be utterly
lost. They assist the regular historian in a humble way, by bringing
to light from neglected documents secret history which very often
puts an entirely new face upon history as commonly received. Then
the spade and the plough, carefully watched (for this is most essential),
often disclose memorials of times past that throw fresh light upon
the former state of things in an unexpected yet undeniable way.
Mr. Green, in the preface to his popular book called " The Making
of England," says that "In addressing himself to a very difficult
task in a very obscure period, he has availed himself of some resources
that hitherto have been unduly neglected. Archaeological researches
on the sites of villas and towns, or along a line of road or dyke,
often furnish us with evidence even more trustworthy than that of
written chronicle."

But there is another reason why such societies are to be encouraged.
The pursuits of the archaeologist lead him to take more pleasure in
his home and neighbourhood. Those places are all part, not of a
new country of mushroom growth, but of a very old one ; every
nook and corner of which has some little history or tradition of its
own. We have not all of us the liberty of wild geese, to be flying
all over the world : we must be content to be tame geese, biding at
home in our farmyards : and the more we can pick up there the
more satisfied we shall be to stop there.

Let me quote the words of a distinguished man, one of your own
county, the late Lord Palmerston. Addressing on a certain occasion
a company who had kept up some old-fashioned custom, he said, <( I
honour you for it. There is nothing which more dignifies man than
clinging to ancient and honourable traditions. Our patriotism, like
our charity, ought to begin at home. A man should begin by
loving his home and his family : he should then love his town and
his district : he should then love his county : and then he will love
his country. So far from these local attachments narrowing the
human mind or cramping and debasing its sympathies, they are the
real; the true and stable foundation for the true and honest feelings
that bind men to the nation and country in which they live/' I

332 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

hope, therefore, that Hampshire may have its society to help in
keeping alive the love of old things. You have an admirable example
in the person of one very well known to you, your neighbour the
Earl of Carnarvon. He is at this moment the President of the
Society of Antiquaries, in London, and personally takes a most hearty
and active part in its proceedings.

I ought, perhaps, to apologise for speaking of your county as
Hampshire. It is commonly so called, and abbreviated into Hants.
But the proper name is the county of Southampton, South, to dis-
tinguish it from the iVb^-ampton of the Midlands. The letter p
has no business to be in the name ; am being merely an oral
corruption of Afen or Avon : if the old topographers, Camden and
Lambarde, are correct in telling us that the Anglo-Saxon word was
North-afen-dun.1

It is also a county, not a shire : a distinction on which provincial
vanity sometimes lays considerable stress. The case seems to be
that in very ancient times the whole country consisted of little
principalities : varying in size according to circumstances now im-
possible to explain. Under the Saxons these divisions continued,
becoming comities, or counties under a comes or count. When King
Alfred divided these into hundreds and tithings, he severed, or
sheared off, from some counties portions which became our shires.
Essex, Kent, Middlesex, Cornwall, Norfolk, Suffolk, and others, claim
the more dignified name of county, and scorn that of shire. There
was a time when you of Hants and we of "Wilts were common subjects
of the kingdom of Wessex. Then came a subdivision, and a line was
drawn to sever us from you. The line, as it appears on the plan,
appears a very irregular one, but the reason is simple, viz., that it
merely followed the outline of the various parishes and manors as
they had existed from time immemorial. There is no distinct
account of the time when this was done : but it is commonly be-
lieved to have been King Alfred who settled the present division of
England. It was certainly done before the reign of William I.
But this is only one of many arrangements that exist, of the origin

1 Kuding, on Coins, ii., p. 173.

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 333

of which we know little or nothing Our remote ancestors seem to
have been of the same way of thinking as one of the ancient
Pharaohs, of whom a story is told. " When the art of writing was
discovered in that country the ingenious inventor went to show it
to the king. ' What use/ said he, ' do you mean to make of this?'
fTo help memory, Sire/ was the answer. ' No/ said the King,
' you will not help memory : you will destroy memory : because, if
my people put things down in writing and trust to the paper, they
won't take the pains to remember them : so your fine invention will
do more harm than good / 33 It did not occur to him that however
carefully the memory is cultivated and writing neglected, still, when
men die their memory dies with them, and if what they knew was
worthy of being known hereafter but was not committed to writing,
posterity was not likely to know much about it. That is the reason
why we are almost in the dark about some periods of English history.

Perhaps, as archaeologists, you may feel disposed to say " It is
well for us they did not record everything, for if they had, and the
records had survived, our occupation had gone.""

Boundary Line.

The total length of the line that divides the county of Southampton
from the shire of Wrilts is about sixty miles : and it begins, towards
the north, at a point called Buttermere Corner, where Wilts,
Berks, and Hants meet. Buttermere itself is a little village on the
Wiltshire side. Not far off, but in Hampshire, and at the northern-
most point of it, is another little village called Combe, of which I
have a very pleasant recollection, having passed two following
summers there, for reading purposes, whilst I was an undergraduate
at Oxford. I was never in this part of England before, and Combe
was my first perch in the south. Combe is a very common name
for villages, especially near the downs or other ranges of hills.
The word is Welsh, and means a particular kind of valley : for all
vallies are not combes. Two ranges of hills may be divided by a
narrow valley, as at Clifton near Bristol. That is the valley of the
Avon : but it is not a combe. I believe that a combe proper is a

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXIII. Z

334 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

long1 scoop down the side of a hill, reaching from the very top to
the very bottom, along which you may walk or drive up from the
level at the bottom, by a gradual gentle slope, all the way to the
top. The scoop-out may be longer or shorter, wider or narrower,
but the essence of it is, that it be a gradually sloping valley. I
speak under correction : but that is a description which corresponds
with most of the places to which I have observed the name of
Combe to be attached.

Backswording Match.

It was during my stay at Combe that I was witness to a rustic
amusement, once very popular, but of which I have heard nothing
for so many years that I fancy it must have nearly died out. If so,
it becomes an archreological reminiscence. This was then called
a backswording match : the same pastime which in one of his
" Spectator " papers Addison says he saw at Bath in 1703. He
describes it as " a ring of cudgel-players, who were breaking one
another's heads in order to make some impression on their mistresses'
hearts."" I saw it in 1825, at a revel at Hurstbourne, half-way
between Combe and Andover. In the middle of the village, on an
open space, a wooden stage was erected, about three feet high from
the ground, fenced with ropes to protect the combatants from
being thrown or falling off. What the prize at Hurstbourne was,
whether a mistress's heart, or a cheese, a new hat, or a purse of
money, I do not remember : but it ought to have been something
singularly attractive, the Queen of Beauty should have been emi-
nently beautiful, the cheese of prime quality, the hat very smart, or
the purse very heavy, to induce fellows to stand up and have their
heads cracked in the way I saw done for the amusement of a gaping
crowd. Of that crowd of gapers I confess with shame that I was
one : but at that time of life it was looked upon as fun : and the
more so because the combatants themselves seemed to consider it
in much the same light. These village gladiators fought by pairs, in
turns, and the winner was he who succeeded in breaking most heads,
or, in breaking the head of him who had broken most others'. The

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 335

three principal performers were : (1) a stupid raw youth, who repre-
sented Wiltshire ; (2) a short, thick-set quiet little man, who stood
for Somerset; and (3) the Hampshire hero (the favourite of course), a
thin wiry dark-featured gypsy, with aquiline nose and the eye of a
hawk, who skipped about as if he were made of gutta percha. They
fought bare-headed, with the left arm fastened to the waist,so that they
might not use it to ward off blows. To hit an opponent on the face
was against rules : but to hit him on the top of the head was the
grand point, and the grandest of all to hit him so as to produce
blood. Never shall I forget that gypsy's keen eye looking out for
the effect of his blow, and how joyfully, when he saw it, he called
out " Blood," and dropped his weapon. The Wiltshire man was
very soon disposed of, but when it came to the final match, the
steady cautious little man cracked the gypsy's head, and Somerset
won the day.

The chalk down above Combe, looking northward over Berkshire,
is, I believe, the highest point of chalk in this part of England. A
gallows stands, or used to stand, at the very place where the down
is 1011 feet above the level of the sea. A little way off towards
Woodhay there is a large earthwork, called Walbury, and on the
side of the down under Walbury are some of those grassy rings
connected probably with ancient burial.

But we must begin our walk along the Wilts side of the boundary.

Chute.

The first tract to be crossed is the old Chute Forest formerly be-
longing to the Crown. A forest in former days did not mean a large
wood of trees only : but a district, subject to the old severe forest
law : within which district, so many miles long and so many broad,
the forest law was enforced, and a heavy penalty levied on any
person who killed wild animals within ifc : especially the deer, which
were the King's game. Within the limits of the district there
might be open fields and farms, as well as woods and coppices be-
longing to private gentlemen, but I believe that at Chute all was
Crown estate. In very early times this forest and Hippingscombe

z 2

336 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

were held under the Crown by a family of the name of Columbars,
whose name often occurs as great territorial lords in that part of
Wilts. There was one part of Chute that belonged to Hyde Abbey,
at Winchester.

Chute Forest ran into both counties : one part was called Chute
Wilts ; the other Chute Hampshire. Chute Hampshire came down
as far as Hurstbourne, and the Doles. In this part of the forest
there were one thousand acres and twenty coppices. Chute Wilts
fell into the hands of Protector Somerset, who indeed contrived to
get into his hands most of the tract of country between Chute and
Marlborough .

The meaning of the name of Chute I do not know. It is very
likely some old Celtic word. There are two parishes : Chute proper,
and Chute Forest. In the former and northernmost lies Conholt, for-
merly called Chute Park. This place was made into a park by a Sir
Philip Medows in Charles the Second's time. He had been Secretary
to Oliver Cromwell and Ambassador to Portugal. His last male
descendants were two : Sir Sidney Medows, who built the present
house in 1762, and a Philip Medows. Philip married a Pierrepont,
heiress to the Dukes of Kingston, of Kingston House, at Bradford-
on-Avon. Their son, Charles Medows, assumed the name of Pierre-
pont, and from him is descended the lady who is now the occupier
of Conholt, the Lady Charles Wellesley.

There was at Chute in Charles the Second's time a celebrated
character, who somehow or other earned a bad reputation, Sir
William Scroggs, who was no less a person than Lord Chief Justice
of England. His origin was not very great : he was born in London,
and being intended for a divine, went to Pembroke College, Oxford,
in 1643 : but having previously been a soldier, and having borne
arms for Charles I. as a captain, at Colchester, in 1640, he was dis-
qualified for holy orders : so took to the law, and rose to the high
office mentioned. Along with two other judges he was impeached
on a report of the House of Commons, for certain arbitrary and
illegal proceedings, in 1680. The poets have embalmed him, but
not in the most fragrant of spices. The first, the anonymous author
of a poem called " Naboth's Vineyard/'' in the following lines : —

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A.

337

" His corrupted youth
Had made his soul an enemy to Truth,
But Nature furnished him with parts and wit ;
■ For bold attempts and deep intriguing fit.
Small was his learning ; and his eloquence
Did please the rabble, nauseate men of sense.
Bold was his spirit, nimble was his tongue
Which, more than Law or Reason takes the throng.
Him part by money, partly by Her Grace
The covetous Queen raised to a Judge's place.
Aud as he bought his place, he Justice sold,
Weighing his causes, not by Law. but Gold." *

The second severe lash is given by Dryden, in his " Essay on
Satire 33 :—

" Words and wit did anciently agree :
And Tully was no fool though this man be.
At Bar abusive : on the Bench unable,
Knave on the woolsack : fop at council-table." f

Chute Causeway.

There are about Chute several traces of antiquity, especially
Roman, and more particularly that which is called Chute Cause-
way.

Two main Roman roads crossed one another nearly at right angles
near Andover. One from Old Sarum to Silchester, west to east. The
other from Porchester to Marlborough, south to north. I believe
the latter may be traced as far as Tangley : after that all traces are
lost. It then re-appears towards Conholt Park. Near there it
traverses an earthwork called Bevisbury. An old MS. account,
written one hundred and fifty years ago, says that " Sir Philip
Medows who made the park got leave to take in the Roman way,
and make it the boundary of his park. Here it makes a grand
terrace walk, and the road is constructed in a remarkable manner.
The basis of the causeway, being a high bed of flint the natural

* Dryden's works (W. Scott's Edit.), vol. ix., p. 198,
t Ditto, vol, xv., 210.

338 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

product of the country, is therefore no curiosity ; the upper stratum
indeed has much of the marvellous which the Romans affected in
all their works, it being a beautiful gravel and whence brought is
not easy to be imagined, as no parts of the country produce any
such material. This, when Sir Philip made his park, being uncovered,
made one of the noblest terrace gravel-walks possible in Europe.
But the third or middle stratum of the causeway is marvellous and
perfectly incomprehensible. I [says the old writer] was first shewn
to take notice of it by the present Sir Sidney. By the thickness
of the bed of it and its extent in length as I have at times observed
it, I cannot but imagine here are thousands of loads : and nothing
like it in this or any other country that I can ever hear of. It has
the likeness of the cynders and ashes of a blacksmith's forge." Sir
Richard Colt Hoare's account of the Roman road from this point is
as follows : — 1 " Immediately before it quits the park it takes a
singular form, making a short angle to the left, to avoid a very
steep declivity on. the right which presented an insuperable obstacle
to a straight line. This was avoided by a circuitous course round
the hill : and in no instance of a Roman road have I seen so long a
deviation, which extended nearly three miles. After having com-
menced the curve the form of the causeway continues very decided
in its course, over a wild tract of poor land called Chute Heath, on
which are a few scattered barrows indicating the former existence of
the Britons on this elevated spot. The dreary aspect of the fore-
ground is forgotten by a very fine distant prospect ; the whole extent
of Wilts, as far as Alfred's Tower, is discernible, as well as the
distant hills of the Isle of Wight."

In the open field a few yards from the causeway on the north
side, overlooking Black Down and Hippingscombe, lies a large flat
rude stone, with certain wavy marks upon it (which, however, may
only be the effect of weathering upon the grain of the stone) . It
is traditionally called the stone of one Kin ward, some ancient
magnate who held his Hundred court here in the open air, whence

1 " Ancient Wilts, Roman Period," p. 68.

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 339

the name of Kinwardstone to this Hundred in the county of Wilts.

Sir R. C. Hoare continues : — " A further object for the antiquary
occurs in this curve near a small alehouse called ' Scot's Poor. ' A
large bank and foss vulgarly called Wansdyke which the Roman
causeway crosses/''

The " large bank and foss " are called Wansditch in Dury's Map
of Wilts, " erroneously/' says Sir R. C. Hoare (Ancient Wilts,
Part I., p. 187), but as the course of Wansdyke eastward of
Savernake Forest is much interrupted, becomes very indistinct, and
breaks off altogether on the hill above Shalbourn, it is hardly safe
to say of any bank and foss that may be met in this district, that it
is no part of Wansdyke. The bank at Scots Poor, however, seems
to have been a branch of it : for Sir Richard, in a note to his work,1
adds that, at the time of his visit, the public-house was then kept
by a man who had once been a shepherd and had made himself
acquainted with the numerous dykes and banks of that neighbourhood;
and that this man had traced the Scots Poor bank at intervals from
Silchester to Old Sarum and that it had several branches. Sir
Richard further adds that in a subsequent excursion he had followed
this bank and ditch for many miles till he found it united with the
real Wansdyke.

All the way along, and in every direction, passing by Buddesden
and the Collingbournes, are marks of British settlement, barrows,
camps, and dykes ; memorials of ancient occupation, fighting, and
burial. It is impossible to make clear history of these monuments :
for none has come down to us. An ancient author reports that
when Alexander the Great, traversing Asia Minor in the course of
his conquests, arrived at the great mound called The Tomb of
Achilles, on the promontory of Sigeum, he exclaimed, " Oh fortunate
young hero, in having had a Homer to celebrate your valour " : but
when we stand upon our great Wiltshire mounds, such, for instance,
as Silbury, near Marlborough, which, for anything we know, may
cover the remains of some Wiltshire hero, no less valiant than the
son of Peleus, our exclamation, the reverse of Alexander's, can only

1 "Ancient Wilts, Eoman Period," p. 69.

340 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

be, " Oh ?m-fortunate hero, sleeping" below, that had no bard to tell
us what you did, or even who you were ! " We need not, therefore,
pause over these sepulchral mounds, but go on to a great natural
hill with an artificial summit, called

Cidbury.

This is curious from its geological structure. It is a hill of chalk
standing boldly up on a plain of chalk, but when in your excursion
you reach the top, you will find it capped with a stratum of round
flint pebbles. How came a bed of water-rolled pebbles at that
isolated elevation ? The explanation is, that they are the remains
of a stratum which at one time overlaid the whole of the chalk
district, but at some later period has been washed away. Relics of
strata once super-incumbent, such as beds of gravel, sand, and clay
are frequently found on the highest tops of the chalk downs : those
of clay sometimes of the proper quality for making bricks.

The summit of- Cidbury was, at some remote period, formed into
a camp ; and from the principal entrance into the encampment there
is a trace of a long causeway leading towards Everley. Near this
causeway are groups of round cavities, little pits in the ground,
considered to be the remains of an ancient British village. It seems
that, after the fashion still in use in some of the savage islands
described in books of voyages, they dug large round pits in the
earth, and covered them over with conical roofs, of rafters and thatch.
There is a very remarkable collection of these half-subterranean
wigwams at a place called Pen Pits, on the western border of Wilts,
near Mere and Stourhead. For half-a-mile, or so, all over the side
of the hill the ground is honeycombed in circular pits. It was for
a long time a doubt what they really had been : but the opinion
seems now to be fully adopted that they really were ancient dwelling-
places. We read in the classic writers of a people called Troglodytes,
dwellers in caves in Ethiopia. There are Troglodytes in Liverpool
to this day — a large part of the population actually living in hovels
cut out of the solid sandstone rock. There is, therefore, nothing at
all incredible in the idea of our ancestors having shewn a preference
for burrowing, like rabbits, in dry chalk and soft sand.

By the Rev. Canon J. E, Jackson, F.S.A. 34]
Tidworth.

Tid worth, near Cidbury, is so close upon our border line that it
lies on both sides of it, North Tidworth being in Wilts, South
Tidworth in this county. This morsel of rather nice topography
was, unluckily, not within the knowledge of the London solicitors
of the late mighty hunter, Mr. Asheton Smith : and the consequence
of it was the important lawsuit, which is too fresh in your memory
to require any archaeological research.

Some part of Tidworth once belonged to the family of Poore : a
very ancient Wiltshire name, going so far back as two Bishops of
Sarum, Herbert and Richard Poore, who succeeded one another in
that Bishopric at the end of the twelfth century. The Sarum of
which they were bishops was Old Sarum : but it was Richard Poore
who effected the transfer of the see to modern Salisbury.

There was a gentleman of that family whom I have often heard
spoken of by the late Mr. John Britton, our distinguished Wiltshire
antiquary, Mr. Edward Poore, as a very literary man who had
travelled much, read much, and associated much with men of letters
and science, and who had left behind him a vast quantity of manu-
scripts. I made enquiry about these many years ago, in hopes that
something might have been preserved of use to us in our endeavours
to throw light upon our county history : but I was informed that,
though there were six thousand and more pages of writing still
preserved, yet they were all upon general subjects, and would be of
no assistance to us.

The DiEMON of Tidworth.

A house at Tidworth (the same, I believe, that was lived in by
the Poore Family,) had been, before their time, the property of a
previous family, of the name of Mompesson : and during their
occupation it was the scene of a very celebrated ghost story, called
* The Daemon of Tidworth/' or, :< The Invisible Drummer/' A
ghost story still continues quite as much as ever to take a fascinating
hold of the popular mind : but two hundred years ago the whole
country was literally absorbed in the charming mystery which sur-
rounded " The Invisible Drummer." Addison actually wrote a play

342 Notes on the Border of Wilts and HanU.

called "The Haunted House/' which, was acted at the London
theatres, in which he introduced aome of the circumstances ; but it
was a Mr. Joseph Grlanville, Rector of Bath, who published the his-
tory of it at full length in a book called " Sadducismus Triumphatus.""
The outline of the story is this. In the year 1661, the reign of
King Charles II., Mr. John Mompesson, of Tidworth, was an officer
in the militia. Being at Ludgershall one day in the month of
March, he heard a drum beating in the street. With the ear of a
soldier he naturally asked what was going on. He was told by the
gentleman of the town at whose house he was staying, that for some
days they had been annoyed by an idle fellow who had gone about
beating a drum and asking for money. Mr. Mompesson examined
the man, and, finding him to be an impostor, took possession of the
drum, and put the drummer into the hands of a constable. This
official was one of the Dogberry school, whose orders were, when
they got hold of a villain who shewed a strong dislike to being
taken, " to let him go, and thank God you are rid of a knave/'' The
Ludgershall policeman of 1661 did accordingly: so the drummer
made his escape. But Mr. Mompesson did not let the drum go.
He kept that unlucky valuable : and it was the cause to him and
his of all the trouble that ensued. Presently strange noises began
to be heard in the house at Tidworth, like the thumping of a drum :
Mr. Mompesson got out his pistols, searched about, could find
nothing or nobody. The noise would be repeated for several nights
together : then for several be silent. The beds began to be shaken :
and the windows to rattle, even in Mr. Mompesson's own room.
The children heard noises under their beds, like scratchings with
claws. They were removed to a garret : the noises followed them.
Shoes were thrown over their heads. The servants had their hair
pulled. Violent knock ings, loud enough to alarm the neighbours :
sounds like jingling of money. Then there was a scuffle between
John, the steady old family servant, and somebody invisible : some-
times the invisible got the worst of it; sometimes John. There
were other varieties of noise : a rattling of chains, a rustling of silk,
sometimes a singing in the chimney ; now and then a blue light,
flitting up and down stairs : the children saw it also in their chamber.

By the Rev. Canon J. E. JacJcson, F.S.A. 343

Doors would be opened and shut half-a-dozen times : yet nobody-
seemed either to come in or go out; and then again half-a-dozen people
seemed to be rushing in at once. During one of the times that the
knocks were going on, one of the company, when many were present,
mustered courage enough to venture upon exorcising the ghost by
this fearful adjuration, '* Satan ! if the drummer set thee a-work,
give three knocks and no more." The three knocks were given,
and no more : but no further reply. Sir Thomas Chamberlayne,
of Oxford, and several others, were present at that performance.
Another time the village blacksmith slept in the house, and he
undertook to discover all about it. Presently there came into his
room a noise as of a man shoeing a horse ; and something or other
came as it were with a pair of pincers and snipt at the blacksmith's
nose the greater part of the night. Another night a young lady
was the victim. Her bed was lifted up, and there were noises
underneath. They thrust in a sword, but nobody was hurt. Then
there came out a noise like that ol a dog panting for breath. They
began to suspect witchcraft : for the bible belonging to the old
gentlewoman of the house was found under the grate, open, with
the paper side downward. Mr. Mompesson took it up, and observed
that it lay open at the third chapter of St. Mark, where there is
mention of unclean spirits being cast out by Beelzebub. So then
they strewed dust over the floor of the room, to see what marks
might be made upon it : and in the morning they found the re-
semblance of a great claw, and some mysterious letters, circles, and
scratches. Mr. Glanville, the Rector of Bath, himself visited the
house, and, though the knockings had ceased, he said he distinctly
heard scratchings of the bed, and the panting of the dog very
violent. Two or three nights would pass quietly : and then the
noises would begin again. The candle would be put out in the
children's room : and the children themselves trampled on. Some-
thing would purr in their bed, like a cat, and the children themselves
would be lifted up, so that six men could not keep them down.

All this went on, at intervals, for two years. In the third year
a gentleman that lay in the house found all the money in his pocket
turned black : and one morning Mr. Mompesson going to his stable

344 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

found his horse with one of his hinder legs in his mouth, so fast,
that it was difficult for men with a lever to get it out.

All these circumstances were related by Mr. Mompesson. The
drummer, whose drum had been taken from him, was suspected to
be at the bottom of it all. He was tried at Salisbury assizes, and
condemned to be transported. He went, but somehow or other
contrived to get back again. Mr. Mompesson then prosecuted him
at Gloucester, as a felon, for supposed witchcraft, but he was acquitted.

The second Earl of Chesterfield, in one of his letters, says that
the whole country was ringing with this story of the drum which
Mr. Mompesson declared to be true. At last, in 1664.. King
Charles II. sent down Lord Falmouth, and the Queen sent Lord
Chesterfield to the house to examine the truth of it. They could
neither hear nor see anything extraordinary. The next year the
King told Lord Chesterfield that he had discovered the cheat, for
that Mr. Mompesson had confessed it all to him. Mr. Mompesson,
however, in a printed letter, declared that he had never made any
such confession. There is a curious examination in a journal called
the " Mercurius Rusticus," of the 16th April, 1663, by which it
appears that one William Drury, of Ufcot, near Broad Hinton, in
Wilts, was the Invisible Drummer. Samuel Pepys, the author of
the famous journal, read Mr. Glanville's narrative of the mysterious
disturbances; and says of it: " The discourse well writ, in good
style, but, methinks, not very convincing."

Mr. James Waylen, formerly of Devizes, the historian of that
town and of Marlborough, writing in 1854, mentioned that he was
possessed of some private original letters elucidating the history. I
have not seen anything more from his pen upon the subject, except
what he says in the Appendix to his History of Marlborough
(p. 553) : — -"Every place has its ghost story. Hardly any of such
legends are worth recording, except as illustrations of the remarkable
hold which they appear to take on the fancy of both the learned
and the rude, at certain epochs in the religious life of nations. Few
persons are aware to what an extent the public mind was engaged
at that time in questions of this sort/' [The very judges on the
bench, the great Sir Matthew Hale himself, you will remember, were

By the Bev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 345

not altogether free from a belief in the supernatural, in witchcraft.]
" Dr. Francis Hutchenson, in his historical essay on witchcraft,
written apparently about the year 1700, mentions no less than
twenty-four different works or essays which had all made their
appearance since the Restoration of Charles II., the greater part of
which had for their object the maintenance of the popular credulity
upon such points." Mr. Waylen adds that the performances at
Mr. Mompesson's house are now generally supposed to have been
the result of gypsy confederacy, though this was far from being the
opinion of the public at the time, or even of Mr. Mompesson him-
self, the owner of the house, for a son of his being asked by John
Wesley, many years afterwards, " What was his father's real opinion
of that affair ? " said, that whatever his father might have really
thought, he was obliged to treat it as a hoax, to keep people away
from his house : for so many came to visit it that he was afraid
they would eat him out of house and home.
Enough of the Daemon of Tid worth.

Stokehenge Sarsens.

The county boundary at Clarendon Hill, about a mile west of
North Tidworth, turns towards the south along an old landmark
called the "Devil's Ditch/' on the western side of Beacon Hill,
down to Park House. The burial mounds called barrows abound in
the direction of Ambresbury ; and no wonder, for we are approaching
what was once the fashionable burying-ground of eminent Ancient
Britons.

It is tantalizing to pass by Stonehenge, so near our border-line,
in silence : but it would be impossible to give any satisfactory
account of that interesting ruin within the limits of our time : so
that I will only mention one point connected with it which I do not
remember to have seen noticed before. The larger stones, as you
all know, are called Sarsens ; but antiquaries are not all at one about
the meaning of the word. At Park Gate, on the county boundary,
on the road between Andover and Amesbury, there is, or was, in a
field abutting on a narrow lane leading from the roadside inn, a flat
stone, of large dimensions, lift, long, 12ft. in breadth, and 5ft. in

346 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Rants.

thickness. One of the many traditions about Stonehenge is that
the great Sarsens came from Andover, and this Park Gate stone, in
order to help the the tradition, is quoted as having been on its way
thither but abandoned. Some years ago, remembering that there
is a village in this county, not far from Amport, called Sarsden, it
occurred to me as possible that Sarsen stones might take their name
from Sarsden village, if only any such kind of stone could be found
in or about that place. I named this to my late friend and neigh-
bour, Mr. Poulett Scrope, an eminent geologist and an enthusiastic
supporter of our Society. He had not thought of this before, but
was so taken with the idea that we immediately organized an ex-
cursion together to hunt for Sarsden stone. We spent the best part
of a day about the place without finding, or being able to hear of,
anything of the kind. From the geological age and character of
the ground it was hopeless to expect any original quarry of that
sort of stone, and nobody could tell us of any loose blocks, great or
small, lying about, as they do by hundreds in certain places upon
the chalk. I therefore name our disappointment in order to save
others the trouble of going to that place on a similar errand.

Winterslow.

Resuming our boundary walk we pass by Winterslow, about which
there are one or two things to be mentioned.

One of the old British burial mounds opened here some years ago
yielded an article with which the Ancient Britons are not generally
depicted : a specimen of very fine linen. In a grave, under an arch
made of dry flints without mortar, were found the burnt bones of a
corpse wrapped up in linen so delicate as to resemble a veil of the
finest lace.1 In another mound there was a curious find of a large
store of silver pennies, ranging from Saxon times down to King
Stephen. They were neatly and accurately cut in halves and
quarters. The cross often marked on the reverse of money of our
early pennies was intended to facilitate the breaking up of the silver

"Archaeological Journal."

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 347

into a half or quarter penny 1 : an old way, but, to our ideas, rather
a. novel one, of obtaining " small change."

The manor of Winterslow was held of the crown by a curious
tenure. Whenever the King came to Clarendon the Squire of
Winterslow had to perform a little duty, perhaps not altogether
disagreeable. He had to appear at Clarendon, go into the royal
cellar, draw out of any vessel he pleased a pitcher of claret, and
help the King to a cup of it. He then carried home, as his per-
quisite, the vessel out of which he had drawn the wine, and all the
rest of the wine itself, together with the cup out of which the King
had refreshed himself. As kings do not generally drink out of a
sixpenny earthenware mug and pitcher, the Squire of Winterslow
appears to have held his estate on singularly favourable terms.

The Winterslow property in course of time belonged to the family
of Fox, Lord Holland. The house there was destroyed by a fire in
the year 1774, one night when it was filled with company, and just
after the performance of some private theatricals, the play having
been " The Fair Penitent. " Of this disaster a full account is given
in the correspondence of James Harris, first Earl of Malmesbury,
in a letter from Mrs. Harris to her son.

Winterslow House Burned.

From the " Letters of the first Earl of Malmesbury," vol i., p. 277.
Mrs. Harris to her son.

"Salisbury, January 9th, 1774.
" Yesterday we dined at Canon Bowles's. At 5 I set off in his coach in the
dark and rain, for the play at Winterslow, we got safe there, and were most
highly entertained. Mrs. Hodges does the Fair Penitent most finely, and Mr.
Fitzpatrick is the very thing for Lothario, dressed so elegantly, all white satin,
trimmed with silver : I never saw so fine a figure. Lady Mary Fox was Lavinia,
she looked and was dressed most prettily, but had the toothache, so was not in
spirits. Charles Fox was Horatio, Mr. Kent Altamont. All did well. After
the play we had " High Life below Stairs," and in the character of the Duke's
Servant, Mr. Fitzpatrick exceeded all comic acting I have yet seen. When that
was finished, we all repaired to the house to supper. The performance and com-
pany were very agreeable together. We got home in whole bones soon after one

1 Ellis's " Domesday," p. 424.

348

Notes on the Border of Wilts and Rants.

and in high spirits, but our joy is now turned to sorrow, for this morning, at 5,
a fire broke out in the new building at Winterslow House and entirely consumed
that and also the old house, except the kitchen and laundry. Though the house
was full of company, fortunately no life was lost. It was discovered by some
Salisbury chairmen, who, for want of a bed, were deposited on a carpet under the
great stairs ; they alarmed the house, and probably saved some lives. Lady
Pembroke, Lady Mary Fox and her children were carried to the King's house :
Miss Herbert, Mrs. Hodges, and the other ladies staid in the laundry :
all the gentlemen stood by. As they had no engines, and little or no water
but violent rain, they in a manner gave up all hope of the house : but their object
was to save the furniture in which they have succeeded, though 'tis greatly
damaged by dirt and rain. 'Tis thought, but not certain, that the fire was owing
to some timber near a chimney in the new building. This new building you have
never seen : it consisted of three magnificent rooms below, which made six good
ones above, and were furnished very elegantly and expensively. I think of the
contrast : we left that house this morning between twelve and one, all mirth and
jollity, and by seven it was consumed : it really hurts me, when I think how
many agreeable days I have spent in those rooms. Mr. Fox, Lady Mary, and
their two children are gone to Wilton House. Tuesday they go to the Bath to
Lord and Lady Holland. I fear they will not build on the same site again, so
we shall lose a most agreeable neighbour. The play was to have been again to-
morrow and a bail afterwards . . . Some say that during the flames Stephen,
Charles Fox and Fitzpatrick got to a proper distance and laid bets as to which
beam would fall in first. The friends of that house who resort to Almack's and
White's say they are sorry they were not at Winterslow that night as they might
have had an opportunity of seeing the family in a new light."

In some book where this story is told I have seen it stated that
during the fire the celebrated Charles James Fox (afterwards the
famous rival of William Pitt), being then an infant, was carried
out in his nurse's arms in a blanket, and that England had a narrow
escape from losing one of its eminent orators. This is very touching;
but, unfortunately, the said Charles James Fox, instead of being an
infant in his nurse's arms, was not only at this time a young man
of 26 years of age, but he had just been acting the part of Horatio :
and not only that : but, from what we know of that gentleman's
propensities, it is much to be feared that he was one of those who
stood watching the fire, laying bets as to which beam of the family
mansion would fall first.

Exeter Mail attacked by Lioness.

The next event connected with Winterslow is one which I am

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson i F.S.A. 349

old enough to remember, and one which you may most of you have
heard of : the singular attack, one night, upon the horses of the
mail-coach by a lioness. The story is preserved in one of the old
magazines, those very useful repositories of current events.

" 1816. Oct. 20th. The Exeter mail-coach, on its way to London,
was attacked this night at Winterslow Hut, near Salisbury, in a
most extraordinary manner. At the moment when the coachman
pulled up to deliver his bags, one of the leaders was suddenly seized
by a ferocious animal, which was perceived by the coachman and
guard, by the light of the lamps, to be a huge lioness. The horses
kicked and plunged violently, and it was with difficulty the coach-
man could prevent the carriage from being overturned. A large
mastiff dog came up and attacked her fiercely, on which she quitted
the horse and turned upon him. The dog fled, but was pursued and
killed by the lioness within about forty yards of the place. It
appears that the beast had escaped from a caravan that was standing
on the road-side, belonging to the proprietors of a menagerie, on
their way to Salisbury Fair. An alarm being given the keepers
pursued and hunted the lioness into a hovel under a granary : and
secured her so effectually, by barricading the place, as to prevent
her escape. The horse, when first attacked, fought with great
spirit, and if at liberty would perhaps have beaten down his antago-
nist with his fore-feet, but in plunging he embarrassed himself in
the harness. The lioness had attacked him in front, and springing
at his throat had fastened the talons of her fore-paws on each side
of his neck, close to the head, while the talons of her hinder feet
were forced into his chest. In this situation she hung, while the
blood was seen flying as if a vein had been opened by a lancet. The
horse attacked was the off-leader, which, as the mail drew up, stood
exactly abreast of the caravan from which the lioness made the
assault. Had the carriage been a little more advanced she would
probably have darted upon the coachman or guard. The coachman,
at first, proposed to alight and stab the lioness with a knife, but
was prevented by the remonstrance of the guard, who observed that
he would expose himself to certain destruction, as the animal, feeling
herself attacked, would turn upon him and tear him to pieces. The

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXIII. & A

350 Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

prudence o£ the advice was clearly proved by the fate of the dog.
It was the engagement between him and the lioness that gave time
for the keepers to rally. But for that interference the mischief to
the mail would have been more considerable.-" 1

Sir Benjamin Brodie.

Winterslow is further remarkable for having been the birthplace
of the late eminent surgeon, Sir Benjamin Brodie. And there is a
volume, written by the late Mr. Hazlitt, a distinguished author,
which he calls " Winterslow/' from having been composed whilst
he resided at the village. I have not been able to meet with it in
time for this paper, but I am told that the preface contains matter
very interesting to those who are connected with the country and
like to hear about it.

Clarendon.

From Winterslow a few miles brings us to Clarendon Park, a
palace of the Crown from the time of the Saxon Kings to Charles II.
In the reign of Henry II. national councils were held here to adjust
the differences between that king and Thomas a Becket : which
ended in 1164 in producing the celebrated Constitutions of Clarendon
of our legal history, by which it was hoped that a settlement of the
English constitution in Church and State would be finally established.
Some small remains of one of King John's hunting seats are still
to be seen.

There is a story connected with this estate in later times. Charles
I., wanting money, borrowed £20,000 from Sir Edward Hyde
(afterwards the famous chancellor and author of tbe History of the
Rebellion) , and mortgaged the property to him. The royal exchequer
being, and continuing to be, impoverished, Hyde fully reckoned
upon the debt's never being paid off, and being made a peer in the
next reign, he took his title from his expected estate. But the new
king, Charles II., suddenly repaid Hyde his £20,000 and gave the

1 " Gentleman's Magazine," 1816, Pt. II., p. 455.

By the Rev. Canon J. U. Jackson, F.S.A. 351

estate to George Monk, Duke of Albemarle : leaving Hyde with
the shadow o£ Clarendon, but not the substance.

Downton.

The last place on our tour to which I have to call your attention
is Downton. There is here a most remarkable earthwork, in some
respects wholly unlike any other. Earthworks are most frequently
to be met with on the tops of high hills : but this is almost on a
level with the river Avon : or, rather, it occupies ground that slopes
upwards from the river. The general shape is that of the horseshoe,
opening towards the river on the south side. Near the middle there
is a mound, and three more mounds at the termination of one o£
the long ridges or banks. These ridges (one of them 250 yards
long) are separated from one another by very deep gullies. The
whole work covers a very large space : several hundred yards long
and broad ; and it is impossible to embrace the entire plan at one
glance, owing to the number of trees. Looking attentively at this
very curious place one is puzzled by the oddity of the situation and
shape, supposing it to have been purposely made for a military
fortress. It is hardly likely that engineers would have fixed upon
a site so comparatively low, when there were so many elevated hills to
choose from ; though they might be tempted to use it if they should
find it, as it were, ready-made, and all the digging and banking done
by Nature. I think this was the case, if, indeed, it ivas ever a military
stronghold at all. If you should see the place you would observe
how gradually the outer bank sweeps downwards with a gentle
curve : how it dies away, as it were, into the flat. No military
engiueer would ever finish off an earthwork in such a fashion as
that. It was more probably done by the same geological agent
that produced all those smoothly-formed curves and hollows, those
basins and shelves (lynchets they are called) that are so frequently
found along the sides of the chalk downs. It is my own opinion
that Downton works were originally formed by the action of water.
Remember that the whole of the present surface of our country, if
stripped of its outer skin of grass, was once the muddy bottom of
the ocean : that all our undulations of hill and dale were shaped by

a a a

35£ Notes on the Border of Wilts and Hants.

the tides,, eddies, currents, and whirlpools of that ancient sea. The
beautifully-curved lines that give such graceful swells and dips to
the downs were all produced by the action of water gradually
retiring from higher to lower ground. If the Atlantic were dried
up to-morrow, we should find a surface as various, as in the present
surface of our terra fir ma. I do not think that the dykes and banks
at Downton were originally made by the hands and spades of men :
though they may have been utilized, and altered } just as the lynchets
have been.1

This place is called the Moot, which is an old Saxon word for an
assembly. We have still the name, in Witena,-gemot, the meeting
o£ wise men for the kingdom : the shire-mote for the county : the
folk-mote for the hundred. In some places a town-hall is called
the moot-hall. Now there is one part of this curious place, which
certainly would do very well for oratorical purposes : especially for
an assembly shaped like the French Chamber of Deputies, or a
theatre, both of which are of the horseshoe form. There are six
broad and long grass banks one behind another, and gradually
rising one above another, which certainly look for all the world as
if they had been made on purpose for people to sit upon, to listen to
somebody standing on the level stage below, in front of them.
That a speaker can be heard very well I am able to testify, having
tried it. Visiting the place with some friends they took their
seats on the top row, as far back as possible, whilst I stood, on the
flat, as it were at the back of the " stage/'' and recited a few lines
from some poet. They assured me that they heard every syllable
quite distinctly.

It is now very difficult to trace the shape of this singular spot,
it has been so much altered and disguised by trees and shrubs in
transforming it into a beautiful pleasure-ground.

The Bishops of Winchester, as Lords of the Hundred and Manor

1 A woodcut of the Moot, with description, will be found in Mr. Gr. T. Clark's
paper (" The Earthworks of the Wiltshire Avon ") in Journal of Archaeological
Institute, vol. xxxii., p. 305. Also in the late E. T. Stevens's " Jotttings on the
Moot Excursion," 1876, p. 31 (Bennett, Salisbury).

By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 353

of Downton, used to hold their courts there, and probably at the
Moot — though I am not able to produce evidence of the fact.

Places in the open air were undoubtedly used for gathering- and
speechifying, in Scotland, in Iceland, and to this day in the Isle of
Man. In this part of England, in Wiltshire certainly, the sheriff
of the county held his " Turn/' as it was called, his court in the
king's name, at some well-known point, marked by an oak tree or
a big stone, in the open air.

Downton Moot may have been used for military purposes : but it
can only be the merest guess-work and fancy that brings Chlorus,
or Vespasion, or any other ancient Roman general to this or that
camp. We have no such minute description of their movements, as
to be able to identify them with nicety.

But about Downton there is a tradition which may, perhaps,
commend itself to your acceptance, seeing it relates to a hero of
your own county. The tradition is that it was a residence of Sir
Bevis, of Southampton : perhaps used by him when he bravely
defended the south coast to prevent Hampshire falling into the
hands of the Danes. That there was such a hero there can be no
doubt, because they still show his very sword at Arundel Castle !
Not only is his very sword to be soen, but the man himself. His
effigy at least, in stone, stands as a sentinel on one side of the town
gate of Southampton, and his formidable antagonist, Ascapart, on the
other. There is a hill called Bevis Mount at that town : and I have
already mentioned the site of an earthwork near Conholt, called
Bevis-bury. His achievements, with not a little poetical exaggera-
tion, are duly recorded in a famous old romance, written in Norman
French, printed in black letter, folio, with double columns, called
" Beuves de Hanton " : a story full of marvellous narrative of giants,
dragons, and fair ladies : very amusing and exciting, no doubt, to our
remote forefathers, sitting in their dreary castles by their winter
firesides. Mr. Ellis, in his book called " Metrical Romances/' gives
an abridgment of your great champion's history, " with a liveliness
which extracts amusement even out of the most rude and unpromising
of our old tales of chivalry." So says Sir Walter Scott, who also,
in his introduction to Marmion, mentions the hero himself. He

354 Notes on the Borders of Wilts and Hants.

is speaking of the New Forest, anciently called " Ytene": —

"Ytene's oak — beneath whose shade
Their theme the merry minstrels made
Of Ascapart and Bevis bold " —

and so on.

Michael Drayton, also, in the first book of his poem called
Polyolbion, devotes two or three pages of verses to the wonderful
performances of Bevis : how nothing could resist that sword which
slew serpents, lions, and tyrants by the dozen.

Shakspeare likewise alludes to the wonderful history. In the
first act of Henry VIII. the Duke of Norfolk is describing the
feats of arms done at the meeting of Henry and the French King
at the Field of Cloth of Gold :—

"Such deeds
They did perform, that former fabulous story
Being now made possible enough,
Got credit, and Bevis was believed."

The dimensions of Ascapart were, indeed, formidable. He was
30 feet long : and he must have been remarkable for a fine open
forehead, for the space between his eye-brows was no less than
IE inches ! If such was Ascapart, the conquered, what must Bevis,
the conqueror, have been ? and who would not like to have seen,
between two such competitors, a backswording match at Hurst-
bourne ?

My excuse for introducing this fabulous history must be, that

"A little nonsense now and then
Is relished by the wisest men."

J. E. J.

355

#Iir €\m\ pate m Milk

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

T is not intended^ in the present paper, to give any general
or detailed account of Wiltshire Church plate, for that
would require a considerable amount of co-operation, but rather to
draw attention to the subject, and to suggest the necessity of pre-
serving what still remains of ancient Church plate in the county.
Perhaps the most effectual way of doing this is by preparing care-
fully-tabulated lists of the sacred vessels and whatever other plate
exists in each parish, together with such details of hall-marks,
dimensions, inscriptions, and references in parish books, &c, as can
be brought together. To make it permanent all modern plate
should be included. When this is done, and the particulars printed,
it will be found to be the best safeguard for their preservation. It
is also desirable to notice any old pieces not in actual use ; it fre-
quently happens that when new plate is presented, as it often is on
the restoration of a Church, the old pieces — -which may not be very
attractive — are put away, and, from changes of incumbency and
other causes, they eventually disappear, nobody knowing how.

The most convenient machinery for accomplishing this is by
utilising the existing subdivision of the diocese into rural deaneries,
by which means a moderate and manageable number of parishes are
supervised by each rural dean. An excellent beginning was made
in 1880 by the Rev. C. R. Manning, Rural Dean of Redenhall,
Norfolk, the results of which were printed in the ninth vol. of the
Norfolk Archaeological Society. A still more important work has
lately been accomplished in the diocese of Carlisle ; a complete
volume has been published giving full details of all the existing
pieces, and also bringing to notice another specimen of a pre-
Reformation chalice, now in use at Old Hutton.

There are good reasons for believing that the county of Wilts is

356

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

still rich in the possession of fine examples of Church plate. Those
specimens which have come under the notice of the writer, mostly
within a short distance from Salisbury, have already produced two
chalices of pre-Reformation times of unusual interest, namely, those
o£ Berwick St. James and Wylye, also the fragments of a third at
Codford St. Mary, besides an early paten belonging to the Church
of St. Edmund, Salisbury. There are also to be found fine old
examples of secular plate adapted to Church use, notably at Barford
St. Martin, Teffont Ewyas, Fugglestone St. Peter, and St. Martin's,
Salisbury.

Before describing any still existing specimens it will be as well
to say a few words on the causes which have led to the almost entire
destruction of mediaeval plate, both sacred and secular, and more
particularly to give some few historical notices relating to the form
which the chalice has assumed at different epochs.

It is now very rare to find any examples at all of the goldsmith's
craft even as early as the thirteenth century, a period so rich in
English art. Few, indeed, are the chalices, patens, or other sacred
vessels of the English Church, still existing of the fourteenth or
fifteenth centuries ; while of cups, goblets, or other vessels of
domestic use scarcely an example is to be found which belongs to
the earlier middle ages. If formed o£ the more precious metals
they have been melted, or coined, or re- worked into more fashionable
shapes. There was, of course, a special reason why England should
suffer more than any other country in the loss of its Church plate
during the troubled period of the sixteenth century. It is much
to be regretted that Henry VIII., disposed, as he was, to patronise
art in some of its forms, had not something of the spirit of a
collector, and did not use the unrivalled opportunity which the
dissolution of the monasteries afforded him to preserve at least some
of the more beautiful of the vast quantity of shrines, monstrances,
chalices, and other vessels for sacred or domestic use, which fell into
his hands.

The causes which have led to the almost total disappearance of
early English plate have been well summarised by a late writer in
the Quarterly Review : — " The fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

357

centuries were rich in plate ; the next question is, what has become
of it ? You might as well ask what has become of the last winter's
snow, for the answer is the same. Melted, not once, but over and over
again; so that our shillings and sixpences may contain the very metal
which glowed, richly gilt and beaming with enamels, on Becket's
mitre, or his pastoral staff. Sooner or later the golden bowl and
the silver beaker go the same way, their end is the crucible and the
melting-pot; their form and fashion changes, while the red and
white substance remains the same. In four successive centuries old
English plate had as many arch-enemies. In the fifteenth century
the Wars of the Roses caused many a noble piece to melt ; in the
sixteenth, Henry VIII., and the dissolution of monasteries, were
even more fatal to gold and silver work ; in the seventeenth the
Great Rebellion and the Civil War again swept the sideboards and
plate-closets of each side with equal impartiality; and, at the beginning
of the eighteenth, the need of bullion, under which William III.
laboured, brought to the melting-pot much of the old plate which
still remained after the ravages it had suffered in the three preceding
centuries. Taking all this into consideration the wonder is, not
that so little English plate exists prior to the reign of Anne, but
that any of it at all is left to give us some insight into the magni-
ficence with which the halls and tables and sideboards of our ancestors
were decked on great festive occasions."

From an early period there has been a peculiar interest taken in
the holy cup or chalice. Mediaeval legends delighted in the quest
for the " Holy Graal." Throughout the Middle Ages the chalice,
or rather, perhaps, the dish or shallow bowl from which Our Lord
was said to have eaten the paschal lamb at the Last Supper, was a
favorite subject of legendary romance. This holy graal,1 the name

1 Bishop Thirlwall, in his " Letters," p. 216, says : — " Saint Graal, the origin
of which from Sang Royal is refuted by the Provencal forms, is in the epic
poems the dish out of which Christ partook of the Last Supper with his disciples.
Nothing, I believe, is more certain than that the name has nothing to do with
sang either real or royal. Indeed, if you only reflect for a moment on the
wildness of a quest after a liquid, I think you will see that the etymology is out
of the question. Littre gives the true one, ' sorte de vase, origine inconnue?
There never has been any doubt that it was the name of a vessel. Did you not

358

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

given to the wonder-working vessel, was said to have been brought
by Joseph of Arimathea to Britain, after it had received many drops
of blood which issued from the still open wounds of Our Lord's
body after death. It is closely connected with the Arthurian
romance of the Round Table, and this conception of the holy graal
spread rapidly into all Christian countries, especially amongst the
Provencals. This legend is said to be as old as the eighth century,
but most English writers maintain that the conception arose in the
twelfth century, and that the details of the story which brought
Joseph of Arimathea to Glastonbury, and its introduction into the
romance of Arthur, is rather due to some master hand, probably
Walter Mape, who was a canon of Salisbury, and some time parish
priest of Westbury, near Bristol, and who seems to have conceived
the vast design of steeping the Arthurian legend, and through it
the whole imaginative literature of the age, in the doctrine of the
Christian sacrifice.

The fashion of the chalice in primitive ages was probably of the
most simple kind. In the early Middle ages — say before the eleventh
century — the chalices appear for the most part to have been rather
large two-handled bowls with a foot only ; the holy sacrament was
then administered to the congregation in both kinds, so there was
no need of a stem or knop, as the chalice was not to be grasped, but
was presented to the mouths of the recipients by the priest, who
held it by the two handles. There were, however, two sorts of
chalices used, those of ordinary size, for the personal use of the
priest, called minores ; others of larger dimensions, meant to contain

know that it was brought from the Holy Land to Genoa, where it is still shown
under the name of the ' sacro catino,' and by persons not in the secret believed
to be a single emerald, being in fact a piece of green glass ? " Besides the holy
cup of Genoa there are several others preserved in different parts of Europe, all
claiming to be the identical cup used at the Last Supper ; the most remarkable
of these is el santo calix, now in the treasury of the Cathedral at Valencia, in
Spain. This cup is of agate, mounted with gold chased in a pattern very much
resembling the interlaced work found in early Scandinavian and Irish ornamen-
tation ; it is also enriched with gems, and has two handles. The period of the
mounting is probably about the eighth or ninth century. In 1736 a volume was
written by A. Sales to prove its authenticity and power of working miracles.

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

359

a considerable quantity of the eucharistic wine for the general
communicants, were called calices ministeriales .

In the Dictionnaire de I'Academie des Beaux-Arts (vol. iii., p. 4)
an interesting engraving is given of the chalice of St. Ludger,
Bishop of Munster, at the end of the eighth century. This vessel
is without handles, and is somewhat curious as it bears a considerable
resemblance to the early chalice of Berwick St. James, Wilts ; the
form of the bowl, however, varies, being much less shallow than the
English example. This illustration was originally given by Dom
Martenne in the Voyage litter aire de deux Benedictins.

This form of chalice with double handles is found in various
pictorial illustrations of the Anglo-Saxon period. A remarkable
example of such, known as the Ardagh Cup, was discovered a few
years since in Ireland, from whence so many beautiful instances of
early Christian art have come. The cup has two handles, and is
ornamented with an infinite variety of filigree patterns on plates of
gold, being Celtic work of the finest kind and period, portions of
which are enamelled. The date is believed to be the end of the
ninth or the early part of the tenth century.

In the coffin of St. Cuthbert, who died in 688, was deposited,
with other personal relics, " sl chalice of the purest gold supporting
an onyx stone made hollow by the most beautiful workmanship."
This was found intact when the coffin was opened at Durham in
1104, but had disappeared during the "visitation" in the time of
Henry VIII., as was discovered when the coffin was opened again
in 1827. (See Raine's St. Cuthbert.)

Priests were very usually buried with a chalice and paten ; not
consecrated, and often of some inferior metal or wax. Occasionally,
also, in vestments ; either entirely vested, or with a surplice and
stole. Bishops were clothed for burial with more solemnity ; as, for
example, the Bishops of Durham, in the " Auncyente tyme, the
accustomed burying of the bushopes was to be buried as he was
accustomed to saye masse, with his albe and stole and phannell and
his vestment, with a myter on his head and his crutch [crozier]
with him, and so laied in his coffine, with a little challice of sylver,
other mettell, or wax; which wax challice was gilted verie fynly

360

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

about the edge and knoppe in the myddes of the shanke of the
chaliice, and aboute the edge of the patten or cover and the foot of
it also was gilted : which challice was sett or laide upon his breast
in the coffine with hime, and the cover thereof nayled downe to yt."
Rites of the Church of Durham, p. 49.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the form of the
chalice seems to have been short and low, and the bowl wide and
shallow; the stem in the middle swelled into a bulb,, called the
knop, the foot or base being circular. One of the most remarkable
examples of this period is that long preserved at Rheims, and known
as the " calice de St. Remi." This incomparable example of the skill
of the workers in the twelfth century is of gold encrusted with
enamelled ornaments, gems, pearls, and filigree work of the most
curious character. It measures in height 6jin., and the diameter
of the cup is very nearly Gin.1 The general form of the chalice at
this period will be seen in the remarkable Wiltshire example of
Berwick St. James, an illustration of which will be found further
on. It is difficult to fix any approximate date for this English
chalice, it is possibly of the thirteenth century, but there is nothing
to show that it is not as early as the twelfth. The paten is of much
later date, probably of the fifteenth.

In the treasuries of many of our English Cathedrals are preserved
small chalices, found in the tombs of ecclesiastics, more or less
perfect, usually of tin or pewter, but sometimes of more precious
metal. The examples now kept in the treasury of the Cathedral
at Salisbury are believed to have been removed from some of the
early tombs, but from the hopeless confusion into which nearly all
places of sepulture of the early bishops have fallen since the senseless
removal of the original tombs by Wyatt in the last century, any
identification is now almost impossible. There is some evidence, or
tradition at least, that the interesting silvar-gilt chalice and paten^
together with an episcopal ring and the fragments of a pastoral
staff in wood, came out of a tomb supposed to be that of Bishop

1 See "Archaeological Journal," vol. iii., where is an excellent woodcut of this
chalice, together with a valuable paper by the late Albert Way on "Vessels and
Appliances of Sacred Use."

By J. E. Nightingale, FX A.

361

Longespee, who deceased in 1297. This was found when removing
the pavement of the Lady Chapel in 1789. At any rate the form
of the chalice would agree very well with that which obtained in
the thirteenth century, the bowl being wide and shallow, the stem
and foot circular. This vessel is decorated with foliated chasings
with an ornamental knop, and is in fairly good condition.

In the fourteenth century chalices were made taller, the bowls
assumed a more conical form, being narrow at the bottom, and
having the sides sloping straight outwards ; it would, however, be
difficult to quote any existing English example of this period. The
round form of the base of the chalice had now given way to the
hexagonal, to prevent its rolling when placed on its side to drain —
a custom which held its ground for a long way into the Reformation.

In the fifteenth century they became broader at the base, and
towards the end of that century and beginning of the sixteenth the
bowls became almost hemispherical in form. We have, happily, a
very fine and well-preserved example of the latter part of this period
in the Wylye chalice. There are now about a dozen specimens
known of English chalices, ranging from the middle of the fifteenth
century to the first quarter of the sixteenth, for the most part still
in use in the parish Churches to which they originally belonged ;
and this is all, as far as we know, that is left of the numberless
beautiful objects of Church plate that existed all over England at
the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, and, to a smaller
extent, for some years later.

The necessary adjunct of the chalice, the paten — a small silver
plate, slightly sunk in the middle, and frequently ornamented in the
centre with some sacred device in engraving or enamel — is more
often found. A good example is preserved in the parish of St.
Edmund's, Salisbury. This paten bears the hall-mark of the year
1533-4, it was, therefore, made just on the eve of the Reformation.
It is not likely that much new Church plate was afterwards manu-
factured during the remaining years of Henry VIII.

Some half-dozen cups made in the time of Edward VI. are still
in existence. The chalice and paten belonging to the Church of
Hunstanton, having the date-letter of 1551, indicate the great

362

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

change that had already taken place; the form of the bowl is
slightly bell-shaped, the central boss of the stem of the earlier
examples is replaced by a small collar, and the general appearance
is much more like the heavy seventeenth century forms than the
later and well-known regulation shape of Queen Elizabeth's time.
The size, too, is large and adapted to the use of the congregation,
as, after 1547 the communion in both kinds was administered
according to the practice of the early Church.

There is abundant evidence to show that the value of old parish
Church plate was very great in the reign of Edward VI., not-
withstanding the wholesale spoliation by his father. It was not
until the last year of Edward's reign that the confiscation of parish
Church plate was decided upon. In 1553 a commission was issued
for the seizure of all goods not absolutely needed for parish Churches,
allowing in every Church one, and in larger Churches two chalices
to be left for the administration of the holy communion. Returns
were made under this commission of all Church goods, plate, jewels,
bells, and ornaments yet remaining. These inventories relating to
the Churches of Wiltshire unfortunately no longer exist, but a list
of the parishes in which a niggardly single " cup " and the bells
were left is to be found in the twelfth volume of the Wiltshire
Archaeological Magazine. The Commissioners were Sir Anthony
Hungerford (of Black Burton, Oxon, Kt.), William Sherrington,
Kt., and William Wroughton, Kt.

Such chalices as were left in the Churches were, necessarily, of
the old form, for it is not probable that any further change would
take place during the time of Queen Mary. In the reign of
Elizabeth, however, another sweeping change occurred. The evil
estimation in which the reformers of Elizabeth's time held the pre-
Beformation communion plate caused them to entertain scruples and
prejudices against its eucharistic use. Accordingly we find that
Parker and Grindall, with possibly some other Anglican prelates,
about 1567, issuing certain articles and injunctions requiring the
disuse of " massing chalices/'' and the substitution of " decent
communion cups." The churchwardens' accounts of this period
contain frequent entries of the sale of the one class of chalice, and

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

363

the purchase of the other. That some of the so-called " massing
chalices 33 escaped was probably owing to the bishop in some localities
holding less strong reforming views, and dealing more gently with
the " Injunctions." The beautiful early chalice and paten belonging
to the outlying parish of Nettlecombe, Somerset, were probably
preserved to our own time by the ingenious manoeuvres of the
churchwardens in 1549, who legally transferred them temporally to
" Master John Trevylyan Esqueyer 33 of the same parish, until the
evil days had passed.

From about the year 1562 a great change took place in the form
and style of ornament of the chalice ; for the next twenty years
their uniformity of shape and pattern was so universal that they
could hardly have been the result of the taste or caprice of silver-
smiths or churchwardens . They are distributed pretty well all over
England, several examples being found in the neighbourhood of
Salisbury. It has not been ascertained by what authority this
change was made. One reason, probably, was a desire to remove
all traces of the former ceremonies of the mass. The chalice still
consists of its cup, the stem with a small knop, and the foot. The
stem, though altered in form and character, still swells into a small
knop, or the rudiments of one, the foot being invariably round instead
of indented. The form of the cup, however, is altogether changed,
and instead of being a shallow wide bowl, it is elongated into the
form of a truncated cone, slightly bell-shaped. The form of the
paten, too, is much changed, the sunk part of the plate is con-
siderably deepened, the brim narrowed, with a fixed rim or edge, by
which it is made, when inverted, to fit on the cup as a cover, while
a foot is added to it, which serves also as a handle to the cover. A
paten of the older shape is sometimes found at this period, and it
may be doubted whether the cover was in all cases used as a paten
for the general communicants, as the quantity of sacramental bread
it would contain must necessarily be very small ; unless, indeed, the
bread at that time took the form of the wafer, which is probable.
A good typical example of the Elizabethan chalice with its paten-cover
is found at Dinton, the engraving of which will make any description
more easily understood.

364

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

Towards the end of the sixteenth century this rigid rule as to
the shape and form of the chalice began to be relaxed ; its general
features were continued, but in a less artistic form ; they began to
degenerate into the heavy cumbrous shape which became almost
universal during the whole of the seventeenth century. The foliated
strap-work ornament of the Elizabethan period in a great measure
disappears, and is sometimes replaced by the coat of arms of the
donor. For the next hundred years there was no attempt made to
give an ecclesiastical character to such new plate as was required.

Amongst the first to call attention to the still existing specimens
of ancient Church plate, and to publish careful drawings of the then
known examples, were the authors of the " Specimens of Ancient
Church Plate," as long ago as 1845. One of the most active editors
was an old friend and first Secretary of the Wilts Archaeological
Society, the Rev. W. C. Lukis. A somewhat curious example is
there figured of a small chalice then belonging to the late Rev.
E. J. Phipps, of Devizes, and lately in his possession. It is made
up of three parts (bowl, stem and knop, and base), which screw
together. This piece has no hall-mark ; there is no reason to suppose
that it ever belonged to any Church in Wilts, nor is it certain that
it is of English make.

Thanks to the earlier researches of Mr. Octavius Morgan, and
the later amplified lists given by Mr. Cripps, in his excellent work
on " Old English Plate," we are now enabled, not only to fix the
real date, but in many instances the actual maker, of existing
specimens, from the hall-marks which are found, with few exceptions,
on all English plate, both ancient and modern. It may be as well
here to mention what marks are to be looked for, and generally
found.

They usually consist of four : —

I. — The leopard's head. This royal symbol has been in use cer-
tainly as early as 1300. The so-called crowned leopard's head was
probably an early sign of the king's mark. It is, however, not a
leopard at all ; the heraldic " leopart 9i of the royal arms of England
means a lion passant guardant. The lion's head crowned will be
found generally on all pieces.

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

365

II. — The maker's mark. Until about the middle of the sixteenth
century the worker's or maker's mark consisted of a certain symbol
or trade sign. Most shops in early times had a sign by which they
were known. This custom of hanging a sign-board has hardly yet
died out. Afterwards, the two initial letters of the maker were used
instead of the previous emblem, and so continues to the present
time.

III. — The annual letter. This is the important mark which
indicates the year in which the piece was made and assayed by the
goldsmiths' guild. A cycle of twenty years ran through twenty
letters of the alphabet, beginning with the letter A. At the
commencement of each cycle the form of the letter was changed;
varieties of the Lombardic letters were succeeded by Black-letter,
Roman letter, Court hand, &c. The changes were rung on these
forms so as to give a sufficient distinction of shape in each cycle.
It requires considerable care in determining the correct date letter
of a piece, and it is necessary to refer to the printed lists, as the
same letters are often repeated in different cycles with very slight
alterations in their form. This applies especially to the earlier
dates. The tables now published commence with the letter A of
Henry VI. — 1438-9. Any existing examples of the first two or
three cycles are excessively rare; at present only one is known of
the first, namely, that of the Lombardic h found on a spoon given
by Henry VI. to Sir Ralph Pudsey. It should be mentioned that
the date-letter is changed, not on the first of January in each year,
but on St. Dunstan's Day, some time in the month of May.

IV. — The lion passant guardant. This will be found on all pieces
since about 1545.

There are small variations in these marks which make it necessary
to consult the printed lists in order to determine their exact signifi-
cance. It often happens that, from indistinct marking or too much
cleaning, the date-letter is uncertain, or not to be found. In this
case the form and fashion of the piece will help to determine the
approximate date. The above remarks refer to the London hall-
marks. There are a few provincial ones, such as Norwich, Exeter,

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXIII. 2* B

366

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

&c., but examples of these are not likely to be found amongst i
specimens of Wiltshire Church plate.

By a statute of the 2nd Henry VI. , A.D. 1423, it was ordained I
that " no goldsmith or jeweller should sell any article of silver unless o
it was as fine as sterlings nor before it be touched with the Touch,, 1
and marked with the workman's mark or sign, under a penalty of \
forfeiting double the value. The cities of York, Newcastle, Lincoln, t
Norwich, Bristow, Salisbury, and Coventry, were to have divers j
Touches, and no goldsmith to sell any gold or silver wares but as it |
is ordained in this City of London. " Some of these provincial j
cities, at a later period, had a special " touch " or assay mark of their \
own, but there is nothing to show that Salisbury ever made use of ;
the privilege. In the corporation accounts of that period no entries
are found which throw any light on the matter.

The following examples of old Church plate have come under the
writer's notice ; it will be seen that they are confined almost entirely ]
to the neighbourhood of Salisbury. It is to be hoped that a more
complete and systematic account of all the Church plate in the
diocese will ultimately be obtained, so that what is still left of ancient
plate in each parish may be kept intact. As Mr. Cripps well says,
" The Church plate o£ the last century was well suited to the
Churches of the period ; fortunately, older Churches in most cases
possessed some better plate, acquired at an earlier period, and well
would it be if this were still so, and fewer Elizabethan communion
cups were seen in the windows of the modern silversmith. Many
of them are made of the very same silver as the more ancient chalices
which they replaced, vessels that had, perchance, belonged to their
parishes from time immemorial. It is to be feared that they are
constantly parted with for the mere price of the silver, by those
who are in ignorance, or are regardless, of the curious historical
associations which surround these ancient and interesting relics."

Bakford St. Martin. The vessel representing the old Chalice in
this parish is a very fine piece of old English plate of the time of
James I. It was not originally intended as a chalice, but is one of
the few remaining decorative examples of that period, consisting of

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

367

a tall silver-gilt cup, with straight sides, supported by a long stem,
and surmounted by a cover terminating in a triangular pyramid.
The whole is of rich repousse work ; the belts round the cup consist
of flowers in rather high relief, other parts being richly chased.
The height, including the tall pointed cover, is some 14in. The
hall-marks consist of : — the leopard's head crowned ; the lion passant;
the date-mark (a Lombardic O with external cusps) indicating the
year 1611 ; the maker's mark (a capital letter W surmounted by the
letter F enclosed within a shield). This cup is very well preserved;
no record exists as to how or when it came to the parish, the church-
wardens' accounts being missing. At the bottom is found a slightly-
scratched inscription of the name of Elizabeth Marellion.

The Flagon is of silver, of the heavy solid form of the early part
of the last century. The maker's mark alone is found, and this
several times repeated. It consists of an anchor flanked with the
letters R and O. Mr. Cripps states that it is the mark of Philip
Rollos, Juu., a London silversmith who commenced business in
1705 ; but few of his examples are found.

Berwick St. James. A silver Chalice of the form which was in
use during the thirteenth century, and also for some years before and
after. With the exception of the smaller chalices of this period
found in the tombs of ecclesiastics, this is, perhaps, a solitary instance
of the earlier form of vessel being retained in use in an English
parish Church. The parish of Berwick lies in a somewhat unfre-
quented valley on the borders of Salisbury Plain. Owing perhaps
to this, and to there being no decoration or inscription on the chalice
to clash with the prevalent religious feeling at the time of the
Reformation, it probably owes its escape from the general change
of form in the sacred vessels which obtained during the reign of
Elizabeth. The only mark of any kind found on the chalice is a
roughly-incised cross on the foot, as will be seen in the engraving.
This was probably added in later mediaeval times, when it became a
general custom to mark the front of the chalice by a cross of some
kind on the foot, a good example of which will be found on the
Wylye chalice ; this practice has never died out. The dimensions

368

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

of the chalice are these : — height, 5|in. ; the diameter of the lip
of the bowl and of the foot are the same, 4 Jin. The entry of
" goods to be safelie kept " relating to this parish, by the Com-
missioners of Edward VI., in 1533, is as follows: —

A Chalice or Cuppe Bells In plate to the Kings use
Barwicke S. Jacobie xj iij iiij

The silver Paten, an illustration of which is given together with
the chalice, is perfectly plain with the exception of the sacred
monogram engraved in its centre. From the form of the letters it
would appear to have been made some time in the fifteenth century.
The diameter of the paten is 6m.1

There is also belonging to the parish a massive Flagon and cover
of the tall tankard form, with the hall-mark of 1739 : the maker's
name G.S.; bearing the following inscription : Given to the Parish
Church of Barwick St. James, 1739.

Bishopstone. Here is a fine service of Church plate of silver
gilt, of foreign manufacture, given by Dr. John Earles, many years
rector of the parish, and afterwards Bishop of Salisbury. It consists
of two Chalices, two Patens, and a Dish. The chalices, measuring
9jin. in height, are of a decidedly foreign type, in vogue during the
seventeenth century, bearing no resemblance at all to English
chalices of that period. The bowl is plain, with an elaborate stem
and knop ; the base is broad, and ornamented with repousse work
of renaissance character in compartments ; the old subject of the
Crucifixion, on the base, is here replaced by a Maltese cross. The
dish and two patens, measuring respectively 9in. and 6 Jin. in

1 The chalice and paten are now deposited in the British Museum. This was
not done without full consideration by the vicar, churchwardens, and parishioners,
also with the concurrence of the Bishop. The paten, owing to the original thin-
ness of the metal, and from long use, had become no longer fit for decent usage ;
it had several fractures, and had already been rivetted. The chalice also required
some slight repair. Under these exceptional circumstances, and for other reasons,
it was thought desirable that these objects should find a final resting-place in the
British Museum ; and they were accordingly given by the parish to the national
collection. A handsome and appropriate chalice and paten were afterwards
presented to the parish by the generosity of A. W. Franks, Esq., F.S.A.

i

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By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

369

diameter, are perfectly plain, and have each an incised Maltese
cross. The marks are foreign, and have not yet been identified.
Mr. Cripps states that they are neither French nor Dutch.

Dr. John Earles was appointed chaplain to Philip, Earl of Pem-
broke, and became Rector of Bishopstone, which living he held
from 1639 to 1662. On the fall of the monarchy he retired to
Antwerp. In 1647 he was with the Prince of Wales as his chaplain;
in June of that year he officiated in the English Ambassador's
Chapel at Paris, at the marriage of Evelyn, the writer of the "Diary,"
to a daughter of Sir R. Brown. Soon after the Restoration he
became Bishop of Salisbury, and died in 1665. Some allusion to
this gift to the parish, which seems to have been made after Dr.
Earles became Bishop of Salisbury, are found in a note attached to
a copy of the will of Dorothy Gorges, a benefactress to the parish
in 1642, and still preserved in the parish register ; by which we
learn that before the bishop's gift the parish possessed an ancient
chalice and paten, of which nothing now is known. This entry is
dated 1685, and says that, amongst other benefactions, the bishop
"gave three gilted patens or plates for the communion; and two
communion gilded cups to the parish for the communion ; these with
an ancient communion cup and paten are in the churchwarden's
keeping. The said Lady Gorges gave a fair velvet communion
table cover and a fair velvet cushion and pulpit cloth to the parish,
which are now in use this 1st day of May, 1685, in the clerk's
keeping."

j Britfokd. A complete set presented in 1750, consisting of a
Chalice, two large Flagons, 11 in. in height, two Dishes, 10 Jin. in
diameter, with shaped edgea, all inscribed with the sacred monogram,
also the following inscription : " The gift of Jacob Bouverie Viscount
Folkestone to the Church of Britford in Wilts for the use of the
Sacrament in the year 1750." Maker's marks, the letters I.W., also
E.W. under the Prince of Wales' feathers. The family of Wakelin
were goldsmiths to the Prince of Wales. The date-mark is 1749-50.

Burcombe. Silver Chalice and Paten. The chalice is of large

370

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

size, and perfectly plain, of the usual seventeenth century type.
The hall-marks are : the small Italian letter m, indicating1 the year
1629 ; lion passant; leopard's head crowned ; and the maker's mark,
a fleur-de-lys surmounted by the letters R.A., all within a shield.
The form of the chalice corresponds with this date, being heavier
and coarser than the Elizabethan type. The chalice bears the fol-
lowing inscription : " Bonum Dei et Deo reditum Capellce de Burcombe
p. Jo. Bowles/3 with his coat of arms, The sun in splendour it chief
argent, in base a crescent or. The paten does not form a cover
that fits, it is larger and has a more prominent foot than those of
Elizabeth's time. There is no record of this member of the Bowles
family in the parish registers, the earliest entry being 1682.1

Codford St. Mary. The Chalice now in use has some remains
of a fine pre -Reformation vessel. The old parts, in silver-gilt,
consist of a portion of the stem, with some open work, and the knop
ornamented with projecting lions' heads. A portion of the original
hexagonal base also remains. This contains a representation of the
Crucifixion. In its original state it was probably similar to the one
still preserved in the adjoining parish of Wylye ; the later additions
to the old work are of a very incongruous character.

1 A curious circumstance connected with the name and arms of the Bowles's of
Burcombe, in the seventeenth century, came under the notice of the writer not
long ago, and may be a necessary warning for collectors to use extreme caution
in buying old family plate — or indeed old plate of any kind. A descendant of
the family, living in Gloucestershire, was an earnest collector of any stray relics
or objects belonging to his ancestors. Amongst other family waifs sold after
his death were six curious spoons of old Dutch make, inscribed : " Sir Eowland
Bowles de Burcombe Wilts, 1623 " with his proper arms of the sun in splendour
and a crescent. They were sent by a dealer to Salisbury, as the most likely
neighbourhood to be appreciated, and where some of the family still exist. There
was not wanting an element of interest and even a spice of romance in the
matter, for this Rowland Bowles, as a young man, had served gallantly under
Sir Thomas Arundell at the siege of Gran, in Hungary, against the Turks, for
which services the Lords Arundell of Wardour still hold the title of Counts of the
Holy Roman Empire. He was afterwards sent on a mission to Holland. In
fact the whole story dovetailed so well together that it seems almost a pity to
demolish it, but on putting the hall-marks to the crucial test of Mr. Cripps' list,
it was found that one of these inscribed spoons of 1623 bore the Amsterdam year-
mark of 1819, thus proving the whole thing to have been a forgery.

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By J% E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

371

Dinton. Chalice and paten-cover. A very good example,, though
somewhat worn, of the Elizabethan form of chalice with its paten-
cover. An engraving is given of this specimen, which illustrates
the style which prevailed, and of which so many examples still exist,
of the vessels of uniform shape and decoration made during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. The same ornamental band of scroll
foliage within two narrow fillets, which interlace or cross each other,
is found on all these chalices. This style of decoration, but more
roughly executed, is frequently found on the larger and more cum-
brous vessels of the succeeding century. The chalice with its cover
measures 6Jin. in height. The maker's mark, the sun in splendour
within a plain circle. The date-mark, 1576.

Flagon, large, with handle and cover, a broad base tapering
upwards, measuring 13in. including cover. The date-mark is 1730,
and the maker's mark I. S., under a crown. It is inscribed : "In
Honor em, Dei Opt. Max. Patris Filii et Spiritus Sancti ei in usum
Mcclesim parochialis de Linton in com. Wilt. A.D. 173 -J"

Fuggle stone St. Peter cum Bemerton. The Chalice, without
a cover, is a well-preserved example of the ordinary Elizabethan
type, with the usual engraved belt and foliated scrolls. Height,
5|in. The date-mark is the Roman capital D., indicating the year
1581. The maker's mark is apparently E.L. within a shield.

There is a special interest connected with the chalice of this parish,
as it was the one used by the saintly George Herbert, who was
made rector in 1630, on the promotion of the previous incumbent,
Dr. Curl, to the bishopric of Bath and Wells. The only other relic
of George Herbert in the old Church at Bemerton is the single bell
in the bell-cot. Izaac Walton, in his " Life/' mentions the circum-
stance of his remaining a long time at prayer in the Church after he
had gone through the_ customary ceremony of tolling the bell at his
feiduction. This bell is of pre-Reformation date, sometimes called an
" Alphabet Bell/' from the fact of having certain black-letter capitals
irregularly placed instead of an inscription. These alphabet bells have
been said to have some special significance of their own, but their
origin is, perhaps, rather due to the bell-founder using up his type

372

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

indiscriminately, as a ready way of decoration. The collected
writings of George Herbert, consisting of his sacred poems, &c, were
printed soon after his death, under the title of " The Temple." Many
of these refer to different parts of a Church. To this was added a
somewhat similar work, called the " Synagogue or Shadow of the
Temple," written by Christopher Harvey, a devout admirer of
Herbert's. The usage and reverence of nearly two centuries and a
half have associated this work with " The Temple/'' in which Harvey
sought to imitate with distant footsteps the spirit of his master's
writings. Amongst his descriptions of things connected with the
Church, the following relates to the holy vessels : —

" Communion-Plate.

"Never was gold or silver graced thus
Before :

To bring this Body and this Blood to us
Is more

Then to crown kings,

Or be made rings
For star-like diamonds to glitter in.

No precious stones are meet to match this bread
Divine ;

Spirits of pearls dissolved would but dead
This wine :

This heav'nly food

Is too — too good
To be compar'd to any earthly thing.

" For such inestimable treasure can
There be

Vessels too costly made by any man?
Sure he

That knows the meat

So good to eat
Would wish to see it richly served in.

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

373

"Although 'tis true that sanctities not tyJd
To state

Yet sure Religion should not be envy'd
The fate

Of meaner worth,

To be set forth
As best becomes the service of a king.

3£ ^ ^ ^

" If I might wish, then, 1 would have this bread,
This wine,

Vessel' d in what the sun might blush to shed
His shine

When he should see ;

But till that be,
I'll rest contented with it as it is."

Besides the chalice, the parish Church of Fugglestone possesses a
very fine Elizabethan Tankard, now in use there as a Flagon. It
measures 7^in. in height. The date-mark gives the year 1589.
The maker's mark is I.M. with pellets above and below, within a
shield. This vessel is of silver and parcel-gilt, the form is cylindrical,
but tapering upwards ; it is engraved with broad interlaced vertical
floriated bands on the drum, and encircled with two raised ornamental
belts. The dome-shaped cover is repousse with lions' heads and
fruits, surmounted by a baluster-shaped knop. The broad circular
base is also ornamented with lions' heads, fruits, and foliage. The
purchase is a winged mermaid holding a cornucopia. The handle is
ornamented with an engraved foliated scroll pattern, similar to that
found on nearly all the Elizabethan chalices of the latter half of the
sixteenth century, It bears the following inscription : " The Gift of
John Hawes, Rector of this Parish, bth April, 1776." The Rev.
John Hawes was rector from 1759 to 1788. He was buried in
Bemerton Church, where is a monument to his memory.

Little Langford. The communion plate now in use is modern,
but there is still preserved at the Rectory the old chalice, one of the

374

Old Church Plate in Wilts,

heavy shapes found in the seventeenth century, roughly made and
repaired. It is perfectly plain, with a broadish flat base. It
measures 6in. in height, and has no inscription beyond the hall-
marks, which consist of the black-letter capitals either <£. or 23.,
1660 or 1662, the maker's mark being H.N., under which is a bird
with a branch in its beak, all within a shield. It is not easy to
account for so many of these heavy seventeenth century chalices, the
Elizabethan ones of a hundred years or less earlier could hardly have
been worn out, for those still existing are generally in good condition,
and as a rule the sizes do not vary very much.

Maddington. A complete and massive service, consisting of a
Flagon and cover, measuring llin. ; a Chalice and cover, 9in. without
the cover ; and a large Paten with foot. There are no regular hall-
marks, but the maker's mark is stamped on each piece ; this consists
of the plain letter S. surmounted by a crown and enclosed within a
shield. The bowl of the chalice has straight sides, the foot is
hexagonal with pointed angles, the knop quite plain. The general
effect is rather un-English. On each piece is graven an elaborate
coat of arms of the Fox family, and the crest on foot of chalice,
Ermine } on a chevron, azure, three foxs' head, erased or, and on a canton
of the second, a jleur-de-lys of the third. Crest, On a chapeau azure ,
turned up ermine, a fox sitting or. There can be little doubt that
this service was given to the parish by Sir Stephen Fox, who held
the manor of Maddington, and charged this estate with a certain
annual payment towards the maintenance of his alms-houses at
Farley. Fox was born in 1627, and died in 1716. The above
(additional) arms were granted to Stephen Fox in 1658, so that it
can safely be assumed that the date of the plate is some time in the
second half of the seventeenth century. This custom of covering
sacramental plate with the arms of the donor has now, happily, died
out.

Netherhampton. The chalice and paten are modern, but there
is still kept in the parish a large tall pewter Flagon, with cover
inscribed ; " Elizabeth Vdall widdowe Deceased the 20 daye of July
1634 and Gaue this fiaggon to the Church at Netherhampton"

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

375

South Newton. The communion plate at present in use was
presented to the parish when the Church was restored a few years
ago. There is, however, preserved at the Vicarage the old Elizabethan
Chalice. This has no cover and is ornamented with the usual strap-
work decoration of the period. The date-mark is 1576.

Salisbury Cathedral. In the treasury are preserved, as in
some other English Cathedrals, several small chalices and patens,
generally of pewter or some other base metal, that have been found
at different times in the graves of ecclesiastics. The most important
of these is a Chalice and Paten, silver -gilt, of the form prevailing
in the thirteenth century. The height of the chalice is 4f in., the
bowl flat, the knop vertically ribbed, the round foot ornamented
with bold leafage radiating from the stem. The paten is 4iin in
diameter, the sunk portion is cusped and has a circular medallion in
the centre, engraved with a hand giving benediction, the two fore-
fingers being raised. A portion of the foot of the chalice is gone,
as well as some parts of the rim of the paten. Some pieces of metal
have also been added to strengthen the stem. With these exceptions
both are well preserved, and they certainly seem to have been made
for use.

The communion plate now in use is all of a later period than the
Reformation. The earliest piece is a silver-gilt Flagon with cover
and handles, measuring J3in. in height, without any ornament.
The date- mark is the Lombardic capital letter I., indicating the
year 1606. On the bulb are engraved the arms of the See and
Eccssa Sarin. On the domed cover are the initials of the donor,
I.L.j together with his coat of arms Gules, a Jesse erm. between two
wolves passant argent. These no doubt refer to John Lowe, Esq.,
who, with Lawrence Hyde, was counsel for the Church, and ap-
pointed one of the quorum in the charter of James I., 1612 (vide
Hatcher's " Sarum/"\ Appendix, p. 784). The form of this early
flagon is globular with high neck and broad bell-shaped foot, some-
what in style of the earlier cruets, and not adapted to contain much
wine. Mr. Cripps, in his " Old English Plate,''' gives an illustration
of a good example belonging to Cirencester of the date 1576, and

376

Old Church J? late in Wilts.

says that this shape prevailed until about 16 15, after which time
the usual tankard pattern comes in, which has ever since been used,
and is so familiar.

Besides the smaller flagon there are two larger ones in the Cathe-
dral of the new tankard form. These are somewhat remarkable, as
the date-mark is 1610, only four years later than the earlier example,
and eight years earlier than any specimen of this shape known to
Mr. Cripps. It must be presumed that the necessity for vessels
that would contain a larger quantity of wine was the reason for their
being made. These two massive silver-gilt flagons with fixed covers
and handles, are of the tall tankard shape which prevailed down to
a late period. They measure 14in. in height. The date-mark is a
well-defined Lombardic capital N., giving the year 1610. The
maker's mark is S.O. Upon each is engraved the arms of the See,
under which is an inscription stating that they were given by John
Barnston, Prebendary of Bishopstone, with his arms, Sable, /esse
dancettee erm. between six crosses crosslet fitche'e or. John Barnston
was of Brasenose College, Oxford, and the founder of a Hebrew
Lecture there. He was made Prebendary of Bishopstone in 1600,
Canon Residentiary in 1634, and died 1645.

A pair of large Chalices with paten-covers of silver-gilt, height
8fin., with covers, lOjin. ; of rather heavy form, with engraved
bands of Elizabethan strap-work. There are no hall-marks of any
kind, the date is apparently very early in the seventeenth century.
The stems and bases of these chalices have some indications of
having been renewed at an early period. Canon Rich Jones, in
his " Chapters of Cathedral History/'' alludes to a charge in the
Cathedral accounts in 1666 for " altering the old communion plate
into a chalice like the former/''

A pair of large -footed Patens, 9in. in diameter, with the date-
mark apparently of 1662, and the maker's mark a shaped cup. The
arms of the See are engraved in the centre. On the foot is inscribed
(< Mx dono Jacobi Hyde'3 This was probably James Hyde, M.D.,
Principal of Magdalen Hall, Oxford. He was baptized in Salisbury
Cathedral in 1617, and was the youngest son of Sir Laurence Hyde.

A large plain Alms Dish, measuring 20fin. in diameter. The

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

377

date-mark is 1672, and the maker's mark, T.L. The arms of the
See are engraved in the centre of the dish, also on the rim are in-
scribed " Cum Substantia Honor a Dominum, together with the sacred
monogram, crowns of thorns, &c. At the back is the following :
"It weighs 804 ounces, whereof '201. was the gift of Dr. Selleck
Prebendary, A.I). 1672, the rest was an old basin of ye Church.'3
John Sellick was appointed to the Prebend of Ruscomb in
1660.

Salisbury, St. Edmund's. Here is preserved a Paten of pre-
Reformation date in good condition, of rather massive silver, and
strongly gilt, measuring 6in. in diameter. It is nearly covered
with engraving, consisting of a central medallion representing the
head of Our Lord with a cruciform nimbus having trefoil termina-
tions, under which are discovered portions of the crown of thorns.
The beard is square, and not bifurcated. From this medallion issue
rays extending towards the border. The inscription on the rim is
as follows, in black letter : " + Benedicamus + Patrem + et + filium
+ cum + sancto" (sic). The three hall-marks consist of the
Lombardic capital Q., with internal cusps, giving the date 1533 •
the leopard's head crowned; and the maker's mark, T.W., within a
shield. The engraving is not very delicate. The imperfect in-
scription and the change in form of the first capital letter B. from
black letter to Roman, all indicate a decline in the art. It is probably
one of the last of the pre-Reformation pieces. In the following
year Cardinal Campeggio, Bishop of Salisbury, was deprived of his
See. As regards the maker's mark, Mr. Cripps says that it is one
of the most ancient marks giving initials — symbols seem to have
been more in fashion in those days when few could read.

There is also at St. Edmund's an Alms Dish, plain and massive.
The date-mark is 1734; the maker's mark a cup surmounted by
the letters G.S. within a shield. These are the initials of Gabriel
Sleath. In the centre of the dish is the following inscription : "In
Commemoration of Mr. Richard Naish a Purveyr of His Maf*8 Navy
who was born in this Parish but died at Deptfordin Kent feby 9 1732,
and lyes buried in the Church yard there. His still mournful Relict

378

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

Edith Naish gave this for the use of this parish. 1734. St. Edmunds
Sarum."

The present plate} consisting* of two chalices with patens, and two
flagons, was "re-modelled"" in 1867, as appears by an inscription
on the new vessels. The dates of the earlier pieces are very sensibly
given by way of memento, and are duly inscribed on the modern
substitutes. The dates on the early chalices were 1687, on the
patens, The gift of Mrs. Abigail Mercer, 1685, and on the flagons,
1703. We are thus enabled to guess pretty accurately what was
the fashion of the old plate.

Salisbury, St. Martin's. The plate belonging to this parish,
though not of very early date, is of considerable interest. The
earliest is a set consisting of a Chalice and cover with a Paten,
bearing no hall-marks, but of a somewhat later type than the usual
Elizabethan examples. The chalice measures 7in., and has a band
of engraved foliage round the bowl. On the cover is engraved " The
plate of St. Martin. " The paten is quite plain and measures 5 Jin.
in diam., and is inscribed " St. Martin's." Round the base of the
chalice is the following "Ex dono Gvlielmi Wickham. Episcopi
Vintonia.,} William Wickham, the second Bishop of that name,
was translated from Lincoln and filled the seat of Winchester for
only ten weeks. He died in June, 1595, at his house in Southwark.1
This date corresponds very well with the form of the plate. It will
be noticed that the cover in this instance was not intended to serve
also the purpose of a paten, as is usually said to be the case with
Elizabethan chalices, but a separate paten was deemed necessary.

Another Paten, 6in. in diameter, quite plain, without hall-marks.
At the back is engraved a small monogram, the letters T.R. com-
bined. In front is inscribed " Christopher Horte, Thomas Chiffinch,
Church Wardens of St. Martin, Anno Domini 1620." This Thomas
Chiffinch was probably an ancestor of a well-known character —

1 Wickham married Antonine, daughter of William Barlow, Bishop of Chiches-
ter. Her four sisters were all remarkable in having married bishops. Perhaps
such another instance is not on record.

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A. 379

William Chiffinch — whose portrait will be found in the Council
House at Salisbury. He was Master of the Wardrobe to King
Charles II. , and was a considerable benefactor to Trinity Hospital
in that city.

A third Paten, with a foot, measuring 8|in. in diam. inscribed
with the sacred monogram, also "St. Martin's Sarum 1 728/' The
date-letter is N. enclosed within a square shield, giving the year
1728. The maker's initials, G.S. (Gabriel Sleath).

A Flagon, with cover, lOin. high, plain and good, with a broad
base tapering upwards. The date-mark is 1669 ; the maker's mark
T.L. It is inscribed thus : " This flaggon belong eth to the Parish
Church of St. Martin in Sarum. William Antrum, William Ginaway
Churchwardens 1670."

The Alms Dish is a fine piece of plate of the period of the Res-
toration. It was, no doubt, originally intended as a rose-water dish.
It measures I8in. in diameter. The centre is plain, surrounded by
a broad border very richly decorated with foliage and amor in i in
repousse work. At some later period a large and cumbrous foot has
been added to it. The hall-marks are : the black-letter capital (B.,
indicating the year 1662; the maker's mark, D.R. over a pellet,
within a shaped shield. In the centre is engraved the arms of Hyde
quartering Norbury, surmounted by an earl's coronet, shewing that
it once belonged to the great Earl of Clarendon, Edward Hyde
was born at Dinton, Wilts, he was made Lord Chancellor, with an
earldom, by Charles II. in 1661. As the hall-mark shews that the
dish was manufactured in the following year, it is thus one of the
few remaining grandiose pieces which were so abundantly made for
the court and courtiers immediately after the Restoration. The
Chancellor lost favour and was exiled in 1667, and died abroad in
1674. This dish was presented to the parish in 1686, as appears
by the following inscription at the back : " The gift of Mrs. Alice
Derham to the Parish Church of St. Martin in the City of New Sarum.
Anno DnJ. 1686."

Salisbury, St. Thomas the Martyr. The present plate in use
is modern. Some few years ago the old pieces were " re-modelled,"

380

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

as at St. Edmund's, but the names of the donors of the old plate
are retained by the following' inscriptions on the new : " He-cast
from previous gift by Augustine Abbat 1597, and Richard Eyre 1682. 99
Also on others, " Re-cast from previous gift by Henry March , 1689.''''

Shrewton. A silver Chalice of the heavy seventeenth century
form. It bears no regular hall-marks, but has the maker's cipher,
the letters D.L. surmounted with foliage, within a shaped shield.
The ornamentation consists of a band of roughly-engraved foliage
in the Elizabethan style. Within this is a coat of arms of the
Goodricke family. Argent, on afess gules one fleur-de-lys and two
crescents or, between two lions passants guardants sable.

Stapleford. A Chalice of late seventeenth century form, meas-
uring 8in. in height, also a Paten 5in. in diameter. They bear no
hall-marks. On the chalice is engraved : " + William Hopkins +
Richard Godyenn + Church Word dens. 1678." These pieces are
in good condition, and of good bold work of its kind. They are
evidently of the date of the inscription.

Stratford-sub-Castle. A complete service of massive silver-gilt,
consisting of a large plain Chalice measuring 10in. in height; a
Paten, used also as a cover, 5 Jin. in diameter ; a tall tankard-shaped
Elagon, with handle and cover, having a broad base, IS^in. in
height ; and an alms dish, measuring 1 lin. in diameter. The hall-
marks consist of the court-hand letter R., indicating the year 1712;
the figure of Britannia; the lion's head erased; the maker's mark
that of Benjamin Pyne, the letters P. Y. surmounted by a crown and
a cinquefoil. Each piece has the sacred monogram graved on it,
and at the bottom is unobtrusively placed the Pitt arms, Sable, a
fesse chequy between three bezants or, with a crescent for difference.
The donor, no doubt, was Thomas Pitt, who re-built the Church
tower. This is commemorated by the following inscription, placed
outside the tower : " Thomas Pitt Esqer Benefactor. Erected anno
1711."

By J. K Nightingale, F.S.A.

381

Stratford Tony. Chalice, measuring 8in. ; straight sides, with
slightly projecting lip and small base. The Paten, 5in., is of un-
usual form, being square with a shaped border. The hall-marks
give the year 1731, with the maker's name T.R. Both, pieces are
inscribed: "Deo et Ecclesite D.D. Johannes Bampton Rector de
Stratford Tony et Canonic us Residentiarius Sarum." The donor was
the founder of the Bampton Lectures. He became Rector in 17.18,
and died 1751.

Teffont Ewyas. A Chalice, without cover, of the usual Eliza-
bethan form ; but the ornamentation varies slightly, it has two belts
of foliated strap-work round the drum, similar to one in the Church
of Somerford Keynes. The date- mark is 1576, the same as that of
the adjoining parish of Din ton. The maker's mark is not very
evident, it seems to be the letter E with the figure used in musical
notation for a flat, within a plain shield. A Paten, or alms plate,
on central foot, with the edges gadrooned, 8-in. in diameter. The
date-letter indicates 1693, which year is also inscribed in the centre
of the plate. The maker's mark is I.C. and a crown. A Tankard-
Flagon. This is a fine silver-gilt early tankard, with handle and
cover of Queen Elizabeth's time, probably not originally intended
for ecclesiastical purposes ; the sides are nearly straight, tapering
slightly upwards ; the ornamentation is delicately engraved in
foliation, roses, circles, &c, not repousse ; the moulding on the base
finely worked ; the cover being surmounted by a flat rayed button.
This interesting piece of old English plate measures 8jin. to the
top of cover, and shows some signs of wear. The date-mark is the
small black-letter p., giving the year 1572. The maker's mark, a
bunch of grapes within a plain shield. At the bottom of the
tankard the letters cc. are found somewhat roughly engraved, ap-
parently of early date. At Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, is
preserved a fine tall standing cup and cover made by the same hand
and given to the College by Archbishop Parker in 1569.

Wilton. The Church plate now in use is quite modern. There
is still preserved in the parish a large heavy pewter flagon bearing

VOL. XXI. — NO. LXIII. 2 C

382

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

the following inscription : " Jehu PrancJcer, Elias Chalke, Chvrch
Wardens, 1683. This Is Part of The Goods of The Church of Wilton."
These ugly cumbrous vessels are still occasionally met with, and
illustrate very forcibly the low state of art and indifference which
prevailed at the end of the seventeenth century.

Wishford. An interesting Chalice or tazza-shaped cup is pre-
served here of a somewhat unusual form; the bowl is broad and
rather shallow, taking something of the shape of an inverted cone. It
has a baluster stem with full knop, and a small circular base. The
height is 5fin., the diameter of the bowl the same, the diameter of
the foot 3 Jin. The date-mark is a well-defined black-letter small
indicating the year 1576. The maker's mark is a shield containing
three leaves placed star- wise, with a pellet between eaeh. The
surface, with the exception of a narrow rim outside the lip, has been
tooled or frosted over in fine lines, somewhat in the style which was
in vogue about the middle of the following century. There is no
other mark to indicate whether it was made for ecclesiastical or
secular use. If it was intended for a chalice it is an interesting
specimen of something like a retention of the old form — on the
other hand it was made just at the time when Churches were
abundantly supplied with the new Elizabethan cups and covers,
which retained nothing of the old chalice and paten forms. Upon
the whole the probabilities are that it is one of the elegant cups,
made somewhat in the shape of the Venetian glass tazze, which
came into use about 1570 and lasted till the outbreak of the Civil
Wars.

A large Chalice of silver-gilt, the bowl having straight sides and
a heavy low stem with broad foot. It measures 7 fin. in height.

A Paten, with foot, is 5f in. in diameter. The hall-mark gives the
date 1679. The maker's mark is a water bird within a dotted circle.
This is, with one exception, the last instance known of the use of a
symbolic sign for a maker's mark, unaccompanied by any initial
letters. They hardly ever occur later than the commencement of
the seventeenth century. On the foot of the chalice is inscribed :
u Dedicated to Wishford Church" and on the bowl the arms of Howe,

1

1
t

e
f

j
t

)

8

1

3

)

By J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.

383

Or, a fesse between three wolfs3 heads couped sable, and the words
P The Guift of Sir Richard Grobham How. Barronett"

A Flagon, with handle and cover, in silver-gilt, of the tankard
form, very large and massive. One of a pair formerly existing. It
measures 12in. in height, with a base diameter of 7|in. The body
is cylindrical, tapering slightly upwards, with a broad foot. The
date-year is 1637. Besides the leopard's head and lion passant
there are two other marks, the maker's R. and K. linked together,
also another shield containing the numeral 6 and a capital B. sur-
mounted by a sort of knot in the shape of a figure 8. On the foot
is engraved : " Dedicated to Wish ford Church.31

Wylye. The Chalice in use here is a very fine one, as will be
seen by the illustration opposite. It is of silver- gilt, and in excellent
preservation. A good deal of the gilding has been toned down by
use. It is 6fin, in height, the stem and base being hexagonal.
The bowl and foot are both of hammered work ; the knop is repousse^
the heads, apparently female, are very well modelled, and have a
good deal of the character of the late fourteenth century type. The
usual crucifix is found on the base, with a large flower-bearing plant
on either side. The hall-marks consist of the leopard's head
crowned ; the maker's mark, a sort of fleur-de-lys surmounting a
vertical dotted stroke ; and the date-letter, a Lombardic capital H.
This indicates the year 1525, and this is apparently the correct date,
as the chalice corresponds in many of its details with that brought
from St. Alban's Abbey and presented by Sir Thomas Pope to Trinity
College, Oxford, the date of which is given as 1527. There are
not wanting, however, certain features which would incline one to
put it at a somewhat earlier date. It must be remembered, how-
ever, that in the earlier years of the sixteenth century, just on the
verge of the Renaissance, the rules which had previously influenced
all architectural and ornamental details became a good deal relaxed.
The inscription round the bowl has some curious defects in its spelling.
Space did not serve for the whole of the sentence. It runs as fol-
lows : " + CALICEM • SALUTARI ■ ACCIPIVM • ET • IN * NOM " (sic)

Round the base is inscribed : "in ' domino * confido." The Paten

2 c 2

384

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

belonging to this fine chalice no longer exists. In the list of " goods
to be safelie kept/'' made by the Commissioners of Edward VI., in
1553, the following relates to this parish : —

A Chalice or Cuppe Bells In Plate to the King's use
weylete xij di iij vij di

The parish accounts still preserved in Salisbury, and perhaps in
many country places, would probably produce many curious and
interesting details connected with Church arrangements. In the
parish of St. Thomas the Martyr, Rolls of churchwardens' accounts
exist from the time of Henry VIII. In St. Edmund's parish it is
understood that an unusually early series of churchwardens'' accounts
are to be found, beginning with the reign of Edward IV. A
selection from these, made apparently late in the sixteenth century,
is to be found in the Record Office, extending from the first of
Edward IV. to the twenty-fifth of Elizabeth. 1

The churchwardens' accounts of the parish of St. Martin, at
Salisbury, are still preserved to a great extent ; of these some few
extracts will be given. They commence A.D. 1567. At this period
nothing like a church rate seems to have been in use; the income of
the wardens came from a few small rents of tenements, certain
charges for graves, tolling bells, seats in the Church, also the pro-
ceeds of the "holy loaf," usually collected by the clerk. This
distribution of the holy bread amongst the congregation appears
to be the continuation of a custom prevalent before the Reformation.

The following entries occur : " Beaceved for ye holy lofe an0 dmi
1567 different sums varying from iiijd" to xxd- each month. In

1 " Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series." Addenda, 1583, 1584. They
chiefly relate to expenses in the Church and churchyard, window mending and
cleaning, renovations and repairs for altar and other furniture, vestments, crosses,
&c, and for books, purchase of holy water and christening oil ; also for the clerk
that sang the gospel, bread, cheese, and ale for the masters, &c, and wages for
the officials. Amongst the entries are, 1st Edw. IV., " For all apparel and
furniture of players at the Corpus Christi " ; 10th Henry VII., " Stalls and
stations at the fair intra cemiterium et extra " ; 1551, ,f Hauling away and
plucking down of altars, rood lofts, tables, 8fc. The steeple plucked down,
and all the expenses about it" ; 1554, " Two mass boohs bought, the altars
set up, an antiphone and two grayles bought " ; 1556, " Sings to make Mary
and John fast to the wall xirjd."

By J. K Nightingale, F.S.A. 385

1568 "for the holy lofe x8- xjd- " In January, 1569, "Item for ye
holy lofe of ye dark vjd- " The accounts for the next nine years do
not exist, but in 1580 we find " Item, the holy loafe came to xxvij8*
xd- " ; and again in 1585, (ifor holy lofe xij3 ijd- » In the next
account of 1588, and subsequently, receipts from the holy loaf are
no longer found.

Mr. Peacock, in his paper on the churchwardens' accounts of St.
Mary's, Sutterton, Co. Lincoln, mentions " holy bred " in the year
1512, and says that the holy bread was distributed as long as the
old services continued in use. The accounts of St. Martin's parish
show that its practice was retained in the English Church long after
the Reformation.

Mr. Peacock gives the following particulars relating to this
custom: "This year [1512] the wardens bought ij 1 holybred
mawndes ' for xd. This is an additional proof, if proof on such a
matter be needed, that the holy bread or eulogia was almost univer-
sally distributed in this country before the Reformation. So frequent
are the mistakes that are still made on this very simple matter that
it may not be out of place to remark that this holy loaf had nothing
whatever to do with the eucharistic elements, but that it was ordinary
unleavened bread, such as was commonly eaten in the parish, which was
blessed by the priest after he had said mass, cut into small pieces,
and given to the people to eat. When the custom originated it is, in
the present state of our knowledge, perhaps hardly safe to affirm.
It was intended as a symbol of the brotherly love which ought to
exist among Christians. Before the French Revolution we believe
that this rite was practised over a great part of Western Europe.
The _pain benit may still be seen distributed in several of the Churches
in Paris. One of the demands of the Devonshire men, when they
broke out into rebellion in 1549, for the purpose of resisting the
changes in faith and ritual, was that they should have f holy bread
and holy water every Sunday/ The holy bread was distributed as
long as the old services continued in use. Baskets for containing
it are mentioned several times among the things removed as f monu-
ments of superstition ' from the Lincolnshire Churches in the eighth
of Elizabeth."

386

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

Some particulars of the usage concerning the holy loaf, which
seems to have had its origin in the early ages of the Church, are
also found in the " Depositions and Ecclesiastical Proceedings" pub-
lished by the Surtees Society, 1845. In the course of some evidence
given by a parishioner relating to a dispute as to certain rights of
St. Margaret's and St. Oswald's, at Durham, about 1570, he says : —

"That about 30 yeres agoo, and senc, the inhabitors apperteyning to the
chappell of St. Margaret's according as ther course fell, to have brought every
Sonday ther hallybread caike in a towell open on ther brest, and laid yt downe
upon the ende of the hye alter of St. Oswald's, and 1-d. in money also with the
said caik ; and the clerke toke the caik, and the proctor the silver ; and after the
caik was hallowed, the said clerk cut off a part of the said caike, cauld, the hally
bred cantle, to gyve to ther next neighbour, whose course was to gyve the holly
bread the next sonday then next after ; and this order was comonly used of all
the inhabitors apperteyning to the said chappell of St. Margarett's, so long as
the order and gyving of the hollibred sylver dyd remaine, referinge hym to the
Quene's boke."

In the earlier years of the accounts of St. Martin's are found
sundry small sums, expended for " singing bread/' for example,
1585, "for singing hreade iiijd* also, in 1588, "for singing brede
jjd. » This was essentially " altar bread," other bread was provided
for ordinary communicants.

Previous to the Reformation howselling bread and singing bread
are often found in old Church accounts. The howselling bread was
the small bread used for the communion of the people, and the
singing bread was the large bread used by the priest for the mass,
so called, it is said, from the host, or unleavened bread, consecrated
by the priest singing. In Queen Elizabeth's " Injunctions " it is
ordered that the sacramental bread shall be " of the same fineness
and fashion, though somewhat bigger in compass and thickness, as
the usual bread and water heretofore named singing-cakes, which
served for the use of the private mass." It was made into small
cakes, impressed with the cross.

In the same accounts, from about 1570 to the end of the century,
separate annual statements are given of the sums expended for
sacramental wine in each month, and on the principal festivals of
the Church. The following account of disbursements for wine

By J. E. Nightingale, F.8.A.

387

relate to the year April, 1589, to April, 1590. The cost of wine
about this time will be seen by an extract from the accounts of
1603 :—

" Item — laied out for a quart of wyne for the communicants this viij day of
May— viijd."

" Here ffolloweth the payments and layings out, and first for wine.

It — on the moneth of Aprill

ixd.

It — on the moneth of May

viijd.

It — on Whit Sunday

xd.

It — on the moneth of July

viijd.

It — on the moneth of September

viijd.

It — on the moneth ot November

xijd.

It — on Christmas day

XV j.

It — on the moneth of february

viijd.

It — on mid-lent Sondaye ...

viijd.

It — on passion Sondaye

xijd.

It — on palme Sondaye

ijs- xd.

It — to the sicke folke that did not

receave on Munday

ijd-

It — on Wednesday

iiijd.

It — on Thursday

iiijd.

It — on good frydaye ...

iiijd.

It — on easter even

xvjd.

It — on easter day

vj*

• viijd.

It — on easter monday

iiijV

In the same churchwardens' accounts of St. Martin's for the year
1582 a whole page is devoted to the particulars of expenses for
removing" and re-casting one of the Church bells, at a cost of £5 Zs.
The bell, curiously enough, seems to have changed its sex during
the process of re-casting. It still exists, and is the fifth of the
present peal of six. It was cast by John Wallis, one of the early
Salisbury bell- founders, who worked from about 1581 to 1633 (see
article on Church bells by the Rev. W. C. Lukis, in the 2nd vol. of
this Magazine) . The bell bears the following inscription : " Be mec
and loly to heare the Word of God. 1582. I.W."

The entry is as follows : —

" charges Aboute the new Bell

It — for unhanging of him xmjd.

It— for drawing him to the Bellfounders house . . . xjd.

It — for bringing the Bell to church xvijd.

It— for getting of her up and hanging of her ... iija. vjd.
It— for castinge the Bell to John Wallis irj1. vj8. viijd."

388

Old Church Plate in Wilts.

Sundry other items of expense bring the cost to the sum above-
mentioned, as is expressed at the bottom of the page : —
" The whole paid aboute the new bell v1. ij8."

A curious instance of the retention of an old custom of pre-
Reformation times, and still in use in all Roman Catholic Churches,
will be found in the diocese of Salisbury. At Wimborne Minster
it is still the practice to use the long strips of white linen which
were spread along the altar rail when the communion was adminis-
tered to the congregation. These are still called, as in old times,
houseling 1 cloths. There being no altar rails at Wimborne Minster
it has always been the custom there to lay the houseling linen on
three or more benches, which are arranged across the chancel, and
which form, in fact, a sort of altar rail, the communicants coming
up from the body of the Church to kneel at them. This practice,
as far as the writer is aware, is not retained in any other Anglican
Church.

In the seventeenth century there are numerous instances of the
consecration of Church plate. The chalice belonging to the parish
Church of Streatham bears an inscription to this effect, A.D. 1686.
It was one of the charges against Archbishop Laud that in his
chapel he was seen to "consecrate some plate/' Laud justifies
himself by saying that " in all ages of the Church there have been
consecrations of sacred vessels as well as of Churches themselves/'
and that the form he used was not according to the Missale Parvo,
but the " Form " provided by Bishop Andrews.

From the Church books preserved in the parish of St. Saviour's,
Southwark, it appears that from about 1530 to the middle of the
seventeenth century it was customary to issue certain metal tokens
to all parishioners who had partaken of the holy communion. In
1556 occurs an entry of an order of vestry that the wardens shall
cast tokens and keep lists in token books. Apparently a house-to-
house visitation was made, with a view of compelling every person

1 To housele, in old English, meant, to administer the sacrament. The ghost
of Hamlet's father exclaims : —

" Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousell'd, disappointed, unanel'd."

BIocI-l I -with, Ititc?ve?is ( Joyce J

„ E f „ J

% HT TLcu&cUiru/ Ii^-pocaMst buzlt> over site- of "a fire Strong Box / „ J

„ W ~ / - /

Silchester. 389

to take the sacrament. In the year 1596 two thousand tokens are
accounted for at two pence each, The money so gathered seems to
have been used for charitable purposes, but it is not clear whether
the people named really went to the sacrament, or whether the
contribution alone made amends. Something analagous still exists
amongst the Presbyterians in Scotland.

[The thanks of the Society are due to Mr. Nightingale for taking upon himself
the cost of the plates which illustrate his paper, and to the Society of Anti-
quaries for the loan of the wood-block of the Berwick Chalice. (Ed.)]

[Read before the Society at Andover by the Rev. R. H. Clutteebuck, August

16th, 1883.]

BELIEVE I shall best meet your views by expressing, in-
the fewest words I possibly can, what it is you are to see
at Silchester ; leaving for abler hands all discussion on controverted
points, and all allusion to other than matters of observable fact.

Silchester, then, is the walled site of a Roman city. It is situated
almost on the very border of Hampshire, near Mortimer Stratfield,
in Berkshire.

The commonly-received opinion is that it is Calleva of the
Itineraries.

Mr. Coote, in his most valuable work, " The Romans of Britain/'
thinks that it was the civitas of a territory which may have been
the present Hampshire.

You will observe there are four roads starting from the forum,
N„ S., E. and W. These roads, says Mr. Coote, are the incohate
limites maximi which extended through the territory of the colony.
The road through the east gate led to Londinium by Pontes (Staines) .
That through the south gate to Venta Belgarum (Winchester), and
also to Sorbiodunum (Old Sarum), through Vindomis, which Sir
R. C. Hoare considered to be Finkley, in my parish. Through the
west gate the road led to Aquae Solis (Bath), by Cunetio, and also
to Corinium by Spinae. The walls enclose about 100 acres. They

390 Silchester.

are from 10ft. to 15ft. high, and If miles in circuit, with a fosse
which, though now encumbered with debris, is still in many places
100ft. in breadth, and 12ft. or Hft. in depth. There are several
springs, so that part of the fosse is generally filled with water, of
which the city must have had a good supply.

There are, of course, the four gates. The actual form and di-
mensions of the east gate were made out by careful excavation.
The entrance was 28ft. wide, and on the left side a semicircular
tower was found. Within the entrance were two guard-rooms, each
of which measured 7ft. x 5ft.

The southern gate was found to have been flanked by two lofty
columns, with moulded caps and bases, supporting a pediment
beneath which the chariots and horsemen would pass — the road for
pedestrians being on either side. You will be able to see parts of
these columns and the guard-room.

On the south side there are traces of a small postern, or sallyport,
running beneath the wall, and called by the country people " Onion's
Hole/'' from a fabled giant of that name, who is said to have selected
Silchester as his residence. In honour of this mythical personage
coins frequently dug up here are locally styled " Onion's Pennies.-"
They were thus denominated even in the days of Camden.

About 150 yards from the north-east angle of the wall is the
amphitheatre, which has an area of about 2000 yards — the second
largest in England. The two vomitoria are clearly visible. The
seats appear to have been arranged in five rows one above another,
the slope between each measuring about 6ft. A deep hole on the
south side is supposed to have been the cave or den where the wild
beasts were kept.

Near at hand is an ancient well.

You will observe that the walls differ from the ordinary type in
that the usual bonding bricks are here replaced by a layer every
2ft. 5in. of the Lower Green Sandstone. Some of the sandstone is
from Oxfordshire, and some of the Oolite used is from Bath.

Inside the walls excavations were first made in 1864, under the
superintendence of the late Rev. J. G. Joyce.

I do not think it will be at all to your present purpose to give

By the Rev, R. H. Clutterbuch.

391

any detailed history of the excavations. You will find them in a
paper by Mr. Joyce, in No. 40 of the " Arch apologia 1 The excava-
tions have enabled us to form a very accurate view of the general
laying out of the city, which is the rectangular plan we are familiar
with from the writings of the agrimensores.

The first excavation was made on the site of one of the smaller
streets. The house was apparently of humble character. Amongst
the articles found in it was part of a millstone and part of a water
jug, carefully mended.

Afterwards excavations were made on the main street, where the
houses were of a better class, but much less luxurious than the
ordinary Roman villa.

There is reason to think that the town was burned in the time of
Constantius Clorus, when it was stormed and afterwards destroyed.
There is indication of some re-building after fire. The mortar used
within the town was very poor and in contrast to that of the walls.

Two hypocausts have been disclosed of ordinary character. It is
a very curious circumstance that the chief pavements appear to have
been carefully taken up and removed — by whom it is impossible to
guess. We are familiar with Roman pavements in England which
were brought from Italy. Those found at Silchester were probably
made in the neighbourhood. Tools used by the workmen in making
them have been found.

The chief interest of the excavations centres in the forum, which
measures 276ft. x 313ft., and is now completely excavated. Its
shape is that of a parallelogram, and it is surrounded by an ambu-
latory or porticoed piazza from 12ft. to 15ft. in width. The walls
which enclose the whole area are about 3ft. in thickness. Beneath
the forum were discovered the remains of a sewer.

The area is divided by a wall into two distinct sections, the forum
and the basilica. Shops were ranged on either side of the gateway
and along the northern side of the courtyard towards the basilica.
One had apparently been used as a wine shop, another as a

1 See, too, "Memoir on Silchester," by Henry Maclauchlan , in the Journal of
the Royal Archaeological Institute, vol. viii., pp. 227—243 ; and additional notes
by Mr. Albeit Way, pp. 243—246. [Ed.]

392

Silchester.

fishmonger's, another as a butcher's (in which were found flesh hooks
and the remains of steelyards), another had been a poulterer's.

The basilica was a noble building with a well- defined apsidal end
on the south. On one side were several large rooms. One was the
serarium or treasury or public record room — seals were found there.
Along the eastern side was a row of columns with foliated capitals.

The hall of justice was 60ft. in breadth, by 276ft. in length, and
all along one side there is an interior foundation, seemingly for the
support of the stone pillars of a gallery for an audience. In one of
the small rooms to the left of the basilica was found a Roman
legionary eagle. It is now at Strathfieldsaye. The golden wings
had been wrenched off, and the bronze body was found beneath lOin.
of burnt wood.

The remains of a sixteen-sided temple have been disclosed of about
60ft. in diameter. It is surrounded by an ambulatory, but there
are no traces of columns, nor has any altar been found.

I should have mentioned that in one of the houses there was found
the remains of a strong box.

The parish Church of St. Mary, Silchester, is built within the
walls. It was restored in 1877. There are some Norman columns,
a carved oak screen, two piscinae, two aumbries, a tomb under a re-
cessed arch, and on the top of the Roman wall close by are effigies, one
military and one of a lady, which most likely came from the Church.

There is a museum within the city walls in which are some articles
found during the excavations, and plans of the basilica.

A useful guide, price one shilling — from which I have borrowed
freely — may be had of the curator.1

The cemetery has not been discovered.

I do not think I can say more that will be useful to you, and I
can but wish you success when you get to the site in recognizing
the various excavations, for that is the chief difficulty, practically.
If you do that you cannot fail to enjoy your visit.

1 The Editor desires to record his obligations to Mr. Jacob, of Basingstoke, the
spirited publisher of the above-named admirable guide, for his ready permission
to reproduce the Plan of Silchester given herewith, and to make other use of the
guide.

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<omt ^Ucmmt of i\t " Ei)u;' Praia.

HE Vyne is said by some to derive its name from vines
planted here by Probus, the Roman Emperor; by others
from Vindomis, the lost Roman station, which lay either between
Reading and Winchester, or between Silchester and Winchester.
Mr, Reynolds and Mr. Akerman have identified the Vyne with
Vindomis (the first syllable of which it retains), and, if this be so,
the existence of a house here is carried back to the Antonine Itin-
erary, in which Vindomis is mentioned. A Roman ring1 was found
by Chaloner Chute near the Vyne, about 1780, and was exhibited at
Somerset House in 1785. It bears the uncommon name of Senicianus,
and it is a remarkable coincidence that the same name is mentioned
in connection with the loss of a ring by one Silvianus, on another
Roman inscription, at Lydney, in Gloucestershire. Other apparently
Roman remains have been found in the grounds. The ring is still
at the Vyne.

Nothing is known of any Saxon settlement, except that Domesday
Book says that Ulvevn held Sherborne (the parish in which the
Vyne stands) in the time of Edward the Confessor. At the Conquest
it became part of the lands of Hugo De Port. In the reign of
King John the lord of the manor of the Vyne obtained leave to
build a chantry in his grounds, the parish Church being a mile
distant, and to maintain a priest ; it was further endowed by Sir
T. de Cowdray, lord of the manor, with the license of Edward III.
and existed until the present chapel was built. A well-preserved
corbel from the old chantry is kept in the ante-chapel.

The present house was built by Lord Sandes, in the reign of
Henry VIII. The picture of Henry VIII. by Holbein is in the
hall, as also is that of Charles Chute, the father of Chaloner Chute,
the Speaker, who purchased the house from the Sandys family about
the time of the Restoration.

John Chute, descended from Chaloner Chute, and the friend of

394 Some Account of the " Vyne33 Hants.

Gray and Horace Walpole, built the " theatric 33 staircase in the
Grecian style, which leads to the Library, where are portraits of
Chaloner Chute and his wife, Lady Dacre, daughter of Lord North.
Here is a print of the Great Seal of England in Chaloner Chute's
time, consisting of a map of England and Ireland, in which " The
Vine'''' is marked, probably as a compliment to Mr. Chute.

Next the Library come the Tapestry Rooms ; and then the Upper
Long Gallery, with carved oak panels, representing the crests
or devices of the leading men of Henry the Eighth's reign, such as
Archbishop Warham, Cardinal Wolsey, Bishop Tunstall, Bishop
Fox, and many Tudor emblems. The Lower Gallery (formerly an
orangery), like the upper one, contains marble statues and interesting
pictures. The Drawing Rooms contain many reminiscences of Horace
Walpole and Gray, a collection of china, and a Florentine cabinet,
brought over by Horace Walpole.

In the Lining Room are sometimes shown a Basingstoke Race
Cup, won by Edward Chute, son of the Speaker, in 1688, and a
silver cup, given to Chaloner Chute for his able and courageous
defence of the bishops at the commencement of the Civil War.

The Billiard Room has handsome linen panelling, and some good
portraits, especially one of u Winifred the Nun of Cufande/' about
1700, and the Cufande pedigree hangs near it, which commemorates
the intermarriage of the grand-daughter of the Countess of Salisbury
and niece of Cardinal Pole with a member of the family of Cufande,
whose estates now form part of the Vyne estate. This pedigree
was shown at Burlington House in 1882, and is of great interest to
antiquaries.

The ante-chapel has good sacred pictures and stained glass, in-
cluding some relics of a window formerly put up in the Holy Ghost
Chapel at Basingstoke, by Lord Sandes, who added to it the chapel
of the Holy Trinity about the same time as he built the Vyne.
The Chapel contains windows which are much admired, the subjects
being sacred, and in the lower lights Henry VII., with his Queen, and
his daughter Margaret, with their several patron saints. Here are
some curious tiles and elaborate oak carving, especially the frieze.
In " Dolman's Domestic Architecture 33 the chapel and the upper

Appointment of Overseers. 395

1 gallery are fully described. A mausoleum was built on to the chapel
t by John Chute, which contains a work of art by Banks, the sculptor,
ija marble figure of Chaloner Chute, the Speaker, in repose, with
■■..•.■.inscriptions and coats of arms. A room can be seen looking into
IV||the chapel from above, which was probably the end of the series of
state rooms where were lodged. Henry VIII., who more than once
visited Lord Sandes here, and Queen Elizabeth, who came here in
her progress, in the eleventh year of her reign, and who sent the
as 1 French Ambassador, the Duke de Biron, here in 1601, with a retinue
op I of thirty knights and three hundred attendants.1

^jpintat of ®bmtm, foit| infractions to

[Communicated by the Rev. Canon Goddabd, Vicar of Hilmarton.]
" Wilts to Wit.

" We whose names are under- written, Justices of the Peace for the said County
of Wilts, do (by virtue of the Statute in such case made) nominate and appoint
you Benjamin Downy and Wm Chivers, of the parish of Hilmarton in the said
County (together with the Church- Wardens thereof), to be Overseers of the Poor
for the said Parish, for the year ensuing : And you are to take notice, that the
Law requires you to meet (at least) once in every month of the said ensuing year,
in the Churchy upon some Sunday in the Afternoon, to consider of some course
to be taken for Relieving the Poor ; and that you enter in a Book to be kept for
that Purpose, the Na mes of all Persons receiving Relief, and the Occasion that
brought them under that Necessity : and that you take care that every person
receiving Relief, and the Wife and Children of every such Person, cohabiting in
the same House, do, upon the shoulder of the right sleeve of the uppermost Gar-
ment, legally wear, in an open and visible manner, a Badge or Mark, with a
large Roman P., together with the first Letter of the Name of your Parish, cut,
in Red or Blue Cloth ; for that no Person not wearing such Badge, as aforesaid,
and in Manner as aforesaid, are by Law to have Relief ; but are for their Neglect

1 The illustration of the Vyne is from a photograph kindly lent by the author of
the above paper, and owner of the fine old mansion, Mr. Chaloner William Chute.

2 The above document will not only interest but surprize many people, bearing,
as it does, so late a date as 1755. [Ed.]

396

8. James, Abury.

or Eefusal, to be sent to Bridewell, or their Pay to be stopt. And further, if
you the said Officers do, or shall relieve any Poor Person, not Having and Wearing
constantly such Badge, you forfeit, for every offence, Twenty Shillings, to be
levied by distress.

" Also, You are to take care, that you place out Poor Children Appprenticed
within your Parish, whose Parents are not able to keep or maintain them : And,
also (with the consent of Two Justices), to take order for the setting of the Poor
of your Parish to work ; and for the raising, by Taxation, a convenient Stock for
that purpose.

" Lastly, All Eates and Assessments, for the Purposes aforesaid, are to be
confirmed by the two next Justices of the Peace, and Application (in all cases)
to be made to them where Eefusal of Payment of Eates and Assessment happen,
that Warrants of Distress may be obtained as the Law directs. Given under
our Hands and seals this 16th Day of April in the Year of Our Lord One
Thousand Seven Hundred fifty-five.

[Sere follow the seals and signatures of~\ " John Talbot Q

"J. Eolt Q"

S I am in a position to give information upon two important
points in the history of this Church which were revealed
in the course of operations carried out before Mr. Ponting took
charge of the restoration, I beg to submit the following remarks.

Mr. Ponting then, observes (p. 191 of the last number of this
Magazine) : " The nave probably terminated at the east end with
an apse" ; and again, at p. 193, he expresses his inability "to
discover any reliable indication of the original floor-level."

But we found positive evidence upon both of these points in the
early stages of our restoration. Thus in excavating the floor of the
nave for the heating-chamber we found the original floor-level at a
depth of two feet below the present floor, which is that of the twelfth
century ; there we found a layer of mortar upon the virgin soil, as
a bed apparently for flag-stones, whilst that was covered by an
artificial accumulation of earth and stones up to the present level.

Then we found the remains of the Saxon chancel in a wall of
about 12ft. in length, on the south side of the chancel, the inner face

8. James j Abury. 397

of which was 16in. within the present chancel wall, and which was
smoothly plastered on its inner surface to the depth of the original
floor-level of the nave. The eastern extremity of this wall had
been broken through, probably for the purpose of making a vault ;
so that the chancel was evidently not apsidal, but of a similar
character to those of S. Lawrence, Brad ford- on- A von, and S. Mary
le Wigford, Lincoln.

I may here call the attention of visitors to a rude piece of sculpture
which is now placed inside the porch, and which was found built
into the east wall of the chancel. This consists of the representation
of the Heavenly Father giving benediction to the Son, who is em-
bracing the cross, and was doubtless one of the decorations of the
Saxon Church, as a similar piece of sculpture, found amongst the
remains of another Saxon Church, has been described by the late
Mr. J. H. Parker.

In conclusion, I would offer here an observation upon the probable
origin of those very peculiar circular openings in the north wall of
the nave, which are accurately described in Mr. Pon ting's paper.
They have, as he has pointed out, an arrangement for a cradle of
<c wattle-and-daub " work, in order to continue the internal splay of
the opening into the Church ; but then the question occurs, " What
could be the object of such arrangement in a stone wall, in which
that splay might so easily be continued in the stone-work, as it is
at present in the central opening ? "

Does not this peculiar arrangement unmistakably point to the
inference that these circular openings were the windows of a still
earlier British Church of " wattle-and-daub," and that when that
Church was replaced by the Saxon Church of stone, these openings
were utilized in their present position, for the purpose of giving a
glimmer of light within the building when the larger Saxon win
dows were obliged to be closed by their shutters, through stress of
weather ?

If this inference be correct, then — as Avebury was certainly one
of the very earliest inhabited spots of Britain — so in these very
peculiar openings we have the remains of one of the very earliest
Churches of the Kingdom.

398

8. James, Abury.

It may not be out of place if I record here one of the most in-
teresting circumstances which has occurred in the restoration of
this, or perhaps of any other, Church.

There is a monument in the chancel to John Truslow, who died
in 1593, to whom the old manor house of " Avebury Truslowe "
belonged, as well as a pew of carved oak in the north aisle. Some
fifteen years ago I received a letter from one of this name in New
York, who stated that he had been reading a work of Britton,
in which it was stated that the Church of Avebury contained
a monument of the Truslowe family, and enquiring whether this
monument was still in existence. I was able to give him some
information on the subject of the family, from our registers, and
eventually to supply him with copies of two wills of the family, one
of them executed on the eve of his voyage (apparently to the United
States) .

Subsequently to this, no fewer than six members of the family
from the States have on three several occasions visited Avebury and
inspected the monument and manor house. On one of these occasions
I informed the visitor of my intention to convert the old Truslowe
pew into choir stalls; and now I have just received the sum of £25,
which has been contributed by members of the family in the United
States for this adaptation of the pew which was made for their
ancestor some three centuries ago.

Bryan King.

ury, Calne,
Easter Eve, 1884.

Erratum.

At page 172, line 16, Ford, Dorset, should be Ford, Devonshire.

END OF VOL. XXI.

H. P. BULL, Printer and Publisher, 4, Saint John Street, Devizes.

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