338 Rood Ashton, &c. 
originally, and for some generations were held together. This took 
place after the death of Sir Walter Long (owner of both), in 1610. 
The partition was never contemplated by him, but was obliged to be 
adopted, in order to settle a quarrel between his two sons. The 
circumstances attending this affair are curious: and as they come 
down to us through the pen of John Aubrey, who was born in 1626, 
(only 16 years after the death of the Sir Walter Long of 1610,) 
who lived in Wilts, between Wraxal and Draycote, was an intimate 
friend of the Long family and must have heard the story many times 
at their dinner-tables, we may presume that it is no invention of his, 
but a tradition of the time, neither explained nor at once contradicted, 
by the family themselves. 
The Sir Walter Long, alluded to, had been married twice. Aubrey 
says that the second wife did her best to make the eldest son by the 
first wife odious to the father; and at last succeeded in getting the 
eldest son disinherited. The place where she got this done was 
Bath, where her brother, a lawyer, resided. The clerk who was 
engrossing the deed, had to sit up all night. As he was writing, 
he perceived a shadow on the parchment from the candle. He looked 
up, and saw—a white hand! It instantly vanished. He was 
startled, but having been very sleepy, he thought it might be only 
his fancy; so he went on writing. By and by, again the white 
hand interposed between the writing and the candle. He could 
perceive it wasa woman’s hand. Again it vanished. “I have 
forgot,” says Aubrey, “It appeared a third time.” With that the 
poor clerk threw down his pen, and would engross no more; but 
runs and tells his master and positively refuses to go on. However 
the deed was engrossed, Sir Walter signed and sealed it, and the son 
was disinherited. Sir Walter did not live long afterwards. As 
might be supposed, a dispute was the consequence: the younger son, 
who had got all, was obliged to compound. He kept Draycote, 
and the elder son got Wraxal. But this was not all. Retribution 
follows upon the second wife who had managed this little affair. She 
had made a promise to Sir Walter on his death-bed, that she would 
not marry a second time. But not long after, one Sir Edward Fox, 
a very beautiful young gentleman, did win her love; so that 
