By W. L. Barker, Esq. 145 



of this horn which has long been and is still erroneously supposed 

 to have been the identical horn of John O. Gaunt, by which the 

 Charter was granted and by which the corporate rights are held. 

 That this was the horn of that Duke is exceedingly doubtful. It 

 was probably a Royal Horn, and a symbol of the tenure by which 

 the tenants of the manor originally held their lands of the Crown. 

 It was customary in the days of chivalry to hold land by the bow, 

 the lance, the spear, the spur, the horn, and such warlike emblems, 

 and it was more than probable that this was a relic of that custom, 

 and that when the manor was granted by the Crown, the horn 

 passed with it. On one side of this horn is the mutilated termin- 

 ation of an inscription in black letter a-c-t-e-1; and on the other 

 the word Hungerford. Having reviewed the history of the manor 

 from a remote period to the present time, I shall retrace my steps, 

 and ask you to consider with me the veracity of the tradition 

 which imputes to John 0. Gaunt the honor of having given by a 

 Charter to the inhabitants of Hungerford those corporate rights 

 which they now enjoy, and which include the free fishery and the 

 appointment of corporate officers. In so doing I shall follow the 

 line of argument adopted by a gentleman, who some years ago 

 investigated the subject, and communicated the result of his 

 enquiries to a commoner of the town. The fallacy of the before- 

 named tradition will, I think, be clearly proved by an enquiry, 1st 

 into the prerogative of John 0. Gaunt ; and 2ndly into the nature 

 and extent of the grant to him. 



As to his prerogative. John 0. Gaunt, Duke of Aquitaine and 

 Lancaster, was the fourth son of Edward III., and the uncle of 

 Richard II., and was born in 1340. He married Blanche, daugh- 

 ter and heiress of Henry II., Duke of Lancaster, by whom he had 

 three children, only one of whom need be noticed, viz : Henry 

 Bolingbroke, afterwards Duke of Lancaster, who succeeded to the 

 throne on the death of his cousin Richard II. Upon the death of 

 his grandfather in 1377, Richard II. ascended the throne, and 

 reigned until the year 1399, when both he and his uncle John O, 

 Gaunt died. It does not satisfactorily appear whether the Duke 

 or his nephew Richard 11. was the survivor ; but it is certain that 



