288 Another Guess at ike Name of Tan Hill. 



though probably few would doubt their identity, yet it may 

 perhaps be well to give grounds for supposing the latter names 

 to be corruptions of the two former. The two first are entries by 

 an earlier scribe who was careful about the spelling, and commonly 

 spelled the same word in the same way. One exception occurs here. 

 The chief glazier he calls Peter Rowce or Rowse and Peter Rufus. 

 But in 1579 he gave way to a forerunner of Mr. Pitman who felt 

 called upon to spell phonetically. This is interesting as affording 

 a clue to Wiltshire pronunciation at that time. Thus he spells 

 "home," "whom;" washing he spells as doubtless he pronounced it 

 " weyeshinge ; " and a Wiltshire man would at once recognize wood 

 under the spelling "hood ;" and a fallen ash he describes as " a volen 

 ashe." At times he cannot please himself, and records money spent 

 upon " grene durranes " for articles which he spells variously, as 

 "queshons, quissiones, cossinges, coshines : " the second is his 

 favourite variation. Then the Bishop's throne was lined with 

 "yolow taffita sasenet," and his " curtenes " were of " yolow sylke." 

 This will suffice as a sample. This same scribe too had a tendency, 

 arising from his phonetic spelling, to put the final consonant of 

 one word on the open vowel of the following : thus. 



It. paid for iij ellnes of loccram for to lyne the best pulpit ) •■•, • ^ 

 cloth at xv^. a nellae ] ^'J ' ^ * 



This then prepares ua to learn that this scribe it is who spells 

 " Harnam " phonetically and gives us the following forms : 



1579. 



June. It. payd to Hancocke the smith for mending the hares of ) —-^ 



sin tan gatte j J * 



1585. 



It. for a nue keay, and mendinge the locke of tangate viij*. 



It. for mendinge the locke of the bare of tane gate vj''. 



The first entry seems to me mark a transitional state, which 

 makes sure of the latter variation. 



There still remains the question why should this gate alone be 

 called after a saint. It seems ever to have been called after S. 

 Anne, and the Chapel over it was dedicated in honor of S. Anne. 

 The street too leading to it is called S. Anne's Street. The reason 

 seems to have been this : as the Blessed Virgin was regarded by 



