38 
the French in sweetness.” (Camden, p. 267.) This is Wm. of 
Malmesbury’s testimony to the excellence of the Gloucestershire 
Vineyards as translated by Camden, and in connection with our 
present subject it is interesting to note that Wm. of Malmesbury, 
though he lived most of his life in Gloucestershire, was a native 
of Somersetshire. Camden’s Commentary on the passage is this— 
“From hence we are not to wonder that so many places in this 
County from their Vines are called Vineyards, because they 
formerly afforded plenty of Wine, and that they yield none now, is 
rather to be imputed to the sloth of the inhabitants than to the in- 
disposition of the Climate. For now these Vineyards have nothing 
left in this County but the places nam’d from them; viz., one 
near Tewkesbury, at present called by the Vineyard, and another 
on a rising hill by Overbridge, near Glocester, where was a large 
house, moted round, belonging to the Bishop of Glocester, built 
about the year 1351 by the Abbot of Glocester,” p. 269. So far 
Camden—but we shall see presently that his idea of the complete 
destruction of Vineyards in Gloucestershire was not quite correct. 
Next to William of Malmesbury we come to Alexander 
Neckham. He was Abbot of Cirencester from 1213 to 1217, 
and was a learned man and a good scholar. He was also a close 
observer and wrote a book, ‘‘ De Naturis Rerum,” which may be 
considered the best book on Natural History at that date. 
Unfortunately for our purpose, his object was not so much to 
record facts in Natural History (though he does so largely), but 
to moralize upon them, and it is often very difficult to know 
whether the facts he quotes are the results of his own observation 
or gathered from books. His 167th chapter is de Vinea, and if 
we may suppose that he is speaking of the vine as seen by 
himself in England (perhaps in Gloucestershire) it is a strong 
testimony to the vigour of the English vine, for he tells us that 
the vine branches supported by stakes and intertwined together 
make good arbours (thalamos aspectu decoros vites preebent), and 
further that they are good to grow against a house, because 
