Ixxvi. NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SALISBURY MEETING. 



through the Moot 30 feet deep and 20 feet wide, and I will tell 

 you the whole history of it." " Thank you," he answered ; " I 

 am deeply grateful to you for your offer, but I prefer the 

 mystery." And so, beyond the traditions of those who lived 

 around Downton, the authentic history of the place was still 

 utterly unknown. Another distinguished visitor at The Moot 

 was the late Professor Vigfusen, Professor of Norse Literature 

 at Oxford, who came one Sunday morning, bringing letters of 

 introduction from Oxford. Taking his arm and leading him 

 down to the foot of the Moot, the Professor said " Sir, if you 

 will come with me to Iceland, Sweden, or Norway, I will show 

 you hundreds of these places ; but I have never seen so perfect 

 a one as this." Professor Vigfusen was so good as to begin 

 preparing a paper for examining the place in detail ; but, 

 unhappily, death prevented him from completing it. The 

 Tynwald, in the Isle of Man, was the nearest approach to a 

 place like The Moot. There there were three benches of stone, 

 and, instead of being concave, they were convex. And the 

 Tynwald is still the place of assembly for the Parliament of the 

 Isle of Man. Everyone who went there was required to bring 

 up a stone, so as to maintain it ; but there at Downton, on the 

 chalk, with their moderate rainfall, mother earth, with its grassy 

 surface, maintained the Moot. 



After Lord Eustace Cecil had again cordially thanked Mr. 

 Squarey and expressed regret that time did not allow of a longer 

 stay, the party left for the station. 



Miss Emily F. Yeatman, of King's Stag, Sturminster New- 

 ton, and Mr. Ralph Edward Hill, of Long Lynch, Shillingstone, 

 were elected members of the Club, both proposed by Mr. H. S. 

 Bower and seconded by the Rev. P. R. Gorringe. 



