72 THE BIRTHPLACE OF MATTHEW PRIOR. 



where he was born. We have some old cottages in Wimborne, 

 but the life of a small house in a country town does not 

 always amount to 2 centuries ; and my own impression is that 

 the original home of his childhood's days does not now exist, 

 though I feel sure that its locality is known, although the house 

 itself has been pulled down. And the passage which connects 

 East Boro' with West Boro', called in the old maps of Wim- 

 borne Luke's Lane, has, of recent years, had its name changed 

 to that which it is said to have sometimes borne, from the use 

 which the poet made of the street in question in the days 

 of his childhood, " Prior's Walk." 



Weld Taylor, in his article in " Longman's," speaks of an 

 old lady, a Miss Knott (at the time when she gave the informa- 

 tion, ninety years of age), who told him that her father and 

 grandfather often spoke of the Priors' occupancy of the house 

 alluded to, and of Matthew frequently coming out of the door 

 which there then was in the wall. It was on the South side 

 of the lane, where it joins East Boro'. 



Hutchins, in his original edition of the " History of Dorset " 

 (1774, Vol. II., p. 75), points out that it is highly probable 

 that Matthew Prior was born at Wimborne, but that no entry 

 of his baptism could be found in the Registers his parents 

 presumably being Dissenters. 



The tradition in Wimborne that Prior was born there has 

 been spoken of. We now turn to another tradition : 



Amongst the many objects of interest which are to be seen 

 in the Minster at Wimborne is a copy of Sir Walter Raleigh's 

 History of the World, which has now a place in the large glass- 

 case in the centre of the room, commonly called the Library, 

 in which the celebrated collection of chained books is deposited . 

 It is not the distinguished author's name, nor yet the subject 

 matter of the volume, nor even the antiquity of this particular 

 edition of Sir Walter's great work (A.D. 1614), which makes 

 it such an object of attraction to the multitude of visitors 

 who, during the course of the year, come to inspect the trea- 

 sures of the Minster. But its special interest arises from the 

 fact that a hole has been burnt through a considerable portion 



