PRE-SAXON CIVILIZATION IN DORSET. 227 



like a door or corncrake. The rain made " puddles " for 

 them (plod, a pool) over which they " skipped." 



When they garnered their harvest they did not forget the 

 pixies, but left some fruit or corn for them to go " cole pexing " 

 but they disrespectfully called a wet and dirty place a 

 " pucksey " as if they thought Puck the merry wanderer 

 of the night was responsible for misleading travellers into 

 bogs and ditches. " Old Scratch " with his black nutting 

 bag was their dark god whom to meet meant death, and the 

 death goddess Wyod is responsible for weird superstitions. 

 They used the word "athwart," and we use it still when we 

 speak of walking " athirt the grounds." 



The Romans are responsible for the expression Cold Har- 

 bour a name given to deserted Roman villas, where those 

 travellers could lodge who carried their own bedding and 

 provisions. The Maze was an ancient Roman game, and 

 it was called a " Troy Town " a word used in Devonshire 

 for a tangle. We use the word when wo say we are " mazed " 

 or confused. 



Street is another Roman word we have adopted. It is 

 taken from Strata or paved roads, and when a place bears 

 any modification of the word such as Stratton it is proved 

 to have been connected with one of the great Roman roads 

 which linked together the chief strategic positions in the island. 



These are a few traces left to us of the Dorset of long ago. 



The county is a palimpsest written over and over again, 

 by peoples from many lands. They have all left some mark 

 of their occupation, but the original characters can occasionally 

 be faintly read, and we can picture our forerunners in their 

 work and pastimes, and even catch some echoes of their 

 shrewd and homely talk as they sat around their cleft-wocd 

 fires through the winter evenings. 



One bond unites us. We can claim the same heritage and 

 distinction, for we are alike in being " Dorset folk, born and 

 bred." 



