196 THE RED DEER OF EX MOOR. 



woods " at Porlock, were among the lavish rewards 

 showered on Sir Nigel Loring, the Lord of the 

 Manor of Porlock, as a reward for his gallant services 

 at Crecy, Poictiers, and before Calais. His daughter 

 Isabella married the third Lord Harrington, whose 

 son, the fourth lord, led a stalwart company of 

 Porlock men at Agincourt, including twenty-nine 

 lances and eighty-six archers, among whom were 

 John Godde and his son. They probably returned 

 safe and sound, as we find a John Godde bailiff 

 of Porlock and Brendon under Lady Bonville. 

 The Goddes, or Goddards, have existed in the 

 neighbourhood from that day to this, being repre- 

 sented now by James Goddard, the host of the 

 " Anchor" at Porlock Weir, a first-rate staghunter 

 and a good No. i in a polo team. 



The park at Porlock consisted of the eastern 

 part of the big hanging covert between West 

 Porlock and the foot of Porlock Hill, a part of 

 the covert known as the Parks to this day. It may 

 be noticed that the woods west of this are traversed 

 with ancient tracks over which there is even now a 

 right of way, but that in "the Parks" there are 

 none but modern rides, except, perhaps, that pre- 

 cipitous track known as the Lady's Stair. 



Sir William Bonville was beheaded in 1461 ; his 

 son and grandson were both killed in the previous 

 year at the battle of Wakefield. He was succeeded 

 by his great-granddaughter, Cecily Bonville, who 

 married Thomas Grey, first Marquis of Dorset, 



