ON OTTERY EAST HILL. 131 



cipimus quod omnes ad lectos simul vadant et lumen simul 

 extinguant, ne forsitan aliquis soporatus, quod absit, socios corn- 

 bur eret et setpsum"* The first writer of eclogues in the English 

 language, William Barclay, was one of the prebendaries of the 

 church, and is remembered for his translation into our tongue 

 of the celebrated Navis Stultifera of Sebastian Brandt. 



This college was dissolved by Henry VIIL, and the church, 

 &c., made over to a church corporation of four governors 

 (similar to that of Crediton), which remains substantially the 

 same at the present day. The great tithes passed to the Dean 

 and Chapter of Windsor, but now belong to the Ecclesiastical 

 Commissioners, while, until a few years ago, the vicar was pre- 

 sented by the Lord Chancellor. A more anomalous state of 

 things can hardly be imagined, considering the size and popula- 

 tion of Ottery St. Mary. 



Running the eye over the large tract of tilth and woodland be- 

 fore us, one or two great names emerge from the past and chal- 

 lenge mention. This is, to begin with, the country of Sir Walter 

 Raleigh, " the glory not of this county only, but the kingdom," 

 as Prince patriotically asserts. t Far to the left, under the 

 shelter of an extensive wood, lies his birthplace, Hayes Farm. 

 It is a long, low, whitewashed building, evidently of great 

 antiquity, but contains no relics of the Raleighs. Their pew, 

 with its fine oak carving, may, however, be seen in the adjacent 

 parish church of East Budleigh. At Colaton Raleigh, too, 

 which is the next village to Newton, down the Otter river, in the 

 valley before us, is an old manor-house belonging to the family, 

 and tradition tells that there the first potatoes ever grown in 

 England were planted. More than one house at Ottery St. 

 Mary is popularly connected with Sir W. Raleigh ; but that 

 which possessed the best claim to have been his residence was 

 the chief of a block of five tenements in the centre of the town, 

 which were unfortunately destroyed by fire on May 15, 1805. 

 * Stat. 51. t Worthies of Devon, p. 666. Ed. 1810. 



