CHAPTEE Y. 



WILLEY. 



Willey, close Neigh"boiir to the Royal Chace of ShMot — Ety- 

 mology of the Name — Domesday — The Willileys — The 

 Lacons— The Welds and the Foresters— Willey Old Hall— 

 Cumnor Hall as descrihed by Sir Walter Scott — Everything 

 Old and Quaint — How Willey came into possession of the 

 Eoresters. 



" 'Bove the foliage of the wood 



An antique mansion might you then espy, 



Such as in the days of our forefathers stood, 



Carved with device of quaintest imagery." 



To commence with its earlier phase, it was clear 

 that Willey would be close neighbour to the Royal 

 Chace of Shirlot, and that it must have been about 

 the centre of the wooded country previously de- 

 scribed. The name is said to be of Saxon origin ; 

 and in wattle and dab and wicker-work times, when 

 an osier-bed was probably equal in value to a vine- 

 yard, the place might have been as the word seems 



