CHAPTER III. 



THE' OLD TIMES. 



There is no record that any king ever hunted on the 

 royal Forest of Exmoor, but there is some ground for 

 supposing that one or more of the Saxon kings did so. 

 The small oasis of Simonsbath was held, as before 

 stated, by the king as his private property, and existed 

 as such till the time of George III., which seems to 

 suggest a personal occupation at one period or another. 

 The name Simonsbath is of no help in the matter. 

 Simon is supposed to have been an outlaw; and a deep 

 pool in the Barle, a few hundred yards above the vil- 

 lage, is pointed out as his " bath." But more probably 

 the true meaning is Simon's /<2///, for the old bridle- 

 road from Barnstaple crosses the Barle under the vil- 

 lage, and goes up through it ; and other paths on the 

 moor have similar names, such as Snow's path and 

 Perriam's path. The ford across the first water, on 

 entering the Forest from the south, is Kingsford, or 



