lo RECORDS OF OLD TIMES 



still held that part of the country. It is a great 

 height, and the cross rises from a large triangle, 

 and covers a great many acres of ground ; it can 

 be plainly seen at Oxford and other places, more 

 than thirty miles distant. The cross and hill, by 

 Act of Parliament, are declared public property, 

 and it is occasionally scoured at the expense of the 

 Lord of the Manor. 



' Wayland Smith ' — the god of smiths — and 

 builder of Wayland Smith's cave, was brother of 

 ' ^gil,' who was equal to Thor — the god of battles 

 — and from whom is ' .^Egilsbireg,' or Aylesbury. 

 yEgil was god of the sky, but in later days he was 

 sunk into a darker and terrible deity. The corrup- 

 tions of some words are curious and amusing. 

 Close to the Icknield Way — the Via Iceni — is the 

 ' World's End.' This is the Wold's end, where the 

 wolds or hills merge into the valley. The town of 

 Wendover is the ' wend or wind ' over the hills ; 

 but still more interesting are the adjoining villages 

 of the ' Kimbles,' the residence of ' Cymbeline ' or 

 ' Kymbeline ' (Shakespeare's ' Cymbeline '), King of 

 Britain, 500 years before the Saxons, who was king 

 when Julius Caesar invaded Britain 55 B.C. 



Whilst alluding to Aylesbury, I don't think it is 

 generally known that the unfortunate Queen Anne 

 Boleyn was often called ' The Fair Maid of 

 Aylesbury.' Her father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, 

 became Earl of Wiltshire ; he inherited the Manor 

 of Aylesbury through his mother, who was a 

 daugfhter of Thomas Boteler. The Earl sold the 



