258 REPORTS OF MEETINGS FOR 1911 



district belonged at one time to Northumbria. Now, in the court 

 of King Edwin, there was a certain thane, named Lilla, whose 

 heroic deeds have been preserved in Bede's Ecclesiastical His- 

 tory. When, in 625 a.d,, a certain foe to the King rushed 

 on him with a poisoned dagger, this Lilla gallantly threw 

 himself in the way, and received the fatal thrust in his own 

 body, thereby saving the King's life. It is possible that he was 

 the owner of the meadows or lea-ground, and that the name 

 originally was Lilla's-lea.* If so, it is the more interesting 

 from the events which directly followed on the tragic incident 

 already narrated. On the same night, the Queen, in her 

 agitation at what had happened, became ill and gave birth 

 to a daughter. Her own life and that of her child were in 

 the greatest danger, though both were spared. In acknow- 

 ledgment of his own and their preservation, the King was 

 persuaded by a Christian at his court, named Paulinus, to offer 

 thanks, not to pagan deities as he had proposed to do, but 

 to Christ ; and in token of his sincerity, he ordained that 

 his child should receive Christian baptism. Eleven members 

 of the royal household were at the same time baptized, and 

 subsequently King Edwin himself was baptized at York, in 

 consequence of which a solemn conclave of the thanes was held to 

 deliberate on the introduction of Christianity into Northumbria. 

 Should the conjecture regarding Lilla be correct, it will remain 

 a source of interest and pleasure that, through the gallant 

 action of one of its sons, the parish of Lilliesleaf had an 

 important part in extending the kingdom of Christ in this 

 realm. Regarding the name, it need only be added, that it 

 has often been contracted to Lilslie, which is still in use by 

 many of the villagers. A farther abbreviation has unfortun- 

 ately been resorted to, namely The Leaf, and occasioned 

 remonstrance in a local newspaper recently. 



* In support of the theory it may be mentioned that Augustus Hare, in 

 his book on Shropshire, derives the name of Lilies-hall Abbey from the 

 same source. Near its ruins at Atcham or Altringham [Eata's-ham], was 

 the church of St. Eata, the Confessor, who was an abbot of Melrose and 

 Lindisfarne in the 7th century, and the missionary who brought the new 

 faith to that district of England. Atcham Church was the first centre of 

 Christianity in Shropshire. 



