170 



The Names of Places in Wiltshire. 



continued long after the introduction of Christianity , and among 

 the laws of King* Cnut 1 was one which distinctly forbade such 

 worship. One illustration may be interesting : in the Shaftesbury 

 Chartulary 2 you have the scribe spelling Tef-font as Theo-funta 

 (= GodVfountain, or Holy-well). It was, as we shall see im- 

 mediately , merely a conceit of his own, but it seems to show the 

 strength of the feeling alluded to. 



Font-hill. — The present name of two villages in the south-west 

 of Wiltshire. The spelling is misleading, and has no ancient 

 authority. Till a comparatively recent period, the form of 

 the word was Font- el or Funt-el, possibly a diminutive form 

 signifying the " little spring." Going back however to very 

 early times, we find it spelt Ymit-geal, and Funt-i#/, and 

 possibly these forms give us the clue to the etymology. As 

 the English called the British Wealas i.e., Welshmen (= 

 foreigners) , so they may have affixed a designation on the old 

 wells which they found at the place, and given the name 

 ~F\mt-weal i.e., the " spring of the Welshman/'' or Briton. 

 Certainly, in a charter relating to Tisbury, 2 an adjoining 

 parish, there is reference to an old British track-way, 

 which is termed Weala-weg (= Welsh-way), and close by is 

 Brid-sor (or Brit-sor), which probably has much the same 

 meaning, i.e. " causeway of the Brits " (or British). The 

 name Wall-mead, moreover, still exists at Tisbury. 



Tef-font This is the name given to two villages in the same neigh- 

 bourhood. They are called from the stream, which is still 

 designated the Teff (or Tef), that flows by them. Compare 

 Taff (as in JAdui-daff) , Tavy, &c, as names of rivers or streams. 



Fovant. The oldest form of this name that has been met with is 

 Fobbe-funte or Fobban-funt 3 shewing clearly enough the 

 origin of its latter portion. What the former means it is 

 not so easy to say. In the land-limits of Downton 4 we meet 



1 See " Ancient Laws and Institutes," p. 379. 

 2 Cod. Dipl. 284, 513. 



3 Cod. Dipl., 331, 687. 



4 Cod. Dipl., 698, 985. 



