70 On some P lace-Names near Malmesbury , 



Crudwell, originally Creodan-well (=well of Crida) : a memorial, 

 if not of Crida, the King of Mercia, who was slain in A.D. 593, at 

 the battle of " Wodnesbeorg," in this neighbourhood, at all events 

 of one of the same name. 



Cuckhamsley — originally Cwichelmes-hlaw , (the latter word 

 meaning a tumulus) ; a memorial probably of the English Chieftain 

 Cwichelm, who perished at the same time, and in the same contest, 

 as Crida, just alluded to. 



Pimbury — originally " Penne-burg" i.e. the hill or castle of Penda. 

 A King of Mercia of this name, fought with the West Saxons, at 

 Cirencester, c. A.D. 682. 



Coberleigh — originally " Cuthbert's-leigJi" 



Chedworth — probably the holding of " Cedde " or " Chad." This 

 surname is of course well known as that of a Bishop of Lichfield ; 

 and the place-name may be the memorial of some name-sake of his. 



Brinkworth : — an old spelling " Brenc/ie-worde/' would seem to 

 indicate a similar source as " Brenches-borow,-" the original name of 

 the ancient hundred now called " Branche." As in Saxon Charters 

 we perpetually meet with the names " Brenches-berg" and " Branches- 

 cumb" (Cod-Dipl., 314, 1061), it looks as if the former portion 

 were a personal name, whatever its precise form or meaning may 

 have been originally. 



Dauntesy, — in ancient charters it is always spelt " Domices-eye/ 

 which Leo interprets as " insula aciei judicii," that is, " the island of 

 doom," or condemnation and execution. One must always doubt such 

 ingenious interpretations, for they are too often true in inverse propor- 

 tion to their apparent plausibility. I venture to give a far more prosaic 

 intrepretation of this place-name, the more so as the original form 

 seems at the first glance to denote a personal derivation. Amongst 

 old Frisian names given by Wassenberg is that of " Domke" a con- 

 traction possibly of the better known " Dominick" Dauntesy may 

 originally have been called from an owner or settler bearing the 

 former name. Of course this is simply a guess, which may go for 

 what it is worth. 



Draycot, — some fifty years ago, when people were rather crazy 

 about the Druids, and things Druidical, they used to tell us that 



