254 



Ancient History of Shaftesbury. 



Dcvcrill, but the Rev. W. II. Jones suggests with great probability 

 that Brixton instead of being a contraction of Egbertstone, had its 

 name from Brictone the great Saxon Landowner of those parts, and 

 that Kingston Deverill is the ancient Egbertstone. These spots 

 however are within two miles of each other. " With the dawn of 

 the following day," continues Asser, Alfred " moved his camp and 

 came to a place called Acglia, where he encamped one night, and 

 the following morning moving hence, came to a place called 

 Ethandun and there fought." On first reading this account, we 

 might perhaps think, that Alfred moved from Egbertstone to 

 Acglia in one day's march. In this we should be wrong. Asser 

 does not in reality say how long the march from Egbertstone to 

 Acglia took, only that Alfred encamped one night at each of these 

 places, and removed on the following morning. 



His object was to state where Alfred first raised the Royal Stan- 

 dard after leaving Athelne} r , and again where he passed the night 

 before so eventful a battle as Ethandun. But Roger of Wendover 

 distinctly states, that after encamping for the night at Egbertstone, 

 Alfred " in the morning moved his camp and arrived after a march 

 of two days at Ethandun." Simeon of Durham says, Alfred reached 

 Ethandun " after the third day " "post tertium diem," from the 

 time of leaving Egbertstone, and Gaimar, that he did not come 

 up with the enemy till noon. 



Now if we consider Ethandun to have been Edington near 

 "Westbury, and Acglia either Clay Hill near Warminster, or Leigh 

 near W T estbury, we have only a distance of eight or nine miles 

 between Egbertstone, (whether Brixton or Kingston Deverill,) and 

 Acglia, and Alfred could not have occupied two days in marching 

 at the furthest nine miles. If strong enough to have attacked the 

 enemy, he would have done so at once, while they were shaken and 

 disheartened by their recent defeat at Kenwith ; if not strong 

 enough, he would hardly have remained so near them for three 

 days, neither would they have suffered him to do so unmolested, and 

 by so doing, enable him to augment a weak force into a strong one 

 for the very purpose of attacking them. It is moreover clear that 

 Alfred left Egbertstone after camping there one night, and did not 



