40 



Devizes. 



one objection appears to me to lie against them all in common, 

 namely, that when closely examined, they are not sustained by the 

 facts of the case. The word is undeniably of Latin origin : its 

 general form being Divisse, or Ad Divisas, sometimes Divisio. 



Some have derived it from an ancient personage, one Divitiacus, 

 king of a tribe of Belgse who came over from Gaul and subdued the 

 southern part of Britain some years before Christ. Well, what is 

 the authorit}' for saying that he founded this town! Not the 

 shadow of a shade. The man's name began with Divi; and the 

 town's Latin name begins with Divi. So far there is a similarity ; 

 but if that is enough foundation for connecting the two together, 

 you might just as well say that it comes from Divitiae, riches, 

 "because it's a fine place to get money in; and if that is true, 

 Divitise will be perhaps the most popular derivation of all. But as 

 to Divitiacus, it is merely one of Dr. Stukeley's guesses, and as 

 such may be dismissed. 



According to the next suggestion, (commonly found in our old to- 

 pographers) the town is supposed to have been called Devizes because 

 there was a division of territory between the Bishop of Sarum and 

 the Crown. That there was such a partition is quite true. You 

 have already heard that in Stephen's reign the whole of the Bishop's 

 lands having been seized by the Crown, Cannings and Potterne 

 were given back by Henry II., the Crowm retaining the Castle and 

 Old Park. But in what year did that compromise take place ? In 

 the year 1157, long after the castle was built and after the Bishop's 

 death. Now the castle bore the name of Ad Divisas when it was 

 first built, and therefore could not be so called from a partition of 

 territory which took place at least 30 years later. This derivation 

 therefore breaks down, not being supported by the fact. 



A third explanation is that the word Divisio is Latin for a park, 

 that there are two divisiones or parks, that the town stands be- 

 tween them, and hence was called Divisas. But before this ex- 

 planation is adopted, it ought to be shown that those two parks 

 were formed at one and the same time ; i.e. at the earliest period 

 when the place is known to have borne the name. This however 

 does not seem to have been the case. Of the two Parks one has 



