10 



The Tenth General Meeting. 



will find, on looking on the latter compilation, that King John paid 

 fifteen visits to Devizes, and no doubt signed five times fifteen 

 documents at this place. Much interesting matter in relation to 

 Devizes might perhaps be found in those documents. And there can 

 be little doubt that if the substance of deeds given at different 

 places in Wilts could be collected, much would be found to illus- 

 trate the history of the times and places, but as these deeds are 

 most numerous, and written in cDntracted Latin, this work can 

 only be carried out in a long period of time, and by many hands.' 

 Then, secondly, we may do much by ferreting out and preserving! 

 old names of persons and things in our neighbourhoods. Sometimes 

 an important historical fact is wrapped up in a name. We know that 

 within a few miles of my own residence there were long continued! 

 struggles between the Britons and the invading Saxons; and it isl 

 therefore most interesting to trace in Brit-ford, or 'ford of the j 

 Britons, and Chard-ford (originally Cer dices- ford), that is, the 'fcrd) 

 of Cerdic/ the leader of the Saxons, the lingering memorials ofj 

 these early contests. Then too, to come to somewhat later times,! 

 we have, in parishes bordering on the New Forest, families bearingj 

 the names of 'King/ 'Prince/ and 'Duke/ which may have origi- 

 nated possibly in their ancestors having been King's-men, Prince's-! 

 men, or Duke's-men, employed in the chase. Again, in working 

 out boundaries of ancient manors by means of the land-limits inl 

 Saxon charters, names long lost may be recovered, or meanings of 

 existing names, often strangely distorted from their original form,| 

 ascertained. An instance occurs to me of a friend of mine working! 

 out such a boundary between Wilts and Somerset, near what is 

 called Pomeroy, seeking at a certain point for the name Swin- 

 brook. All traces of the word seemed to be lost, until he chanced 

 on an old man of more than seventy, who remembered an oldi 

 farmer when he was himself but a boy, that held land in the im-l 

 mediate neighbourhood, who persisted in calling his farm by the 

 name of Swinbrook, and was laughed at for putting 1 Swinbrook farm'} 

 upon his waggons. — And then there is a third way in which 

 we may most certainly lend a helping hand, and that is by! 

 being very careful in preserving architectural remains, or anj 

 accurate record of them when it becomes absolutely necessary) i 



