By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson. 



109 



This is a specimen of the original Record. 

 " SWANBURGH. Turnus Vic' tent' ibm die Merc' prox' post 

 Festm Stor' Tiburcii & Valeriani Anno R. 

 Henr' Sexti post conqm xvij 0 



Stone," its claim to having been King Alfred's rendezvous fairly deserves to be 

 considered. Now it does so happen that a few miles N. W. of "Warminster 

 there is still to be seen an Ancient Stone, called " Kedbridge Stone," marked 

 on Andrews and Dury's County Map of Wilts, 1773. It is not very large : 

 projecting at least above ground only two or three feet. It stands on the Fair- 

 wood estate, in a small plantation on the left hand of, and touching the Railway 

 cutting, about one mile from "Westbury Station going towards Frome. The 

 mouth of the people, which has turned "Freeman's" into " Vermin's," "St. 

 Edith's " into " Tiddy's," " St Oswald's " into " Snozzle's," and " Bello Sguardo" 

 into " Beller's Garden" may, easily enough, have degraded " Ecgbryght's" into 

 ■ 'Redbridge." 



I do not wish to be understood as contending that this is or must be the real 

 Petra Ecbrighti. Not that there is likely to be any old Ochiltree to call out 

 from behind a hedge, "Praetorian here, Praetorian there, I mind the bigging 

 o't" — for it has all the appearance of great antiquity; but still, it may have 

 some perfectly different history. The existence of such a stone, bearing such 

 a name, standing towards the East of Selwood, well known to the peasantry and 

 marked in a County map, struck me as a curious circumstance, and for that 

 reason I mention it. Being close to the border of two counties it would have 

 been a not unsuitable place for muster, and a ride of thirty miles through Sel- 

 wood would have brought the King and his Staff to it from Athelney. 



Supposing then only for a moment that this was King Alfred's first halting 

 place, where was the next, the much disputed iEcglea ? It is difficult to believe 

 that it could have been either at Cleg Hill, or Buc/ey, or Leigh (near Westbury) 

 or Iley mead near Melksham, all, places that have had their advocates. The 

 distances are far too insignificant : and the same may be said of Iley Oak (near 

 Warminster) above mentioned. The secret of Alfred's success [like that of 

 Joshua against the Amorites] lay in the rapidity of a forced march. " Having 

 with him all his men of war and all the mighty men of valour, Joshua came 

 unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night." K. Alfred did not 

 indeed go up " all night" but he " went up" from break of dawn, all day : till 

 he reached iEcglea. In order to reach any one of the places above named he 

 needed not to start quite so early nor travel so long. It must surely have been 

 at an unusual distance. Dr. Beke, Professor of Modern History at Oxford many 

 years ago, suggested that the King struck straight across Wiltshire till he 

 reached the opposite boundary, where the Hundred of JEcglei in Berks begins. This 

 was an Old Hundred, but is now merged in another, the two forming Kintbury 

 Eagle. The precise spot called iEcglei from which the Old " Hundred" toolc 

 its name may now be unknown ; but some particular spot so called there must 

 have been ; precisely as in the case of several existing Wiltshire Hundreds 

 mentioned above in the Text. Perhaps some Berkshire archaeologist may some 

 day be able to discover it under the disguise of Eggle, Aggie, Edgelease, Englo, 



