280 



#n tjc " fetter* Jock" as a ap^ana of % 

 Jongs of ISraeiL 



By the Rev. Prebendary W. H. Jones, M.A., F.S.A., 



Vicar of Bradford-on-Avon. 



VERY one who is at all acquainted with the archaeology of 

 Wiltshire is aware of the badge, or cognizance, of the 

 " fetter-lock " — a kind of padlock used for^ fastening together the 

 chains of prisoners — borne by the family of Long of Wraxall and 

 Dray cote. They are also familiar with the account of such badge 



which they find in Aubrey, viz. that 

 " Dray cote was held by petit ser- 

 jeantie, namely, by being Marshal 

 at the King's coronation ; which is 

 the reason the Cernes gave the Mar- 

 shal's Lock for their cognizance ? 9 

 The Fetter-Lock. (Jackson's Aubrey, p. 228.) Accept- 



ing this statement as correct, the 

 accompanying detailed explanation was added, and its ingenuity and 

 apparent truth no one can doubt, who admits the statement itself: — 

 " Draycote was held of the Crown by the nominal service of 

 supplying c the third rod of the Marshalsea' in the King's household: 

 by which is probably meant supplying one of the vergers, or wand- 

 bearers, to attend upon the Marshal — the third rod's post, according 

 to another record (Test, de N. 147 'J, being c at the door of the king's 

 kitchen' (ad ostium coquina). The Shackle-bolt would accordingly 

 be the emblem of the Assistant Marshal's authority over all 

 marauders, or breakers of the peace, in that department." 



There seems however some reason to dispute the correctness of 

 Aubrey's statement. Hence I venture to submit another explanation 

 of this badge of the Longs of Wraxall. 



