By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson. 



289 



are originally and substantially Anglo-Saxon : and were naturally 

 taken from some local peculiarity. Chippenham means " Market- 

 town ; " Langley, the "long lea," or "long pasture;" Stanton, 

 the "stony hamlet;" Dreicote,- " Three Cotes " or "habitations;" 

 Sutton and Norton are " South town " and "North town." This 

 accounts for a great many names. 



Another great batch of names ending in ton, is also easily 

 accounted for. Ton or Town in Saxon, did not mean what a town 

 means now — but it meant simply this. When the whole country 

 was open and not appropriated by enclosure and boundary, the 

 Saxon settler came (as the English settler now goes to Australia 

 and New Zealand), bought his territory of 1000 acres or whatever 

 it might be ; and marked off his estate by some enclosure. Town 

 is Saxon for enclosure. It happened that a vast number of 

 family names among the Saxons, ended in " ing ;" and just as 

 now an English settler in Australia, gives his own or some other 

 family name to his enclosed settlement, and calls it Grahams-town 

 Knox-ville, Harris-burg, or the like, so it was in old times. 

 Atheling called his place Atheling-town : we corrupt it to 

 Alling-ton. Grithling called his estate Grithling-town, but we 

 pronounce it Grittleton. Locking- town has become Luckington — 

 Netling-town is Nettleton. Badming-town is Badminton. 

 Tithering-town is Titherton. 



There are also about here, many parishes with double names. 

 These make a third sort. In this case, the second of the two 

 names is, generally speaking, the name of the Norman family. 

 "When the Norman gentlemen did us the honour to come over and 

 become owners of our old Saxon places, it became a fashion with 

 the Normans to tack their family name on to the old original 

 Saxon name. For example, we have in Wiltshire several Stantons. 

 One is distinguished as Stanton St. Quiniin, another as Stanton 

 Fitzwarren. St. Quintin and Fitzwarren were the Norman owners. 

 Compton Basset and Compton Chamberlayne. Basset a»nd Chamber- 

 lay ne were family names. Sutton Benger, Draycote Cerne, Langley 

 Burrell, Yatton Keynell, Fisherton Lucas, Fisherton Kelloways, 

 Littleton Brew, and Leigh Delamere. In all these cases also the 



