low rate great part of the underwood and trees growing upon the same glebe land, which before his coming thither was much stored and better replenished with wood than any parsonage in those parts; he also mored and grubbed up about half of the coppice-ground belonging to the said Rectory, and pulled down a handsome barn and sold the materials. In August 51, he was summoned to meet the Justices, George Ivy, and William Shute, at the White Hart, Chippenham; on their report to the Committee he was sent to gaol, tried, and condemned to death; but his life was spared. Justice Stokes, as living on the spot, and cognizant of Webb's flagitious life, took an active part in endeavouring to bring him under the lash of the law; against him Webb published a pamphlet called a "Masse of Malice," and in defence, Stokes printed "The Wiltshire Rant."

Walter Norborne, brother (?) of the ejected Rector of Langley Burrell was buried at Calne, in 1659; from the inscription on the memorial tablet in the church, it seems that some tumult occurred at his funeral:

"Pro Rege, Patriâque suis multa fecit tulitque totos annos septendecimtanta etiam post mortem martyria passus (satanâ suam rabiem in honores funebres exerente) uti duplicem videatur reportâsse victoriam, de Naturâ alteram, alteram de fortunâ."

Lieut.-Col. Walter White, of Grittleton, was sometime governor of Bristol Castle for the Parliament: his son Walter died 1678. By will he directs:

"Six esquires and gentlemen shall carry me to my grave: a sermon shall be preached by some Doctor of Divinity, a Nonconformist, for the Common Prayer I always hated; six escutcheons to be about my coffin, and nothing but cake and wine to be at my funeral."

The Corporation Chest at Chippenham contains some parchments reciting the declaration of the Bailiff and Burgesses of the Borough against the solemn League and Covenant. The first of these documents now existing is dated 1679-and it is singular that this declaration continued to be made, even after the Revolution, and down to the 3rd year of Queen Anne.

It runs thus :-"In conformity to the late act of Parliament, made in the 13th year (1661,) of our Sovereign Lord Charles II.,

by the grace of God of England, France, and Ireland, King, D. F. I, A.B, do declare that I hold that there lies no obligation upon me or any other person from the oath commonly called the Solemn League and Covenant, and that the same was an unlawful oath, and imposed upon the subjects of this realm against the known laws and liberties of the kingdom." The first declaration in 1679 is signed by Sam. Twyford, only: in 1680, May 7, by Ri. Kemm, Wm. Stephens, Thos. Webb, Wm. Scott, May Pinchen, John Hulbert, William Bedford: also on another parchment in the same year, and only a week after, by five of these burgesses again, with the addition of the name of Jon. Rogers-again in 1680 by Edward Hawkins, John Flower, and Sam. Twyford.

In 1681, by Wm. Bedford alone-all these are written in fullseparate declarations, with separate signatures attached. -1682, by Thos. Webb, alone.

— 1685, (1 Jas. II.) a general declaration to the same effect, but signed in common by John Flower, Bailiff,-Charles Talbot, Jon. Rogers, Wm. Stephens, Roger Warne, William Lord, William Gale-a month after (April 20,) again by Sam. Twyford, Wm. Gale, John Short, James Gingell-on June 12, by Thos. Webb-on July 13, John Ryall-July 30, John Short, the younger.

33

3. William Bedford.

William Hobbs.

John Hulbert.

Oct. 29, Walter Scott.

Nov.

William Lord.

Edward Adye.

John Eatwell.

1, Gabriel Norryes, Bailiff.

-1691, (3 Will. & Mary) Edward Adye.

1692, Sept. 29, John Eatwell.

30, Richard Aland Power.

Jan. 22, Roger Warne.

- 1700, April 3, Jon. Essington.

1702, Sept. 29, (1 Anne), Jon. Essington.

1703, June 17, William Stevens.

J

On Hedges and Hedge Rows.

By JOHN SPENCER, ESQ.

MAY first observe with regard to the following paper,

that although on a very common-place subject, yet as the history of hedges is in fact the history of the partition and enclosure of lands, it will not, I hope, be without interest to an Archæological and Natural History Society.

The enclosing of land by hedges into separate divisions which we term "fields," seems to afford the earliest evidence we possess of a clearly defined description of property, vested at a remote period in certain individuals, and which in many instances has remained in nearly the same state up to the present time; while

the tenements which, in all probability, were either attached to, or had some kind of connexion with, these enclosures, have been swept away, or have long since crumbled into dust.

Those hedges then which surround the most ancient enclosures through the greater part of England (or speaking locally of Wilts), I assume to be the work of the Saxons, and to have been commenced at an early period of their occupation of Britain; and may be taken, I think, as the first attempt of that enterprizing race to fix themselves on the soil of a country which their arms, combined with their diplomacy, had won from a less warlike—or at least from a less united people. Speaking generally of the oldest hedges I have examined in England, this is all the evidence of their history that I have collected; but we gather from nearly all the writers of antiquity and classic authors, that the history of hedges dates back to the earliest times: for in addition to the frequent mention of hedges in the Bible (sometimes figuratively, but often literally), with which all will be familiar, some may remember the description given by Homer of the gardens of Alcinous, where so far as my research has led me, the word translated "hedge" occurs for the first time in classic history; and although I am not going to say where this garden was situated, yet in the next instance in which we find the Old Poet writing about hedges, the locality is more clearly stated. This occurs when Ulysses after the famous Trojan war returned to his home and found his father "the good Laertes," employed in making preparations for a hedge, to furnish which his servants had gone to the woods to collect young thorns: now as the Greek name for our hawthorn was "pyracantha," (the name made use of by Homer) we may fairly infer that either the common hawthorn or some allied species, was intended by "Laertes" for his hedge: if this was so, which is very probable, we must ascribe to the Crataegus" family the earliest as well as the latest place in the formation of hedges.

That the Romans planted hedges extensively, we have proof abundant in the works of those of their authors who treated on

1Odyssey, Lib. xxiv.

rural subjects; thus Varro terms a hedge a "natural living guardian." Columella speaking of a living fence, prefers it to a constructed, or dead hedge. Virgil1 writes that a good hedge should be woven--or in plain English, pleached or plashed and laid in as you see done at the present day-and asks also

"Quid majora sequar? salices, humilesque genistæ,
Aut illæ pecori frondem, aut pastoribus umbras
Sufficiunt; sepemque satis, et pabula melli.” 2

Hedges being found useful in Rome, that sensible people we may take for granted would introduce them to their colonies, and although I have failed in meeting with any record of this having been done in Britain, we may conclude that such was the case, the more confidently as we know they introduced nearly all the fruits and trees of Italy during their occupation of the country; and that they would protect their vineyards and orchards by some kind of living fence is more than probable, as well as special enclosures surrounding their stations and villas.

But whatever may have been the extent of hedges as a means of protection planted by the Romans while they held possession of Britain, it is not difficult to understand that after their departure all traces of such would be partially if not wholly destroyed or left to nature, through the internal feuds which raged among the petty kings and chiefs who succeeded the Roman government, and the struggles they had in resisting on all sides their enemiesmore especially the North German tribes, who in the end became their masters. It is to these latter, comprising the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons-branches of the great Teutonic family occupying nearly the whole of Germany and a large area in France, and finally settling in England-that we owe our present system of hedge rows.

Guizot, in his "Histoire de la Civilization," informs us that the political organization of all the branches of the Teutonic race was essentially the same, and he states that in their appropriation of conquered land the "King-lord" (who was generally elected) taking first a large share for himself, distributed the remainder 1 Georgic: ii., 371-2. 2 Georgic: ii., 434-6.