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All About History Books
The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.
Letter to Dr Mead by Francis Wise is in Prehistory.
A letter to Dr Mead concerning some antiquities in Berkshire, particularly shewing that the White Horse, which gives name to the Vale, is a monument of the West-Saxons, made in memory of a great victory obtained over the Danes A.D. 871 by Francis Wise B.D. Fell, of Trin. Coll Oxon.OXFORD, Printed for Thmas Wood at the University Printing-House, MDCCXXXVIII [1738].
On the eastside of the Southern extremity, stand Three Squarish flat stones [Wayland's Smithy Long Barrow [Map]] of about four or five feet over each way, sat on edge, and supporting a Fourth of much larger dimensions, lying flat upon them. These altogether form a Cavern or sheltring place, resembling pretty exactly those described by Wormius, Bartholine, and others, except in the dimensions of the stones; for whereas this may shelter only ten or a dozen sheep from a storm Wormius mentions one in Denmark, that would shelter a hundred.
I know of no other monument of this fort in England: but ina Wales, and the, Isle of Anglesey there are several, not unlike it, called by the natives Cranlechs. The Isle of Anglefey having been the chief seat of the Druids, induced it's learnedb antiquary to ascribe them to the ancient Britains, an assertion that I will not take upon me to contradict; but shall only at this time observe, that I find sufficient, authorities to convince me that Ours must be Danish. The northern antiquaries agree to call them ALTARS; and Bartholine saith They usually bore the name of the person buried under them. He tells us likewise, that They were raifed by the Sons, Grandsons or other friends of the deceased. And that these burial monuments were applied to the purpose of sacrificing, is not improbable; it was the custom of the Pagan Danes to deify their great men. In Denmark Three of these Altars are commonly found together, designed, as is supposed, for the service of their Three chief Deities, Thor, Woden, and Frea, but Wormius lays it down as a rule, that where we meet with a Single one as in the present case we are to look upon it as a Sepulchral Altar where sacrifices were to be annually performed in honour of the defunH. The Welch word Cromlech too, according to their Antiquaries, is only; the Hebrew, Cherem-luach, i.e. The devoted or Altar Stone. I must not here forget to mention, that there seem to have been two approaches to our Altar, through Rows of large stones set on edge, One from the South, The Other from the West, the latter leading directly into the Cavern.
Note a. See Mr Lloyd's Additions to the Britannia in Pembrokeshire, and Mr Rowland's Mona Antiqua Restauranta. 410. Dublin.1723. p.92,93,213.
Note b. Rowland's Mona Antiqua Rest. Pag. 69. & 213
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Whether this remarkable piece of Antiquity ever bore the name of the person here buried, is not now to be learned; the true meaning of it being long since lost in ignorance and fable. All the account, which the country people are able to give of it, is "At this place lived formerly an invisible Smith; and "if a traveller's Horse had lost a Shoe upon the road, he had "no more to do, than to bring the Horse to this place, with "a piece of money, and leaving both there for some little time, "he might come again and find the money gone, but the Horse new shod." The stones standing upon the Rudge-way as it is called; (which was the situation, that they chose for burial monuments) I suppose, gave occasion to the whole being called WAYLAND-SMITH: which is the name it was always known by to the country people.
An English antiquary might find business enough, who should attempt to unriddle all the fabulous traditions of the vulgar, which ascribe these works of unknown antiquity to Demons, and invisible powers: but perhaps this particular of the Horse, may be owing to the custom of the Danes, and other northern nations, of sacrisicing some favourite animal to the manes of the deceased. For whether they buried or burnt the body, it was usual to add to it, His Arms, together with some animal, and more especially an Horse. I have been informed, that in one of the Barrows lately dug up on these Downs, but nearer to Wantage, besides a human Sceleton, were found the horns of a Stag.
Leaving therefore the story of the invisible Smith to be discussed by those, who have more leisure: I only remark, that these stones are, according to the best Danish antiquaries, a Burial Altar; that their being raised in the midst of a plain field, near the great road, seems to indicate some person there slain, and buried; and that this person was probably a Chief or King; there being no monument of this sort near that place, perhaps not in England beside. if it be allowed me likewise, that King Ethelred lay encamped at Hardwell, this will afford another argument, for it's being raised for the King slain, whose troops were opposed to King Ethelred's division, as those of the Counts were to Alfred's: for the stones are about half a mile from Hardwell camp.