Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society . of alarge area of common land to Malmesbury. The men of the place hadgiven signal help to the King at a crisis of one of his battles, when hecalled on Saint Aldhelm for aid. In return, he gave them a considerableestate towards Norton and Foxley, and a charter still in force. The con-ditions are, that the commoners shall live within the walls of the town, andthat a man can only become a commoner in right of being the son of acommoner, or in right of marriage with a commoners daughter. Hencethe town has not spread out into
Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society . of alarge area of common land to Malmesbury. The men of the place hadgiven signal help to the King at a crisis of one of his battles, when hecalled on Saint Aldhelm for aid. In return, he gave them a considerableestate towards Norton and Foxley, and a charter still in force. The con-ditions are, that the commoners shall live within the walls of the town, andthat a man can only become a commoner in right of being the son of acommoner, or in right of marriage with a commoners daughter. Hencethe town has not spread out into the country. Athelstanes conditionshave had another effect : they have naturally preserved the type of thecommoners singularly unchanged for a thousand years. The present Malmesbury. 5 writer, on one occasion, was speaking at the old council chamber on thissubject, and informed his audience that Malmesbury came second only toDevizes in the retention of the round skull of the British builders of Stone-henge. The senior warden of the said corporation drily remarked that. MALMESBURY ABBEY. NORTH SIDE. they didnt know about the shape of their heads, but they reckoned tohave as much inside em as most folk. King Athelstane is still a very living personage at Malmesbury. Thecommoners still dine with King Athelstane once in each year. An oldcommoner, who was bed-ridden, was advised by the Vicar that he wouldbe much better cared for in the house. The receipt of poors moneyterminates the common-right. The old man painfully raised himself inbed, and said solemnly : King Arthelstane hath kept I all my life; KingArthelstane shall keep I till I die. An Irish teacher and recluse, Maeldubh (the dark-tonsured monk) byname, settled here about the year 640, probably coming from Lismore ayear or two after its foundation by St. Cartach, on his expulsion from thegreat house which he had created at Rahan. He built a small basilica,remains of which existed in the time of one of Malmesburys most famous
Size: 1863px × 1341px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorbristola, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1903
