Since the above was written, we have seen a paper, by Mr. R. S. Vidal,' who early in the present century examined, what appear to have been the sites indicated by Risdon two centuries before, though without acknowledging the source from whence he doubtless obtained this information. The site of Hennaborough, this writer says, is about a mile to the north west of Bideford, and consequently little more than two miles to the south of Appledore, and on the west bank of the Torridge. Here, he tells us, is a small hill rising with an abrupt acclivity on all sides except the east, where it is connected, by a sort of isthmus, with some neighbouring high ground. The hill, now covered with trees, is said to have traces of an earthwork on the north and west sides. Old people said that the name was formerly Henniborough or Henni castle; that of a house close by, more recently called Hengist farm, seems only to be a fanciful corruption of the same designation. At the foot of the hill, are two streamlets which unite on the south-west side, but which it is conjectured may have had a different course and outlet; or may have formed a mere swamp, a thousand years ago, in the age of Alfred. On the high ground to the east of Henniborough, is a place called Silford Moor, where, Mr. Vidal says, are traces of an earthwork, apparently unfinished; which he thinks may have been an entrenchment formed by the Danes, when they besieged the Saxons at this spot. As regards Whibblestone, he was, after much enquiry, brought to a place "on the beach, a small way above the town," where was, "a rough slab of rock, about four feet in length, by three wide, lying on the open shore, but sunk nearly on a level with the surface." About two-thirds of the distance between Henniborough and Whibbleston, is a spot still called 'Bloody corner," where Mr. Vidal thinks the final and decisive struggle took place, and where, we may add, Hubba possibly was slain. 66 More than enough has perhaps been said, to shew that the Lanhill tumulus, was not the grave of Hubba; and, it may be added, that it is not probable there ever was any real local tradition 1 "Archæologia," vol. XV, p. 198. to that effect; though at first, on reading Aubrey's narrative, this might perhaps be thought. The fact appears to be, that Aubrey, and his friend Sir Charles Snell, and perhaps Anthony A'Wood, finding, in some very uncritical chroniclers and historians, the statement that Hubba fell near Chippenham, and was buried there under a heap of stones, looked round for some barrow in the neighbourhood, which might be assigned as his probable grave. The tumulus at Lanhill, now a defaced and irregular heap, was in Aubrey's days, (as proved by the sketch of it, in his Monumenta Britannica,) a conspicuous mound, and is situated not more than between two or three miles to the west of Slaughterford, where there was a genuine tradition of a great battle with the Danes. With no better grounds probably than these, Sir Charles Snell, who lived in the neighbourhood, seems to have pronounced this barrow to be Hubbaslowe. In such ways, do we find what may be called spurious traditions arising even in the present day; which are much more difficult to deal with, and contain generally less truth than the genuine traditions of the vulgar. Had Hubba even fallen near Chippenham, it is hardly probable, that after so complete a defeat, his countrymen would have raised any great tumulus over him. We have, however, seen good reasons for concluding that this barrow is of much greater antiquity than the time of the Danes in England; and that it must be attributed to some of the earliest inhabitants of our country, and to a tribe whose history is lost in remote antiquity.1 1 Since the foregoing pages were struck off, the writer has seen an anonymous essay, entitled "Cursory Notes as to the Defence of Wessex, A.D. 851-878,” in which the events considered in the foregoing paper are discussed at considerable length and with much ability. The essay deserves attention, in a critical and topographical point of view, though in placing Ethandun, (after Milner) at Heddington, near Calne, the author has adopted, to say the least, one of the less probable conclusions. See "Niagara, Jephthah, Remarks upon the Defence of Wessex, by Alfred the Great," &c. Brewster and West, 1848. GEORGE CONWAY COURTENAY MONTAGU, MARGAILDA, mar. dau. Crawford, Green emple, and Quarterly 1st and 4th Argent, three Lo 87 Memoir of George Montagu, By Mr. WILLIAM CUNNINGTON, F.G.S. No apology can be necessary for bringing before the notice of the Wiltshire Natural History Society, the memoir of a native of the county, who was undoubtedly one of the first naturalists of his age. Very few comparatively among the many distinguished natives of Wiltshire, can be said to have obtained much celebrity in natural science. The late Lieutenant-Colonel George Montagu, however, possessed talents of the highest order, and by his writings and researches, rendered most important and lasting service to English Natural History. I am indebted to the kindness of Mrs. L. M. Crawford, his daughter, for many of the particulars contained in the following sketch of his life. George Montagu was born in the year 1755 at Lackham House, the ancient seat of his family in North Wiltshire. He was the son of James Montagu, Esq., of Lackham, and Elinor, sole surviving daughter of William Hedges, Esq., of Alderton; and was descended from the Honorable James Montagu, third son of Henry first Earl of Manchester, who, in the reign of Charles I. by marriage with Mary, daughter and heir of Sir Robert Baynard of Lackham, obtained the estate. The old mansion at Lackham (now destroyed) from its antiquity and the number of curious relics it contained, deserves a passing notice. It exhibited specimens of the architecture of various periods from the Norman downwards, and presented the appearance of rude grandeur, rather than the beauty of regular architectural proportion. It stood completely embosomed in woods. The great hall was hung round with armour. The banqueting room was floored with the native oak of the estate in the reign of Henry the |