[17] Hursley ceased to be a Peculiar about the year 1840.[25] Hurstleigh, as it was originally spelt, is derived from Hurst, a wood, Legh or Lea, a meadow or open place in a wood.[28] The General Biographer’s Dictionary says 51 in all.[32] So says the Register, but I suspect erroneously. Ardington was the place in which the family of Clarkes was settled. Sir Edward Clarke, probably the son of Sir Thomas, was High Sheriff of Berks in 1626 (Marsh).[34] Halliwell’s dictionary gives haydiggle (Somerset) as meaning high spirits, and once a country dance.[36] From Father Gasquet’s essay on the Recusants in The Old English Bible.[53] Commentaries, vol. ii. p. 83, 8vo.[54] See Commentaries, as before. N.B. Among the Garrows, a people of Hindostan, the youngest daughter inherits the property of her family. See Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. p. 34, 8vo.[56] Blackstone’s Commentaries, vol. ii. chap. v.[57a] Blackstone’s Commentaries, vol. ii. pp. 81, 85.[57b] Sir Martin Wright is of opinion that Domesday-Book was made soon after our ancestors had agreed to tenures, i.e. the feodal system of tenure, for the purpose of ascertaining each man’s fee; and he supposes that as soon as the survey was completed, the great landholders of the kingdom were summoned to London and Sarum to do homage to the king for their landed possessions. Now it may be presumed, that if Merdon had been then surrendered to the king, and any alteration made in the nature of the tenure of the lands in the manor, it would have been reported and registered in the book. But it certainly is not to be found there. May it not then be justly concluded that it was passed over, and that the customs now prevailing are the same as were in use previous to the Conquest?[58] See Commentaries, vol. ii. pp. 48, 81.[67] This word cannot be understood. It probably may be the name of a holding, or of a family.[154] Robin Hood’s butt, no doubt used for archery practice, lay on this down, called Rough Borrow.