John Aubrey on North Wilts

In about 1650ish John Aubrey described those indiginous to North Wiltshire as: ‘ In North Wiltshire, and like the vale of Gloucestershire (a dirty clayey country) the Indigenae, or Aborigines, speake drawling; they are phlegmatique, skins pale and livid. Slow and dull, heavy of spirit: hereabout is little tillage or hard labour, they only milk the cowes and make cheese; they feed chiefly on milke meates, which cooles their braines too much, and hurts their inventions. These circumstances make them melancholy, contemplative, and malicious; by consequences whereof come more law suites out of North Wilts, at least double to southern parts. And by the same reason they are generally more apt to be fanatiques: their persons are generally plump and feggy: gallipot eies, and some black: but they are generally handsome enough. It is woodsere country, abounding much with sowre and austere plants, as sorrel, &c. which makes humours sow and fixes their spirits. In Malmesbury Hundredre, (ye wett clayy parts) there have been reputed witches.

Oakes (the best of trees). - We had plenty before the disafforestation. We had in North Wiltshire, and yet have through the former plenty, as good oakes as any in England.

At Hullavington about 1649, there happened a strange wind, which did not onely lay down flatt the corne and grasse as if a huge roller had been drawn over it, but it flatted also the quickset hedges of two grounds of George Joe, Esq - It was a hurricane

Wormewood exceedingly plentifull in all the wast grounds in and about Kington St Michael, Hullavinton, and so to Colerne, and great part of the hundred of Malmesbury

Heretofore all gentlemen’s houses had fish ponds, and their houses had motes drawn about them, both for strength and for convenience of fish on fasting days.
The architecture of an old English gentleman’s house, especially in Wiltshire and thereabout, was a good high wall, a gate house, a great hall and parlour, and within the little green court where you come in, stood on one side the barne: they then thought not the noise of the threshold ill musique. This is uey to be seen at severall ols houses and seates, e. g. Bradfield, Alderton, Stanton St Quinton, Yatton - Keynell, &c.

In Grittleton field is a swallow-hole, where sometimes foxes, &c. doe take sanctuary; there are severall such in North Wiltshire, made by flouds, &c.; but neer Deene is a rivulet that runnes into Emmes- poole, and nobody knowes what becomes of it after it is swallowed by the earth.

This article was submitted by Paul Hadley