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Gentleman's Magazine 1848 part 2 p.33
[Hep]tarchy is pretty well borne out, independently of the
pedigree, by the name mentioned by Horsley as a Saxon
compound, - burgh and ham, - designating the family, the
parish, the castle, the manor, and the hall, and in addition
having an echo of the much older Roman name of Brovocum.
Stukeley, in his Itinerary, 1725, says, "I saw many
fragments of altars and inscriptions at the Hall near
the bridge, all exposed in the courtyard to weather
and injuries of every sort." Your veracious critics deny the
existence of both Roman station and courtyard, particularly
of the latter, as only being an erection of the present
century.
Mistakes such as these ought to have been avoided by writers
who have used the lash with an unsparing hand, because they
induce a very natural suspicion either of indifference as to
statement of carelessness in research when facts are
concerned; neither do I think that the periodical literature
of the day is improved by the pungent acrimony of criticism,
or the carping or sneers of anonymous correspondents.
Yours, &c.
GEO. SHAW.
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