Hares, a Wild Orchid and Bailiwicks, Savernake Part 8

Exploring further the brail and bailiwick of Wilton and Bedwyn I discuss the word bailiwick, encounter hares and look at an orchid. There is more discussion of sustainable farming techniques, the plant sanfoin (and other nitrogen-fixing plants) and some aerial shots with the drone of the forest.
These history walk videos are about the English landscape in and around the south west of England (though I make the odd foray into Wales). I often use ancient charters (such as Saxon charters) to give me insight into the way the landscape was viewed in the past.
But it is not the Saxons that interest me the most (though they do) but the prehistoric world and its ancient monuments, trackways and ditches.
#Archaeology #oldenglishcharters #antiquarians #historywalks #britishhistory

[@olias2716]

Excellent hare footage,such a treat seeing these majestic creatures,I have Sainfoin growing in my garden,Jack Hargreaves mentioned it in an episode of" Out of town " that was repeated recently.

[@AllotmentFox]

Yes I have two plants but no sheep, sadly, to eat them. It is a beautiful plant

[@AnyoneForToast]

I found a rare bog orchid once, in the New Forest. A tiny little thing you could almost overlook as a small flowering grass. It was growing all on it's Tod, slap bang in the middle of a path. I'm familiar with the word bailiwick from the channel islands, beautiful places back in the eighties though I haven't been there for years. There were parts (Sark) still operating under a strange feudal system until the early two thousands, but the last vestiges have apparently been replaced with a democratic voting system now. Cheers chap.

[@AllotmentFox]

Oh that’s interesting, I must lookthat up

[@rolyvonotter2693]

Hi Tom, I Grew up next to a field called Langley field, I always thought it was the result of being Anglo-Saxon and meant 'Long Field' 'Ley' being like laid down , I never considered Lay aside for purpose like 'to be Fallow' or for livestock. Also locals pronounced it "Lang lee" or "Lang lay" very interesting & thanks.

[@AllotmentFox]

I think they are related but not necessarily the same. Langley is almost definitely lang leah (or leage) meaning the long rough pasture or long wood. The -ge or -h on the end was probably ( a thousand years ago) a sort of phlegmy ch like the end of the Scottish word loch.

[@tweedyoutdoors]

The orchid was beautiful indeed! I've only heard of bailiwicks in the context of Channel Islands. I believed it to be the jurisdiction of a bailiff, which presumably had a very different meaning to the modern one... Or perhaps it wasn't so different, as somebody who could knock on your door and demand money. As an unrelated aside one thing I learned from your channel some time ago is the meaning of "herepath". The other day I was in Hereford and had a sudden lightbulb moment. Although the toponymy is debated (where isn't it?) there are at least some who believe the "here" in Hereford is the same "here" as in "herepath".

[@AllotmentFox]

Notice how we don't pronounce it 'hear' ford. I had the same 'ooh' moment wqtching your video on Hackney with that map of Dalston and London field and West Gate, the multiple Sylvesters mentioned: I was very curious about that. I'll have to look up Hereford, I will be kneecapped by the toponymist chaps if I just jump into an interpretation, sometimes names mutate wildly from their original forms

[@tweedyoutdoors]

@@AllotmentFox I was going to get into an aside in that video on the origin of "Hackney carriage" but I thought it was already getting a bit long, and it wasn't really pub related. Yet again there is much debate on whether the name for taxis (and prior to that horse drawn carriages) has anything to do with that district of London at all... but the fact that the main street through Hackney is called "Mare street", possibly deriving from the fact there was at one time a run of coaching inns along there, all with horsey names (the Nag's Head etc) was somewhat tantalising. I also noticed how "hacking" can be used to mean horse riding, as in "hacking jacket". There's so much history bound up in language and particularly place names. I think that's a revelation that for me came primarily from your videos - thank you!

[@harper5892]

I have known, or thought so anyway, that bailiwick means 'area of competence' or 'area of influence', hence Sark was, once at least, the bailiwick of the Dame of Sark.

[@iainmc9859]

As far as I know bailey was Norman French, as in Motte and Bailey Castle, and still exists in the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, so you're spot on in it being a separated area belonging to a larger feudal organisation. Nobody should ever have to apologise for being English (sccept those morons that peddle racism hidden behind a flag). No nation is perfect, each country has its darker moments, when its neighbours or those on the other side of the world are not able to say 'no' to expansionism. Its how it is peaceably resolved and put right that matters.

[@WC21UKProductionsLtd]

I’ve always assumed “bailwick” meant a fenced off area. I have no idea where that thought comes from - from deep within my English core, perhaps? How bizarre. Sorry, but it was good to see you getting some of this lousy weather, but it was brief and elsewhere the skies were glorious. I like being English too.

[@AllotmentFox]

Yes it's a tantalising word and that is the meaning it seems to have here. I'd add it seems to have an official status rather than a private property one. The hail was thirty seconds long and then was gone, a black cloud heading south. I do like being English but I am fascinated by what the language has been up to elsewhere in the world. The language and culture shared with Americans through the language and the manners that go with it, for example, then contrast that with the gulf between US and British material culture: the infrastructure, the town planning, the food, the cars, the politics, the sport--completely different.

[@WC21UKProductionsLtd]

@@AllotmentFox nothing like a few centuries to create a completely different culture. I don’t know about you, but I very much enjoy interacting with our American cousins on here. There’s a real interest in where their ancestors came from and fascination with the cultural differences.

[@pwhitewick]

I felt like you were just getting to the good part when you said... "...enough politics". ;-)

[@AllotmentFox]

Even I was bored of my conversation!

[@pwhitewick]

@@AllotmentFox 😂.... I was enjoying g it!

[@JasonUmbrellabird]

What's the instrument? You playing Tom?

[@AllotmentFox]

Oh no, I’ve been rumbled. The octave mandolin or Irish bazouki. Easiest instrument I’ve ever played if you, (a)only play in the key of d and (b)fancy yourself as a bearded folkie summoning motifs from a non-existant, romantic past. Completely different tuning from the guitar but very intuitive

[@JasonUmbrellabird]

@@AllotmentFox I have a Harmony F style mandolin that I tinker around on.

[@AllotmentFox]

@@JasonUmbrellabird my instrument is one octave lower than the mandolin so it is sort of half way between a a guitar and a mandolin.