Chippenham

“ CHIPPENHAM, a market town and municipal borough in the Chippenham parliamentary division of Wiltshire, England, 94 m. W. of London by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 5074. Chippenham is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 361 acres. It lies in a hollow on the south side of the Upper Avon, here crossed by a picturesque stone bridge of 21 arches. St Andrew’s church, originally Norman of the 12th century, has been enlarged in different styles. ”

“ A paved causeway running for about 4 m. between Chippenham Cliff and Wick Hill is named after Maud Heath, said to have been a market-woman, who built it in the 15th century, and bequeathed an estate for its maintenance. After the decline of its woollen and silk trades, Chippenham became celebrated for grain and cheese markets. There are also manufactures of broadcloth, churns, condensed milk, railway-signals, guns and carriages; besides bacon-curing works, flour mills, tanneries and large stone quarries. Bowood, the seat of the marquess of Lansdowne, is 31/2 m. S.E. of Chippenham. ”

“ Chippenham is a little town in a wooded hollow, with a grey spire and stone bridge over the Avon. Then one reaches a stony country. The houses are no longer of brick, but all of stone. The Box tunnel is a result of the hills. The villas near Bath, of grey stone, cling to the sides of the heights from whose quarries they were taken. In the valley are Hampton church and ferry.
“Bath, an entirely stone city, has a consequent greyness of its own. The streets have a desolate stateliness, and are still the abode of old maids and card-playing dowagers as when described by Miss Austen ”

“ None but granther did I have.”
“But were ye not under some lord’s hand?”
“Nay, ye know the custom of the wandering gleemen. From mead hall to mead hall did we go, and we have always done so. At Chippenham, we came to put ourselves under the hand of the king for fear of the Danes; but now—”
“Now,” said the elder priest, “thou art like others of people and priests. No friends, no home; thou hast nowhere to go. ”

“ Fenwick was to drive her to Westbury, whence the railway would take her round by Chippenham and Swindon to Loring. On the Tuesday morning she was very melancholy. Though she knew that it was right to go away, she greatly regretted that it was necessary. She was angry with herself for not having better known her own mind, and though she was quite sure that were Mr. Gilmore to repeat his offer to her that moment, she would not accept it, nevertheless she thought ill of herself because she would not do so. "I do believe," she said to herself, "that I shall never like any man better." ”

“ Then the sheriff of Chippenham came forward, and it seemed to me that it was of no use for me to say aught; yet I would try what I could do, so I spoke loudly, for a talk had risen among the thanes.
"What is this, lord king? Will you slay Osmund the jarl, who has kept his troth, even to coming back to what he knew would be his death? You cannot slay such a man for the oath breaking of others." ”

“ AN ANGLO-SAXON KING. KING ALFRED AND THE DANES.
In his royal villa at Chippenham, on the left bank of the gently-flowing Avon, sat King Alfred, buried in his books. It was the evening of the 6th of January, in the year 878, a thousand years and more backward in time. The first of English kings to whom a book had a meaning,—and the last for centuries afterwards,—Alfred, the young monarch, had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, a thirst then difficult to quell, for books were almost as rare as gold-mines in that day. ”

“ There was nobody in the billiard-room, or in the inner room, which was open to it, but also in part concealed. He had been there for some little time when two young men came into the billiard-room and began to play. He recognized them by their voices as Nigel Byrne, Lord Chippenham's private secretary, and William Despencer, the youngest son of the house. He went on writing, being now immersed in what he was doing, as his habit was, and paid no further attention to them. It did not occur to him that they would not know that anybody was in the inner room ”

“ God, indeed! Hang your impudence! I say, she should to the Roundhouse--and you, too, for a vagabond! And so you shall!'
The lawyer shook with rage. 'The less your ladyship talks of the Roundhouse,' he answered, his voice trembling, 'the better! There's one is in it now who may go farther and fare worse--to your sorrow, my lady!'
You rogue!' she cried. 'Do you threaten me?'
'I threaten no one,' he answered. 'But your son, Mr. Dunborough, killed a man last night, and lies in custody at Chippenham at this very time! ”

“ Soon after Guthrum and the main body of the pagans moved from Gloster, southward, the viking Hubba, as had been agreed, sailed with thirty ships-of-war from his winter quarters on the South Welsh coast, and landed in Devon. The news of the catastrophe at Chippenham, and of the disappearance of the King, was no doubt already known in the West; and in the face of it Odda the alderman cannot gather strength to meet the pagan in the open field. But he is a brave and true man, and will make no terms with the spoilers ”

“ The town also figured prominently in the Danish invasion of the 9th century, and in 933 was the meeting-place of the witan. In the Domesday Survey Chippenham appears as a crown manor and is not assessed in hides. The town was governed by a bailiff in the reign of Edward I., and returned two members to parliament from 1295, but it was not incorporated until 1553, when a charter from Mary established a bailiff and twelve burgesses and endowed the corporation with certain lands for the maintenance of two parliamentary burgesses and for the repair of the bridge over the Avon. ”

“ Those clothes! Just what a rich [Pg 101] city fellow would wear who'd just discovered Saville Row."
"They're no better than mine. He's a good-looking fellow and likes to keep his youth. The Chief thinks a lot of him, you know. He'd like to work with him too, if he was in Parliament."
"His wife's a nice woman. I shall talk to her this evening. I'm sorry he heard me say what I did."
The sun had come out by the time Lord Chippenham was ready for his afternoon walk. ”

“ Bath seems a town exclusively intended for the rich. Everything being built of stone gives it a foreign character, and the height of the surrounding hills causes you to see green down every street. I felt age in the way in which everything looked so small in proportion to my recollection.
“At Chippenham a dogcart from Lord Suffolk’s was waiting for me, and we rolled away down the dull lanes to Malmesbury. It was curious in one day to revisit, as it were, six years out of my former life. ”

“ After residing for many years at High-street House, Bexley, Kent, he removed in 1789, after the death of his first wife, to Richmond Green, Surrey, and then to Chippenham in Wiltshire, where he died on 2 Aug. ”

“ But wood burns when it is kindled: and here at the corner of the Heart and Hand, the Whig headquarters, was a spark like to light the fire—Boston, the bruiser, and a dozen of his fellows; men who were, one and all, the idols of the yokels who stood about them and stared. Pybus, who had brought them hither, was not to be seen; he was weaving his spells in the Heart and Hand. But Mr. Williams, White-Hat Williams, the richest man in Chippinge, who, voteless, had only lived of late to see this day—he was here at the head of his clothmen, and as fierce as the poorest. ”

“ For certain, too, many of the people did not belong to Chippinge. With the townsfolk White knew he could deal. He did not believe that there was a Chippinge man who, eye to eye with him, would cast a stone. But here were yokels from Calne and Bowood, who knew not Sir Robert; with Bristol lambs and men as dangerous, and not a few Radicals from a distance, rabid with zeal and overflowing with promises. Made up of such elements the crowd hooted from time to time, and there was a threat in the sound that filled White with misgivings. ”

“ Certainly nothing like the spectacle visible from the White Lion windows had been seen in Chippinge within living memory. The Abbey, indeed, which had seen the last of the mitred Abbots pass out—shorn of his strength, and with weeping townsfolk about him in lieu of belted knights—that pile, stately in its ruin, which had witnessed a revolution greater even than this which impended, and more tragic, might have viewed its pair, might have seen its precincts seethe as they seethed now. But no living man. Nor did those who scanned the crowd from the White Lion find aught to lessen its terrors. ”

“ It is not well to think of. Me, I am most sorry for poor Monsieur Gene."
"For Monsieur Gene," repeated the detective in astonishment. "Were he and his brother so inseparable, then?"
"It is not that, Monsieur; but the very night before Monsieur Julian died they have so wicked a quarrel! Me, I am a light sleeper and my room is just at the head of the stairs above them. On Tuesday evening I make a soufflé for dessert—and figure to yourself, it is a failure, it falls!" She paused dramatically. "I am disconsolate; for only an artist can make a soufflé, and I think that I am losing my skill. ”

“ This accomplished he emerged from the library to find Miss Meade waiting in the hall.
"How many servants do you employ?" he asked as he approached her.
"Four. Peters, Jane the housemaid, Gerda of whom I have already told you, and Marcelle the cook. Then there are the furnace man and the laundress, but they are not inmates of the house and know nothing of our affairs except the ordinary gossip below stairs," she replied. "Would you like to see any of them, Sergeant Odell?" ”

“ Lorne. 'For God's sake, go up!'
"That was all they could get out of him, and Richard rushed upstairs with Gene after him. Nan ran over to Peters and commenced to shake him, but he would only groan; and I passed them and hurried upstairs myself. When I reached Julian's room Gene was lying face downward across the bed rolling from side to side and crying terribly, and Richard was standing in the doorway leading to the bathroom staring down at something which lay at his feet.
"I went to him, and there lay our poor Julian! I simply cannot tell you, Sergeant Odell! ”

“ His stepfather's round reddened face puffed out in anger, and his close-clipped gray mustache fairly bristled. "If you have no heart, at least preserve a semblance of decency and do not jest about—about matters which have bowed all our heads in grief!"
His tone grew husky toward the last, and his slightly prominent blue eyes filled as he turned away.
Nan laid a cool little hand over his.
"Don't mind Gene, father. He's only trying to cover up his own feelings; I know him!" ”

“ Odell paused. "You see now, Miss Risby, that no ethical question must seal your lips. In the case of Mrs. Lorne, I may tell you that Doctor Adams as well as the specialists are convinced that death was not the direct result of the prick of that needle; and they are coöperating with me in every way. I must ask you to be equally frank."
"Oh, I don't know what to do!" The girl's hands twisted together in her lap. "Nursing isn't only a business with me; it is almost a sacred calling, and I have always striven to uphold its tenets scrupulously. ”

“ Cissie had hers in bed, I remember; and Randall—my youngest nephew, who is an invalid—was not well enough to come down; but Mr. Lorne, Nan, and myself were in the dining-room. I was pouring the coffee when Gene appeared; and his stepfather asked him if Julian were up. He said that he didn't think so, he had not heard him moving about. Mr. Lorne was annoyed, because Julian had an appointment to go downtown with him that morning, and finally he sent Peters up to call him."
Miss Meade paused; and Odell, who had watched her closely throughout her narration, marveled. ”

“ She was small and lithe; a dark, gypsy-like creature who would have been pretty in other circumstances. Now her big soft eyes were deeply encircled, and her clear dark skin chalkily pallid.
"Peters and Gerda have been sadly careless in rearranging the room, dear. I suppose I must not scold them at—at such a time, but I should have seen to it myself." The little lady's voice was low and as colorless as her personality. "You know your stepfather always likes this chair nearer the light." ”

“ Whatever the weather, Chippy returns to us about the 12th day of April, posts himself on the tip of a fir branch, like a brave little Christmas candle, and proceeds to sputter, in the same part. Of all homely sounds the monotonous trill of the Western Chipping Sparrow is the most homely,—and the most easily forgivable. As music it scarcely ranks above the rattle of castanets; but the little singer pours out his soul full earnestly, and his ardor often leads him to sustained effort thruout the sultry hours when more brilliant vocalists are sulking in the shade ”

“ Sir Robert answered. “When the younger men of our class do that, when they cease to take an interest in political life, on the one side or the other, our power will, indeed, be ended. Nothing is more certain than that. But for Chippinge, I don’t choose that a stranger should hold a seat close to my own door. ”

“ Jane visibly swelled with importance. "Wasn't it me went and got it when the doctor asked to see it? Miss Meade came out of the sickroom and told me to go get it, and I did; but I wrapped my hand up good in a towel before 1 touched it, sir, as you may believe. There it was, sticking into the work she'd dropped as innocent as if it wasn't the cause of what was going to be the poor lady's death. It had become unthreaded from the red silk, but it was right in place for the next stitch. I gave it to Doctor Adams myself, and then he sent me back for some of the embroidery silk and I got that too." ”