Just occasionally something different is found by searching the web and here is a case in point. This quiz was submitted by a Market Lavington resident to a magazine called The Lady’s Magazine. It was published in the September 1779 edition.
The quiz itself is an ‘enigmatical list of towns and villages in Wiltshire’ and consists of a dozen clues to places within our county. We have enlarged the text for these clues and would like to remind our readers that back in 1779 a letter which looks like an f was used for an s.
We are pretty well certain that Eliz L—G was Elizabeth Legg. Other members of this family, including John, were submitting items on all sorts including the migration of swallows at about this time.
Unfortunately we can’t find the answers but we hope our readers will supply them. Mind you. They don’t seem easy to us. Oh! Places may have been spelled differently back then to add to the difficulty.
Market Lavington Museum 
January 19, 2015 at 11:24 am |
I love 18th-century magazines. A much better read than today’s celebs/gossip/TV tripe!
January 19, 2015 at 12:31 pm |
There’s certainly much more reading – but those ladies had real skills if they could solve these clues.
Rog
Curator
January 20, 2015 at 12:40 am |
5 = Pewsey, 6 = Marlborough, or ‘Malborough’ as it must have been spelt then. 1 and 2 must somehow or other be Devizes and Warminster, although I can’t see that they match exactly. 11 Must be Keevil.
January 20, 2015 at 7:21 am |
You are brilliant, Pete. We think 8 is Marden. And maybe 3 is Trowbridge. Perhaps it was spelt without the W.
January 20, 2015 at 11:02 pm |
I think 7 is Amesbury. The prophet is Amos. I had to consult Wikipedia for that one.