Page:Over fen and wold; (IA overfenwold00hissiala).pdf/46

 by an inscription enclosed in a roll at the foot, was printed, and presumably engraved, in Amsterdam, when I cannot say, for unfortunately no date is given; an antiquarian friend of mine, however (an authority on old prints), declares it to be of about the time of Charles II., though he says it might possibly be copied from an earlier production of the same kind and made up to that approximate date. It is just probable, therefore, that Mr. Pepys may have seen, and used, a similar map; and on mine I find "Barnett Wells" duly marked at a point about a mile south-west of the town.

These ancient maps, besides being very interesting, oftentimes reveal the origin of puzzling place-names otherwise untraceable; for instance, I never could account for the peculiar title of the little Sussex town of Uckfield until one day I found it spelt "Oakefield" on an old map, and as oaks still abound in the locality, I have no doubt that Uckfield was evolved therefrom; and I could enumerate many other instances of a like nature. So, on further consulting my Amsterdam chart, I find Hatfield, which we shall reach in due course, given as "Heathfield,"—now from this to Hatfield is an easy transition; next I observe that the country immediately north of Barnet is represented as wild and unenclosed, and is marked "Gladmore Heath." A corner of this bears the gruesome but suggestive title "Dead-man's Bottom": it is highly probable that the famous battle of Barnet was fought on this open waste, it being a suitable site for such a conflict, and the "Dead-man's Bottom" may mark