good
Here will I build a wayside well.
Now Hampton town before them lay.
But first they sought out Woden's plain,
Where lay the bleached bones of the slain.

After the Archbishop had offered up a prayer for the dead--

At length they stood upon the height
That rises over Hampton town;
There, amid knight, and dame, and priest,
The Princess Wulfrune laid the stone,
The first stone on the holy fane.

Then solemnly the pious lady removed from her royal brows the golden
coronet that hitherto had graced it, and put in place of it a crown of
thorns, saying--

It were ill done that I have worn
A golden crown, while Jesus sweet
For my sake wore a crown of thorn;
And here I dedicate my days
To Him until my life be sped.

Thus far the foundation of the mother church--much more of the town's
history follows in like strain.

* * * * * *

Willenhall was slightly connected with another religious foundation. In
the year 1002 Burton Abbey was founded by Wulfric Spott, Earl of Mercia.
This establishment was richly endowed with lands, not only in
Staffordshire, but also with estates in Derbyshire and Warwickshire.

The names of the various places included in this munificent grant afford
a very interesting study in Saxon nomenclature. For instance, in the
Second Indorsement of the Charter conferring the noble gift, we may be
interested to discover that "2 hides of land in Wilinhale," lying in
"Offalawe Hundred" are among the properties donated to this great
Staffordshire Monastery.

V.--The Collegiate Establishment

We cannot be too insistent on the close connection long subsisting
between Willenhall and Wolverhampton owing to the fact of the former
being a part of Wulfruna's endowment of her collegiate church.

Wulfruna's foundation consisted of a dean, eight prebendaries or canons,
and a sacrist. The dean was the president of this chapter, or
congregation of clergy, whose duly was to chant the daily service. The
sacrist was also a cleric, but his duties were more generally concerned
with the college establishment.

A prebendary, it may be explained, is one who enjoys a prebend or
canonical portion; that is, who receives in right of his place, a share
out of the common stock of the church for his maintenance. Each prebend
of Wolverhampton church was endowed with the income arising from the
lands from which it took its n