On Thursday the 25th of January 1753
  Ruth Pierce of Pottern, in this County agreed with
  Three other women to buy a Sack of Wheat in the Market
  Each paying her due proportion toward the same. 
  One of these women, in collecting
  The Several Quotas of Money discovered a Deficiency,
  And demanded of Ruth Pierce the sum which was wanting
  To make good the amount:  Ruth Pierce protested
  That she had paid her share and said “She wished
  That she might drop down dead if she had not.” 
  She rashly repeated this awful wish, when, to the
  Consternation and Terror of the surrounding Multitude
  She instantly fell down and expired, having the Money
  Concealed in her hand.

The “Bear” is a spacious inn made out of two fine old houses, and is famous as the hostelry where the father of Sir Thomas Lawrence was at one time landlord.  He was a man of literary tastes and public-spirited withal, for he is said to have erected posts upon the lonely hills hereabouts to guide wayfarers to civilization.  Those who have seen Salisbury Plain in its winter aspect will appreciate what this meant at the end of the eighteenth century, when cultivation, and the consequent fence, was not in existence thereon, and to be lost on the Downs in the snow was a serious adventure.  The account of the Lawrence family in Fanny Burney’s Diary is of much interest and throws an intimate light on certain aspects of English provincial life at that time.

Besides a large number of pleasant and dignified houses of the eighteenth century, Devizes has a few older ones, principally in the alleys at the back of St. John Street; and some fine public buildings that would not disgrace a town of more consequence.  Foremost among these is the Corn Exchange, close to the “Bear.”  On its front will be noticed a statue of the goddess of agriculture.  The edifice over which she presides is of imposing size and shows how great an amount of business must have been transacted here in the past.  The Town Hall contains several objects of interest which are shown to the visitor, including a fine set of old corporation plate.  The ancient hall of the wool merchants’ Guild is near the castle.  Its purpose has long forsaken the old walls, but under the care of the present occupiers the well-being of the building is assured.  The museum is well worth seeing.  Here is the famous “Marlborough Bucket,” said to be of Armorican origin.  It was discovered near Marlborough by Sir R.C.  Hoare, and its contents proved it to be a cinerary urn of a date probably not much anterior to the Roman occupation of Britain.  The geological collections—­stones and fossils; and some interesting models of Avebury and Stonehenge, and particularly the Stourhead antiquities—­British and prehistoric—­should on no account be missed.

An old diary of royal progresses gives the following account of a foreign visit in 1786:—­