Berkshire has not been remarkable for its guilds. The guild of the brotherhood of the Holy Cross at Abingdon has been already mentioned. At Maidenhead we find a guild incorporated in 1351, probably for the purpose of keeping in repair the bridge over the Thames, one of the most ancient in the county. This corporation was called "the Fraternity or Guild of the Brothers and Sisters of Maidenhythe." Of minor guilds there would be examples in almost every village and town, but no records of them remain. The guilds of Reading are the only ones of real importance; and I have attempted to point out the chief points of interest in connection with their growth and development, and to describe briefly the origin of these institutions which played so important a part in the making of England. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 3: Mr. Coates says that the Society of Guild Merchants of Reading was undoubtedly very ancient, existing before the foundation of the Abbey, and claiming a charter or grant of privileges from Edward the Confessor. This is proved by a statement made by the Mayor and commonalty in time of Richard II., before the king's justices of peace at Reading, in opposition to some of the claims of the Abbot, with whom the authorities of the town were always quarrelling.] [Footnote 4: 1545--By Statute 37 Henry VIII., An Act for dissolution of colleges, it was recited that divers colleges, free chapels, chantries, hospitals, fraternities, brotherhoods, guilds, and stipendary priests, "having perpetuity for ever," had misapplied the possessions thereof in various ways; and it was then enacted that all the same be dissolved and the proceeds applied for supporting the king's expenses in wars, etc., and for the maintenance of the crown, etc. The advisers of Edward VI. promptly availed themselves of this as a pretext for plunder.] The Scouring of the White Horse. BY E.R. GARDINER, M.A. The story of our village feasts, and of the way in which the rude forefathers of the hamlet were wont to enjoy themselves, forms a chapter in our manners and customs which cannot but have considerable interest to the student of bygone times. One of the most interesting relics of this kind pertains to the County of Berks. Upon White Horse Hill in that county, there used to be celebrated at stated intervals a feast known throughout the countryside as "The Scouring of the White Horse." This has been so admirably and exhaustively treated by Judge Hughes, Q.C. (Tom Brown) in his well-known book on the subject that it is almost hopeless for anyone writing on the same topic to do otherwise than follow in his wake. [Illustration: SKETCH GROUND PLAN OF THE WHITE HORSE.]