THE birthplace of John Bunyan was Elstow, a small village rather more than a mile to the south of the town of Bedford. The original form of the name of Elstow was Ellen-stow, the stow or place of St. Helen, one of our few early British saints, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, under whose patronage the village was originally placed. Elstow was the seat of a Benedictine nunnery, founded in 1078 by Judith, niece to William the Conqueror, and widow of Waltheof, Earl of Huntingdon, whose judicial murder left an indelible stain on the character of William, and a still fouler blot on the earl's traitorous wife, by whose testimony he was condemned. Elstow nunnery, or abbey, continued to rank among the most wealthy of similar foundations till the Dissolution. The abbey was surrendered to the crown Aug. 26, 1540. The sisters had pensions granted to them out of the estates, and several of them continued to live quietly close to their old home in the town of Bedford. The register of the

1 The Anglo-Saxon stow, a dwelling-place or habitation, forms an element in many local names. 'Bridestow,' the place of St. Bridget; 'Morwenstow,' the place of St. Morwenna; Chepstow '= Ceapstow, a place for a sale or market (cf. Cheapside, Cheap Street, Chipping Wycombe, and Chapman). It stands sometimes alone, as 'Stow' in Lincolnshire, Buckinghamshire, and elsewhere, its distinctive prefix having dropped off.

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