BURFORD, (Oxfordshire) on the r. Windrush, 62 cm. and 85 mm. from London. It had a charter from Hen. II. granting it all the customs of the townsmen of Oxford, and though it lost most of them, it still retains the face of a corp. having a common seal, and being governed by two bailiffs, &c. Its Mt. which is on S. is noted for saddles; and the seven downs near it for horse-races. Its fairs are June 24, Sept. 14, and the S. before and after Michaelmas. This place gives title of E. to the D. of St. Albans. A synod was held here in the Saxons time, wherein the abbot of Malmsbury was ordered to write a book on the observation of Easter; and here was an ancient custom of carrying an artificial dragon about the streets on Midsummer-Eve, alluding, as supposed, to the picture of a dragon on a certain banner that was taken in a battle fought in the time of the Saxons in a neighbouring field, called Battle-Edge. Here was formerly a priory. A proverb has taken rise from this T. called a Burford Bait, which is a bait not to stay the stomach, but to over-charge it. The place was formerly held by service of a barony to send five men to the K's. forces on any expedition to Wales.