Posted by:
robert (---.syd.ops.aspac.uu.net)
Qu 1. I'd say the error is deliberate but you're not missing anything - it's just supposed to be silly. It sounds a bit like the old "Franglaise" column in Punch. You might have noticed by now that the cultural aspects of Swindon are highly regarded by Jasper.
Qu 2. I actually googled the entire contents of the parentheses and got a huge swag of results including references to academic papers! The most revealing hit was 'Weird Wiltshire' which had a news report from 1983 when apparently there was quite a brouhaha going on about tourists clambering all over the site with their egg sandwiches and thermos flasks and the National Trust created a huge area specifically for folk to have picnics and view the horse without destroying it.
This story doesn't necessarily have anything to do with 'explaining' Jasper's title but it shows a possible context.
And I don't know if they have all sizes in Devizes or old geezers in Devizes either.