word “roll” (_rotulus_, à _rotare_, to turn round) is but a synonym
of the word “volume” (_volumen_, à _volvere_, to roll), and that,
from the longitudinal connexion of its component skins, a reference
made from any entry upon it, to a preceding or succeeding one, will
be _literally_ and properly expressed by the words _vide_ SUPRA and
_vide_ INFRA. He will likewise clearly comprehend that not only the
interior, or _intus_, of the roll, upon which the characteristic
entries have been made, will necessarily be kept clean and free from
atmospheric influence, but also the greater part of the exterior,
which is denominated the _dors_. This circumstance afforded the
scribes an opportunity, which they readily embraced, of using the
_dors_ for entries and memoranda that were frequently very different
in their character from those contained on the _intus_ of the roll.
The Rolls of the courts of King’s Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer,
contain the proceedings of those Courts; and they differ from those
of the Chancery, not only in the nature of their contents, but
also in the form in which they are made up. A roll of these courts
consists of an indefinite number of skins sewn or attached together
with a strong ligature of parchment at the top, and the subject is
written both on the _intus_ and _dors_, precisely in the same way
as a book or letter is written; after the _intus_ is filled, the
subject is continued on the _dors_. In using this kind of roll, each
skin, when perused, is turned back over the head of the rest, and
brought down immediately after that which just before had been the
last of the series; until, the whole having been thus in their order
revolved, the first skin is again brought into its original position.
The entire mass, being unprotected by pasteboard or other unyielding
covers, is perfectly flexible, and, having been rolled up in the
manner of a quire of paper, which it is desired to reduce to its
smallest compass, is confined in its position by a piece of tape or
other adequate ligature.
For every regnal year of a King’s reign there is one or more of each
class of rolls appropriated; according to the quantity of business
done, so is the number of each class of rolls: for instance, the
Patent Rolls of the 1st of Edward the Fourth, extending to six rolls
or parts, as they are called, contain the enrolment of all the
Letters Patent made during that year; the Charter Rolls of the same
year, all the Charters granted in that year; as the Close Rolls do
all the Letters Close issued in that year.
In quoting an entry from a roll, it is usual for writers to state
first the name of the roll on which it is to be found: as, _Rot.
Pat._ (Rotulus Patentium), _Rot. Claus._ (Rotulus Clausarum), the
word “Litterarum” being understood in the two preceding cases;
_Rot. Fin._ (Rotulus Finium), &c. Then follows the year of the
king’s reign. Should the roll be divided into parts, the part also
is specified; as, _p._ 1. or _pars_ 1., _p._ 2. or _pars_ 2. The
next circumstance noticed is the particular skin or _membrane_ on
which the entry occurs; as, _m._ 23. If the entries on the skin have
numbers attached to them, the number also (_n._ 1., &c.) is cited:
and if the entry is made on the back or _dors_ of the roll, that
circumstance is expressed by adding _d._ or _in dorso_ (_i. e_. “on
the back”) to the quotation; for, should this be omitted, the entry
will very naturally be sought for upon the _intus_ of the roll.
Citing, then, an entry, from the Patent Rolls for instance, we will
suppose the quotation to run in the following form, “Rot. Pat. 13
Edw. III. p. 2. m. 23.;” which would be thus rendered in English: “On
the twenty-third skin of the second part of the Patent Roll of the
thirteenth year of Edward the Third.”
Before quitting this part of the subject, it may not be unimportant
to state that, on examining a roll, it is not an unfrequent
circumstance to meet with entries which are cancelled, or crossed
out with the pen; but, to prevent suspicion that this has been
unfairly done, the reason for the cancellation is generally added at
the side: as, “Quia supra,”--“Because it has already been entered
above;” “Quia alias inferius,”--“Because it has been re-entered in
other words below;” “Quia in Rot. Fin.”--“Because it is entered
on the Fine Roll” (to which roll it more properly belongs); &c.
This kind of cancellation, which was performed, as of course, by
the person who discovered the error, must not be confounded with a
cancellation by _judgment_; which latter was a function of the Lord
Chancellor, who, when Letters Patent or Charters were adjudged void,
was the person who condemned or cancelled them.
The terms _cancellation_, _erasure_, _expunging_ or _expunction_,
_obliteration_, _elision_, and _deletion_,--words each employed to
denote a different method adopted to prevent faulty passages or
minor errors from standing as parts of a composition,--having been
frequently used indiscriminately one for another, the reader may not
be displeased to be here reminded of their original significations.
To treat, then, of each in the order in which it has been named;--
_Cancellation_ denotes the drawing a pen several times obliquely
across a passage, first from right to left, and then from left to
right, in the manner of lattice-work. (The word is derived from
_cancella_, a lattice.)
_Erasure_ implies the removal of a faulty portion by the application
of the knife. (From _erado_, I scrape out.)
_Expunging_ or _expunction_ (both derivations from the same verb,
_expungo_, I prick or _dot_ out,) was a method by which the clerk
neatly expressed that a word, or part of a word, was to be omitted;
as “sentenṭẹṇce.” Leaving out, then, the under-dotted, or
expuncted letters, the amended word will be _sentence_.
_Obliteration_ is the slovenly method, still frequently employed, of
completely covering the error with ink, so that not a letter thereof
can be traced. (From _oblitero_, I blot out.)
_Elision_ is the act of striking out the erroneous matter by a simple
dash of the pen. (From _elido_, I strike or dash out.)
_Deletion_ is the wiping away the ink while it is yet wet, and then
continuing the writing over the space which had been in the first
instance occupied by the error. (From _deleo_, I wipe out.)
After this short, but, it is hoped, satisfactory explanation of
the nature and circumstances of a roll, the reader will proceed to
an analysis of the contracted language in which records have been
composed.
The marks placed above letters to denote omissions are either a
right line (¯), or a circumflex (~). The former of these marks
above a _vowel_ denotes that an immediately subsequent _m_ or
_n_ has been omitted; as, vēdāt for _vendant_, bonū for
_bonum_, terrā for _terram_: the latter mark, when seen above
or through a letter, whether in the middle or at the end of a
word, signifies that some letter other than _m_ or _n_ is to
be supplied, as ṽl for _vel_, ip̃e for _ipse_; or that more
letters than one are required, as aĩa for _anima_, al̃r for
_aliter_, Wintoñ for _Wintonia_, nob̃ for _nobis_, mand̃ for
_mandatum_. The circumflex is sometimes continued over or through
two letters; as, occo͠e for _occasione_, nll͠m for _nullum_. Some
persons, however, employ the straight line through a consonant,
instead of the circumflex, to denote the omission of one or more
letters; as, vob̵ for _vobis_, qd̵ for _quod_.
A small letter placed _above_ the line (hence called a _superior_
letter) indicates an omission of which such letter forms a part;
as, don^c for _donec_, p^{i}us for _prius_, q^{o}s for _quos_, s^a
for _supra_, t^i for _tibi_.
The four following double characters occur in Sir Francis
Palgrave’s “Parliamentary Writs,” in each of which the superior
immediately surmounts its subjacent letter, having been cast with
it by the founder as if they had been but one character:--ṁ, for
_mihi_; ṅ, for _nisi_; q̇, used for _qui_ and _quia_; ṫ, for
_tibi_.
The apostrophe is sometimes used as a mark of abbreviation,
generally after an initial capital, but sometimes also in other
parts of the word.
A point or dot, placed after a letter, is frequently used as a
sign of final abbreviation; as, ass. no. diss, for _assisæ novæ
disseisinæ_, di. t̃ fi. s. for _dilecto et fideli suo_, e. for
_est_, plurib. for _pluribus_.
The signification of the following characters is fixed and
positive:--
Ɂ This symbol, sometimes called the _c_ cursive, or _c_
reversed, denotes _com_ or _con_: as, Ɂmitto, _committo_; Ɂtra,
_contra_. Before the adoption of the present elegant type,
this character was represented in printing by an old-fashioned
figure of 9; as, 9mune, _commune_. In the “Parliamentary
Writs,” a turned _c_ supplies its place; as, ↄpetere,
_competere_.
[#] This represents the _es_ plural and _is_ possessive in the
termination of Old English nouns: in later times it was much
used for the _is_ final of Latin genitives. In the extract
from Richard of Devizes, immediately to be given, it has been
uniformly thus employed.
ę This character, which resembles the cedilla of the French
(ç), is sometimes employed as the representative of the
diphthong _æ_ in particular records; as, terrę, _terræ_.
[#] or [#] Each of these characters represents _est_, simple or
in composition; as, simple, [#] _est_; in composition, inter[#]
_interest_.
ẽ or e̚ These also denote _est_: they sometimes stand for
_ess_; as, ẽe, _esse_; e̚et, _esset_.
&, 7, and t̃ are abbreviated forms of the conjunction _et_.
They were not, however, used indiscriminately, as in the
subsequent praxis, but are peculiar to MSS. of very different
periods of time.
t̃c̃. _et cætera_.
&̄ _etiam_.
ƪ This ascending recurved flourish, which is sometimes cast
separately by the founder, that it may be placed after a
simple consonant, but which is most frequently cast with it,
both forming together one compound character, denotes the
omission of _er_ or _re_: as, cƪno or c̉no, _cerno_: gƪens or
g̉ens, _gerens_: gƪgis or g̉gis, _gregis_: camƪa or cam̉a,
_camera_: remunƪo or remun̉o, _remunero_: pƪter or p̉ter,
_præter_ (Note.--_Per_, which has its specific symbol, is never
represented by this character): sƪviens or s̉viens, _serviens_:
tƪra or t̉ra, _terra_: tƪmens or t̉mens, _tremens_: fuƪit or
fủit, _fuerit_: vƪsus or v̉sus, _versus_: duxƪit or dux̉it,
_duxerit_;--x̉ stands also for _xor_, as uxƪem or ux̉em,
_uxorem_. When _er_ is omitted after one of the ascending
letters _b_, _d_, or _h_, its absence is generally denoted
by the circumflex line drawn across the upright stem of the
letter: as tab̃na, _taberna_; consid̃atum, _consideratum_;
h̃es, _hæres_.
Đ This character, when alone, represents _De_, when the word
begins a sentence.
đ The small đ, when alone, likewise denotes _de_; and in
accounts it represents one of the cases of _denarius_. It may
also be used arbitrarily; and then, like all letters standing
alone, its meaning must be discovered by an examination of the
context.
ɱ A contracted form of _manucaptor_ or _manerium_. It is an
arbitrary sign, and may represent other words, the sense of
which must be sought from the context.
⅌ or p̵ This is the specific representative of _per_: but it
sometimes also denotes _par_ and _por_; as, p̵te, _parte_;
temp̵e, _tempore_.
⅊ This character uniformly represents _pro_.
ɋ This, annexed to a word, denotes the postpositive conjunction
_que_.
q̵ _quod_.
Q₂ or q₂ _quia_.
℞ _Rex_ and its cases; also _Regina_ and its cases.
ꝝ This character, which is found at the end only of a word,
usually represents the _rum_ of plural genitives: it is
sometimes, however, used as a general termination; as, Alienoꝝ
for _Alienoram_, Eboꝝ for _Eborum_ or _Eboracum_, Windesoꝝ for
_Windesores_.
ʄ This character, which occurs mostly in Old French,
represents, in composition, the syllable _ser_; as, ʄvaunt,
_servaunt_: alone it means _sire_; with a superior ^r, ʄ^r,
_seigneur_.
þ _th_ Saxon: as, þƪ, _ther_; þ^t, _that_.
ð Another form of the Saxon _th_.
ꝰ This symbol is the representative of the final _us_, except,
as an almost general rule, when terminating datives: as,
Augꝰti, _Augusti_; Deꝰ, _Deus_; mandamꝰ, _mandamus_; priꝰ,
_prius_. It also denotes _os_ or _ost_ in the preposition
_post_; thus, pꝰ or pꝰt
ʒ The usual function of this abbreviation is that of denoting
the _us_ final of datives; as, tribʒ, _tribus_; omnibʒ,
_omnibus_: but it likewise represents the final _et_; as, debʒ,
_debet_; habʒ, _habet_: and sometimes stands for a general
termination; as, quilʒ, _quilibet_; scilʒ, _scilicet_. For the
last purpose it is still in ordinary use, but under a disguised
form; as viz. _for_ viʒ.
Xp̃c Latin names derived from the Greek are usually printed
with the Roman letters which most nearly resemble in their form
those of the original language: thus X stands for the Greek
_chi_ (Χ), p for the _rho_ (Ρ), and c for the _sigma_ (Σ). Xp̃c
consequently represent the word “Christus”: by substituting the
required letter for the c, we shall have the various cases of
the noun; as, Xp̃i, Xp̃o; _Christi_, _Christo_, &c.
✠ The cross is met with in some records and charters, and in
such cases generally precedes the subscription of his name
by a bishop. It is not used as a word, but apparently as a
compendious profession of faith, or else as a silent invocation
of the Divine aid. This was also the sign by which persons who
could not write were accustomed to attest instruments, their
names being added by those who could. An imitation of this mark
is still in use among uneducated persons; as, “John [his X
mark.] Thomas,”
The following points are met with in ancient MSS.
, the comma; sometimes also used as a period.
; the ancient colon, or semicolon: used frequently as a full
stop.
[#] This character denotes the commencement of a paragraph in
Domesday-book.
[#] and [#] These marks are, in some records, placed at the
commencement of sections and of independent lines.
The necessity of printing records in the most literal manner
having been for a long time generally admitted, Editors have been
constrained to invent characters by which to denote erasures,
cancellations, interlineations, and other peculiarities which occur
upon the face of them. These characters, though strictly editorial,
are nevertheless deserving of notice here.
_Cancellations_, using the term in a comprehensive sense, are
denoted by Sir F. Palgrave, in his “Parliamentary Writs,” by
placing an upright trefoil (_trèfle_--the club of the French
playing-cards) at the commencement of the elided passage, the
conclusion of which he indicates by a reversed trefoil: thus,
T. ℞ ap̃ ♣ap̃d[#] Westm̃.
_Interlineations_ are expressed by their being included between
brackets: [ ].
_Words written upon erasures_, or apparently added to the
text after it had been originally written, are placed between
inverted commas: “ ”.
Sir Francis likewise employs critical marks, by which he directs
attention to _evident_ as well as _apparent_ errors in the original,
as also to the point at which an _apparent deficiency_ exists.
_Doubtful readings_, and words which are _apparently_ clerical
errors, are preceded by the upright parallel, ‖.
Readings which are _evidently_ erroneous are stigmatized by the
obelisk or dagger, †.
And _apparent deficiencies_ are denoted by the insertion of an
asterisk, *, at the point where the omission appears to have
taken place.
∿ and • These two characters occur also in the last-named work,
the meaning of which is by no means clear. They appear to be
imperfect imitations of private marks made by the writers of
the documents.
Mr. Hardy, in his “Close Rolls,” has adopted a system somewhat
different from that of Sir F. Palgrave.
All errors, whether of commission or omission, the first-named
gentleman denotes by drawing a line under the wrong word, or
under the interspace in which the omission should have been
inserted; leaving the ascertainment of the kind of error to the
discrimination of the reader.
Elisions of _one_ or a _few_ words are represented in his work
by means of thin wire placed over the surface of these words,
which are grooved by a file for the purpose of its reception,
and which, when thus printed, have the appearance of having
been dashed out with a pen. Cancellations of greater extent are
indicated by including the cancelled matter between two thick
perpendicular lines, curved at their extremities and formed
like the printer’s brace, but without its receding middle.
These, for convenience, are here exhibited in the horizontal
position ╭╌╮ ╰╌╯.
Words written on an erasure are printed between these marks ` ´.
To assist the reader in comprehending the foregoing explanations,
and as an exercise to his ingenuity, an interesting tale, of
sufficient length for the purpose, has been selected from the
History of Richard the First. This _historiette_, which was
written by the monarch’s namesake, Richard of Devizes, and which
abounds in very interesting particulars, was lately, for the
first time, given to the public in a printed form by the “English
Historical Society:” to their publication we are indebted for our
text. The reader, having carefully studied the preceding symbols,
may now proceed to an examination of the language of this story.
This, which has been purposely contracted with every species of
abbreviations common to the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th
centuries, he will proceed to extend into full words, verifying
his performance, when completed, by comparing it with what
immediately follows, which he will find to be the same narrative
in an uncontracted form. Having acquired some degree of facility
in extending the contracted forms, he may then advantageously
reverse the process, and proceed to a reduction of words at
length to a contracted state. A little practice will soon enable
him to apply his newly acquired knowledge in the elucidation of
whatever form of record or of ancient document may come before
him. This acquirement he may find extremely useful, and he may
possibly thence derive a certain degree of distinction; since
this has to the present time been a branch of knowledge entirely
confined to a small portion of the learned, and to the few
typographical readers whose employments have more immediately
required its cultivation. A translation is added, followed by a
few explanatory notes.
In conformity with a practice which has hitherto much obtained
in Record printing, _c_ has been substituted for _t_ in the
terminations _tio_ and _tia_: this usage, the propriety of which
has been questioned, has been here followed, in order that the
student’s eye may be accustomed to its recurrence elsewhere.
The diphthongs _æ_ and _œ_ have been also for the same reason
represented by the simple _e_.
_Story of a Boy killed by the Jews of Winchester._
[Illustration: First page of the story printed using the above
abbreviations]
[Illustration: Second page]
[Illustration: Third page]
[Illustration: Fourth page]
The preceding in words at length.
Quia Wintonia non debuit debita sibi mercede privari pro servata,
ut in capite libri præpositum est, pace Judæis, Wintonienses
Judæi civitatis suæ (Judaico more) studentes honori, etsi
factum forte defuerit, plurimis facti indiciis celebrem sibi
famam de martyrizato a se in Wintonia puero confecerunt. Casus
erat hujusmodi. Puerum quemdam Christianum, artis sutoriæ
sciolum, Judæus quidam in familiare familiæ suæ consciverat
ministerium. Non ibi continuum residebat ad opus, nec magnum
aliquid semel sinebatur explere, ne provisam sibi cædem probaret
cohabitatio; et ut, pro modico labore melius ibi quam pro multo
alibi remuneratus, domum dæmonis, donis ejus et dolis illectus,
libentius frequentaret. Fuerat autem Francus genere, pupillus
et orphanus, abjectæ conditionis et paupertatis extremæ. Has
hujusmodi miserias in Francia male miseratus quidam Judæus
Francigena, crebris ei monitis persuasit ut Angliam peteret,
terram lacte et melle manantem; Anglos liberales prædicavit et
dapsiles; ibi nullum, qui niteretur ad probitatem, pauperem
moriturum. Puer promtulus, ut naturaliter Francorum est, ad velle
quicquid volueris, assumpto secum comite quodam coætaneo suo et
compatriots, ad peregrine proficiscendum præcinctus est; nihil in
manibus habens præter baculum, nihil in sytarchia præter subulam.
Valedixit Judæo suo; cui Judæus, “Vade,” ait, “viriliter. Deus
patrum meorum deducat te sicut desidero.” Et, impositis manibus
super caput ejus, ac si esset hircus emissarius, post stridores
quosdam gutturis et tacitas imprecationes, jam de præda securus,
adjecit, “Forti animo esto, obliviscere populum tuum et terram
tuam, quia omnis terra forti patria est, ut piscibus æquor,
ut volucri vacuo quicquid in orbe patet. Angliam ingressus si
Londonias veneris, celeriter pertransibis; multum enim mihi
displicet illa polis. Omne hominum genus in illam confluit ex
omni natione quæ sub cœlo est; omnis gens sua vitia et suos mores
urbi intulit. Nemo in ea sine crimine vivit; non omnis in ea
vicus non abundat tristibus obscenis; eo ibi quisquis melior est,
quo fuerit major in scelere. Non ignoro quem instruo; habes supra
tuam ætatem fervorem ingenii, frigiditatem memoriæ, ex utrinque
contrariis temperantiam rationis. Nihil de te mihi metuo, nisi
cum male viventibus commoreris; ex convictu enim mores formantur.
Esto, esto! Londonias venies. Ecce! prædico tibi, quicquid in
singulis, quicquid in universis partibus mundi mali vel malitiæ
est, in una illa civitate reperies. Lenonum choros non adeas,
ganearum gregibus non immiscearis; vita thalum et tesseram,
theatrum et tabernam. Plures ibi quam in tota Gallia thrasones
offendes, gnathonum autem infinitus est numerus. Histriones,
scurræ, glabriones, garamantes, palpones, pusiones, molles,
mascularii, ambubaiæ, pharmacopolæ, crissariæ, phitonissæ,
vultuariæ, noctivagæ, magi, mimi, mendici, balathrones, hoc
genus omne totas replevere domos.[1] Ergo, si nolueris habitare
cum turpibus, non habitabis Londoniis. Non loquor in literatos
vel religiosos, sive Judæos; quamvis et ex ipsa cohabitatione
malorum, minus eos ibi quam alibi crediderim esse perfectos.
“Nec eo pergit oratio, ut in nullam te recipias civitatem,
cum meo consilio nusquam tibi sit nisi in urbe manendum,
refert tamen in qua. Si igitur circa Cantuariam appuleris,
iter habebis perdere; si vel per eam transieris. Tota est illa
perditorum collectio ad suum nescio quem nuper deificatum,
qui fuerat Cantuariæ archipresbyter, quod passim præ inopia
panis et ocio per plateas moriuntur ad solem. Rovecestria et
Cicestria viculi sunt, et cur civitates dici debeant præter
sedes flaminum nihil obtendunt. Oxonia vix suos clericos, non
dico satiat, sed sustentat. Exonia eodem farre reficit homines
et jumenta. Bathonia, in imis vallium in crasso nimis aere et
vapore sulphureo posita, imo deposita, est ad portas inferi.
Sed nec in arctois sedem tibi legeris urbibus, Wigornia,
Cestria, Herefordia, propter Walenses vitæ prodigos. Eboracum
Scottis abundat, fœdis et infidis hominibus vel homuncionibus.
Eliensis pagus perpetuo putidus est pro circumfusis paludibus.
In Dunelmo, Northwico, sive Lincolnia, perpaucos de potentibus,
de tua conditione nullum penitus audies Romane loquentem. Apud
Bristollum nemo est qui non sit vel fuerit saponarius, et omnis
Francus saponarios amat ut stercorarios. Post urbes, omne forum,
villa, vel oppidum, incolas habet rudes et rusticos. Omni insuper
tempore pro talibus Cornubienses habeto, quales in Francia nosti
nostros Flandrenses haberi. Ceterum regio ipsa generaliter in
rore cœli et in pinguedine terræ tota beatissima est; in singulis
etiam locis aliqui boni sunt, set multo minus in omnibus quam in
una Wintonia.