Sælingas. Saling, _Essex_.
Sealfingas. Salvington, _Sussx._
Sandingas. Sandringham, _Norf._
Seaxlingas. Saxlingham, _Norf._
Scealingas. Scaling-dam, _York._
Scearningas. Scarning, _Norf._
Scearingas, or { Scarrington, _Notts_; Sharrington, _Norf._;
Sheering
Seringas. { _Essex_; Sheringford, _Norf._; Sherringham,
_Norf._;
{ Sherrington, _Bucks_, _Wilts_.
Scearðingas. Scarthingwell, _York._
Scrǽgingas. Scrayingham, _York._
Screadingas. Scredington, _Linc._
Seafingas. Seavington, _Somers._
Secgingas. Seckington, _Warw._
Seáðingas. Seething, _Norf._
Syllingas. Selling, _Kent_; Sellinge, _Kent_.
Seámingas. Semington, _Wilts_.
Sempringas. Sempringham, _Linc._
Setringas. Settrington, _York._
Syfingas. Sevington, _Kent_.
Sceabingas. Shabbington, _Bucks_.
Sceadingas. Shadingfield, _Suff._
Sceáfingas. Shavington, _Chesh._; Shevington, _Lanc._;
Skeffington, _Leic._
Sceaningas. Shenington, _Glouc._
Scyllingas. Shilling-Okeford, _Dors._; Shillingford, _Berks._,
_Oxf._, _Devon_; Shillingstone, _Dors._;
Shillingthorpe, _Linc._; Shillington, _Bedf._;
Skellingthorpe, _Linc._; Skillington, _Linc._
Scylfingas. Shilvington, _Dors._, _Nthld._
Scymplingas. Shimpling, _Norf._, _Suff._
Scytlingas. Shitlington, _Bedf._, _Nthld._, _York._
Scolingas. Sholing, _Hants_.
Scyrdingas. Shurdington, _Glouc._
Scytingas. Shuttington, _Warw._
Scylingas. Sicklinghall, _York._
Sídingas. Siddington, _Glouc._
Silfingas. Silvington, _Salop._
Sinningas. Sinnington, _York._
Sittingas. Sittingbourne, _Kent_.
Sceaclingas. Skeckling, _York._
Sceaflingas. Skeffling, _York._
Scyldingas. Skelding, _York._
Scyrlingas. Skirlington, _York._
Sleaningas. Sleningford, _York._
Snoringas. Snoring, _Norf._
Somtingas. Sompting, _Sussx._
Sunningas. Sonning, _Berks._, _Oxf._; Sunninghill, _Berks._;
Sunningwell, _Berks._
Súðingas. Southington, _Hants_.
Spaldingas. Spalding, _Linc._; Spaldington, _York._
Specingas. Speckington, _Somers._
Spyringas. Spirringate, _Glouc._
Sprættingas. Spratting-street, _Kent_.
Sprydlingas. Spridlington, _Linc._
Steallingas. Stalling-busk, _York._; Stallingborough, _Linc._;
Stallington, _Staff._
Stǽningas. Stanningfield, _Suff._; Stanninghall, _Norf._.;
Stanningley, _York._; Stannington, _Nthld._,
_York._; Steyning, _Sussx._
Steorlingas. Starling, _Lanc._
Stebbingas. Stebbing, _Essex_; Stibbington, _Hunt._
Steápingas. Steeping, _Linc._; Steppingley, _Bedf._
Stellingas. Stelling, _Kent_, _Nthld._; Stillingfleet,
_York._; Stillington, _Drhm._, _York._
Stefingas. Stevington, _Bedf._
Stocingas. Stocking, _Herts_; Stockingford, _Warw._;
Stokingham, _Devon_.
Storningas. Storningley, _York._
Storringas. Storrington, _Sussx._
Stútingas. Stouting, _Kent_.
Strellingas. Strellington, _Sussx._
Stubingas. Stubbington, _Hants_.
Sulingas. Sullington, _Sussx._
Surlingas. Surlingham, _Norf._.
Swaningas. Swannington, _Leic._, _Norf._.
Sweorlingas. Swarling, _Kent_ (? Sweordhlincas).
Sweðelingas. Swathling, _Hants_.
Swefelingas. Sweffling, _Suff._
Swillingas. Swillington, _York._
Sydlingas. Sydling, _Dors._
Tædingas. Taddington, _Glouc._, _Derby._; Teddington,
_Mddx._, _Worc._; Tiddington, _Oxf._, _Warw._
Tælingas. Tallington, _Linc._
Tæningas. Tannington, _Suff._
Teorringas. Tarring, _Sussx._; Tarrington, _Heref._;
Terrington, _Norf._, _York._; Torrington,
_Devon._, _Linc._
Tætingas. Tattingstone, _Suff._
Tendringas. Tendring, _Essex_.
Teorlingas. Terling, _Essex_.
Ðegningas. Thanington, _Kent_.
Ðeódingas. Thedingworth, _Leic._, _Nhamp._
Ðocingas. Thockington, _Nthld._
Ðoringas, or } Thorington, _Suff._; Thorrington, _Essex_.
}
Ðorningas. Thornington, _Nthld._
Ðrecgingas. Threckingham, _Linc._
Ðredlingas. Thredling, _Suff._
Ðristlingas. Trislington, _Drhm._
Ðryscingas. Thrussington, _Leic._
Ðurningas. Thurning, _Hunt._, _Norf._, _Nhamp._
Ðwingas. Thwing, _York._
Tibbingas. Tibbington, _Staff._
Tidmingas. Tidmington, _Worc._
Tilingas. Tillingham, _Essex_; Tillington, _Heref._,
_Staff._, _Sussx._
Tissingas. Tissington, _Derby._
Titlingas. Titlington, _Nthld._
Teofingas. Tivington, _Somers._
Tocingas. Tockington, _Glouc._
Todingas. Toddington, _Bedf._, _Glouc._
Toltingas. Toltingtrough, _Kent_.
Tótingas. Tooting, _Surr._; Tottington, _Lanc._, _Norf._
Torcingas. Torkington, _Chesh._
Tortingas. Tortington, _Sussx._
Trimingas. Trimingham, _Norf._
Tringas. Tring, _Herts_.
Tritlingas. Tritlington, _Nthld._
Trumpingas. Trumpington, _Camb._
Tucingas. Tucking Mills, _Somers._; Tuckington, _Hants_.
Tuscingas. Tushingham, _Chesh._
Tuttingas. Tuttington, _Norf._
Twiningas. Twining, _Glouc._
Twicgingas. Twitching, _Devon_.
Tyrringas. Tyrringham, _Bucks_.
Tyðeringas. Tytherington, _Chesh._, _Glouc._, _Wilts_.
Ucingas. Uckington, _Glouc._, _Salop._
Uffingas. Uffington, _Berks_, _Linc._, _Salop._
Ulingas. Ullingswick, _Heref._
Ultingas. Ulting, _Essex_.
Upingas. Uppingham, _Rutl._; Uppington, _Salop._
Wadingas. Waddingham, _Linc._; Waddington, _Linc._, _York._;
Waddingworth, _Linc._; Weddington, _Warw._
Wæceringas. Wakering, _Essex_.
Wealdingas. Waldingfield, _Suff._; Woldingham, _Surr._
Wealdringas. Waldringfield, _Suff._
Wealcringas. Walkeringham, _Notts_.
Wealcingas. Walkingham, _York._; Walkington, _York._
Wealingas. Wallingfen, _York._; Wallingford, _Berks_;
Wallington, _Hants_, _Herts_, _Norf._, _Surr._,
_Nthld._; Wallingwells, _Notts_?; Wellingboro',
_Nhamp._; Wellingham, _Norf._; Wellingley,
_York._; Wellingore, _Linc._
Wælsingas. Walsingham, _Norf._; Wolsingham, _Drhm._;
Woolsington, _Nthld._
Wæplingas[835]. Waplington, _York._
Wæppingas[835]. Wapping, _Mddx._
Wearblingas[835]. Warblington, _Hants_.
Weardingas. Wardington, _Oxf._
Wearlingas. Warlingham, _Sussx._
Wearmingas. Warmingham, _Chesh._; Warminghurst, _Sussx._;
Warmington, _Nhamp._, _Warw._
Wearningas. Warningcamp, _Sussx._
Wæringas. Warrington, _Bucks_, _Lanc._; Werrington,
_Devon._, _Nhamp._
Weartingas. Warthing, _Sussx._
Wæsingas. Washingborough, _Linc._; Washingley, _Hunt._;
Washington, _Derby._, _Durh._, _Sussx._; Wasing,
_Berks_; Wessington, _Derby._
Wætringas. Wateringbury, _Kent_.
Wætlingas. Watlington, _Norf._, _Oxf._
Weotingas. Weeting, _Norf._
Weolingas. Wellington, _Heref._, _Salop._, _Somers._,
_Wilts_.
Wendlingas. Wendling, _Norf._
Weningas. Wennington, _Essex_, _Hunt._, _Lanc._
Weðeringas. Wittering, _Sussx._; Wetheringsett, _Suff._;
Witherington,
_Wilts_.
Westingas. Westington, _Glouc._
Westoningas. Westoning, _Bedf._
Wætlingas[836]. Whatlington, _Sussx._
Welpingas[836]. Whelpington, _Nthld._
Werringas[836]. Wherrington, _Staff._
Wippingas[836]. Whippingham, _Hants_.
Witlingas[836]. Whitlingham, _Norf._
Witeringas[836]. Whittering, _Nhamp._
Wittingas[836]. Whittingham, _Lanc._, _Nthld._; Whittington,
_Derb._,
_Glouc._, _Lanc._, _Norf._, _Salop._, _Staff._, _Warw._,
_Worc._, _Nthld._
Widingas. Widdington, _Essex_, _Nthld._, _York._
Willingas. Willingale, _Essex_; Willingdon, _Sussx._;
Willingham,
_Camb._, _Linc._, _Suff._; Willington, _Bedf._,
_Chesh._, _Derb._, _Drhm._, _Nthld._, _Warw._
Wylmingas. Wilmington, _Kent_, _Salop._, _Somers._, _Sussx._
Winingas. Winnington, _Chesh._, _Staff._
Wintringas. Winteringham, _Linc._, _York._
Wiscingas. Wissington, _Salop._, _Suff._
Wiccingas. Witchingham, _Norf._
Wiclingas. Witchling, _Kent_; Wychling, _Kent_.
Wiðingas. Withington, _Glouc._, _Heref._, _Lanc._, _Salop._,
_Staff._,
_Chesh._
Wocingas. Woking, _Surr._; Wokingham, _Berks_, _Wilts_.
Weorcingas. Workington, _Cumb._
Wyrlingas. Worlingham, _Suff._; Worlington, _Suff._,
_Devon._;
Worlingworth, _Suff._
Wyrmingas. Wormingford, _Essex_; Worminghall, _Bucks_;
Wormington,
_Glouc._
Weorðingas. Worthing, _Norf._, _Sussx._; Worthington, _Lanc._,
_Leic._
Wramplingas. Wramplingham, _Norf._
Wrættingas. Wratting, _Camb._, _Suff._
Wræningas. Wreningham, _Norf._
Wrestlingas. Wrestlingworth, _Bedf._
Wrihtingas. Wrightington, _Lanc._
Wrihtlingas. Writhlington, _Somers._
Weomeringas. Wymering, _Hants_.
Wymingas. Wymington, _Bedf._
-----
Footnote 831:
These may properly have commenced with an H, thus Hnæcingas,
Hnuttingas. Similarly Hnutscillingas, now Nutshalling or Nursling in
Hants.
Footnote 832:
See note, p. 469.
Footnote 833:
All these words commencing with an R may have originally had an H, in
which case we should have had these formations: Hræfuingas,
Hréðlingas, Hrycglingas, Hreóplingas, Hreópingas, Hrísingas,
Hrócingas, Hróringas, Hreáwingas, Hrycingas, Hreódingas, Hryscingas.
Footnote 834:
See note in the preceding page.
Footnote 835:
As the whole of these names might commence with an H, we should have
the following forms: Hwæplingas, Hwæppingas, Hwearflingas, Hwætlingas,
Hwelpingas, Hwerringas, Hweopingas, Hwitlingas, Hwiteringas,
Hwitingas.
Footnote 836:
See note in the preceding page.
-----
The total number of the names thus assumed from local denominations
amounts to 627, but as several occur once only, while others are found
repeated in various counties, I find the whole number reaches to 1329,
which are distributed through the counties in a very striking manner, as
the following table will show.
Bedford 22
Berks. 22
Bucks. 17
Cambridge 21
Cheshire 25
Cornwall 2
Cumberland 6
Derby. 14
Devon. 24
Dorset. 21
Durham 19
Essex 48
Gloucester 46
Hereford 15
Hertford 10
Huntingdon 16
Kent 60
Lancashire 26
Leicester 19
Lincolnsh. 76
Middlesex 12
Monmouth 0
Norfolk 97
Northampton 35
Northumberland 48
Nottingham 22
Oxford 31
Rutland 4
Salop 34
Somerset 45
Southampton 33
Stafford 19
Suffolk 56
Surrey 18
Sussex 68
Warwick 31
Westmoreland 2
Wilts 25
Worcester 13
York (3 Ridings) 127
There are two slight causes of inaccuracy to be borne in mind in using
the foregoing tables: the first arises from the insertion of names which
probably do not, the other from the omission of names which probably do,
belong to this class. But I think these two errors may nearly balance
one another, and that they do not interfere with the general correctness
of the results.
It is remarkable how many of these names still stand _alone_, without
any addition of -wíc, -hám, -worðig, or similar words. The total number
of patronymical names thus found (in the nominative plural) is 190, or
very nearly one-seventh of the whole; they are thus distributed: in
Kent, 25; Norfolk and Sussex each 24; Essex 21; Suffolk 15; Yorkshire
13; Lincoln 7; Southampton 6; Berks and Surrey, 5 each; Bedfordshire,
Lancashire, Middlesex and Northampton, 4 each; Hertford, Huntingdon,
Northumberland and Nottingham, 3 each; Cambridge, Derby, Dorset,
Gloucester and Oxford, 2 each; Bucks, Devon, Leicester, Salop, Somerset,
Warwick, and Wilts, 1 each; and none at all in the remaining ten
counties. When now we consider that of 190 such places, 140 are found in
the counties on the eastern and southern coasts; and that 22 more are in
counties easily accessible through our great navigable streams, we shall
be led to admit the possibility of these having been the original seats
of the Marks bearing these names; and the further possibility of the
settlements distinguished by the addition of -hám, -wíc and so forth to
these original names, having been filial settlements, or as it were
colonies, from them. It also seems worthy of remark that they are hardly
found to the north of the Humber, or about 53° 40´ N. Lat., which
renders it probable that the prevailing mode of emigration was to take
advantage of a N.E. wind to secure a landing in the Wash, and thence
coast southward and westward as far as circumstances required. Sailors,
who in the ninth century could find their way from Norway to Iceland in
sufficient numbers to colonize that island, who in the tenth could
extend their course from Iceland to Greenland, and who had noble spirit
enough to confront the perils of the Polar ocean rather than submit to
oppression at home, were not likely to find any insurmountable
difficulty in a voyage from the Elbe or Skager Rack to England: and the
conquest of the Orkneys and Hebrides, of the south of Ireland and Man,
nay of large tracts of England by the Scandinavians in the ninth, tenth
and following centuries, may supply the means of judging how similar
adventures were conducted by populations of the same race, and as noble
spirit, nine hundred or a thousand years before.
The following additions may be made to the evidences given in this
chapter.
A _marked_ linden or lime-tree is noticed in Cod. Dipl. No. 1317. Again
in Kent we hear of earnes beám, the eagle’s tree, _ibid._ No. 287: it is
more probable that this was a tree marked with the figure of an eagle,
than that a real bird of that species should have been meant. Further in
the boundary of the charter No. 393 we have, on ðán merkeden ók, to the
_marked oak_.
The sacred woods are again mentioned by Tacitus, Annal, i. 59, where he
tells us that Arminius hung up the captured Roman ensigns to the gods of
the country, in the woods, _lucis_: we hang them up in cathedrals. See
also Tac. Germ, vii., Annal. iv. 22.
The character of the Mark or March is very evident in the following
passage: “Siquidem in Lindeseia superiori extat prioratus qui Marchby
dicitur, longas ac latas pasturas pro gregibus alendis inhabitans, non
omnino privato iure, sed communem cum compatriotis libertatem ex dono
patronorum participans,” etc. Chron. Lanerc. an. 1289. See also the
quotations from the Indiculus Pagan. and Synod. Leptin. an. 742, in
Möser, Osnab. i. 52, and the whole of his twenty-ninth chapter, for the
religious rites with which boundaries were dedicated, especially vol. i.
p. 58, note _c_.
It is more than one could now undertake to do, without such local
co-operation as is not to be expected in England as yet, but I am
certain that the ancient Marks might still be traced. In looking over a
good county map we are surprised by seeing the systematic succession of
places ending in -den, -holt, -wood, -hurst, -fold, and other words
which invariably denote forests and outlying pastures in the woods.
_These are all in the Mark_, and within them we may trace with equal
certainty, the -háms, -túns, -worðigs and -stedes which imply settled
habitations. There are few counties which are not thus distributed into
districts, whose limits may be assigned by the observation of these
peculiar characteristics. I will lay this down as a rule, that the
ancient Mark is to be recognised by following the names of places ending
in -den (neut.), which always denoted _cubile ferarum_, or pasture,
usually for swine. Denu, a valley (fem.), a British and not Saxon word,
is very rarely, perhaps never, found in composition. The actual surface
of the island, wherever the opportunity has been given of testing this
hypothesis, confirms its history. But there are other remarkable facts
bearing upon this subject, which are only to be got at by those who are
fortunate enough to have free access to manorial records, before the act
of Charles II. destroyed all feudal services in England. A striking
example of the mark-jurisdiction is the “Court of Dens,” in Kent. This
appears to have been a mark-court, in the sense in which mark-court is
used throughout this second chapter, and which gradually became a lord’s
court, only when the head markman succeeded in raising himself at the
expense of his fellows: a court of the little marks, marches, or
pastures in Kent, long after the meaning of such marks or marches had
been forgotten: a court which in earlier times met to regulate the
rights of the markmen in the _dens_ or pastures. I am indebted (among
many civilities, which I gratefully acknowledge) to the Rev. L. Larking
of Ryarsh for the following extracts from Sir Roger Twisden’s journal,
which throw some light upon what the court had become in the middle of
the seventeenth century, but still show its existence, and lead us to a
knowledge of its ancient form.
The reader who feels how thoroughly English liberty has become grounded
in the struggles between the duties and privileges of various classes,
how entirely the national right has been made up and settled by the
conflict of private rights, how impossible it was for the union of
empire and freedom to exist,—or for _imperium_ and freedom to co-exist,
without the battle in which the several autocracies measured their
forces and discovered the just terms of compromise,—will value this
record of the reluctance with which a staunch country squire submitted
to the duties of his position. It is not only amusing, but instructive,
to watch these men of the seventeenth century, fighting on the minutest
grounds of squabble: very amusing, to those who take the world as it is,
to have been always as it is, and likely always so to remain: very
instructive to those who know the miserable condition from which such
“squabbles” have raised us. There are people, who having no sense of
right, but a profound sense of the wrong done _them_, raise barricades,
and overturn dynasties in moments of irrepressible and pardonable
excitement: there are people on the other hand who steadily and coolly
measure right and wrong, who take to the law-book rather than the sword,
who argue the question of ship-money, on which a system of government
depends, as calmly as if it were a question of poor-rates in a parish
attorney’s hands, and having brought their right, the ancient right of
the land, into light, fall back into the orderly frame of society in
which they lived before, as if no years of desperate struggle had
intervened,—the law being vindicated, and the work of the workmen done.
This work without distinction of Parliamentarian or King’s Man was done
by the Seldens and the Twisdens, and men of more general note and name,
but not more claim to our gratitude and respect. But to do this,
required that study which unhappily our English gentlemen no longer
think absolutely necessary to their education, the study of the law, of
which they are the guardians, though a professional class may be its
ministers; and most amusing now it is to see how zealously these old
champions of the law did battle in its defence, even in the most minute
and now unimportant details. It was then a happy thing for England that
there were courts of Dens, and squires who did not like them: it is now
an admirable thing for England that there are courts of all sorts and
descriptions, and people who do not like them, who are constantly trying
their right against them, constantly winning and losing at the great
game of law, or perhaps the greater game, of the forms under which law
is administered,—litigious people,—people liking to argue the right and
the wrong in a strict form of logic, the legal form; who are always
arguing, and therefore never fighting. If there had not been courts of
Dens to argue about,—and unhappily, at last, to fight about,—there would
most certainly not now be a “High Court of Parliament,” for there would
never have been those who knew how to establish it. The
country-gentlemen of the seventeenth century appeal to the experience of
the nineteenth, in every land but this of England, whose steady, legal
order the country-gentlemen of the seventeenth century founded; and the
grateful middle class of the nineteenth century in no country but this
respond to that appeal in this year 1848, by declaring that no force,
whether of king or not of king, shall be known in England, except that
of the law,—the great and ancient law,—that all associations of men are
united in a guarantee of mutual peace and security.
It is now time to return to Sir R. Twisden and the Court of Dens. It
appears that this was held at Aldington, and that it claimed
jurisdiction over a considerable space. If we follow the main road from
Hythe to Maidstone, a little to the north of Aldington[837], and running
to the east of Boughton, we find a tract of country extending to the
borders of Sussex and filled with places ending in -den, or -hurst; this
country of the Dens runs exactly where we should expect to find it, viz.
along the edge of the Weald, within whose shades the _swains_ found mast
and pasture. I will enumerate a few of the places so named: they can
readily be found on a good map of Kent, and form a belt of mark or
forest round the cultivated country, quite independent of the woods
which once lay between village and village.
Ashenden. Castleden.
Bainden. Chiddenden.
Benenden. Cottenden, _Sussex_.
Bethersden. Cowden.
Biddenden. Frittenden.
Godden. Greenhurst, _Sussex_.
Hazleden. Hawkhurst.
Hernden. Henhurst.
Hiffenden. Hophurst, _Sussex_.
Hollenden. Lamberhurst.
Horsmonden. Midhurst, _Sussex_.
Iden, _Sussex_. Nuthurst, _Sussex_.
Marden, _Sussex_. Penhurst, _Sussex_.
Newenden, Penshurst.
Rolvenden. Sandhurst.
Romden. Shadoxhurst.
Smarden. Shiphurst.
Surrenden. Sinkhurst.
Tenterden. Sissinghurst.
Wisenden. Speldhurst.
Staplehurst.
Ashurst. Ticehurst, _Sussex_.
Billinghurst, _Sussex_. Wadhurst, _Sussex_.
Collinghurst, _Sussex_. Warminghurst, _Sussex_.
Crowhurst, _Sussex_.
Dodhurst. Alfold, _Sussex_.
Duckhurst. Arnisfold, _Sussex_.
Ewhurst, _Sussex_. Cowfold, _Sussex_.
Fenchurst. Chiddingfold, _Surrey_.
Goudhurst. Shinfold, _Sussex_.
-----
Footnote 837:
Aldington is about 57´ east of Greenwich.
-----
It is not likely that all these various places, the list of which might
be greatly increased, were ever reduced under one judicial unity; but,
even with the aid of Sussex, I have been able to mention only
twenty-five _dens_, and we know that at least thirty-two, if not
forty-four, were subject to the court of Aldington.
The entries in Twisden’s Journal are to the following effect:—
“18th September 1655. I was at Aldyngton Court, at the chusing the
officers to gather the Lord’s Rent, where grew a question, whither, if
the Lord released our Rent, Sute, and Service, to the Court, we were
subject to the slavery of attendance, and whither the Tenants could
prescribe men, &c., &c., &c., or impose an office upon them,—and it was
the whole resolution of the Court, the Lord might sell his quit-rents
and all manner of attendance on the Court, and then he could not be tyed
to any office, nor the Tenants impose any office upon him....
“The 16th September 1656, I went to Aldyngton Court, but came too late,
there beeing layd on me the office for collecting the 32 Denns, for my
land in them. I desired to know what land it was ... in the 32 Dens upon
which the office was laid, but this I could not learn ... the issue was,
that if they can name the land or descry it, I am to do it,—if not, I
refused to gather it.”
“1658. I was at Aldynton Court again, and then there was much stir about
this land which could not bee found. I still insisted the Denne of
Plevynden held of Wye, that the 16_s._ 2_d._ _ob._ I payd was for light
money in time past. The Conclusion was, They will distrain me if they
can find the land, and then come to a trial in their Court which is held
at Smethe.”
“1659. I was at Aldington Court, where I came before the Steward sate,
yet were they then chusing for the 32 Denns, and Mr. Short brought me a
note for chusing Mr. John Maynard, Serg^t at Law ... he was not chosen
after the ancient custom of the Court, that is, to present two to the
Steward, and he to take one.... The tenants of the 12 Denns pretended if
it were sometime a Custom it had been long interrupted, and refused to
follow the example of the 32 ... after dinner, this grew a great
dispute, Mr. Short complaining of partiality, that the choice of one man
was received for the 12 and not for the 32 Dennes. This drew on the
manner of chusing of the 32 Dennes, which was, that they usually met at
9 o’clock long before the Steward himself could reach the Court, made
choice of one man before there was a Court.... This brought forth an
excellent order, that the Denns should chuse and present the person by
them chosen after the manner the other Culets did.... Coming away, the
Bailiff told me he had a writ to distreyn me for the rent of the 32
Denns. I told him I had no land held of it that I knew.... Sir Edward
Sydnam, Lord of the Manor, and who is to answer the rents to the
Exchequer, told me I would be distreyned for it,—my answer was, I was
not willing to make my land chargeable with a burthen more than my
ancestors had paid—that there was a Court of Survey to be kept in the
Spring,—that if I could not then discharge myself of having land, held
of the 32 Denns, I would and must pay it.”
“Aldington Court. 1664. S^r John Maynard Serg^t at Law was chosen to the
Great Office though it were affirmed, he being Kings Serg^t would
procure a discharge. The order before mentioned of 6_s._ 8_d._ for such
Culets as received from the Steward a transcript of what they were to
collect, and 10_s._ for the Great Office was at this Court willingly
assented to.”
This determined refusal of a Markgraviat in the Mark of Kent is amusing
enough; the Alberts, Berchtholds and Luitpolts did not make quite so
much difficulty about Brandenburg, Baden or Ancona. How the dispute
ended I do not know, but the right was not in question: all that Sir
Roger doubted was its applicability to himself. Still the nature of the
jurisdiction seems clear enough, and the transition of an old Mark Court
into a Lord’s Court, with a steward, is obvious from the custom of the
Tenants chusing “before the Steward himself could reach the Court;” the
abolition of which, Sir Roger naturally considered an excellent thing.
APPENDIX B.
THE HÍD.
From the tables in the above chapter, it appears that we cannot allow
one hundred actual acres to the Híd, and still less one hundred and
twenty. A similar result will be obtained if we examine the entries in
Domesday. Thus
┌─────────────────────────┬─────┬────────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┐
│Name │Hides│Acreage.│ At 30│ At 40│At 100│At 120│Excess│Excess│
│ │ │ │acres.│acres.│acres.│acres.│at 30.│at 40.│
├─────────────────────────┼─────┼────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┤
│Keynsham, _Somers._ │ 50│ 3330│ 1500│ 2000│ 5000│ 6000│ 1830│ 1330│
│Dowlish, _Somers._ │ 9│ 680│ 270│ 360│ 900│ 1080│ 410│ 320│
│Easton in Gordano, │ 20│ 1440│ 600│ 800│ 2000│ 2400│ 840│ 640│
│ _Somers._[838] │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Babington, _Somers._[839]│ 5│ 600│ 150│ 200│ 500│ 600│ 450│ 400│
│Lullington, │ 7│ 840│ 210│ 280│ 700│ 840│ 630│ 560│
│ _Somers._[840] │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Road, _Somers._[841] │ 9│ 1010│ 270│ 360│ 900│ 1080│ 740│ 650│
│Pilton, _Devon._[842] │ 20│ 1210│ 600│ 800│ 2000│ 2400│ 610│ 410│
│Taunton, _Somers._[843] │ 65│ 2730│ 1950│ 2600│ 6500│ 7800│ 780│ 130│
│Portshead with │ 11│ 1610│ 330│ 440│ 1100│ 1320│ 1280│ 1170│
│ Westbury,_Somers._[844]│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
└─────────────────────────┴─────┴────────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┘
-----
Footnote 838:
Here are to be added 125 acres of meadow and wood, and one leuga of
pasture. (Domesd. iii. p. 133.)
Footnote 839:
Add 27 acres of mead and pasture, and a wood, 6 quadragenæ long by 2
quadr. wide. (Ibid. p. 137.)
Footnote 840:
Add 20 acres of mead and pasture, and a wood, 6 quadragenæ long by 2
wide. (Ibid. p. 137.)
Footnote 841:
Add 91 acres of mead, pasture and forest. (Ibid. p. 138.)
Footnote 842:
Add 86 acres of mead, etc., and a forest a leuga and a half square.
But there was also land not geldable which sufficed for 20 ploughs;
and the 20 geldable hides were calculated at 30 ploughs. Taking the
same proportion, we ought to reckon not 30 but 33⅓ hides in Pilton,
which at 30 acres would give 1000 arable; at 40 would give 1333⅓,
while the whole acreage is but 1210. This would exclude the
calculation of 40 acres; but we cannot trust the merely approximate
supposition that the land of 20 ploughs was to be reckoned in the same
proportion as that for 30.
Footnote 843:
Taunton properly is 52½ geldable hides, and land for 20 ploughs not
geldable. The 65 hides are made up subject to the same error as the
last calculation. The appendant manor of Lidgeard, with the meadow
pastures, etc., amounting to 519 acres, is also to be added, as well
as forest a leuga long, by a leuga wide, and pasture two leugæ long by
one wide.
Footnote 844:
To these add 149 acres of mead, etc. Forest 12 quad. long by 3 wide:
again forest 12 quad. long by 2 wide, and 6 quadragenæ of marsh.
-----
I have intentionally selected one or two examples where the whole
acreage exactly makes up the sum of hides multiplied by 120, because it
is probable that such instances may have led to that calculation: but it
is necessary to bear in mind that the Híd is exclusively _arable_ land,
and that in the case where the number of hides equalled the whole
acreage, there could have been neither forest, nor meadow nor pasture.
The notes on some of the entries will show how erroneous any such
calculation would necessarily be. And lest this assertion that the híd
is exclusive of unbroken land should appear unsupported, I wish the
following data to be considered. But first we must see how the híd is
distributed into its component parts. In Domesday the híd consists of
four yard-lands, virga or virgata: and the virga of four farthings or
farlings, ferlingus, ferlinus, ferdinus, fertinus: thus
1 fertin.
4 fertin. = 1 virg.
16 fertin. = 4 virg. = 1 hide,
whatever may have been the number of acres in the ferling. Again in
Domesday, the amount of an estate held by any one is given, together
with the amount of wood, meadow and pasture in his hands. If these be
_included_ in the amount of the híd, or its parts, which the tenant
held, we shall arrive at the following results; which (even for a moment
taking the híd at 120 acres) are a series of _reductiones ad absurdum_.
In the Exeter Domesday, fol. 205^b (vol. iii. 187) I find an estate
valued at 11 acres: the pasture etc. mentioned as belonging to it is
counted at 20 acres: these, it is clear, could not be comprised in the
eleven. But let us take a few examples tabularly.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Exon. Domesd. Holding. Pasture, At least.
etc.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
f. 210. vol. iii. 191. ½ hide. 93 acres. ∴ hide = 186 acres.
f. 211. 191. 1 virg. 55 ∴ hide = 220
f. 211, b. 191. ⅓ ferl. (1⁄48 h.) 6 ∴ hide = 288
f. 211, b. 191. 1 virg. 40 ∴ hide = 160
f. 212. 191. ⅓ ferl. 4 ∴ hide = 192
f. 212. 192. 3 ferl. 40 ∴ hide = 213⅓
f. 213. 192. 1 hide. 164 ∴ hide = 164
f. 214. 193. 1 virg. 40 ∴ hide = 160
f. 216. 196. 1 virg. 37 ∴ hide = 148
f. 217. 197. 1 virg. 84 ∴ hide = 336
f. 218. 198. 1 hide. 310 ∴ hide = 310
f. 224. 203. 1 hide. 500 ∴ hide = 500
f. 224, b. 203. 1 ferl. 106 ∴ hide = 1696
f. 325. 204. 1 ferl. 103 ∴ hide = 1648
Now it is particularly necessary to bear in mind that these ridiculous
amounts are the minimum; that in every case the arable land remains to
be added to them, and in some cases whole square miles of forest and
moorland. I conclude then that the wood, meadow and pasture were not
included in the híd or arable, but were appurtenant to it. Sometimes
indeed they bear a very small proportion to the arable, and to the
number of cattle owned—a fact perhaps to be explained by the existence
of extensive commons.
Let us now endeavour to settle the amount, as well as the proportions of
the híd and its several parts. As I have said the híd consisted of four
virgates, the virgate of four ferlings[845]. I do not give examples,
because they may be found in every other entry in Domesday; but I may
add that the gyld or tax payable to the king from the land, is based
upon precisely the same calculation: the híd paid 6 shillings (worth now
about 18_s._ 6_d._), the virgate 1_s._ 6_d._, and the ferling 18⁄4 or
4½_d._ Thus (Exon. D. f. 80, 80, b. vol. iii. p. 72) in the hundred of
Meleborne, the king had £18 18_s._ 4½_d._ as geld from 63 hides and 1
ferling of land:
now 63×6_s._ = 378_s._
1 ferl. ×4½_d._ = 0_s._ 4½_d._ ... 378_s._
4½_d._ or 18_l._ 18_s._ 4½_d._
Again (fol. 80, b. iii. p. 73) the king had £9 10_s._ 8¼_d._ for 31 h. 3
v. ½ ferl.
_i.e._ 31 × 6_s._ = 186_s._
3 × 1_s._ 6_d._ = 4_s._ 6_d._
½ × 4½_d._ = 0_s._ 2¼_d._ 190_s._
8¼_d._ or 9_l._ 10. 8¼_d._
in which passage, ferlingus is used for the coin as well as the measure
of land. Again (fol. 81, b. vol. iii. p. 74) the geld for 60 h. 3 v. 1½
ferl. was £18 5_s._ 0¾_d._ (“unum obolum et unum ferling”).
_i.e._ 60×6_s._ = 360_s._
3×1_s._ 6_d._ = 4_s._ 6_d._
1½×0_s._ 4½_d._ = 0_s._ 6¾_d._ 365_s._
0¾_d._ or 18_l._ 5_s._ 0¾_d._
Or to test it another way; the híd = 16 ferlings, ∴ 60 h. 3 v. 1½ ferl.
= 973½ ferl. But the ferl. paid 4½_d._ ∴ 973½ ferl. paid 4380¾_d._ which
gives us the same value 18_l._ 5_s._ 0¾_d._
-----
Footnote 845:
From _feower_, four. _Feorling_ or _Feorðing_ are similar formations,
and denote a fourth, or farthing in money or land: also in corn (a
quarter of corn), and in the wards of a city. Ellis. Introd. p. l.
-----
Now if we can obtain the value of any one of these denominations, we can
calculate all the rest with security. The value of the virga or yardland
we can obtain: it consisted of _ten_ Norman agri, acræ or acres, perhaps
eight or eight and a third Saxon.
In the Exeter Domesday, fol. 48 (vol. iii. p. 42) we find ten hides of
land to be made up of the following parcels, 4 hides + 1 virg. + 10 agri
+ 5½ hides + 4 agri;
then 10 h. = 9½ h. + 1 v. + 10 a.
or 10 - 9½ h. = 1 v. + 10 a.
or ½ h. = 1 v. + 10 a.
But
½ h. = 2 v.
∴ 2 v. = 1 v. + 10 a.
2 - 1 v. = 10a. ∴ 1 virga = 10 agri.
But
1 hyd = 4 virg. = 16 ferling.
∴ 1 hyd = 40 acres = 33⅓ Saxon.
1 ferl. = 2½ acres = 21⁄12 Saxon.
It will now be seen why I have given a column in which the whole acreage
was measured by a calculation of forty acres to the híd. That this
result is a near approximation to the truth appears from the following
considerations. In the Cornish Domesday, (a county where arable land
bore a very small proportion to the markland, forest and pasture,) there
are a great number of estates, valued at one ager or acre. These are
generally said to pay geld for half a ferling. Thus in Treuurniuet, one
ager paid geld for half a ferling[846]: so in Penquaro[847], in
Trelamar[848], in Lantmatin[849], in Chilo^rgoret[850], in Roslet[851],
in Pengelli[852], in Telbricg[853], in Karsalan[854], in Dimelihoc[855];
and similarly in Widewot, two agri paid geld for one ferling[856]. Now
throughout Domesday there are innumerable examples of land being rated
at less than its real value, or even at its real value; but I have not
detected any instance in which it is rated at more: and in Cornwall
especially the rating seems to have been in favour of the tenant. I do
not therefore believe that one ager was _less_ than half a ferling: it
was either more than half a ferling or equal to it. But ½ ferl. = 1¼
Norman acre, which is more than one statute acre; therefore we may
conclude that the ager or acre was equal to half a ferling. The way I
understand this, is by the assumption that the Saxon acre was somewhat
larger than the Norman: we know that they differed in point of
extent[857], and it is possible that the original Saxon calculation was
founded upon multiples of eight, while the Norman was reduced to a
decimal notation: if this were so, we may believe that the híd was the
unit, and that its principal subdivisions remained, being familiar to
the people, but that the value of the acre was slightly changed. Hence
that the
Saxon híd = 32 Saxon acres = 40 Norman acres.
—— virg. = 8 —— —— = 10 —— ——
—— feorðing = 2 —— —— = 2½ —— ——
The document entituled “Rectitudines singularum personarum” says[858],
that the poor settler on first coming in, ought to have seven acres laid
down for him in seed, out of his yardland; and the same authority
implies that his grass-land was usually short of his need: this it might
be, if he had only one acre to support the two oxen and one cow with
which his land was stocked on entry. The lot of meadow and pasture
attached to these small plots of one ager, is so frequently quoted at
thirty agri, in Cornwall, that one could almost imagine an
enclosure-bill to have been passed just previous to the Conquest, under
which the possession of even so small a quantity as one acre qualified
the owner to receive a handsome share of the waste.
-----
Footnote 846:
Exon. D. f. 227. vol. iii. 206.
Footnote 847:
Ibid. f. 233. vol. iii. 212.
Footnote 848:
Ibid. f. 234. vol. iii. 213.
Footnote 849:
Ibid. f. 235. vol. iii. 214.
Footnote 850:
Ibid. f. 236, b. vol iii. 216.
Footnote 851:
Ibid. f. 240. vol. iii. 220.
Footnote 852:
Ibid. f. 245. vol. iii. 225.
Footnote 853:
Ibid. f. 245, b. vol. iii. 225.
Footnote 854:
Ibid. f. 254. vol. iii. 233.
Footnote 855:
Ibid. f. 254, b. vol. iii. 234.
Footnote 856:
Ibid. f. 254, b. vol. iii. 234.
Footnote 857:
Ellis, Introd. p. 1. The fractions, and the admixture of a decimal
with the quarterly division, seem to imply that the later or Norman
measure was the smaller of the two.
Footnote 858:
Thorpe, i. 434.
-----
It is obvious that all these calculations are ultimately founded upon
the value of the acre relatively to our own statute measure, in which
the survey of 1841 is expressed. That ager and acra are equivalent terms
appears from their being used interchangeably in various entries of
Domesday. Nor is there any good reason to suppose that the Normans made
any violent change in the values of these several denominations,
although they might adopt more convenient subdivisions of the larger
sums. They did just the same thing in respect to the Saxon money.
Besides, as it was from the Saxons that they derived the information
which the Survey contains, it is reasonable to believe that the Saxon
values were generally adopted, at least as far as the híd was concerned.
The minute subdivision of land consequent upon the Conquest probably
rendered it necessary to pay especial attention to the smaller units,
and I can conceive nothing more likely than a slight change in the value
of the acre, while the híd and virgate remained unaltered. Then where an
estate comprised only one Saxon acre, it might readily be considered
equal to half a ferling, or 1¼ acre, Norman measure, for it would have
been difficult and complicated to express it in other terms. In fact
where small fractional parcels of land were to be subtracted, the
Commissioners were generally glad to avoid details, and enter “A. has so
much in demesne, and the Villani have aliam terram, _the rest of the
land_.” If the Saxon ager paid for half a ferling in the time of the
Confessor, it was likely to be taken at that value in the Survey; for
the law, _quæ de minimis non curat_, could hardly notice so trifling a
deviation. The approximate value of the Saxon acre, however, I have
given; it was one day’s work for a plough and oxen, in other words very
nearly our own statute-acre.
That the value of the hide became gradually indistinct, when reckonings
ceased to be made in it, and the calculation was taken upon knights’
fees, is very intelligible. We consequently find surprising variations
in the amount of hides counted to a knight’s fee, as well as the acres
contained in this last measure. In the time of Edward the Third it was
computed that there were 60,215 knight’s fees in England, which taking
the present acreage of 31,770,615 gives rather more than 527 acres to a
fee: hence those who believed a hide to contain 100 acres, calculated
five hides to a knight’s fee, in accordance with the Saxon law which
made that amount the minimum of a thane’s estate, and also to the
entries in Domesday, from which it appeared that one _miles_ went from
five hides: but here it was overlooked that the hide was exclusively
_arable_ land. To such erroneous modes of calculation we owe such
entries as the following:—
“Decem acrae faciunt fardellum, iv fardelli faciunt virgatum, quatuor
virgatae faciunt hydam, quatuor hydae faciunt unum feodum.” MS. Harl.
464. fol. 17, b.
where 1 fardel = 10 acres.
4 fardels = 40 acres = 1 virgate.
16 fardels = 160 acres = 4 virgates = 1 hide.
64 fardels = 640 acres = 16 virgates = 4 hides = 1 knight’s fee.
Again we are told (Regist. Burgi Sci. Petri, fol. 81, b) that
“Quinque feoda fuerunt antiquitus una baronia; et quinque hydae unum
feodum; et quinque virgatae terrae una hyda, quaelibet virgata de
viginti acris.”
Or tabularly,—
1 virgate = 20 acres.
5 virgates = 100 acres = 1 hide.
25 virgates = 500 acres = 5 hides = 1 knight’s fee.
125 virgates = 2500 acres = 25 hides = 5 fees = 1 barony.
which results neither coincide with the last, nor with those of
Domesday, nor with those derived from Saxon authorities.
The hidage of various ancient Gás which has been given in Chapter III.
could naturally not be sufficient guide under the new shire divisions.
Unfortunately we have not a complete account of the hidage in the
shires: nor does what we have coincide with the conclusion arrived at in
the course of the fourth chapter.
In the Cotton. MS. Claud. B. vii. (fol. 204, b), which appears to have
been written in the time of Henry III., we have the following entries:—
Hydae.
In Wiltescyre continentur 4800
In Bedefordscyre sunt 1200
In Cantebrigescyre sunt 2500
In Huntedunescyre sunt 800½
In Northamptescyre sunt 3200
In Gloucesterscyre sunt 2400
In Wirecesterscyre sunt 1200
In Herefordescyre sunt 1500
In Warewycscyre sunt 1200
In Oxenefordscyre sunt 2400
In Salopescyre sunt 2300
In Cesterscyre sunt 1300
In Staffordescyre sunt 500
The Cotton MS. Vesp. A. xviii. fol. 112, b, written in the reign of
Edward I., gives a different list of counties, among which the following
variations occur:—
Bedfordshire 1000
Northamptonshire 4200
Gloucestershire 2000
Worcestershire 1500
Shropshire 2400
Cheshire 1200
If we pursue the plan heretofore adopted, we shall have these results:—
┌───────┬────────┬───────┬────────┬────────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┐
│County.│Acreage.│Hidage.│ H. at│ H. at│Excess │Excess │Ratio │Ratio │
│ │ │ │ 30.│ 40.│at 30. │at 40. │at 30. │at 40. │
├───────┼────────┼───────┼────────┼────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│Wilts. │ 868,060│ 4800│ 144,000│ 192,000│724,060│676,000│1:5 │1:3·5 │
│Bedf. │ 297,632│ 1200│ 36,000│ 48,000│261,632│249,632│1:7 │1:5 │
│Camb. │ 536,313│ 2500│ 75,000│ 100,000│461,313│436,313│1:6 │1:4·5 │
│Hunt. │ 242,250│ 800½│ 24,015│ 32,020│218,235│210,230│1:9 │1:7 │
│Nrhm. │ 646,810│ 3200│ 96,000│ 128,000│550,810│518,810│1:5·77 │1:4 │
│Glouc. │ 790,470│ 2400│ 72,000│ 96,000│718,470│694,470│1:10 │1:7·25 │
│Worc. │ 459,710│ 1200│ 36,000│ 48,000│423,700│411,710│1:11·75│1:8·5 │
│Heref. │ 543,800│ 1500│ 45,000│ 60,000│502,800│483,800│1:11 │1:8 │
│Warw. │ 567,930│ 1200│ 36,000│ 48,000│531,930│519,930│1:14·75│1:10·75│
│Oxf. │ 467,230│ 2400│ 72,000│ 96,000│395,230│371,230│1:5·5 │1:4 │
│Salop. │ 864,360│ 2300│ 69,000│ 92,000│795,360│772,360│1:11·5 │1:8·4 │
│Chesh. │ 649,050│ 1300│ 39,000│ 52,000│610,050│597,050│1:15·62│1:11·5 │
│Staff. │ 736,290│ 500│ 15,000│ 20,000│721,290│716,290│1:48 │1:36·8 │
└───────┴────────┴───────┴────────┴────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘
Now either these figures cannot be relied on, or we must carry the hide
in this calculation to a very different amount. If we take it at 100
acres, we shall find the whole hidage of these thirteen counties amounts
to 25,300 × 100 or 2,530,000 acres, while the whole actual acreage is
7,669,905; giving an excess of 5,139,905, and consequently a ratio of
25:51 nearly, or 1:2. This would a little exceed the present ratio,
which is 5:11, a result which appears very improbable indeed in the
reign of Henry III. But when we consider the numberless errors of
transcription, so unavoidable where merely numbers, and not words, are
given, and the totally inconsistent accounts contained in different
manuscripts, we can hardly rest satisfied that the figures themselves
are trustworthy. Even on the hypothesis that in the time of Henry III.
or Edward I. the hide was calculated on the new footing of 100 acres, we
yet could not reconcile the conflicting amounts assigned to the counties
themselves.
APPENDIX C.
MANUMISSION OF SERFS.
The following examples of Manumission are illustrative of the assertions
in the text.
And he wylle ðæt man freoge æfter And it is his will that ye shall
his dæge ǽlcne wítefæstne man ðe on manumit, after his life, every
his tíman forgylt wǽre.—_Archbishop convict who has been ruined by
Ælfríc_, 996-1006. crime, in his time.—_Cod. Dipl._
No. 716.
Bútan ðæt heó wylæ be ðínre Except that she wills, with thy
geþafunga ðæt man freoge on ǽlcum permission, that they shall
túnæ ǽlcne wíteþeównæ mann ðæ under manumit, in every one of her farms,
hiræ geþeówud wæs.—_Queen Ælfgyfu._ every convict who was reduced to
1012. slavery under her.—_Cod. Dipl._ No.
721.
Ðæt is rest, ðæt ic geann ðæt man Firstly, I grant that they shall
gefreoge ǽlcne wítefæstne man, ðe free every convict whom I got in
ic on sprece áhte.—_Æðelstán suits.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 722.
Æðeling._
And beón heora mann frige æfter And let their serfs be free, after
heora beira dæge.—_Ðurstan_, 1049. both their lives.—_Cod. Dipl._ No.
788.
Dimidiam vero partem hominum qui in memorata terra sub servitute degunt
libertate donavimus.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 919.
Geatfleda geaf freols for Godes Geatflæd freed, for God’s sake and
lufa ⁊ for heora sáwla þearfe, ðæt for her soul’s need, namely Ecceard
is Ecceard smið, ⁊ Ælstán ⁊ his the smith and Ælfstan and his wife
wíf, ⁊ eall heora ofsprinc boren ⁊ and all their offspring born and
unboren; ⁊ Arcil ⁊ Cole, ⁊ Ecgferð unborn; and Arcil and Cole and
Eádhúnes dohter, ⁊ ealle ða men ða Ecgferð Eádhun’s daughter, and all
heónon heora heáfod for hyra mete, the men who bent their heads for
on ðám yflum dagum. Swá hwá swá ðis food in the evil days. Whoso shall
áwende ⁊ hyre sáwla ðises bereáfie, set this aside and deprive her soul
bereáfige hine God ælmihtig ðises of this, may Almighty God deprive
lifes ⁊ heofona ríces: ⁊ sy he him both of this life and of the
áwyrged deád ⁊ cwic aa on écnysse. kingdom of heaven; and be he
And eác heó hafað gefreód ða men ðe accursed, quick or dead, for ever
heó þingede æt Cwæspatrike, ðæt is and ever. And she hath also freed
Ælfwald, ⁊ Colbrand, Ælsie, ⁊ Gamal the men for whom she interceded
his sune, Eádred Tredewode ⁊ Uhtred with Cospatrick, namely Ælfwald,
his steópsunu, Aculf ⁊ Ðurkyl ⁊ and Colbrand, Ælfsige and Gamal his
Ælsige. Hwá ðe heom ðises bereáfie son, Eadred Tredewood and Uhtred
God ælmihtig sie heom wráð ⁊ sancte his stepson, Aculf and Thurkill and
Cúðberht.—_Geátflæd_; about 1060. Ælsige. Whoso depriveth them of
this, may he have the wrath of
Almighty God and Saint
Cuthbert.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 925.
And ic wille ðæt alle míne men bén And I will that all my serfs be
fré on hirde and on túne for me and free, both in manor and farm for my
for ðó ðe me bigeten.—_Leófgyfu._ sake and the sake of them that
begot me.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 931.
Her swutelað on ðisse Cristes béc Here witnesseth in this book of
ðæt Leófenóð, Ægelnóðes sunu æt gospels, that Leofenoð, Æðelnoð's
Heorstúne, hæfð geboht hine ⁊ his son of Harston, hath bought out
ofspring út æt Ælfsige abbod ⁊ æt himself and his offspring, from
eallon hirede on Baðon, mid fíf abbot Ælfsige and all the
oran and mid xii heáfdon sceapa, on brotherhood at Bath, with five ores
Leáfcildes gewitnesse portgeréfan, and twelve head of sheep, by
and on ealre ðǽere burhware on witness of Leófcild the portreeve,
Baðon. Crist hine áblende ðe ðis and all the commonalty of Bath.
æfre áwende.—_Convent of Bath._ Christ blind him that ever setteth
this aside!—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 933.
Her swutelað on ðisse Cristes béc Here witnesseth in this book of
ðæt Ægelsige æt Lintúnne hæfð gospels, that Æðelsige of Linton
geboht Wilsige his sunu út æt hath bought out Wilsige his son
Ælfsige abbod on Baðon, and æt from Ælfsige abbot at Bath, and all
eallon hirede tó écean the brotherhood to eternal
freóte.—_Convent of Bath._ freedom.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 934.
Her swutelað on ðisse Cristes béc Here witnesseth in this book of
ðæt Ægelsige Byttices sunu hæfð gospels, that Æðelsige, Byttic’s
geboht Hildesige his sunu út æt son, hath bought out Hildesige his
Ælfsige abbod on Baðon, and æt son from Ælfsige, abbot at Bath,
eallon hirede mid syxtigon penegon and all the brotherhood, with sixty
tó écean freóte.—_Convent of Bath._ pence, that he may be free for
ever.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 935.
Her swutelað on ðisse Cristes béc Here witnesseth in this book of
ðæt Godwig se bucca hæfð geboht gospels, that Godwig the buck hath
Leófgife ða dágean æt Norðstoce ⁊ bought Leófgifu the doe at
hyre ofspring mid healfan punde æt Northstock, and all her offspring,
Ælfsige abbod tó écean freóte, on with half a pound from abbot
ealles ðæs hiredes gewitnesse on Ælfsige, that she may be free for
Baðon. Crist hine áblende ðe ðis ever, by witness of all the
æfre áwende.—_Convent of Bath._ brotherhood in Bath. Christ blind
him who ever setteth this
aside.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 936.
Her swutelað on ðisse Cristes béc Here witnesseth in this book of
ðæt Ælfsige abbod hæfð gefreód gospels, that abbot Ælfsige hath
Godwine bace æt Stántúne for hinc ⁊ freed Godwine Back of Stanton, for
for ealne ðone hired on Baðan, on his own sake and that of all the
Sémannes gewitnesse ⁊ Wulwiges æt brotherhood at Bath, by witness of
Prisctúne ⁊ Ælfríces Séman and Wulfwig of Prisctún and
cermes.—_Convent of Bath._ Ælfríc Cerm.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 937.
An ic an míne landseðlen here And to my tenants I give their
toftes tó ówen áihte ⁊ alle míne tofts to be their own property, and
men fré.—_Sigeflæd._ all my serfs free.—_Cod. Dipl._ No.
947.
And ic an ðæt land æt Tit intó And I grant the land at Tit to the
seynte Paules kirke ðen hewen tó brotherhood at St. Paul’s church
bédlonde mid al ðæt ðéron stant, for the support of their table,
búten ðe men ðe ðǽr áren fré men with all that is upon it, except
alle for míne sóule.... And ic an the serfs there; let them
ðæt land æt Súðereye mid alle ðe emancipate these for my soul’s
fiscoðe ðo ðértó bireð ðen hewen sake.... And I grant the land in
intó sancte Paules kirke, and frie Surrey with all the fishery
men ðo men for ðe biscopes thereunto appertaining to the
sóule.... And ic an ðæt lond æt brotherhood of St. Paul’s church,
Luðinglond Offe míne sustres sune ⁊ and let the serfs be freed for the
his bróðer, ⁊ fré men ðo men halue, bishop’s soul.... And I grant the
and æt Mindhám alsó for ðe biscopes estate at Luðingland to Offe my
sóule.... And lete mon stondon só sister’s son, and his brother, and
mikel só ic ðéron fond, and fré men let half the serfs there be freed,
ðo men alle for míne and so also at Mendham for the
sóule....—_Bishop Ðeódred._ bishop’s soul.... And [at Hoxne]
let them leave as much stock as I
found there, and let all the serfs
be freed for my soul.—_Cod. Dipl._
No. 957.
Erst for his sáule Palegráue intó First for his soul, Palgrave to St.
Seynt Eádmund, ⁊ Witinghám half, ⁊ Edmund, and half Witingham, the
half ðe bisscop: and alle míne men other half to the bishop: and all
fré, and ilk hæbbe his toft ⁊ his my serfs free, and let each have
metecú ⁊ his metecorn.—_Ðurcytel._ his toft, and his meatcow and his
meatcorn.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 959.
Her swutelað on ðisum gewrite ðæt This writing witnesseth that
Ægelsi on Wuldehám hæfð geléned be Æðelsige of Wouldham hath borrowed
Siwordes dæge biscopes his dóhter ⁊ for the life of Bishop Sigeward,
heore dóhter út of Totteles cynne, his daughter and her daughter out
⁊ hæfð óðra mænn ðǽrin gedón, be of Tottle’s kin, and hath replaced
ðǽre burhware gewitnesse on them by other serfs, by witness of
Hroueceaster ⁊ be ealle ðæs all the commonalty of Rochester,
biscopes geferan.—_Æðelsige._ and the bishop’s comrades.—_Cod.
Dipl._ No. 975.
And alle ðo men fré for unker bóðer And all the serfs free, for both
sóule.—_Wulfsige._ our souls.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 979.
Ðurkil and Æbðlgit unnen Wigorhám Thurkill and Æðelgið grant Wigorham
intó seynt Eádmunde só ful and só to St. Edmund, as full and as forth
forð só wit it ówen, after unker as we two owned it, after both our
bóðer day, ⁊ ðo men half fré, þeówe lives, and let them free half the
⁊ lísingas.—_Ðurcytel._ men, both þeóws and lísings.—_Cod.
Dipl._ No. 980.
-----------------------
The following manumissions from a religious book, formerly the property
of St. Petroc’s, are selected from a much larger number found in the
Codex Dipl. No. 981. The British names which occur in them are of great
interest.
Ðes ys ðæs manes nama ðe Byrhsie This is the man’s name whom
gefreáde et Petrocys stowe, Byhstán Byrhtsige freed at St. Petroc’s,
háte Bluntan sunu, on Æðelhíde Byhstán he was called Blunta’s son,
gewitnyse hys ágen wíf, and on by witness of Æðlhið his own wife,
Byrhisiys mæsepreóstes, and on and Byrhtsige the mass priest, and
Riol, and Myrmen, and Wunsie, Riol, Myrmen, Wynsige, Morhæððo and
Morhæððo, and Cynsie, preóst. Cynsige the priest.
Wuenumon and hire teám, Móruið hire Wuenumon and her offspring, Moruið
swuster and hire teám, and her sister and her offspring, and
Wurgustel and his teám, warun Wurgustel and his offspring were
gefreód hér on túne for Eádryde manumitted here in the town, for
cynigc and for Æðel[geard] biscop Eadred the king and Æðelgeard the
an ðas hirydes gewitnesse ðe hér on bishop, by witness of all the
túne syndun. brotherhood here in the town.
Marh gefreóde Leðelt and ealle hire Marh freed Leðelt and all her
teám for Eádwig cyningc on his ǽgen progeny for Eádwig the king, upon
reliquias: and he hie hét lǽdan his own reliques: and he caused her
hider tó mynstere, and hér to be led hither to the minster,
gefreógian on Petrocys reliquias, and here to be freed on Petroc’s
on ðæs hirydes gewitnesse. reliques, by witness of the
brotherhood.
Hér kýð on ðissere béc ðæt Æilsig This book witnesseth that Ælfsige
bohte ánne wífmann Ongyneðel hátte bought a woman named Ongyneðel and
and hire sunu Gyðiccæl æt Ðurcilde her son Gyðiccæl from Ðurcild for
mid healfe punde, æt ðǽre cirican half a pound, at the church-door in
dura on Bodmine, and sealde Æilsige Bodmin, and gave Ælfsige, the
portgeréua and Maccosse hundredes portreeve and Maccos the
mann .IIII. pengas tó tolle; ðá hundred-man, four pence as toll;
ferde Æilsig tó ðe ða men bohte, then went Ælfsige, who bought the
and nam hig and freóde úpp an serfs, and freed them at Petroc’s
Petrocys weofede, ǽfre sacles, on altar, ever _sacless_, by witness
gewitnesse ðissa gódera manna: ðæt of the following good men: namely,
wæs, Isaac messepreóst, and Bleðcuf Isaac the masspriest, Bleðcuf the
messepreóst, and Wunning masspriest, Wunning the masspriest,
messepreóst, and Wulfgér Wulfgér the masspriest, Grifiuð the
messepreóst, and Grifiuð masspriest, Noe the masspriest,
messepreóst, and Noe messepreóst, Wurðicið the masspriest, and
and Wurðicið messepreóst, and Ælfsige the deacon, and Maccos, and
Æilsig diacon, and Maccos, and Teðion Modred’s son, and Cynehelm,
Teðion Modredis sunu, and Kynilm, Beórláf, Dirling, Gratcant and
and Beórláf, and Dirling, and Talan. And whoso breaketh this
Gratcant, and Talan. And gif hwá freedom, let him settle it with
ðás freót ábrece, hebbe him wið Christ! Amen.
Criste geméne. Amen.
Hér kýð on ðissere béc ðæt Ælfríc This book witnesseth that Ælfríc
Ælfwines sunu wolde þeówian the son of Ælfwine wanted to
Putraele him tó nýdþæówetlinge. Ðá enslave Putrael as a need-serf.
cum Putrael tó Boia and bed his Then came Putrael to Boia and
forespece tó Ælfríce his bréðere: begged his intercession with his
ðá sette Boia ðes spece wið brother Ælfríc: and Boia made this
Ælfríce; ðæt wæs ðæt Putrael sealde agreement with Ælfríc; namely that
Ælfríce .VIII. oxa æt ðére cirican Putrael gave Ælfríc viii oxen at
dura æt Bodmine, and gef Boia the church-door in Bodmin, and gave
sixtig penga for ðére forspæce, and Boia sixty pence for the
dide hine sylfne and his ofspreng intercession, and so made himself
ǽfre freols and saccles fram ðám and his offspring ever free and
dæge, wið Ælfríce and wið Boia and _sacless_ from that day forth, as
wið ealle Ælfwines cyld and heora to Ælfríc, Boia, and all Ælfwine’s
ofspreng, on ðissere gewittnisse: children and their offspring, by
Isaac messepreóst, and Wunning this witness: Isaac the masspriest,
presbyter, and Séwulf presbyter, Wunning the Presbyter, Séwulf the
and Godríc diacon, and Cufure presbyter, Godríc the deacon,
prauost, and Wincuf, and Wulfwerd, Ceufur the provost, Wincuf,
and Gestin, ðes bisceopes stiwerd, Wulfwerd, Gestin the bishop’s
and Artaca, and Kinilm, and Godríc steward, Artaca, Kinilm, Godríc
map, and Wulfgér, and má gódra Map, Wulfgár and other good men.
manna.
Hér cýð on ðyson béc ðæt Ælwold This book witnesseth that Ælfwold
gefreóde Hwatu for hys sáwle a[t] freed Hwatu for his soul, at St.
Petrocys stow á degye and æfter Petroc’s, both during life and
degye. An[d] Ælgér ys gewytnesse, after life. And Ælfgár is a
and Godríc, and Walloð, and witness, and Godríc, and Walloð,
Gryfyið, and Bleyðcuf, and Salaman. and Griffið, and Bleyðcuf, and
And hebbe he Gode curs and sanctes Salaman. And let him who breaketh
Petrocus and æalle welkynes sanctas what is done have the curse of God
ðe ðæt brece ðæt ydón ys. Amen. and St. Petroc and all the saints
of heaven. Amen.
Ðes sint ðe menn ðe Wulfsige byscop These are the men whom Wulfsige the
freóde for Eádgár cinig and for bishop freed for Eàdgàr the king
hyne sáwle, æt Petrocys wefode: and for his own soul, at Petroc’s
Leuhelec, Welet, ... nwalt, Beli, altar: Leuhelec, Welet ... nwalt,
Iosep, Dengel, Proswite, Beli, Josep, Dengal, Proswite,
Tancwuestel: an ðás gewitnese, Tancwuestel: by witness of Byrhsige
Byrhsige mæssepróst, Mermen the masspriest, Mermen the
massepróst, Mar, Catuuti, Wenwiu, masspriest, Mar, Catuuti, Wenwiu
Puer, Meðwuistel, Iosep. Puer, Meðwuistel, Josep.
Ðys syndun ðára manna naman ðe These are the names of the men whom
Wulfsige byscop gefreódet æt Wulfsige the bishop freed at
Petrocys wefode for Eádgár and for Petroc’s altar for Eádgár and
hine silfne, and Byrhsi ys himself, by witness of Byrhsi the
gewitnese massepróst, and Mermen masspriest, Mermen the masspriest
massepróst, and Morhi: Diuset and and Morhi: Diuset and all her
ealle here teám. offspring.
Ðys sindum ðára manna naman ðe These are the names of the serfs
Wunsie gefreóde at Petrocys stowe, whom Wunsige freed at St. Petroc’s,
[for] Eádgár cinig, on ealle ðæs for king Eádgár, by witness of all
hiredys gewitnesse: Conmonoc, the brotherhood: Conmonoc,
Iarnwallon, and Wenwærðlon and Iarnwallon, Wenwærðlon and Mæiloc.
Mæiloc.
-----------------------
Ælfred by his will manumitted all his unfree dependents, and with great
care provided for their enjoyment of this liberty: he says[859]:—
And ic bidde on godes naman and on And I pray in the name of God and
his háligra, ðæt mínra maga nán né of his saints, that none of my
yrfewearda ne geswence nán nǽnig kinsmen or heirs oppress any of my
cyrelif ðára ðe ic foregeald, ⁊ me dependents for whom I paid, and
Westseaxena witan tó rihte whom the witan of the Westsaxons
gerehton, ðæt ic hí mót lætan swá legally adjudged to me, that I
freo swá þeówe, swáðer ic wille; ac might leave them free or þeów,
ic for Godes lufan and for mínre whichever I chose; but I for God’s
sáwle þearfe, wylle ðæt hý sýn love and my own soul’s need, will
heora freolses wyrðe, ⁊ hyre cyres; that they shall enjoy their freedom
and ic on Godes lifiendes naman and their choice; and I command in
beóde, ðæt hý nán man ne brocie, né the name of the living God, that no
mid feos manunge né mid nǽningum one disquiet them, either by demand
þíngum, ðæt híe ne mótan céosan of money, or in any other way, so
swylcne mann swylce híe wyllan. that they may not choose whomsoever
they please [as a protector].
-----
Footnote 859:
Cod. Dipl. No. 314.
-----
_Cyrelif_ is a person who has a right of choice, or who has exercised a
choice: these must have been poor men, free or unfree, who had attached
themselves personally to Ælfred, voluntarily or not. He provides that
these as well as his serfs may have full liberty to select any other
lord, without disquiet through demands of arrears or any other claims.
This is confirmatory of the view taken in the text, that the manumitted
serf was obliged to find himself a lord, and so did not become fully
free.
And freoge man Wulfware, folgige And let Wulfwaru be free, and
ðám ðe hyre leófo[st sý,] ... follow whom she best pleases, and
ealswá, and freoge man Wulflǽde on also ... , and let Wulflǽd be freed
ðæt gerád ðæt heó folgige Æðelflǽde on condition that she follow
⁊ Eádgyfe: and heó becwæð Eádgyfe Æðelflǽd and Edith: and she
áne crencestran ⁊ áne sémestran, bequeathed to Edith one weaving
óðer hátte Eádgyfu, óðer hátte woman and one sempstress, the one
Æðelgyfu; ⁊ freoge man Gerburg ⁊ called Edith, the other Æðelgifu;
Miscin, ⁊ his ... el, ⁊ Burhulfes and let them free Gerburg, and
dóhtur æt Cinnuc, ⁊ Ælfsige ⁊ his Miscin, and his ... and Burhwulf’s
wíf ⁊ his yldran dohter, ⁊ daughter at Cinnuc, and Ælfsige and
Ceólstánes wíf; ⁊ æt Ceorlatúne his wife and elder daughter, and
freoge man Pifus ⁊ Eádwine, ⁊ ... e Ceólstán’s wife; and at Charlton
... an wífe; ⁊ æt Faccancumbe let them free Pifus and Eádwyn, and
freoge man Æðelm ⁊ Man ⁊ Iohannan, ... wife; and at Faccombe let them
⁊ Sprow ⁊ his wíf, ⁊ Ene fætte, ⁊ free Æðelm, and Man, and Johanna,
Gersande ⁊ Suel; ⁊ æt Colleshylle and Sprow and his wife, and Ene the
freoge man Æðelgýðe ⁊ Biccan wíf, ⁊ fat, and Gersand and Suel; and at
Æffan ⁊ Bedan, ⁊ Gurhannes wíf, ⁊ Coleshill let them free Æðelgýð and
freoge man Wulfware swystor Bicca’s wife, Æffe and Bede, and
Bryhsiges wíf, ⁊ ... ðisne wyrhtan, Gurhan’s wife, and let them free
⁊ Wulfgýðe Ælfswýðe dóhtor: ⁊ gif Wulfware’s sister Byrhsiges wife
ðǽr hwylc wíteþeówman sý búton and ... this wright, and Wulfgýð
ðyson, ðe heó geþeówede, heó gelýfð Ælfswýð's daughter: and if there be
tó hyre bearnon ðæt hí hine wyllon any other convicts besides these,
lihtan for hyre sáulle.... whom she reduced to slavery, she
trusts that her children will give
them this alleviation for her
soul’s sake.
Ðenne an hió ðán hiwum ðára gebúra Then she grants the convent the
ðe on ðám gafollande sittað, ⁊ ðéra boors who sit on rent-paying land,
þeówra manna hió an hyre syna and the serfs she gives to her
déhter Eádgyfe ⁊ ðæs yrfes, bútan son’s daughter Edith, and also the
ðám sáulsceatte ðe man tó Gifle chattels, except the soul-shot
syllan sceal; ⁊ hió wylle ðæt man which they are to pay to Gifle. And
læte on ðám lande standan vi oxan ⁊ it is her will that they shall
iiii cý mid iiii cealfum; ⁊ of ðám leave on the land six oxen and four
þeówan mannan æt Cinnuc heó becwið cows with four calves; and of the
Eádwolde, Céolstán Eástánes sunu, ⁊ serfs at Cinnuc she bequeaths to
Æffan sunu; ⁊ Burhwynne, Martin ⁊ Eádwold, Céolstán Eástán’s son, and
his wíf; ⁊ hió becwið Eádgyfe ðǽr Æffe’s son; and to Burhwyn she
angean Ælfsige ðene cóc ⁊ Tefl gives Martin and his wife; and she
Wareburgan dóhtor, ⁊ Herestán ⁊ his bequeaths again, to Edith, Ælfsige
wíf, ⁊ Ecelm ⁊ his wíf, ⁊ heora the cook, and Tefl, Wærburge’s
cild, ⁊ Cynestán ⁊ Wynsige, ⁊ daughter, and Herestán and his
Bryhtríces sunu, ⁊ Eádwynne, ⁊ wife, Eghelm and his wife and their
Buneles sunu ⁊ Ælfweres dóhtor; and child, Cynestán and Wynsige and
hió becwið Æðelflǽde Elhhelmes Brihtric’s son, and Eádwyn, and
déhter ða geóngran.—_Wynflæd_, Bunel’s son, and Ælfweres daughter;
about 995. and she bequeaths to Æðelflǽd
Ealhhelms younger daughter.—_Cod.
Dipl._ No. 1290.
-----------------------
The next passage which I have to cite is unhappily very corrupt, but as
the sense is obvious I have given such corrections as were required: the
readings of the MS. may be seen in the copy printed Cod. Dipl. No. 1339.
And ic wille ðæt míne men beón And I will that my serfs shall all
ealle freo.... And ic wille ðæt be free.... And I will that all the
ealle ða men ða ic an freo, ðæt hí men to whom I grant freedom shall
hæbben ealle þing ða hý under hande have everything which is under
habbað, bútan ðæt lond æt their hand, except the land at
Herelingum Stigande arcebisceope Harling which I give to archbishop
mínum hláforde, swá hit stent, Stigand my lord, as it stands, only
bútan ða men beón ealle that the serfs are all to be
freo.—_Cytel_, about 1055. free.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 1342.
-----------------------
The following manumissions are recorded by the Convent in Bath. They
will be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, No. 1351.
Hér swutelað on ðissere Cristes béc Here witnesseth on this book of
ðæt Eádríc æt Fordan hæfð goboht Gospels that Eádríc at Ford hath
Sægýfu his dóhtor æt Ælfsige abbod bought Sǽgyfu his daughter from
and æt ðám hirede on Baðan tó écum Ælfsige the abbot and the convent
freóte, and eall hire ofspring. at Bath, that she may be free for
ever, and all her offspring.
Hér swutelað on ðisse Cristes béc Here witnesseth on this book of
ðæt Ælfríc Scot and Ægelríc Scot gospels, that Ælfric the Scot and
synd gefreód for Ælfsiges abbodes Æðelríc the Scot are made free, for
sáwle tó écan freóte. Ðis is gedón the soul of Abbot Ælfsige, that
on ealles hiredes gewitnesse. they may be free for ever. This is
done by witness of all the convent.
Her swutelað on ðissere Cristes Here witnesseth on this book of
béc, ðæt Ælfwig se réd hæfð geboht gospels, that Ælfwig the red hath
hine selfne út æt Ælfsige abbot and bought himself out from Ælfsige the
eallon hirede mid ánon punde. Ðár abbot and all the convent for one
is tó gewitnes eall se hired on pound. To this is witness all the
Baðan. Crist hine áblende ðe ðis convent in Bath. Christ blind him
gewrit áwende. who setteth this writ aside!
Her swutelað in ðisre Cristes béc, Here witnesseth on this book of
ðæt Iohann hæfð geboht Gunnilde, gospels, that John hath bought
Þurkilles dóhter, æt Góde, Gunhild, Thurkill’s daughter, from
Leofenáðes láfe, tó healfan punde, Góde Leofenáð's widow, for half a
on ealles hiredes gewitnysse. Crist pound, by witness of all the
hine áblende, ðe ðis gewrit áwende. convent. Christ blind him who
And he hæfð hí betéht Criste ⁊ setteth this writ aside! And he
sancte Petre for his móder sáwle. hath given her to Christ and St.
Peter for his mother’s soul.
Her swutelað on ðissere Cristes Here witnesseth on this book of
béc, ðæt Sǽwi Hagg æt Wídecumbe gospels, that Sǽwig Hagg of Widcomb
hæfð gedón út his twegen suna æt hath done out his two sons from
Ælfsige abbude, on ealles hiredes Ælfsige the abbot, by witness of
gewitnesse. all the convent.
Her swutelað on ðissere Cristes Here witnesseth on this book of
béc, ðæt Ægylmǽr bohte Sǽðrýðe æt gospels, that Æðelmǽr bought Sǽðrýð
Sǽwolde abbude, mid .III. maxan on from Sǽwold the abbot for two
ealles hiredes gewitnysse; and ofer mancuses, by witness of all the
his dæg and his wífes dæg beó se convent; and after his and his
man freoh. Crist hine áblende, ðe wife’s life let the serf be free.
ðis gewrit áwende. Christ blind him who setteth this
writ aside!
Her swutelað on ðissere Cristes Here witnesseth on this book of
béc, ðæt Wulfwine Háreberd bohte æt gospels, that Wulfwine Hoarbeard
Ælfsige abbude, Ælfgýðe mid healfan bought Ælfgýð from abbot Ælfsige
punde on ealles hiredes gewitnysse: for half a pound, by witness of all
and Crist hine áblende ðe ðis the convent: and Christ blind him
gewrit áwende. who setteth this writ aside!
Her swutelað on ðissere Cristes Here witnesseth on this book of
béc, ðæt Ægylsige bohte Wynríc æt gospels, that Æðelsige bought
Ælfsige abbude mid ánon yre goldes. Wynríc from abbot Ælfsige for an
Ðysses ys tó gewitnysse Ælfryd ore of gold. The witnesses of this
portgeréua and eal se hired on are Ælfred the portreeve and all
Baðon. Crist hine ablende ðe ðis the convent at Bath. Christ blind
gewrit awende. him who setteth this writ aside!
Her swutelað on ðissere Cristes Here witnesseth on this book of
béc, ðæt Siwine Leófwies sunu æt gospels, that Sigewine Leófwige’s
Lincumbe hafað geboht Sydeflǽde út son of Lincomb hath bought Sydeflǽd
mid fíf scyllingam and ... penegam out with five shillings and ...
æt Iohanne biscope and æt eallon pence from bishop John and all the
ðám hirede on Baðon tó écum freóte: convent at Bath to be free for
and her tó is gewitnesse Godríc ever: and witness thereof are
Ladda and Sǽwold and his twegen Godríc Ladda, and Sǽwold and his
sunan Scírewold and Brihtwold. two sons Scírewold and Brihtwold.
Her swutelað on ðisse Cristes béc, Here witnesseth on this book of
ðæt Lifgíð æt Forda is gefreód, and gospels, that Lifgið at Ford is
hire twá cild, for ðone biscop freed, with her two children, for
Johanne and for ealne ðone hired on bishop John and all the convent at
Baðon, on Ælfredes gewitnesse Bath, by witness of Ælfred Aspania.
Aspania.
Her cyð on ðisse béc ðæt Here witnesseth in this book that
H[un]fl[ǽd] gebohte Wulfgýðe æt Hunflǽd bought Wulfgýð from Ælfríc
Ælfríce Æðelstánes su[na] the son of Æðelstán the son of
Æðelminges, on Winemines gewitnisse Æðelm, by witness of Winemine the
eald-portgeréfan, and on Godríces old portreeve, and of Godríc his
his suna, and on Ælfwines Mannan son, and Ælfwine Manna’s son, and
suna, and on Leófríces cildes æt Leófríc the child at Hymed, and
Hymed, and on Ælfríces Ælfhelmes Ælfríc Ælfhelm’s son, the young:
sunu geóngan: and Brún bydel nam and Brún the beadle took the toll
ðæt toll on Ælfstánes gewitnisse by witness of Ælfstán the
mæssepreóstes and on Leófríces masspriest, of Leófríc Winemine’s
Winemines suna, and on má l[ǽweda ⁊ son and more persons both lay and
gehádodra.] ordained.—_Cod. Dipl._ No. 1353.
These examples, so numerous and varied, supply a very clear view of the
mode of emancipation, and its objects, in the Anglosaxon time. It is to
be regretted that we have not more of them, and from other places: but
still, as it is probable that the system adopted by the clergy prevailed
throughout England, these may serve as a very satisfactory specimen of
the usual course on these occasions,—both as to the form of manumission
and the method of providing for the emancipated serf.
APPENDIX D.
ORCY'S GUILD AT ABBOTSBURY.
(_From the Cod. Dipl. No. 942._)
“This writing witnesseth that Orcy hath granted the guildhall at
Abbotsbury and the site thereof, to the honour of God and St. Peter, and
for a property to the guild, both during his life and after his life,
for a long lasting commemoration of himself and his consort. Let him
that would set it aside, answer it to God in the great day of judgment!
“Now these are the covenants which Orcy and the guildsmen of Abbotsbury
have ordained, to the honour of God, the worship of St. Peter, and the
hele of their own souls. Firstly; three days before St. Peter’s mass,
from each guildbrother one penny, or one pennyworth of wax,—look which
the minster most needeth; and on the mass eve, from every two
guildbrothers one broad loaf, well sifted and well raised, towards our
common alms; and five weeks before Peter’s mass, let each guildbrother
contribute one guildsester full of clean wheat, and let this be paid
within two days, on forfeiture of the entrance, which is three sesters
of wheat. And let the wood be paid within three days after the
corn-contribution, from every full guildbrother one load of wood, and
from those who are not full brothers, two; or let him pay one
guildsester of corn. And let him that undertaketh a charge and
performeth it not accordingly, be mulcted in the amount of his entrance;
and be there no remission. And if one brother misgreet another within
the guild, in hostile temper, let him atone for it to all the fellowship
with the amount of his entrance, and after that to him whom he
misgreeted, as they two may arrange: and if he will not bend to
compensation, let him lose our fellowship and every other advantage of
the guild. And let him that introduceth more guests than he ought,
without leave of the steward and the caterers, forfeit his entrance. And
if any of our fellowship should pass away from us, let each brother
contribute a penny over the corpse for the soul’s hele or pay ...
brothers: and if any one of us should be afflicted with sickness within
sixty ... we are to find fifteen men who shall fetch him, and if he be
dead, thirty, and they shall bring him to the place which he desired to
go to, while he lived. And if he die in this present place, let the
steward have warning to what place the corpse is to go; and let the
steward warn the brethren, the greatest number that he can ride or send
to, that they shall come thither and worthily accompany the corpse and
bear it to the minster, and earnestly pray there for the soul. It is
rightly ordained a guildship if we do thus, and well fitting it is both
toward God and man: for we know not which of us shall first depart.
“Now we have faith through God’s assistance, that the aforesaid
ordinance, if we rightly maintain it, shall be to the benefit of us all.
Let us earnestly from the bottom of our hearts beseech Almighty God to
have mercy upon us, and also his holy apostle St. Peter to make
intercession for us, and take our way unto eternal rest, because for his
sake we have gathered this guild together: he hath the power in heaven
to admit into heaven whomso he will, and to exclude whomso he will not,
even as Christ himself spake unto him in his gospel: Peter, I give to
thee the keys of heaven, and whatsoever thou wilt have bound on earth,
the same shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou wilt have unbound
on earth, the same shall be unbound in heaven. Let us have hope and
trust in him, that he will guide us here in this world, and after death
be a help to our souls. May he bring us to eternal rest! Amen!”
THE GUILD AT EXETER.
“This assembly was collected in Exeter, for the love of God, and for our
soul’s need, both in regard to our health of life here, and to the after
days, which we desire for ourselves by God’s doom. Now we have agreed
that our meeting shall be thrice in the twelve months; once at St.
Michael’s Mass, secondly at St. Mary’s Mass, after midwinter, and
thirdly at Allhallows Mass after Easter; and let each gild-brother have
two sesters of malt, and each young man[860] one sester, and a sceat of
honey; and let the mass-priest at each of our meetings sing two masses,
one for our living friends, the other for the dead: and let each brother
of common condition sing two psalters of psalms, one for the living and
one for the dead; and at the death of a brother, each man six masses, or
six psalters of psalms; and at a death, each man five pence; and at a
houseburning each man one penny. And if any one neglect the day, for the
first time three masses, for the second five, and at the third time let
him have no favour, unless his neglect arose from sickness or his lord’s
need. And if any one neglect his subscription at the proper day let him
pay double. And if any one of this brotherhood misgreet another, let him
make boot with thirty pence. Now we pray for the love of God that every
man hold this meeting rightly, as we rightly have agreed upon it. God
help us thereunto.”
-----
Footnote 860:
The meaning of _cniht_ is not certain in this passage. It may imply a
servant, but I think it more likely that merely young freemen are
intended, who were not full citizens, and were therefore not reckoned
full gegyldan.
-----
THE GUILD AT CAMBRIDGE.
“In this writ is the notification of the agreement which this
brotherhood hath made in the thanes’ gild of Grantabrycg. That is first,
that each gave oath upon the relics to the rest, that he would hold true
brotherhood for God and for the world, and all the brotherhood to
support him that hath the best right. If any gild-brother die, all the
gildship is to bring him where he desired to lie; and let him that
cometh not thereto pay a sester of honey; and let the gildship inherit
of the dead half a farm, and each gild-brother contribute two pence to
the alms, and out of this sum let what is fitting be taken to St.
Æðelðrýð. And if any gild-brother have need of his fellows’ aid, and it
be made known to the reeve nearest the gild (unless the gild-brother
himself be nigh) and the reeve neglect it, let him pay one pound; if the
lord neglect it, let him pay a pound, unless he be on his lord’s need or
confined to his bed. And if any one steal from a gild-brother, let there
be no boot, but eight pounds. But if the outlaw neglect this boot, let
all the gildship avenge their comrade; and let all bear it, if one
misdo; let all bear alike. And if any gild-brother slay a man, and if he
be a compelled avenger and compensate for his insult, and the slain man
be a twelve-hundred man, let each gild-brother assist ... if the slain
be a ceorl, two ores; if he be a Welshman, one ore. But if the
gild-brother with folly and deceit slay a man, let him bear his own
deed; and if a comrade slay another comrade through his own folly, let
him bear his breach as regards the relatives of the slain; and let him
buy back his brotherhood in the gild with eight pounds, or lose for ever
our brotherhood and friendship. And if a gild-brother eat or drink with
him that slew his comrade, save in the presence of the king, the bishop
or the ealdorman, let him pay a pound, unless he can clear himself with
two of his dependents, of any knowledge of the fact. If any comrade
misgreet another, let him pay a sester of honey, except he can clear
himself with his two dependents. If a servant draw a weapon, let his
lord pay a pound, and recover what he can from the servant, and let all
the company aid him to recover his money. And if a servant wound
another, let the lord avenge it, and the company, so that seek what he
may seek, he shall not have his life. And if a servant sit within the
spence, let him pay a sester of honey, and if any one hath a footsitter
let him do the same. And if any gild-brother die or lie sick out of the
country, let his gild-brethren fetch him alive or dead, to the place
where he desired to lie, under the same penalty as we have before said,
in case of a comrade’s dying at home, and a gild-brother neglecting to
attend the corpse.”
-----------------------
The following document, which seems justly referable to the reign of
Eádgár, that is to the close of the tenth century, gives the regulations
under which the Hundred was constituted[861].
“This is the Ordinance how the Hundred shall be held.
“First that they meet every four weeks, and that each man do right to
other.
“That a thief be pursued, if necessary. If there be present need, let it
be told to the hundredman, and let him afterwards make it known to the
tithingmen, and let them all go forth whither God may direct them to
their end: let them do justice on the thief as it was formerly Eádmund’s
law. And be the _ceápgild_ paid to him that owns the chattel; and be the
rest divided in two, half to the hundred, half to the lord, except men;
and let the lord take possession of the men.
“And if any man neglect this, and deny the judgment of the hundred, and
the same be afterwards proved against him, let him pay to the hundred
thirty pence; and the second time, sixty pence; half to the hundred,
half to the lord. If he do it a third time, let him pay half a pound:
the fourth time, let him lose all that he hath, and be an outlaw, unless
the king will allow him to remain in the land.
“And we have ordained respecting unknown cattle, that no man should have
it without the witness of the hundredman or the tithingman; and that he
be a well trusty man; and unless he have one or other of these, let no
vouching to warranty be allowed him[862].
“We have also ordained, that, if the hundred pursue a track into another
hundred, notice be given to the hundredman, and that he then go with
them. If he neglect this, let him pay thirty shillings to the king.
“If any one flinch from justice and escape, let him that had him in
custody pay the _angild_. And if he be accused of having aided the
escape, let him clear himself according to the custom of the country.
“In the hundred as in every other _gemót_, we ordain that folkright be
pronounced in every suit, and that a term be appointed when it shall be
fulfilled. And if any one break that term, unless it be through the
lord’s decree, let him make amends with thirty shillings, and on a set
day fulfil that which he should have done before.
“An ox’s bell, and a dog’s collar, and a blast horn, each of these three
shall be worth a shilling, and each is reckoned _an informer_.
“Let the iron for the threefold ordeal weigh three pounds; and for the
single, one pound.”
-----
Footnote 861:
Thorpe, i. 258, etc.
Footnote 862:
Compare the further provisions of Eádgár’s law. Supp. 11. § 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, 11. Thorpe, i. 274, 276.
-----
APPENDIX E.
LǼNLAND.
The following documents throw light upon the nature of Lǽland, and the
conditions under which it was held. The first is a detailed account
given by Oswald, bishop of Worcester, to king Eádgár, of the plan which
he adopted in leasing the lands of his church: it is reprinted here from
the sixth volume of the Codex Diplomaticus, No. 1287. The second is a
statement of the way in which an estate of six ploughlands at Wouldham
in Kent became the property of the Cathedral at Rochester: it is No.
1288 in the same collection.
“Domino meo karissimo regi Anglorum Eadgaro, ego Osuualdus
Uuigornensis aecclesiae episcopus omnium quae mihi per ipsius
clementiam munerum tradita sunt, apud deum et apud homines gratias
ago. Igitur si dei misericordia suppeditet, coram deo et hominibus
perpetualiter ei fidelis permanebo, reminiscens cum gratiarum actione
largifluae benignitatis eius, quia per meos illud quod magnopere
expetebam mihi concessit internuntios, id est reverentissimum
Dunstanum archiepiscopum et venerandum Æðeluuoldum Uuintoniae
episcopum et virum magnificum Brihtnoðum comitem, quorum legatione et
adiutorio meam et sanctae dei aecclesiae querelam suscepit, et
secundum consilium sapientum et principum suorum iuste emendavit, ad
sustentamen aecclesiae quam mihi benigne et libens regendam commisit.
Quare quo modo fidos mihi subditos telluribus quae meae traditae sunt
potestati per spatium temporis trium hominum, id est duorum post se
haeredum, condonarem, placuit tam mihi quam ipsis fautoribus et
consiliariis meis, cum ipsius domini mei regis licentia et
attestatione, ut fratribus meis successoribus, scilicet episcopis, per
cyrographi cautionem apertius enuclearem, ut sciant quid ab eis
extorquere iuste debeant secundum conventionem cum eis factam et
sponsionem suam; unde et hanc epistolam ob cautelae causam componere
studui, ne quis malignae cupiditatis instinctu hoc sequenti tempore
mutare volens, abiurare a servitio aecclesiae queat. Haec itaque
conventio cum eis facta est, ipso domino meo rege annuente, et sua
attestatione munificentiae suae largitatem roborante et confirmante,
omnibusque ipsius regiminis sapientibus et principibus attestantibus
et consentientibus. Hoc pacto eis terras sanctae aecclesiae sub me
tenere concessi, hoc est ut omnis equitandi lex ab eis impleatur quae
ad equites pertinet; et ut pleniter persolvant omnia quae ad ius
ipsius aecclesiae iuste competunt, scilicet ea quae Anglice dicuntur
ciricsceott et toll id est theloneum et tace, id est swinsceade, et
caetera iura aecclesiae, nisi episcopus quid alicui eorum perdonare
voluerit; seseque quamdiu ipsius terras tenent in mandatis pontificis
humiliter cum omni subiectione perseverare etiam iureiurando
affirment. Super haec etiam ad omnis industriae episcopi indigentiam
semetipsos praesto impendant; equos praestent; ipsi equitent; et ad
totum piramiticum opus aecclesiae calcis atque ad pontis aedificium
ultro inveniantur parati; sed et venationis sepem domini episcopi
ultronei ad aedificandum repperiantur, suaque quandocumque domino
episcopo libuerit venabula destinent venatum; insuper ad multas alias
indigentiae causas quibus opus est domino antistiti sepe frunisci,
sive ad suum servitium sive ad regale explendum, semper illius
archiductoris dominatui et voluntati qui episcopatui praesidet,
propter beneficium quod illis praestitum est, cum omni humilitate et
subiectione subditi fiant, secundum ipsius voluntatem et terrarum quas
quisque possidet quantitatem. Decurso autem praefati temporis
curriculo, videlicet duorum post eos qui eas modo possident haeredum
vitae spatio, in ipsius antistitis sit arbitrio quid inde velit, et
quomodo sui vello sit inde ita stet, sive ad suum opus eas retinere,
si sic sibi utile iudicaverit, sive eas alicui diutius praestare, si
sic sibi placuerit velit; ita dumtaxat ut semper aecclesiae servitia
pleniter ut praefati sumus inde persolvantur. Ast si quid praefatorum
delicti praevaricantis causa defuerit iurum, praevaricationis delictum
secundum quod praesulis ius est emendet, aut illo quod antea potitus
est dono et terra careat. Si quis vero, diabolo instigante, quod
minime optamus, extiterit, qui per nostrum beneficium aecclesiam dei
fraude, seu in sua possessione aut servitio debito privare
temptaverit, ipse nostra omnique benedictione dei et sanctorum eius
privetur, nisi profundissima emendatione illud corrigere studeat et ad
pristinum statum quod defraudavit redigat, scriptum est enim ‘Raptores
et sacrilegi regnum dei non consequentur.’ Nunc autem propter deum et
sanctam Mariam, in cuius nomine hoc monasterium dicatum est, moneo et
praecipio, ut nullo modo quis hoc praevaricare audeat, sed sicut a
nobis statutum est, ut praefati sumus, perpetualiter maneat. Qui
custodierit omni benedictione repleatur; qui vero infringerit,
maledicetur a domino et ab omnibus sanctis, Amen. Gratanter,
reverentissime domine, quo tantis tuae donis clementiae, secundum quod
totius creatoris cosmi est velle, praeditus sum, meae operam
voluntatis, ut pro te tuisque deum iugiter interpellem, devotus
impendam, meosque successores ad hoc hortari studebo, ut domini
misericordiam pro te deprecari non desinant, ut Christus pace qui
perhenni regnat ethrali in arce te consortio dignum haberi dignetur
sanctorum omnium in aula coelesti. Valeat in aevum qui hoc studuerit
servare decretum. Harum textus epistolarum tres sunt ad
praetitulationem et ad signum, una in ipsa civitate quae vocatur
Uuigraceaster, altera cum venerabili Dunstano archiepiscopo in
Cantuaria, tertia cum Æðeluuoldo episcopo in Uuintonia civitate.”
-----------------------
“Æðelbryht cinc hit gebócode ðám “King Æðelberht granted it by his
apostole on éce yrfe and betǽhte charter for ever to the apostle,
hit ðám biscope Eárdulfe tó and gave it in charge to bishop
bewitenne and his æftergæncan. Ðá Eardwulf and his successors.
betweonan ðám wearð hit úte, and However in process of time it
hæfdon hit cynegas oð Eádmund became alienated, and the kings
cinc; ðá gebohte hit Ælfstán had it down to Eádmund; then
Heáhstáninc Ðá for ðǽre Ælfstán son of Heáhstán bought it
bróðorsibbe geúðe he him Eárhiðes of the king for a hundred and
and Crǽgan and Ænesfordes and twenty mancuses of gold and thirty
Wuldahámes his dæg. Ðá oferbád pounds, and Ælfheáh his son gave
Ælfeh ðæne bróðor and feng tó his him nearly all the money. After
lǽne: ðá hæfde Ælfríc suna Eádríc king Eádmund, king Eádred booked
hátte and Ælfeh nǽnne. Ðá geúðe it to Ælfstán as an inheritance
Ælfeh ðám Eádríce Eárhiðes and for ever: now after Ælfstán’s day,
Crǽgan and Wuldahámes, and hæfde Ælfheáh his son was his heir, and
himsylf Ænesford. Ðá gewát Eádríc that he proved with a whole
ǽr Ælfeh cwídeleás, and ₮520.25 tongue, and deprived Ælfríc his
Ælféh Ælfeh₮ feng tó his lǽne. Ðá brother both of land and chattels,
hæfde Eádríc láfe and nán beárn; but what he might deserve at his
ðá geúðe Ælfeh hire hire hands. Now for brotherly love he
morgengife æt Crǽgan; and stód granted him Erith, Cray, Ænesford,
Eárhið and Wuldahám and Lytlanbróc and Wouldham, for his life. Then
on his lǽne. Ðá him eft geðúhte, Ælfheáh survived his brother, and
ðá nám he his feorme on Wuldahám re-entered on his lǽn: but Ælfríc
and on ðám óðran wolde, ac hine had a son called Eádríc, and
geyflade, and he ðá sænde tó ðám Ælfheáh had none. Then Ælfheáh
arcebiscope Dúnstáne, and he cóm granted to Eádríc Erith, Cray, and
tó Scylfe tó him: and he cwæð his Wouldham, and kept Ænesford for
cwide beforan him, and he sætte himself. Now Eádríc died before
ǽnne cwide tó Cristes cyrican, and Ælfheáh without making a will, and
óðerne tó sancte Andrea, and ðane Ælfheáh re-entered on his lǽn.
þriddan sealde his láfe. Ðá bræc Eádríc had a widow but no child;
sýððan Leófsunu þurh ðæt wíf ðe he then Ælfheáh granted her her
nám, Eádríces láfe, ðæne cwide, _morning-gift_, at Cray; and
and herewade ðæs arcebiscopes Erith, Wouldham and Littlebrook
gewitnesse, rád ða innon ða land stood on his lǽn. When he
mid ðám wífe bútan witena dóme. Ðá bethought him, he took his feorm
man ðæt ðám biscope cíðde, ðá at Wouldham, and meant so to
gelǽdde se biscop áhnunga ealles do at the other places, but he
Ælféhes cwides tó Eárhiðe, on fell ill, and sent to archbishop
gewitnesse Ælfstánes biscopes on Dúnstán, and he came to him at
Lundene, and ealles ðæs hiredes, Scylf: and Ælfheáh declared his
and ðæs æt Cristes cyrican, and will before him, and he deposited
ðæs biscopes Ælfstánes an one will at Christchurch, another
Hrofesceastre, and Wulfsies at St. Andrews, and the third copy
preóstes ðæs scírigmannes, and he gave his widow. But afterwards
Bryhtwaldes on Mǽreweorðe, and Leofsunu broke through the will,
ealra Eást Cantwarena and West through the wife he married,
Cantwarena. And hit wæs gecnǽwe on namely Eádríc’s widow, and set at
Súð-Seáxan and on West-Seáxan and nought the archbishop’s testimony,
on Middel-Seáxan and on and rode in upon the land with the
Est-Seáxan, ðæt se arcebiscop mid woman, without any judgment of the
hisselfes áðe geáhnode Gode and witan. Now when this was reported
sancte Andrea mid ðam bócan on to the bishop, he took all the
Cristes hróde, ða land ðe Leófsunu claims of ownership under
him tóteáh. And ðæne áð nám Ælfheáh’s will, to Erith, in
Wulfsige se scírigman, ðá he nolde witness of Ælfstán bishop of
tó ðæs cinges handa: and ðǽre wæs London, and all the convent, and
God eáca ten hundan mannan ðe ðane that at Christchurch, and Ælfstán
áð sealdan. bishop of Rochester, and Wulfsige
_Rubric._ Ðús wǽron ða the priest who was sheriff, and
seox sulung æt Wuldahám sancte Bryhtwald of Mereworth, and all
Andrea geseald intó the men of East Kent and of West
Hrofesceastre.” Kent. And it was well known in
Sussex and Wessex, and Middlesex
and Essex, that the archbishop
with his own oath upon the cross
of Christ, recovered the land
which Leofsunu had invaded,
together with the books, for God
and St. Andrew. And Wulfsige the
sheriff received the oath, since
he would not go to the king’s
hand: and there was a good
addition of a thousand men who
gave the oath.
_Rubric._ Thus were the six
ploughlands at Wouldham given to
St. Andrew at Rochester.”
APPENDIX F.
HEATHENDOM.
The following passages of the Anglosaxon Laws contain general enactments
against heathen practices, or references to heathen superstitions.
“Gif ceorl búton wífes wísdóme deóflum gelde, he sie ealra his ǽhta
scyldig, and healsfange. Gif butwu deóflum geldað, síon héo healsfange
scyldigo, ⁊ ealra ǽhta.”—_Ll. Wihtr._ § 12. _Thorpe_, i. 40.
“Gif þeów deóflum geldað .vi. scill. gebéte, oððe his hýd.”—_Ll. Wihtr._
§ 13. _Thorpe_, i. 40.
“Gif hwá Cristendóm wýrde, oððe hǽðendóm weorðige, wordes oððe weorces,
gylde swá wer swá wíte, swá lahslite, be ðám ðe seó dǽd sý.”—_Eádw.
Gúð._ § 2. _Thorpe_, i. 168.
“Gif wiccan oððe wigleras, mánsworan oððe morðwyrhtan, oððe fúle,
áfýlede ǽbære horcwenan áhwar on lande wurðan ágytene, ðonne fýsie hí
man of earde ⁊ clǽnsie ða þeóde, oððe on earde forfare hý mid ealle,
búton hí geswícan ⁊ ðe deóppor gebétan.”—_Eádw. Gúð._ § 11. _Thorpe_, i.
172.
“Ond we cwǽdon be ðǽm wiccecræftum, ⁊ be liblácum, ⁊ be morðdǽdum, gif
man ðǽr ácweald wǽre, ⁊ he his ætsacan ne milite, ðæt he beó his feores
scyldig.”—_Æðelst._ i. § 6. _Thorpe_, i. 202.
“Ðá ðe mánsweriað ⁊ lyblác wyrcað, sýn hí á fram ǽlcum Godes dǽle
áworpene, búton hý tó rihtre dǽdbóte gecyrran.”—_Eádm._ i. § 6.
_Thorpe_, i. 246.
“And gif wiccan oððe wigleras, scíncræftigan oððe horcwenan, morðwyrhtan
oððe mánsworan áhwar on earde wurðan átigene, fýse hí man georne út of
ðysan earde, ⁊ clǽnsige ðás þeóde, oððe on earde forfare hí mid ealle,
bútan hí geswícan ⁊ ðe deóppor gebétan.”—_Æðelr._ vi. § 7. _Thorpe_, i.
316. _Cnut_, ii. § 4. _Thorpe_, i. 378.
“And we forbeódað eornostlíce ǽlcne hǽðenscipe. Hǽðenscipe bið ðæt man
idola weorðige, ðæt is ðæt man weorðige hǽðene godas ⁊ sunnan oððe
mónan, fýr oððe flód, wæterwyllas oððe stánas, oððe ǽniges cynnes
wudutreówa, oððe wiccecræft lufige, oððe morðwerc gefremme, on ǽnige
wisan, oððe on blóte, oððe on fyrbte, oððe on swylcra gedwimera ǽnig
þing dreóge.”—_Cnut_, ii. § 5. _Thorpe_, i. 378.
“Si quis veneno, vel sortilegio, vel invultuacione, seu maleficio
aliquo, faciat homicidium, sive illi paratum sit, sive alii, nihil
refert, quin factum mortiferum et nullo modo redimendum sit.”—_Ll. Hen.
I._ lxxi. § 1.
-----------------------
The well- and tree-worship noticed in these laws continued to be
retained, though in a somewhat altered form, until a very late period;
and especially it was usual to perform religious ceremonies at the
salt-springs, spots always looked upon as holy[863].
-----
Footnote 863:
Thoms, Anecd. and Traditions, p. 93. The holy character of the
salt-springs is noticed by Tacitus.
-----
The confessional however was more likely to be in the secret of the
popular heathendom than the civil legislator. Accordingly the
Poenitentials supply us with a variety of information upon this subject.
The Poenitential of Theodore has a long chapter devoted to the heathen
practices of communicants, and their appropriate penances.
“xxvii. De Idolatria et Sacrilegio, et qui Angelos colunt, et maleficos,
Ariolos, Veneficos, Sortilegos, Divinos, et vota reddentes nisi ad
aecclesiam Dei, et in Kalendas Januarii in cervulo et in vitula vadit,
et Mathematicos, et Emissores tempestatum.”
The points principally noted here are, sacrificing to dæmons, that is,
the ancient gods; eating and drinking near heathen temples, _fana_, in
honour of the god of the place; or eating what has been sacrificed to
dæmons; or celebrating festal meals in the abominable places of the
heathen[864]; seeking auguries by the flight of birds, making
philacteries or philtres. Other forms may be gathered from the following
heads:—
Si quis maleficio suo aliquem perdiderit vii. annos poeniteat. Si quis
pro amore veneficus sit et neminem perdiderit, etc. Si autem per hoc
mulieris partum quis deceperit, etc. Si quis ariolos quaerit, quos
divinos vocant, vel aliquas divinationes fecerit, quia et hoc
daemoniacum est, etc. Si quis sortes habuerit, quas Sanctorum contra
rationem vocant, vel aliquas sortes habuerit, vel qualicunque malo
ingenio sortitus fuerit, vel divinaverit, etc. Si qua mulier
divinationes vel incantationes diabolicas fecerit, etc. Si qua mulier
filium suum vel filiam super tectum pro sanitate posuerit, vel in
fornace, etc. Qui grana arserit ubi mortuus est homo, pro sanitate
viventium et domus, etc. Si quis, pro sanitate filioli, per foramen
terrae exierit, illudque spinis post se concludit, etc. Si quis ad
arbores, vel ad fontes, vel ad lapides, sive ad cancellos, vel
ubicunque, excepto in aecclesia Dei, votum voverit aut exsolverit, etc.,
et hoc sacrilegium est vel daemoniacum. Qui vero ibidem ederit aut
biberit, etc. Si quis in Kalendas Januarii in cervulo aut vetula vadit,
id est, in ferarum habitus se communicant[865], et vestiuntur pellibus
pecudum, et assumunt capita bestiarum; qui vero taliter in ferinas
species se transformant, etc., quia hoc daemoniacum est. Si quis
mathematicus est, id est, per invocationem daemonum hominis mentem
converterit, etc. Si quis emissor tempestatis fuerit, id est, maleficus,
etc. Si quis ligaturas fecerit, quod detestabile est, etc. Qui auguria
vel divinationes in consuetudine habuerit, etc. Qui observat divinos,
vel praecantatores, philacteria etiam diabolica, et somnia vel herbas,
aut quintam feriam honore Jovis, vel Kalendas Januarii, more paganorum,
honorat, etc. Qui student exercere quando luna obscuratur, ut clamoribus
suis ac maleficiis sacrilego usu eam defendere confidunt, etc. Qui in
honore lunae pro aliqua sanitate ieiunat, etc.
-----
Footnote 864:
Refer to Gregory’s letter, cited at p. 332 of this volume.
Footnote 865:
Probably “commutant.”
-----
Other fragments of Theodore contain this additional provision:—
“Qui nocturna sacrificia daemonum celebraverint, vel incantationibus
daemones invocaverint, capite puniantur.”
Archbishop Ecgberht has further details: he says[866]:—
“Si quis daemonibus exigui quid immolaverit, annum unum iciunet.
Quicunque cibum daemonibus immolatum comederit, etc. Quicunque grana
combusserit in loco ubi mortuus est homo, pro sanitate viventium et
domus, etc. Si mulier filiam suam super domum, vel in foornace posuerit,
eo quod eam a febri sanare velit,” etc.
The Saxon version in the MS. at Brussels, applies this to other illness
besides fever: “Gif hwylc wíf seteð hire bearn ofer hróf oððe on ofen,
for hwylcere untrymðe hǽlo .vii. gear fæste.”
The same prelate in his Poenitential ordains[867]:—
“Gif ǽnig man óðerne mid wiccecræfte fordó, fæste .vii. gear,” etc.
“Gif hwá drífe stacan on ǽnigne man, fæste .iii. gear, and gif se man
for ðǽre stacunge deád bið, ðonne fæste he .vii. gear, ealswá hit hér
búfpon áwriten is[868].”
-----
Footnote 866:
Confessionale, 32, 33; see also his Poenitentiale, ii. 22, 23. Thorpe,
ii. 157, 190.
Footnote 867:
Poenit., iv. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Thorpe, ii. 208, 210.
Footnote 868:
This is repeated in the same words in the collection called Canons
enacted under king Eádgár, in that portion entitled “Modus imponendi
poenitentiam.” But as Dr. Kunstman, an authority of the highest
character on this point, informs me, these Canons are founded upon and
contain portions of the very ancient Poenitential of Cummianus; and we
may suppose Ecgberht to have adopted these passages from him.
-----
This “stacan drífan” or “stacung” is the _invultuatio_ which has been
explained in the text, and of which an example has been given from a
charter of Eádgár. Mr. Thorpe’s explanation of Stacung is as follows:—
“_Stácung_, a sticking. The practice of sticking pins or needles into a
waxen image of the person against whom the witchcraft was directed,
consisted probably at first in sticking them actually into the body of
the individual, ‘gif hwá drífe stácan on ǽnigne man;’ but as this
process was no doubt sometimes attended with inconvenience and danger to
the operator, the easier and safer method was devised of substituting a
waxen proxy, instead of the true man. This practice was known under the
name of _defixio_, ‘quod eiusmodi incantores acus subinde _defigerent_
in imagines cereas, iis locis quibus viros ipsos pungere decreverant,
qui puncturas ipsas, ac si ipsi pungerentur persentiebant.’ Du Cange. To
it Ovid alludes:
‘Devovit absentes, simulacraque cerea fingit,
Et miserum tenues in iecur urget acus.’”
Ecgberht thus continues respecting philtres and other magical
practices:—
“Gif hwá wiccige ymbe ǽniges mannes lufe, ⁊ him on æte sylle oððe on
drince, oððe on ǽniges cynnes gealdorcræftum, ðæt hyra lufu forðon ðe
máre beón scyle,” etc.[869]
“Gif hwá hlytas oððe hwatunga begá, oððe his wæccan æt ǽnigum wylle
hæbbe, oððe æt ǽnigre óðre gesceafte bútan æt Godes cyricean, fæste he
.iii. gear,” etc.
“Wífman beó ðæs ylcan wyrðe, gif heó tilað hire cilde mid ǽnigum
wiccecræfte, oððe æt wega gelǽton ðurh ða eorðan tihð: eala ðæt is
mycel hǽðenscipe.”
-----
Footnote 869:
Repeated in nearly the same words in the ‘Modus imponendi
poenitentiam,’ § 39. Thorpe, ii, 274.
-----
The Canons enacted under Eádgár give the following full details of
popular heathendom[870]:—
“And we enjoin, that every priest zealously promote Christianity, and
totally extinguish every heathenism; and forbid well-worshippings, and
necromancies, and divinations, and enchantments, and man-worshippings,
and the vain practices which are carried on with various spells, and
with ‘frithsplots,’ and with elders, and also with various other trees,
and with stones, and with many various delusions, with which men do much
of what they should not.”
-----
Footnote 870:
Thorpe, ii. 249. “And we lærað ðæt preosta gehwilc cristendóm
geornlíce árære, ⁊ ælcne hæðendóm mid ealle ádwǽsce, ⁊ forbeóde
wilweorðunga ⁊ lícwiglunga ⁊ hwata ⁊ galdra ⁊ manweorðunga ⁊ ða
gemearh ðe man drífð on mislícum gewiglungum, ⁊ on fríðsplottum, ⁊ on
ellenum, ⁊ eác on óðrum mislícum treówum, ⁊ on stánum, ⁊ on manegum
mislícum gedwimerum ðe mon ondreógað fela ðæs ðe hi ná ne scoldon.”
A various reading adds:—“treówwurðunga ⁊ stánwurðunga ⁊ ðone deófles
cræft ðǽr man ða cild þurh ða eorðan tihð, ⁊ ða gemear ðe man drihð on
geares niht:”—“tree-worshippings and stone-worshippings, and that
devil’s craft, whereby children are drawn through the earth, and the
vain practices which are carried on on the night of the year.” The
_fríðsplot_ was a patch or plot of ground sanctified, _gefríðod_, by
some heathen ceremony, a kind of _Taboo_.
-----
Many of these heathen practices still continue to subsist, at least in
the memory and traditions of the peasantry in remote parts of England.
Devonshire, for example, still offers an unexhausted field for the
collector both of popular superstitions and popular tales, counterparts
of which are current in Germany. The Anglosaxon herbals[871] furnish
various evidences of heathendom connected with plants, but I pass over
these in order to give one or two detailed Saxon spells, which are of
the utmost value, as bearing unmistakeable marks of Anglosaxon paganism.
The following spells are taken from a MS. in the Harleian collection,
No. 585.
1. “Wið Cyrnel. Neogone wǽran Noðþæs sweoster, þá wurdon ða nygone tó
viii. ⁊ þa viii. tó vii. ⁊ þa vii. tó vi. ⁊ þa vi. tó v. ⁊ þa v. tó
iiii. ⁊ þa iiii. tó iii. ⁊ þa iii. tó ii. ⁊ þa ii. tó i. ⁊ þa i. tó
nánum. þis þe libbe cyrnneles ⁊ scrofellef ⁊ weormeþ ⁊ ǽghwylces yfeles.
Sing benedicite nygon síþum[872].”
2. “Se wífman se hire cild áfédan ne mǽg, gange tó gewitenes mannes
birgenne ⁊ stæppe ðonne þriwa ofer ða byrgenne, ⁊ cweðe ðonne þriwa ðás
word: Ðis me tó bóte ðǽre láðan lætbyrde: Ðis me tó bóte ðǽre swæran
swært byrde: Ðis me tó bóte ðǽre láðan lambyrde. And ðonne ðæt wíf seó
mid bearne, ⁊ heó to hire hláforde on reste gá, ðonne cweðe heó:
“Up ic gonge,
ofer ðe stæppe,
mid cwican cilde,
nalæs mid cwellendum,
mid fulborenum,
nalæs mid fǽgan.”
And ðonne seó moder geféle ðæt ðæt bearn sí cwic, gá ðonne tó cyrican, ⁊
ðonne heó tóforan ðán weofode cume, cweðe ðonne:
“Criste ic sǽde
ðis gecýðed.”
3. “Se wífman se hyre bearn áfédan ne mæge, genime heó sylf hyre ágenes
cildes gebyrgenne dǽl, þrý æfter ðon on bláce wulle, ⁊ bebicge tó
cépemannum, ⁊ cweðe ðonne:
“Ic hit bebicge
ge hit bebicgan,
ðás sweartan wulle
and ðisse sorge corn.”
4. “Se [wíf]man se ðe [ne] mæge bearn áfédan, nime ðonne ánes bleós cú
meoluc on hyre handæ, ⁊ gesúpe ðonne mid hyre múðe, ⁊ gange ðonne tó
yrnendum wætere, ⁊ spíwe ðǽr in ða meolc, ⁊ hláde ðonne mid ðǽre ylcan
hand ðæs wæteres múð fulne ⁊ forswelge. Cweðe ðonne ðás word: Gehwér
ferde ic me ðone mǽran maga þihtan, mid ðysse mǽran mete þihtan, ðonne
ic me wille habban ⁊ hám gán. Ðonne heó to ðán bróce gá, ðonne né beseó
heó nó, né eft ðonne heó ðanan gá, ⁊ ðonne gá heó in óðer hús óðer heó
út ofeóde, ⁊ ðǽr gebyrge metes[873].”
5. “Wið hors oman ⁊ mannes, sing ðis þriwa nygan síðan on æfen ⁊ on
morgen, on ðæs mannes heáfod úfan, ⁊ horse on ðæt wynstre eáre, on
yrnendum wætere, ⁊ wend ðæt heáfod ongean streám. In domo mamosin in
chorna meoti. otimimeoti. quod dealde otuuotiua el marethin. Crux mihi
vita. ē. tibi mors inimici. alfa et o initium et finis, dicit
dominus[874].”
6. “Wið oman. Genim áne gréne gyrde, ⁊ læt sittan ðone man on middan
húses flóre, ⁊ bestric hine ymbútan, ⁊ cweð: O pars et o rilli A pars et
pars iniopia. ē. alfa et o. īitium[875].”
7. “Gif wænnas eglian mæn æt ðǽre heortan, gange mǽden man tó wylle ðe
riht eást yrne, ⁊ gehlade áne cuppan fulle forð mid ðám streáme, ⁊ singe
ðǽron Credan ⁊ Paternoster, ⁊ geóte ðonne on óðer fæt, ⁊ hlade eft óðre,
⁊ singe eft Credan ⁊ Paternoster, ⁊ dó swá ðæt ðú hæbbe þreo. Do swá
nygon dagas: sona him bið sel[876].”
8. “Wið færstice, Feferfuige, and seó reáde netele, ðe ðurh ærn inwyxð,
and wegbrǽde: wylle in buteran.
“Hlúde wǽron hy lá hlúde
ðá hy ofer ðone hlæw ridan;
wǽron anmóde, ðá hy
ofer land ridan.
Scyld ðú ðe nú, ðú ðisne níð
genesan móte.
Ut lytel spere,
gif her inne síe!
Stód under linde,
under leóhtum scylde,
ðǽr ða mihtigan wíf
hyra mægen berǽddon,
and hy gyllende
gáras sændan:
ic him óðerne
eft wille sændan,
fleógende fláne
forane tógeanes.
Ut lytel spere,
gif hit her inne sý!
Sæt smið, slóh seax lytel,
íserna wund swíðe.
Ut lytel spere,
gif her inne sý!
Syx smiðas sǽtan,
wælspera worhtan;
út spere, nǽs in spere,
gif her inne sý
ísenes dǽl,
hægtessan geweorc,
hit sceal gemyltan:
gif ðú wǽre on fell scoten,
oððe wǽre on flǽsc scoten,
oððe wǽre on blód scoten,
oððe wǽre on lið scoten,
næfre ne sý ðín lif átǽsed;
gif hit wǽre ésa gescot,
oððe hit wǽre ylfa gescot,
oððe hit wǽre hægtessan gescot;
nú ic wille ðín helpan!
Ðis ðe tó bóte ésa gescotes,
ðis ðe tó bóte ylfa gescotes,
ðis ðe tó bóte hægtessan gescotes!
Ic ðín wille helpan.
Fled Þr̃ on fyrgen!
heáfde hálwes tú!
Helpe ðín drihten!
Nim ðonne ðæt seax, ádó on wætan[877].”
9. “Her[878] is seó bót, hú ðú meaht ðíne æceras bétan, gif hí nellað
wel wexan, oððe ðǽr hwilc ungedéfe þing ongedón bið, on drý oððe on
libláce.
“Genim ðonne on niht, ǽr hyt dagige, feower tyrf on feower healfa ðæs
landes, and gemearca hú hí ǽr stódon. Nim ðonne ele and hunig and
beorman, and ǽlces feos meolc, ðe on ðǽm lande sí, and ǽlces treówcynnes
dǽl, ðe on ðǽm lande sí gewexen, bútan heardan beáman, and ǽlcre
namcúðre wyrte dǽl, bútan glappan ánon: and dó ðonne hálig wæter ðǽron,
and drype ðonne þriwa on ðone staðol ðára turfa, and cweðe ðonne ðás
word: _Crescite_, wexe, _et multiplicamini_, and gemænigfealda, _et
replete_, and gefylle, _terre_, ðás eorðan, _in nomine patris et filii
et spiritus sancti, sit benedicti_; and _pater noster_, swá oft swá ðæt
óðer; and bere siððan ða turf tó cyrcean, and mæsse preost ásinge feower
mæssan ofer ðán turfon, and wende man ðæt gréne tó ðám weofode; and
siððan gebringe man ða turf ðǽr hí ǽr wǽron, ǽr sunnan setlgange; and
hæbbe him geworht of cwicbeáme feower Cristes mǽo, and áwríte on ǽlcon
ende _Mattheus_ and _Marcus_, _Lucas_ and _Johannes_. Lege ðæt Cristes
mǽl on ðone pyt neoðeweardne; cweðe ðonne: _Crux Mattheus_, _Crux
Marcus_, _Crux Lucas_, _Crux Sc’s Johannes_. Nim ðonne ða turf and sette
ðǽr ufon on, and cweðe ðonne nigon síðon ðás word, _Crescite_, and swá
oft, _Pater noster_; and wende ðe ðonne eástweard, and onlút nigon síðon
eádmódlíce, and cweð ðonne ðás word:
“eástweard ic stande,
árena ic me bidde:
bidde ic ðone mǽran dñe,
bidde ðone miclan drihten,
bidde ic ðone háligan
heofonríces weard:
eorðan ic bidde
and up heofon,
and ðá sóðan
sancta Marian,
and heofones meaht
and heáh reced,
ðæt ic móte ðis gealdor,
mid gife drihtnes,
tóðum ontýnan,
ðurh trumne geþanc,
áweccan ðás wæstmas ús
tó woruld nytte,
gefylle ðás foldan
mid fæste geleáfan,
wlitigigan ðás wancg turf;
swá se wítega cwæð,
ðæt se hæfde áre on eoðrice
se ðe ælmyssan
dǽlde dómlíce,
drihtnes þances.
“Wende ðe ðonne þriwa sunganges, ástrecce [ðe] ðonne on andlang, and
árim ðǽr _Letanias_, and cweð ðonne, _Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus_, oð
ende. Sing ðonne _Benedicite_ áþenedon earmon, and _Magnificat_, and
_Pater noster_ iii, and bebeód hit Criste and sancta Marian, and ðære
hálgan róde, tó lofe and tó weorðinga, and ðám [tó] áre ðe ðæt land áge,
and eallon ðám ðe him under-þeódde synt.
“Ðonne ðæt eall síe gedón, ðonne nime man uncúð sǽd æt ælmesmannum, and
selle him twa swyle swylce man æt him nime and gegaderie ealle his
sulhgeteógo tógædere: borige ðonne on ðám beáme stór and finol and
gehálgode sápan, and gehálgod sealt. Nim ðonne ðæt sǽd, sete on ðæs
sules bodig. Cweð ðonne:
“Erce, Erce, Erce,
eorðan módor,
geunne ðe se alwealda
éce drihten,
æcera wexendra
and wridendra
eácniendra
and elniendra:
sceafta hen
se scíre wæstma,
and ðǽre brádan
bere wæstma,
and ðǽre hwítan
hwǽte wæstma,
and ealra
eorðan wæstma,
Geunne him
éce drihten,
and his hálige ðe
on heofenum sint,
ðæt ðis yrð sí gefriðod wið ealra
feónda gehwǽne,
and heó sí geborgen wið ealra
bealwa gehwylc,
ðára lybláca
geond land sáwen.
Nú ic bidde ðone waldend
se ðe ðás weoruld gesceóp,
ðæt ne sí nán tó ðæs cwidol wíf,
né tó ðæs cræftig man,
ðæt áwendan ne mæge
worud ðús gecwedene.
“Ðonne man ða sulh forð drífe and ða forman furh onsceóte, cweð ðonne:
“Hál wes ðú, Folde,
fira módor!
beó ðú grówende
on Godes fæðme,
fódre gefylled,
firum tó nytte!
“Nim ðonne ǽlces cynnes melo, and ábacæ man innewerdne handa brádne
hláf, and gecned hine mid meolce and mid háligwætere, and lecge under ða
forman furh. Cweðe ðonne:
“Ful æcer fódres
fira cinne
beorht blówende,
ðú geblétsod weorð
ðtæs háligan noman
ðe ðás heofon gesceóp,
and ðás eorðan
ðe we on lifiað.
Se god se ðás grundas geworhte,
geunne ús grówende gife,
ðæt ús corna gehwylc
cume tó nytte.
“Cweð ðonne þriwa _Crescite in nomine Patris sit benedicti. Amen_: and
_Pater noster_ þriwa.”
-----
Footnote 871:
Edited by the Rev. T. O. Cockayne for the Master of the Rolls’ Series,
1864-1866, under the title of “Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of
Early England.”
Footnote 872:
Fol. 193.
Footnote 873:
MS. Harl. 585. fol. 196. 196 b.
Footnote 874:
MS. Harl. No. 585. fol. 197.
Footnote 875:
Ibid. fol. 197.
Footnote 876:
Ibid. fol. 200.
Footnote 877:
MS. Harl., No. 585, fol. 186.
Footnote 878:
MS. Cott., Caligula, A. vii., fol. 171_a_; Cockayne, i. 398.
-----
The greater number of these pieces will be found printed very carefully
from the MSS., and translated into English, in the Rev. O. Cockayne’s
_Leechdoms_.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
Printed by Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s Note
A large analytical table spanning pp. 106-107 has been split into
multiple tables, and the first column (containing county names) repeated
in each. It has also been moved to fall on a paragraph break.
On two occasions (‘downfal’ and ‘recal’), a second ‘l’ has been added,
though it’s possible that each was spelled with an obsolete variant.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and
are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original,
not counting any embedded tables. Where a third reference is employed,
the reference is to the line within the designated footnote (e.g.
166.1.1 refers to the first line in the first footnote on p. 166, as
printed).
3.4 prevent the downfal[l] of their people Added.
100.1.3 “per clericalem honorem[.”] Added.
112.12 while the impossib[i]lity of reckoning Inserted.
124.15 to their very existence in the wi[l]derness Inserted.
133.15 a[u/n]d to be exposed to it Inverted.
165.1 [f/F]ar otherwise however Replaced.
166.1.1 was, _in [its]elf_, inferior Added.
226.24 and Wine hath Wærðrýð to wife[,/.] Replaced.
226.29 was removed [f]rom> Hǽðfeld Restored.
276.23 within other twenty-one da[sy/ys] Transposed.
300.13 king’s own demes[m/n]e Replaced.
354.33 to recal[l] to the memory Added.
364.5 Merseberg _sic_
Merseburg?
373.3.1 See Salomon a[u/n]d Saturn, p. 129. Inverted.
374.18 E[o/ó]stermónað, which is now interpreted Replaced.
399.4 a general expression for them[ ]all Added.
425.16 is of a most thoroughly mythological Inserted.
cha[r]acter
429.25 ubi Dominus voluerit[”/’] Replaced.
432.7 a sharp bolt was shot[,/.] Replaced.
451.27 809. Chron. [Sax.] 1010. Added.
470.22 Peartingas. _sic_
Pærtingas?
491.14 being famil[i]ar to the people inserted.
503.25 Wincuf, Wulfwer[p/d] Replaced.
520.25 and Ælf[é/e]h feng tó his lǽne. Replaced.
521.19 all the claims of ow[n]ership Inserted.
528.10 an unexhausted field for the collect[e/o]r Replaced.
529.9 nalæs mid fǽgan.” Added.