Now William de Roumare was not old enough to claim his inheritance from the King till 1122, and his half-brother, Ranulf, was some years younger than he was, as the words of Orderic imply in 1140. Consequently Hugh, the youngest brother, can have been only a boy in 1122. How then could he, as Mr Waters alleges, have held a fief in right of his wife so early as 1115 or thereabouts?

In this assumption, however, he only follows Stapleton, to whom he here refers, and who relied on an abstract in the cartulary of Spalding (fol. 416 a, b). This abstract which cannot, from its form, preserve the wording of the original charter, runs:

Sciant tam presentes quam futuri quod Hugo frater Rannulfi comitis Cestrie et Matild' uxor ejus, fil' filia [sic] Lucie comitisse concesserunt, etc., etc.

Stapleton boldly rendered the obviously corrupt words as 'son and daughter-in-law of the countess Lucia',⁹ and hence pronounced this Hugh to be 'a married brother of the whole blood' to the second Randulf, Earl of Chester.¹⁰ As he only knew their gift to Spalding to be 'prior to 1141', no chronological difficulty was caused by this view; but the occurrence of Hugh's name in the Lindsey Survey, as already in possession of his small fief, at once raises the difficulty I have explained. The solution that occurs to me is that the Hugh fitz Ranulf of our survey, and the 'Hugo frater Ranulfi Comitis Cestrie' of the Spalding charter, was a brother, not of the second but of the first Earl Ranulf, and that the words 'fil' filia Comitisse Lucie' were introduced in error by the compiler, whose head was full of the Countess Lucy, and who had here confused the two Earls Randulf.

Stapleton, Mr Waters has justly observed, was 'facile princeps of Anglo-Norman genealogists'.¹¹ Yet I venture to think that, as he here mistook a brother of the first Earl Ranulf for a son, so he confused William Meschin, another and better known brother, with William de Roumare, the Earl's stepson, afterwards Earl of Lincoln. William Meschin was not merely a considerable landowner in Lindsey, but had also estates in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, as our survey of those counties show.¹² Stephen, according to Stapleton, created him Earl of Cambridge.

Remembering the dictum of Dr Stubbs that 'Stephen's earldoms are a matter of great constitutional importance', it is worth while to examine this earldom of Cambridge.

In one of Stapleton's greatest essays, that on Holy Trinity Priory, York,¹³ he writes of this William Meschin, that

By King Stephen he was made Earl of Cambridge, as we learn from the following extract from a charter of Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1139, founding the nunnery of Haverholm, in the parish of Ruskington, of the order of St. Gilbert of Sempringham. 'But this donation ... we have confirmed ... by the testimony of Rannulph, Earl of Chester, and of William, Earl of Cambridge, his brother' (p. 34).

The words in the original are:

Testimonio Rannulfi comitis Cestriæ et Willelmi comitis Cantebrigiæ fratris ejus (Mon. Ang., v. 949).

Now, though Stapleton is positive on the point, speaking again of 'William Meschin, Earl of Cambridge' (p. 35), and though this learned paper well sustains his reputation, yet he has here beyond question gone astray. Earl Randulf, first of his name, appears as deceased in the Pipe Roll of 1130. He could not therefore have been the Earl Randulf of 1139, who was his son and namesake. Therefore the latter's 'brother', the Earl of Cambridge, could not have been William Meschin, who was his father's brother.¹⁴ A short chart pedigree will make the matter clear:

The pedigree shows my solution of the mystery. The two brother-earls of 1139 are those who are found so constantly together, and who were jointly concerned, next year, in the surprise of Lincoln, but who were really only half-brothers, though they spoke of one another as 'frater'.

The identity of the 'Earl of Cambridge' is thus clearly established; but there of course remains the question why he is not here styled 'Earl of Lincoln'. Every mention of him as Earl of Lincoln is later, if this charter be rightly dated, so that he may possibly have changed his style. It is really strange that precisely as William, Earl of Lincoln, is here once styled Earl of Cambridge, so William, Earl of Arundel, is twice styled Earl of Lincoln, as I have shown in my Geoffrey de Mandeville (p. 324), though in that case also the fact had never been suspected. It is most tempting, if rash, to suggest that the reason why the Earl of Lincoln was at first Earl of Cambridge is that the Earl of Arundel (Sussex) was at first Earl of Lincoln, and thus kept him out of that title.

In any case an error has now been corrected, and one of Stephen's alleged earls disposed of.

The question of the date of this interesting survey is no less puzzling than important. Mr Greenstreet held that 'there is hardly any room for doubting' that it was previous to 1109. This conclusion was based on a misapprehension, and Mr Waters claimed to have 'established' the date as 'between March 1114 and April 1116' (pp. 2-4). In this conclusion he would seem to have been anticipated by Mr Eyton, as is shown by that writer's note-books,¹⁵ but I cannot accept the identical and somewhat far-fetched argument on which they relied. They obtained their limit on the one hand from a passage in 'Peter of Blois', and on the other from the fact that Robert, the King's son, is entered in the roll as 'filius Regis', and 'was therefore not yet Earl of Gloucester', whereas he was certainly Earl, they say, 'before Easter, 1116', when he witnessed as Earl, a charter they both assign to that date.

Of the latter date I disposed in my paper 'The Creation of the Earldom of Gloucester',¹⁶ in which I showed that Robert did not become Earl till several years later. The other evidence, if it cannot be disproved, cannot at least, be relied on. For, without asserting that the chronicle assigned to 'Peter of Blois' is so daring a forgery as the 'Historia Ingulphi', of which it is a 'continuatio', it must be plainly described as absolutely untrustworthy. Apart from the passage on Cambridge University,¹⁷ we have a description 'Inclyti Comitis Leycestriæ Roberti tunc validissimi adolescentis, burgensiumque suæ dictæ civitatis' in 1113, and of his presence, with his knights, at the laying of the Abbey foundation stones next year.¹⁸ Now the future Earl of Leicester was some nine years old at the time, and his father, the Count of Meulan, lived till 1118. So also, about the year 1114 we meet with 'Milonis Comitis Herfordensis', who did not become Earl of Hereford till 1141, and whose father, Walter of Gloucester, was living long after 1114; while on the next page we find the notoriously false Countess Lucy legend, with the additional blunder of converting her son, the Earl of Lincoln, into her husband's brother!¹⁹ It is in the midst of all this that we have the vital passage on which Mr Waters relies:

We know from the Continuator [sic] of Peter of Blois (p. 121) that Stephen and his elder brother Theobald were on a visit to Henry I, at Oxford, at some period between March 7th and August 1st, 1114, when Theobald is described as Count of Blois, and Stephen as 'pulcherrimus adolescens dominus postea rex Anglorum'. It is manifest that at this date Stephen was not yet Count of Moreton, so the Roll must be later than March 7th, 1114 (p. 3).

The fact that this alleged visit is connected by 'Peter' with intervention in favour of the Abbot of Crowland, will not lessen the suspicion under which the evidence must lie. Crowland was guilty of 'hiring', Dr Stubbs has severely observed, 'Peter of Blois, or some pretended Peter who borrows an illustrious name, to fabricate for her an apocryphal chronicle'.²⁰

The actual proof of the survey's date is minute, no doubt, but conclusive. In the Lindsey Survey, 'the sons of Ragemer' (himself the Domesday under-tenant) are found holding of Walter de Gant; therefore their father, at the time of the survey, had been succeeded by them in this holding. But, as 'Rachmar, son of Gilbert', he is found attesting a charter of Maud, Walter de Gant's wife, to Bridlington Priory, which is addressed to Thurstan, Archbishop of York, and which therefore must be later at the very least than his election, August 15, 1114. Therefore Ragemer was alive after that date, and the survey, at the time of which he was dead, can consequently scarcely be earlier than 1115. On the other hand, we can scarcely place it later than the death of the great Count of Meulan in the summer of 1118,²¹ though, as I have urged in the Genealogist, the lands he had held might still be assigned to 'the Count of Meulan', till his fiefs were divided among his sons, who were boys at the time of his death. On the whole we may safely assign the survey to 1115-1118, and in any case it cannot possibly be later than the close of 1120.

As, according to Stapleton, the best authority, it is in this survey that the name of Marmion first appears in England, it may not be inopportune to examine here the accepted pedigree of that house. In the Roger Marmion of our survey we have its undoubted ancestor, but of Robert Marmion, who appears on its opening folio as a tenant of Walter de Gant at Winteringham, one cannot speak so positively. In Domesday Winteringham, as 12 carucates, was held of Gilbert de Gant by 'Robertus homo Gilberti' (354b): in our Survey eleven²² of these carucates were held of Gilbert's son Walter by Robert Marmion, and the twelfth in capite by Roger Marmion. Mr Waters (p. 17) identifies the former with the Domesday under-tenant, which is a tempting solution, were not the Domesday Robert also under-tenant at Risby (which was held in our survey not by Marmion, but by Walter de St Paul). It seems to me more probable that Robert, the under-tenant in our survey, was, as Mr Waters, contradicting himself, elsewhere observes (p. 14), the son and heir of Roger. Yet of Roger Marmion's estate at Fulstow, Mr Waters writes (p. 27): 'Roger's father, Robert Marmion, was tenant there in Domesday of Robert Dispenser.' This would give us an interesting clue. But on turning to Domesday (363b), we find that it is only one more mistake of Mr Waters, its 'Robertus' being no other than Robert Dispenser himself.²³

Stapleton, who worked out the descent, held that Roger's son Robert, who had succeeded by 1130, and who was slain in 1143, was father of the Robert who died in 1218. I would rather interpolate another Robert between the two:

The pedigree really turns on the charter of Henry III in 1249, to Philip Marmion, confirming the royal charters to his ancestor. Mr Stapleton declares that Henry inspected and confirmed

The charter which King Henry, his great-great-grandfather, had made to Robert Marmyon, great-grandfather of Philip Marmyon, of having warren in all his land in the county of Warwick, and especially at Tamworth; and likewise of the charter of King Henry, his uncle ['Avunculus noster' is the reading transcribed on the rolls, obviously in error of 'atavus noster'], which he had made to the said Robert of having warren in all his land of Lindesay (Rot. Scacc. Norm., II. cvi.).

This abstract is strangely inaccurate, considering that Stapleton had, clearly, examined the Inspeximus²⁴ for himself. Henry VI inspected and confirmed:

• (1) The charter of Henry I, granting Robert Marmion freewarren in Warwickshire (specially at Tamworth) as his father had.
• (2) The charter of Henry II (confirming the above charter), 'T. Tom. Canc. apud Brugiam', and therefore granted in 1155.
• (3) The charter of Henry III, who had inspected—
  • (a) 'Cartam quam Henr' rex avus [sic] noster [i.e. Henry II] fecit Roberto Marmyon proavo Philippi Marmyun';
  • (b) 'Cartam Henrici regis avunculi nostri quam fecit Roberto'; and confirmed them as the charters, 'H. Regis avi nostri et H. regis avunculi nostri', to Philip Marmion.

It is clear then that Henry III inspected the charter of his grandfather ('avus') Henry II (not, as Mr Stapleton wrote, his great-great-grandfather'), in 1155, to Robert Marmion, 'proavus' of Philip. This, it will be seen, could only be the Robert whom I have inserted in the pedigree. Nor can Mr Stapleton's 'atavus' assumption be accepted in view of the facts. The 'avunculus' and namesake of Henry III would duly have been the 'young king' Henry (crowned 1170). If 'avunculus' is a clerical error, the word to substitute is 'avus'; but the careful way in which the charter distinguishes the King's two predecessors is quite opposed to the idea that they were in both cases his grandfather.

As against the evidence afforded us by the charter of Henry III, we have the statements and documents relating to Barbery Abbey, a daughter of Savigny. It is alleged that the house was first founded in 1140²⁵ by that Robert Marmion who was slain at Coventry in 1143.²⁶ Stapleton accepted this without question. Yet, so far as documents are concerned, we have only the charter of Robert Marmion (1181), in which he speaks of his father Robert as beginning the foundation.²⁷ If that father were indeed the Robert who was slain in 1143, Stapleton's pedigree is duly proved as against that which I derive from Henry the Third's charter. But for this identification we have only, it would seem, the obiter dictum of the 'Gallia Christiana' editors, while the fact that the first Abbot was appointed about 1177,²⁸ combined with the fact that Robert Marmion, in 1181, was avowedly completing that foundation which his father's death had arrested, certainly seems to point to his father's benefaction being then recent, and little previous to the said appointment of the first Abbot. In that case his father would be not the Robert who died in 1143, but a Robert who, as I suggest, came between the two.²⁹

Leaving now this question of pedigree, there is a theory as to the name of Marmion which one cannot pass over in silence, because it has received the sanction even of Stapleton. Writing on the date of the Lindsey Survey, that eminent authority observes:

Robert Le Despenser [Dispensator] was brother of Urso de Abbetot, whose other surname, Marmion, is equivalent in Norman French to the Latin word Dispensator; and as Robert Marmion died in 1107, it was probably in the following year that this catalogue was written.³⁰

His meaning, though clumsily expressed, as was sometimes the case, is that the Latin 'Dispensator' represented the name 'Marmion'. This theory would seem to be derived from the word 'Marmiton' (not 'Marmion') which means not a 'Dispensator', but a scullion, the most despised of the menials employed in the kitchen. There was indeed in old French a rare word 'Marmion', but according to Godefroy, it was equivalent to 'Marmot', the name of the Marmoset. In any case, therefore, this illustrious surname, immortalized by Scott

had nothing to do with 'Dispensator', but meant either a scullion or a monkey, and was one of those nicknames that the Normans loved to inexorably bestow on one another.

What was the actual relation of the Marmions to Robert 'Dispensator' is a problem as yet unsolved. Mr Waters wrote:

It is generally believed that Scrivelsby and the rest of the Honour of Dispenser came to the Marmions through the marriage of Roger Marmion's grandson,³¹ Robert Marmion, who was the husband of Matilda de Beauchamp, the grand-daughter of Urso de Abitot, and grand-niece of Robert Dispenser. But the Roll proves that Roger Marmion was the immediate heir of Robert Dispenser (p. 14).

I know of no such general belief. Stapleton, to whom one would naturally turn, had pointed out long before, in his 'Rolls of the Norman Exchequer', that this survey proves Roger Marmion to have held the Lincolnshire fief of Robert 'Dispensator',³² while those who have identified the latter magnate with Robert 'Marmion' have traced the descent of Scrivelsby in the Marmions even from the Conquest.³³

In any case, as I wrote in my Ancient Charters (1888) of a document there published:

The succession of Urse [de Abetot] to this [Lincolnshire] fief is a genealogical discovery which throws a wholly new light on the very difficult problem of the relation of Marmion to Despenser, and is fatal to the assertion of Mr Chester Waters that 'Roger Marmion was the immediate heir of Robert Dispenser'.

Moreover, in the Leicestershire Survey,³⁴ and still more in that of Worcestershire,³⁵ we have evidence that Robert's inheritance was shared between Beauchamp and Marmion which points there also to descent through Urse de Abetot. In my Geoffrey de Mandeville (pp. 313-5) I have suggested that in their rivalry for Tamworth,³⁶ the Marmions embraced the cause of Stephen, and the Beauchamps that of Maud, their variance being terminated under Henry II by a matrimonial alliance. Such a compromise was common enough. It was agreed on in the case of Grantmesnil; it was carried out at this very period in that of Fitzharding and Berkeley; it was again resorted to at a later stage in the history of the house of Berkeley; it was arranged in the case of Hastings; and it was repeated in that of Boleyn, where the Butler inheritance was at stake.³⁷

¹ English Historical Review, v. 96.

² I have discussed above (pp. 69-72) the bearing of its evidence on the problem of Domesday assessment, so need not recur to the subject here.

³ See note 31 below.

⁴ Vol. II. p. xcvi.

⁵ A Roll of the Owners of Land in the parts of Lindsey ('Reprinted from the Associated Architectural Societies Reports and Papers').

⁶ In consideration of which he received a pension on the Civil List.

⁷ There is a similar error on fo. 13, where the 'William fitz Aubrey' of Mr Waters proves to be 'filius Albrede' (not Alberici).

⁸ Hearne duly prints it as an interlineation.

⁹ Rolls of the Norman Exchequer, II. clvi.

¹⁰ He further hazarded the erroneous conjecture that Roheis, Countess of Lincoln, was his daughter.

¹¹ Gundrada de Warrenne, p. 9.

¹² See pp. 171, 179, infra.

¹³ pp. 1-237. Bound up in the York volume of the Royal Archæological Institute.

¹⁴ Stapleton indeed exposed himself unconsciously by stating on the very same page that William Meschin's lands had passed to his heirs 'prior to 1138', so that he could not be the Earl of 1139.

¹⁵ See on this point the important letters of Mr Greenstreet and Mr J. A. C. Vincent to the Athenæum, May 9 and June 27, 1885.

¹⁶ Geoffrey de Mandeville, p. 420 et seq.

¹⁷ Ed. Gale, pp. 114, 115.

¹⁸ Ibid., pp. 118, 119.

¹⁹ Ibid., pp. 124, 125.

²⁰ Lectures on Mediæval and Modern History, p. 148.

²¹ Survey of Lindsey, p. 2.

²² Mr Waters, in error, states two.

²³ It is an illustration of the ignorance prevalent on early genealogy that even Mr Freeman could write of 'Mr Chester Waters, than whom no man better deserves to be listened to on any point of genealogy, especially of the Norman genealogy of the eleventh and twelfth centuries' (English Historical Review, iii. 690).

²⁴ Rot. Pat. 27 Hen. VI, part i, m 30.

²⁵ Neustria Pia, 683.

²⁶ Gallia Christiana (1874), xi. 452.

²⁷ Neustria Pia, 881; Gall. Christ., xi., Instr. 86.

²⁸ Gall. Christ., xi. 452.

²⁹ Since this was written I have found that Mr C. F. R. Palmer, in his admirable little treatise on the Marmion family (1875), duly inserts this intermediate Robert. Mr Palmer has shown himself by far the best authority on the subject, and has printed a valuable charter of Stephen to Robert Marmion.

³⁰ Paper on 'Holy Trinity Priory, York', p. 208 note. This identification is accepted by no less an authority than Mr A. S. Ellis (Domesday Tenants of Gloucestershire, p. 69).

³¹ i.e. according to Stapleton's pedigree.

³² And Mr Palmer independently had done the same in his History of the Marmions (1865).

³³ Lodge's Scrivelsby: the Home of the Champions.

³⁴ See p. 174.

³⁵ See p. 174.

³⁶ It is certain that Tamworth originally belonged to Robert 'Dispensator', and equally certain that it was held successively by Roger and Robert Marmion under Henry I.

³⁷ See my Early Life of Anne Boleyn, pp. 25-7.

THE LEICESTERSHIRE SURVEY

(1124-29).

Asserting the importance of the Lindsey Survey, Mr Chester Waters observed that 'this is the sole record of its kind which deals with the interval between the completion of Domesday in 1086, and the compilation of the Pipe-Roll of 1129-30, and that no similar return of the landowners of any other county is known to exist' (p. 2). And, indeed, it would seem that the survey to which I now address myself has hitherto remained unknown. It is found in the form of a late transcript on an unidentified roll in the Public Record Office.¹

Comprising the whole of Gosecote Wapentake, and in part those of Framland and Gartree, it retains for these divisions the Domesday name of Wapentake—they are now 'Hundreds'—while subdividing them into small 'Hundreds', of which the existence seems to have been hitherto unsuspected. Proceeding, like the I.C.C., 'Hundred' by 'Hundred', and Vill by Vill, it enables us, like that document, to reconstitute the aggregate assessments, and thus affords priceless evidence on 'the six-carucate unit'.² But apart from this, it is invested with no small importance from that 'great want of documentary evidence' for the reign of Henry I which Mr Hunter rightly lamented in his elaborate introduction to the first great roll of the Pipe (p. ii). It affords us new and trustworthy evidence on the many vicissitudes of the great fiefs, and enables us, while tracing the fortunes of their owners, to see how the first Henry provided for his novi homines, showering escheats and royal demesne on the trusty officials he had raised 'from the dust', as well as on his favourite nephew, Stephen, Count of Mortain.

The date of this survey is thus determined. The frequent mention of 'Rex D[avid]' places it subsequent to his accession to the throne in April 1124. On the other hand, the name of Ralf Basset (the justiciar) shows it to be anterior to his death; and he was dead before Mich., 1130 (Rot. Pip., 31 Hen. I). Moreover, it speaks more than once of Hugh de Leicester as 'Vicecomes', and Hugh's shrievalty seems from the Pipe-Roll to have terminated at Mich., 1129. We may therefore place this survey between the spring of 1124 and the autumn of 1129, with a likelihood of its having been compiled nearer the latter date.

Text of the Survey

... 'Comes Lerc[estri]æ vj. car.

H[undredum] de³ Langeton'.—In eadem villa Comes Lerc[estriæ] xj. car. et j. virg. Ibidem Ric[ardus] Basset iii. car. et. j. virg. In thorp Eustaci[us] iij. car. et. iij. virg. In alia Langeton' Abbas de Burg' iiij. car. et iii. virg. Ibidem Henricus de pport j. car. In thurlington idem Henricus xij. car. In sscanketon' Comes Lerc[estriæ] x. car. Ansch' ij. car.⁴

H[undredum] de Chiburd'.—In eadem villa xii. car. de feodo Ansch'. In alia chiburd' Walt[erus] de Bell' campo xj. car., Ricardus Basset j. car. In bocton Comes Leicestriæ xij. car. In carleton' idem Comes x. car. Et Monachi Sancti Arnulphi v. virg. Et de ssoch' Regis iij. virg.⁵

H[undredum] de Knossinton.—In eadem villa ij. car. de Honore de Blida. Et Henricus de ferr' iij. car. et. iij. virg. In Osolinstona Rex D[avid] vij. car. In Picwell et in Lucerthorp de feudo Rogeri de Moubray xv. car. In Neubotel Robertus de ferr' j. car. et dim. In Burg' Marm' iij. car. In Balbegrave vj. car. iij. bov. minus de Soch[a] Regis. In Mardefeud iij. car. de eadem Soch[a]. In alia Mardefeud iij. car.⁶

Gosecote Wap'

H[undredum] de Lodinton[e], in Sceftinton[e] Norm[annus] de Verdun viij. car. et dim. Ricardus Bass[et] iij. car. et dim. In Gokebia Normannus de Verdun vj. car. In Adelacston[e] v. car. et j. virg. de feodo Regis David. Et de Soch[a] Regis iij. virg. In Ludinton[e] Ricardus Basset xii. car. In Thorp et in Twyford Ricardus de Roll[os] ix. car. j. bov. minus. Ibidem Henricus de ferr[ariis] ix. car. j. bov. minus. Et de Soch[a] Regis v. car. Ex hiis Grimbaldus tenet dim. car. et Rex D[avid] j. car. In Norton[e] x. bov. Walter de Bello campo vj. car. Et Roger de Moubray iiij. car. et iij. virg.⁷

H[undredum] de⁸ Tilton.—In eadem villa ij. car. j. bov. minus de Soch[a] Regis. Ibidem Walt[erus] de Bello campo iij. car. Archiepiscopus⁹ j. car. In Neuton[e] Walter de Bello campo iiij. car. Roger de Moubray viii. car. In Lousebia Rex David xij. car. In Watebergia Dominicum Regis iiij. car. In Hallested Normannus de Verdun iij. car. j. virg. minus.¹⁰

H[undredum] de bebia.—In eadem villa Abbas de Croyland xij. car. In Cahiham iiij. car. de Soch[a] Regis. Comes Lercestrie ij. car. In Hung'ton ix. car. In Siglebia ix. car. et. vj. bov. et dim. de¹¹ Comite Lercestriæ. Ibidem Comes Cestrie iij. car. Ibidem Ricardus Basset ij. car. Robertus de ferrer[iis] v. bov.¹²

H[undredum] de Barkbia.—In eadem villa v. car. de feodo de Belvar[o]. In Hamelton' et in thorp vi. car. de eodem feudo, et de feodo Comitis Lercestriæ j. car. et dim. In Thormedeston Canonici iij. car. In Crocheston[e] ij. car. et j. bov. et dim. de Soch[a] Regis. In Neubold[e] Robertus de ferer[iis] j. car. et dim. In Barnesby Rex iij. car. et dim. bov. Ibidem Comes Lercestriæ xiij. bov. In Gadesby [t]erra¹³ Reg[is] viij. car. et dim. et dim. et dim. [sic] bov. Ibidem Episcopus Lincolniensis viij. bov. Comes Lercestriæ j. car. et dim. bov. Ricardus Basset dim. car. Rex D[avid] ij. car.¹⁴

H[undredum] de Essebia.—In eadem villa Rex David v. car. Ibidem Hugo de Lerc[estria] j. car. In Humberstay Roger de Ram[is] viij. car. Ibidem Walter de Mustere j. car. Rad[ulfus] de Martinwast iij. car. In Mardegrave Comes Lercestriæ xij. car. In thurmedeston idem Comes car. [sic.] Idem in Burstall ix. car. Idem in Anlepia vij. car. Idem in Anesting[e] vj. car.¹⁵

H[undredum] de Resebia.—In eadem villa Ricardus Basset v. car. Ibidem Comes Cestrie ij. car. et dim. Rex David iiij car. et dim. In Quenburg[o] xij. car. de feodo de Belvar[o]. In Siefton[e] Comes Lercestriæ xij. car. In Brokesbya Comes [sic] Cestrie v. car. Rex David j. car. quam Pip[er]d tenet. In Quenebia vj. car. de feodo de Belvar[o]. In thurketleston[e] de feodo Comitis viij. car. In Cropeston[e] iiij. car. In Rodeleia terra Regis v. car.¹⁶

H[undredum] de Magna Dalbia.—In eadem villa Episcopus Lincolniensis ix. car. et dim. Radulfus Basset j. car. et iij. bov. Ibidem Wil[elmus] Gam[erarius] j. car. In frisebia Comes Cestrie iij. car., et de Soch[a] Regis viij. car. In Rederbia Comes cestrie vi. car. In Asfordebia Comes Lercestriæ xiij. car. In Wartnadeby de Soch[a] Regis vi. car.¹⁷

Hundredum de Dalbia super Wald'.—In eadem villa ix. car. de feodo Edwardi de sar[esbiria], Comes Lercestrie iij. car. In Grimestona de Soch[a] Regis iij. car. j. bov. et dim. minus. Ricardus Basset iij. car. In Saxebia Comes Lercestrie v. car. et de Soch[a] Regis j. car. In Siwaldebia Comes Lercestrie vj. car. In Cosinton[e] Comes Cestrie vj. car. In Horton[e] Robertus de Jor' ij. car.¹⁸

H[undredum] de Turstanestona.—In eadem villa Thomas x. car. et iij. virg. Ibidem Roger de Moubray xiiij. bov. In Wileges ij. car. de eodem feudo. In Rachedal[e] vj. car. de eodem feudo. In Houbia vij. car. et j. virg. de feodo Thome. Ibidem de feodo Albemarl' iiij. car. et iij. virg.¹⁹

H[undredum] de tunga.—In eadem villa cum appendiciis xij. car. de feodo Roberti de ferr[ariis]. In Caggworth Comes Cestrie xv. car. In Wrdintona iij. car. secundum cartam Regis et s[uper] dictum²⁰ hominum hundredi xij. car.²¹

H[undredum] de²² Luaeb'.—In eadem villa j. H[ida] et xiij. car. cum appendiciis. In cherlega vj. car. et dim. In Dixeleia et in Geroldon et in Thorp ix. car. In Hantirna est dim. H[ida].²³

H[undredum] de Beltona.—In eadem villa Normannus de Verdon vj. car. In Overton[e] Ricardus Basset iiij. car. In Wrdinton[e] j. car. In alia Overton[e] Robertus de ferr[ariis] ij. car., ibidem Comes Cestrie j. car. In Stanton Robertus de ferr[ariis] ij. car. Ibidem Normannus de Verdon iij. car. In Dailescroft Philippus de Bello Campo Maresc[allus] j. car. In Doninton Comes Cestrie cum appendiciis xxij. car. et dim. In Witewic Comes Lercestrie j. car. et dim. Ibidem Robertus de ferr[ariis] j. car. et dim.²⁴

H[undredum] de Dichesword.—In eadem villa Robertus de ferr[ariis] vj. car. et j. virg. Comes cestrie vj. car. Ibidem Comes iij. car. et dim. Normannus de Verdon j. car. et ij. bov. In Hanthirn[e] ix. car. In Widesers iij. car. Willelmi de Gresel[e]. Idem in Lintona j. car. In blakefordeb[ia] Comes Lercestriæ iij. car. In Culverteb[ia] ij. car. et Robertus de ferr[ariis] j. car. In Wodete Robertus de ferr[ariis] j. car. et dim. In Alton[e] Comes Lercestriæ j. car. et dim. Idem in Raveneston[e] j. virg. et dim. Ibidem Comes Cestrie iij. virg. et dim. Et Comes War' ij. car. In Suipestona Hugo vic[ecomes] ij. car.²⁵

H[undredum] de Seyla.—In eadem villa Robertus de ferr[ariis] vij. car. In alia Seyla idem vj. car. Idem in Bocthorp j. car. Idem in appelbia j. car. et j. bov. Idem in Strecton j. car. et dim. Idem in Durantestorp ij. car. quas Walkelinus tenet. Idem in Swepeston[e] vj. car. In Neuton ij. car. In Actorp dim. car. In Chilteston Comes cestrie j. car. Idem in Alpelbia dim. car. In Assebia Comes Lercestriæ iij. car. In Pakinton Hugo Vicecomes v. car. Idem in Osgodesthorp dim. car. In scegla Henricus de Alben[eio] ij. car. que pertinent ad defencionem de Swepeston[e].²⁶

H[undredum] de Shepesheved.—In eadem villa Comes [        ]²⁷ et in wacthon[e] et in Lokinton et in Aminton ij. h[idas] et dim. et iiij. car. In Wacton[e] Normannus de Verdon ij. car. et ij. bov.²⁸

Framelaund Wap'

H[undredum] de caleverton[e].—In eadem villa xij. car. de feodo Willelmi de Alben[eio]. In Someredebia Robertus de ferr[ariis] v. car. Ibidem Roger de Moubray vj. car. Ibidem Robertus Marm[ion] iij. car. et in Burg[o] iij. car. In Dalbia Robertus de ferr[ariis] v. car. et j. bov. de feodo tessun. Ibidem Roger de Moubray xv. bov. In Wittok Walt[erus] de bello campo j. car. et dim. In Gillethorp Roger de Moubray iij. car. Idem in Burg[o] j. car. In Neubold Robertus de ferr[ariis] j. car. et dim.²⁹

H[undredum] de Estwell.—In eadem villa Robertus de ferr[ariis] ij. car. Ibidem Roger de Moubray vj. car. Robertus de insula iiij. car. In aitona idem Robertus iij. car. et ij. bov. Et de Belvero dim. car. et dim. bov. Ibidem Robertus de insula viij. car. et iij. bov. et dim. In Branteston[e] Episcopus Lincolniensis vij. car. et dim. Robertus de Insula iiij. car. et dim.³⁰

H[undredum] de Melton[e].—In eadem villa Roger de Moubray xv. car. Idem in Burton[e] xj. car. et vij. bov. Et de Honore blide iij. car. Robertus de ferr[ariis] ix. bov. In Fredebia ix. car. et ij. bov. et dim.³¹

H[undredum] de Chirchebia.—In eadem villa Roger de Moubray xxiiij. car. Idem in chetlebia viiij. car. In Sixtenebia iiij. car. et dim. de eodem feudo. Ibidem Rex D[avid] iiij. car. et dim. In alebia ix. car. de feudo Rogeri. Ibidem Rex David iij. car.³²

H[undredum] de Droctona.—In eadem villa Comes de Moretonio xij. car. In thorp Comes Lercestriæ xij. car. In brantingbia vj. car. de eodem feodo. In Ringolfestorp ij. car. et ij. bov. de eodem feodo. Robertus de ferrer[iis] j. car. et vj. bov. In Wyfordebia iiij. car. et dim. de blide. Roger de Moubray j. car. et dim. In chetelby et Holewell[e] ix. car. de feodo Basset. Episcopus Lincolniensis j. car.³³

H[undredum] de Scaldeford.—In eadem villa Rex David xj. car. et dim. Ricardus Basset dim. car. In Goutebia Roger de Moubray vj. car. In Knipton Comes de Moriton[io] viij. car. et vi. bov., et Willelmus de Alben[eio] iij. car. et ij. bov.³⁴

H[undredum] de³⁵ Waltham.—In eadem villa Comes Lercestriæ xvj. car. et dim. Alanus de creon ij. car. et dim. In Stonesbia idem Alanus viij. car. In Caston Robertus de ferr[ariis] ix. car.³⁶

H[undredum] de Barcheston.—In eadem villa Willelmus de Alben[eio] xxiij. car. G. Camerarius j. car. In Saltebia et berthaldebia xx. car. de feodo Peuerelli. In Garthorp Willelmus Mesch[in] vij. car.³⁷

H[undredum] de Sproxcheston[e].—In eadem villa Rex David viij. car. Alanus de Creon ij. car. Ibidem filius Gilberti ij. car. In Bucheminest[re] et in Seustern[e] ix. car. et dim. de feodo Episcopi Lincolniensis. Ibidem Robertus de ferer[iis] dim. car. Willelmus Mesch[in] v. car. In Sessebia Rex David iij. car. Robertus de ferrer[iis] iij. car.³⁸

H[undredum] de Claxton[e].—In eadem villa xvi. car. et dim. et dim. bov. Ibidem Henricus Tuchet xj. car. j. bov. minus. In Houwes de feodo de Beluer vij. car. et dim.³⁹

H[undredum] de Stapelford.—In eadem villa x. car. de feodo Roberti de ferrer[iis]. In Wymundeham et in thorp xxvij. car. et dim. de eodem feodo. Ricardus Basset iij. car. et dim.⁴⁰

H[undredum] de Herdebia.—In eadem villa et in plungar xvij. car. de feodo Willelmi de Alben[eio]. Ibidem Ricardus Basset j. car. In Stacthirn Willelmus de Alben[eio] viij. car. et dim. Ibidem Roger de Moubray viij. car. Robertus de Insula j. car. et dim.⁴¹

H[undredum] de Botlesford.—In eadem villa et Moston et Normanton[e] Willelmus de Alben[eio] xxxij. car. Ibidem Agnes de Gaunt ij. car. In Moston[e] Robertus de Insula j. car. et dim.⁴²

[H]undredum de crocstona.—In eadem villa Comes Maur[itonii] xxiiij. car. In Harestan idem Comes xij. car.'⁴³ ...

[FINIS.]

The work of identifying the places named in this survey is difficult, not only from the corruption of the text, but also from the fact that many of them are only obscure names, needing, for their perfect ascertainment, local knowledge. A careful study of the map will show that these Leicestershire 'Hundreds', unlike those to which we are accustomed in the hidated districts, were strangely intermingled among themselves. Another of their peculiarities is that just as we find the reconquered 'shires' named each after its capital town, so these 'Hundreds' were each named after one of their Vills instead of after some natural object—probably the meeting-place of the primitive moot⁴⁴ —as so often in the south of England.

It is important to observe that, except for this survey, we should not even have known of the existence of these 'Hundreds' in Leicestershire. And when we compare the entry on our roll—'Framelaund Wap'. Hundredum de Calevertone. In eadem villa xii. car.'—with that in the Derbyshire Domesday: 'Morelestan Wepentac. Salle Hundred. In Salle et Draicot et Opewelle ... xii. car.' (i. 273), it is scarcely possible to resist the conclusion that, in this passage relating to Sawley, divided only by a river from Leicestershire, we have a glimpse of the same system existing in Derbyshire also. That is to say, that Sawley was not a 'Hundred' of twelve carucates,⁴⁵ as has been suggested,⁴⁶ but was the caput of a 'Hundred' similar to those of Leicestershire. I believe, indeed, that in our survey we see the system on which these counties were surveyed in 1086. The original returns will have been drawn up Wapentake by Wapentake, and 'Hundred' by 'Hundred'. But when transcribed into Domesday Book the entries were arranged under Wapentakes alone, and the headings of the 'Hundreds' omitted. In the case of Sawley alone the heading slipped in, immediately preceding the entry of the Manor, as it must have done on the original return. It is thus that I account for the mention of 'leets' slipping into the Norfolk Domesday, in two cases, from the original return;⁴⁷ just as, in Cambridgeshire, the total assessments of Impington and Chatteris have slipped, from the original returns, into the Inq. Eliensis,⁴⁸ though duly omitted in Domesday Book.

One more point should be noticed. The somewhat mysterious entry of land belonging 'ad defensionem de Swepestone' is at once made clear when we compare it with that 'Defensio x. acrarum', to which I have appealed⁴⁹ in discussing 'Wara', and which, like the 'wered' of the Northamptonshire geld-roll,⁵⁰ refers to assessment for Danegeld.

We will now collate some of our 'Hundreds' with the relative entries in Domesday.

In the case of this last Hundred our survey records a conflict of testimony and, in so doing, mentions incidentally (as would Domesday) the witness of the Hundred-court. Henry de Ferrers in the Domesday Survey, is credited with 21½ car. in 'Tunge cum omnibus appendiciis', and with four in 'Werditone' (i. 233). But here Tong, 'cum appendiciis', is reckoned at twelve car. only. There remained, therefore, to be accounted for a large balance of car., and these the men of the Hundred assigned to his Manor of Worthington. It is desirable to analyse some of the fiefs in our survey, and, by comparison with Domesday, to trace their descent or origin.