,,how ,,to ,,decipher ,,and ,,study ,,old ,,documents4 ,illustration ,,the ,,key ,,to ,,the ,,family ,,deed ,,chest ,,how ,,to ,,decipher ,,and ,,study ,,old ,,documents ,,being ,a ,,guide ,,to ,,the ,,reading ,,of ,,ancient ,,manuscripts ,,by ,e4 ,e4 ,,thoyts 7,,mrs4 ,,john ,,hautenville ,,cope7 ,,with ,,an ,,introduction ,,by ,c4 ,,trice ,,martin ,,assistant ,,keeper ,,of ,h4,m4 ,,records ,,second ,,edition ,,london ,,elliot ,,stock1 #fb1 ,,paternoster ,,row #aijc ,illustration ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,second ,,edition4 ,just ten years ago this little volume made its first appearance4 ,although many books on similar subjects have been written in that time1 none have exactly given the same information1 and this second edition has been decided upon4 ,additions and corrections to bring the book up to date have been made1 but much still remains1 and must remain1 imperfect in so small a work on so large a subject1 and the present pages only profess to help beginners over some of the initial difficulties they will meet with4 ,it has been urged that handwriting and its characteristics have nothing to do with old deeds1 but careful study of every line and letter is useful1 especially with regard to private letters1 or when any question arises as to whether the manuscripts are genuine or forgeries4 ,that is why the second chapter1 on handwriting and descriptions of old ink1 paper1 and paper marks and seals1 was written1 for all such items are of great importance4 ,a recent celebrated trial 7the ,shipway case1 in which an old register was altered7 shows that careful attention to minute details is necessary4 ,parish registers have not1 and are not1 at the present moment protected against frauds of this kind1 which are far less common than might be supposed4 ,old deeds are now bought and sold2 it is a trade quite as much as that in old books4 ,some years ago1 in ,edinburgh1 a number of clever forgeries were sold as genuine1 which if they had been so would have cleared up a historical question of great importance4 ,many friends who helped me when ,i first wrote the book are1 alas6 dead2 only their letters remain1 and from these ,i have used extracts in revising this edition4 ,mr4 ,trice ,martin has most kindly read it through and criticised it1 as he did ten years ago1 and if mistakes still remain1 ,i trust my readers will be lenient4 ,it must1 however1 be remembered that ,i am writing only about the class of deeds which are usually met with in old houses1 and not attempting to describe every description of charter or deed4 ,,emma ,,elizabeth ,,cope4 #acj1 ,,hyde ,,park ,,mansions1 ,w4 ,september1 #aijc4 ,illustration ,,author',s ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,first ,,edition4 ,in the following pages ,i have tried to describe the things which puzzled me when1 as a beginner1 ,i first essayed to read and understand the old records of bygone times4 ,written in a language ,i knew not1 relating to customs no longer existing1 all was strange and unfamiliar4 ,i toiled on2 by degrees light dawned and the difficulties melted away4 ,the knowledge thus gained ,i have endeavoured1 in all humility1 to write down as a possible guide and help to others who may1 like myself1 prefer to follow antiquarian research by means of old deeds and other manuscripts1 as being the original source and most trustworthy fountain-head of knowledge1 and by this means to avoid as much as possible repeating the assertions and mistakes of previous writers4 ,in the chapter on ,paleography ,i have named the books which were my guides1 and in these pages ,i have tried to supply information supplementary to what is already printed on the subject1 rather than repeat what has previously been explained4 ,the growing fashion for all kinds of antiquarianism creates a desire for books treating upon such subjects1 and this has induced me to write this book4 ,e4 ,e4 ,,thoyts4 ,,sulhamstead1 ,may1 #ahic4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,contents4 ,,chapter ,,page ,,introduction xi ,i4 ,,hints ,,to ,,the ,,beginner #a ,,ii4 ,,character ,,by ,,handwriting #ad ,,iii4 ,,saxon1 ,,norman-,,french ,,and ,,law ,,latin #bh ,,iv4 ,,old ,,deeds #da ,v4 ,,law ,,technicalities #ec ,,vi4 ,,manor ,,and ,,court ,,rolls #gj ,,vii4 ,,monastic ,,charters #hf ,,viii4 ,,parish ,,registers #ajc ,,ix4 ,,parish ,,officers ,,and ,,their ,,account ,,books #aab ,x4 ,,books ,,on ,,paleography #abg ,,xi4 ,,old ,,letters #ace ,,xii4 ,,abbreviations1 ,,etc4 #adb ,illustration ,illustration ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations4 ,,page ,,signature #bc ,,extract ,,from ,,domesday #bi ,,norman-,,french ,,deed #cd ,,form ,,of ,,fine #ef ,,sheriff',s ,,roll 7,,neville ,,mss47 #fe ,,court ,,roll #gf ,,arabic ,,numerals #gi ,,reading ,,abbey ,,charter #ib ,,reading ,,abbey ,,chartulary #id ,,paper-,,makers' ,,initials #acf ,,some ,,quaint ,,letters ,,from ,,old ,,parish ,,registers #acg ,illustration ,illustration ,,introduction4 ,books written to teach any branch of human knowledge are1 in most cases1 written by persons who have long known and used the knowledge which they impart1 and1 perhaps for that reason1 have more or less forgotten the steps of the ladder up which they have climbed2 but in this case the process has been so recent that the difficulties and dangers of each step have been remembered1 and the reader accordingly warned against them4 ,the meaning of the various kinds of documents which are likely to be found among the title-deeds of an estate1 or among the archives of a parish or a corporation1 are described without needless technicalities1 in a practical way1 which will appeal to those who begin to work among such material without previous knowledge4 ,the first step1 of course1 is to learn to read4 ,this wants perseverance and a quick eye1 but regular practice will soon enable the student to read any ordinary documents1 which at first seemed utterly unintelligible1 and gradually the power of understanding really difficult and obscure ,,mss4 will be acquired4 ,but this first step must be thoroughly mastered1 for to attempt to get information from old writings without thoroughly knowing the forms of the letters1 and the different systems of abbreviations and contractions1 would be like trying to keep accounts without knowing how to add up a column of figures4 ,and indeed paleography is the foundation of all history4 ,there may be historians1 like the late ,mr4 ,freeman1 who have but little knowledge of the science 7he1 ,i believe1 boasted of his inability to read a manuscript71 but then such writers rely on the paleographic knowledge of others1 who have edited the manuscripts which they desire to use1 and they have1 or ought to have1 sufficient scholarship to judge which are the best editions1 and even occasionally to detect editors' mistakes4 ,but an acquaintance with this branch of knowledge is often of the greatest use to biographers and historians4 ,it is much better1 for instance1 to be able to judge whether a certain document is of the age which it professes1 or in whose hand a draft of a treaty is1 than to have to accept the opinion of someone else4 ,the mistakes made through want of this knowledge are common1 and sometimes very amusing4 ,familiar enough is the old story of the parish priest in the time of ,king ,henry ,,viii41 who in the canon of the ,mass1 in the prayer after taking the wine1 read the word #8sumpsimus' as mumpsimus1 because he had a thirteenth-century missal in which s and m are much alike1 and refused to alter his mistake when it was pointed out to him4 ,it was referred to by ,king ,henry ,,viii4 in his speech to the ,parliament in #aede1 and1 in fact1 this ignorant priest has #8made himself an everlasting name' for conservative stupidity4 ,in more recent times1 the historian of one of our beautiful north-country abbeys talks of a gift of a silver chest by the founder in the eleventh century4 ,the reader wonders what this chest could have been--was it a native work or imported8 was it some ecclesiastical ornament or merely a strong box8 ,but on turning to the document on which the account is based1 the meaning is clear4 ,it was not a chest of silver1 but an ordinary coin known as a mark of silver4 ,the ,,ms4 reads unmarcargenti4 ,the writer of the book had not noticed the contraction over the first a1 divided the words wrongly1 and read it unam arcam1 instead of unam marcam4 ,in another similar book the story is narrated of the ill-treatment by a forester of an abbot whose house was near a royal forest4 ,the abbot was no doubt like the monk who made the celebrated pilgrimage to ,canterbury-- #8,an outrydere that lovede venerye4 99 99 99 99 99 ,he yaf nat of that text a pulled hen ,that seith that hunters been nat holy men4' ,and perhaps the forester had good reason to complain of him4 ,but in the account of the quarrel1 the forester is said to have gone into the abbot's kitchen and taken away his cabbages--not very likely things for a forester to take1 as he probably would have found something far better worth carrying off4 ,however1 on looking at the ,,ms4 it appears almost certain that what was read as chous is really chens1 that is1 chiens4 ,in fact1 they were the #8,grehoundes he hadde as swifte as fowel in flight1 ,for priking and for hunting for the hare1' who were perhaps lying before the fire asleep after a long afternoon's coursing4 ,in the same case it is said that the forester's treatment of the tenants on one of the abbey farms is so bad that no one dare die there2 it is suggested1 because the forester would not allow anyone to come to administer the last consolations of religion4 ,but the words de murir1 on which the observation is based1 are merely a careless scribe's writing of demeurer4 ,in another book farmers are represented as using stones for fuel1 which are suggested to have been coal2 but this results from mis-reading petarum 7peat71 as if it were petarum1 a contracted form of petrarum 7stones74 ,the spreading desire to know something of paleography is very remarkable1 and is much to be commended4 ,for all persons who interest themselves in the documents to which they may have access in the possession of private persons1 or in repositories not generally known1 are helping in the grand work of making clear the laws and customs and mode of living of our ancestors1 and thus constantly come across information1 not to be found in our more public collections of records1 which often throws light on many dark passages of history4 ,c4 ,t4 ,,martin4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,how ,,to ,,decipher ,,and ,,study ,,old ,,documents4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,hints ,,to ,,beginners4 ,fashion changes in everything2 but these alterations go on so imperceptibly1 so gradually1 that ofttimes we fail to recognise their progress except by glancing backwards into the past4 ,but the fashion of handwriting and its changes are very forcibly brought home to us when confronted for the first time with some old deed or paper2 and a feeling of helplessness reduces the amateur to the verge of despair as the pages of unintelligible hieroglyphics are spread out1 as unfamiliar as ,sanscrit or ,egyptian characters4 ,but perseverance conquers all difficulties4 ,every generation has its own particular type of writing4 ,compare1 for instance1 any bundle of letters taken1 hap-hazard1 out of an old desk or secrtaire2 it is quite easy to sort them into bundles in sequence of dates1 and also guess accurately the age and position of the writers4 ,the flowing ,italian hand1 used by educated women early in the last century1 changed with fashion into the freer style of the succeeding generation2 this in the third generation had further developed into the bold1 decisive1 almost masculine writing adopted by the more strong-minded females of the latter end of the nineteenth century4 ,of course1 school-teaching is responsible to a certain extent for handwriting4 ,our ,university men of to-day all1 with few exceptions1 use a neat scholarly form of writing1 free from flourishes1 and with simple capital letters and the small broken-backed ,greek letter 4 ,compared with the scholar's1 the soldier's writing is bolder and rounder1 while the clerk's is still more distinct in type in its open lettering1 interspersed with curls and twists4 ,so with most professions it will be found that each has special characteristics2 but these are liable to change according to circumstances2 thus1 the clerk will form his letters less distinctly after the need of great legibility no longer compels him to carefulness4 ,self-education will often alter a vulgar1 ill-formed writing to a better1 more studied style2 and writing is the clearest proof of both bodily and mental condition1 for in cases of paralysis or mental aberration the doctor takes it as a certain guide4 ,the writing of feeble-minded persons is like that of a scarcely-educated child4 ,looking back to the days when writing was a profession of itself1 it can easily be understood how it is that we find less variety among old writings4 ,for in those days1 before printing was discovered1 or at least but imperfectly executed and understood1 all books had to be produced by hand1 and were the work either of paid scribes1 whose duty it was to reproduce copies of well-known authors2 or else copied out by clerks or private secretaries at the dictation of the authors themselves1 who could seldom spare the time to commit their ideas to paper1 or1 even if they did so1 it was customary to have additional copies made by professed scribes4 ,unacquainted with the subjects of the books1 and copying merely from verbal dictation1 it is no wonder that mistakes and misunderstandings often occurred1 especially in the spelling of place and personal names2 for one man reading aloud to several scribes1 each would write down the names and words as they sounded to his individual sense of hearing1 for the constant interruption necessary to ensure complete accuracy would cause the process to be tedious and very lengthy4 ,private correspondence1 even1 was carried on as a profession2 writing shops existed up to a comparatively late period2 at present1 in out-of-the-way streets in ,london1 one reads the notice #8,letters written here1' though this generally means that letters may be sent to that address4 ,authors who indited or dictated their own books had them afterwards transcribed neatly for preservation1 and probably destroyed the original notes1 for of these comparatively few1 if any1 exist4 ,all the earliest scribes had a special education for their profession1 being sent to some monastery for that purpose2 hence they were either foreigners1 or educated under foreign monks1 either ,french or ,italian1 and the effect of this teaching is clearly demonstrated by the similitude which exists all over ,europe between manuscripts of the early ,middle ,ages4 ,in ,england the ,norman ,conquest overruled most of the previous customs and styles4 ,vast crowds of ,normans emigrated continuously to our shores4 ,this went on more or less for at least three or four centuries1 and then prejudice against foreigners asserted itself1 and the ,saxon element1 which still remained among the lower classes of the people1 gained the ascendant4 ,in the reign of ,henry ,v4 alien priories were suppressed1 and foreign monks and priests no longer travelled backwards and forwards from the ,norman abbeys to the junior houses or cells in ,england4 ,the rich merchants1 who resorted here from the ,low ,countries and ,germany1 brought with them their own customs and fashions2 and at this time will first be noticed the use of a written character1 like the modern ,german1 which steadily came more and more into use until the end of the seventeenth century1 when it died out and the style altered to a rounder1 freer hand4 ,so long as education was almost entirely monastic1 or at least conducted by teachers trained in monastic institutions1 we find 7as we should naturally expect to do7 a regularity1 carefulness and formality in the handwriting of the period2 but so soon as ,england had shaken off the authority of ,rome and the educated communities had been scattered and disbanded1 a marked change took place in the quantity and quality of all kinds of writing4 ,the monks and nuns1 rendered homeless by the ,reformation1 returned to their native villages1 thus spreading education among all classes and creating a desire after learning4 ,but the primary cause of the alteration in handwriting1 so very marked in the sixteenth century1 was perhaps attributable to the introduction of the art of printing1 which naturally was fatal to handwriting as a profession4 ,the scribe was no longer required to multiply the author's productions2 so that lawyers and public office clerks only remained out of the large class who had formerly earned their living as professional writers4 ,in the actual writing1 also1 a change took place4 ,the old elaborate letters were supplanted by the simple capitals copied from the printer's blocks4 ,some day1 maybe1 writing will die out altogether2 every year fresh improvements and inventions are increasing2 now type-writers and multiplying machines are used in place of handwriting in many offices1 while sooner or later typing by machine will be universal4 ,a hundred years ago1 very few if any of the labourers could either read or write2 even now1 in out-of-the-way country places1 there exist people ignorant of these 7to us7 necessary arts4 ,the marriage registers of the eighteenth century prove to us the ignorance of the country folk2 frequently neither the contracting parties nor their witnesses could write their names1 using instead either some eccentric monogram bearing a faint resemblance to initials--a memory perhaps of a bygone and very slight amount of teaching--or oftener still we find in lieu of name the old ,christian cross1 which has been in use by the illiterate from ,saxon times as a pledge of good faith and consent4 ,previous to the nineteenth century1 education in country places was either altogether absent or provided out of the bounty of the squire or parson1 the teacher being some old ignorant person prevented by age or bodily infirmity from pursuing active labour1 and whose qualifications were merely a smattering of the #8three ,r's1' which1 with plain sewing1 was the whole of his or her useful though scanty rpertoire4 ,children then were sent out to work at the age of nine or ten years1 and earlier if anybody could be found to employ them in service4 ,when once placed out1 they had no opportunities of gaining further book knowledge1 and soon forgot the little they had learnt for want of practice or stimulation1 nor had they sufficient mental capacity to study by themselves1 except in very exceptional cases of natural genius4 ,if this was the state of things within the memory of those still alive1 we can well believe how very limited was the knowledge of handwriting some hundreds of years ago1 and can more fully understand that the scribe was a very important personage1 and took great pride in his work4 ,it is very rare to find mistakes or erasures in the lettering of old charters4 ,varieties of spelling occur everywhere2 a name is often found spelt two or three different ways on the same page2 but this is easily explained if the work was written from dictation1 especially if pronounced to or by a foreigner4 ,our ,english language being so full of unexpected variations of spelling1 it is no wonder that names of people and places suffered at the hands of a transcriber unacquainted with the localities1 and who merely wrote down the words as they sounded to him4 ,the actual spelling of words remained fairly constant4 ,certainly to us they look very curious1 for ,english orthography has undergone innumerable changes2 in course of time new words are being coined1 and old words alter not only in spelling1 but also in meaning and significance4 ,if we wish for an example of ,old ,english phraseology1 we have our present version of the ,bible--which1 being translated into ,english in the seventeenth century1 now sounds quaint1 and in many parts the sense of the words is a matter of dispute4 ,if it be compared with the ,revised ,version the changes which have taken place in our language in the two past centuries become very evident4 ,all this must be borne in mind when the task of transcribing and translating old writing is undertaken1 and allowance must be made for all such alterations both in style and spelling4 ,it has been said that a knowledge of ,latin is indispensable to the would-be transcriber of old deeds2 this is not really the case for ordinary antiquarian research1 for the meaning can be discovered easily with only very slight knowledge4 ,legal ,latin consists so entirely of set forms that when once these forms are familiar to the reader1 they are without any difficulty recognised1 and are so little liable to any variations that they are easily rendered into ,english4 ,the most important points being a correct and accurate attention to the names of people and places1 with the descriptions of the localities referred to4 ,as the use of ,latin for legal transactions almost entirely superseded the ,norman-,french language after the reign of ,edward ,,iii4 7although it is an open question whether deeds were not duplicated into the two languages71 very few old deeds are met with in the latter language1 and those few are usually so well written and legible that they can easily be understood with the help of a slight knowledge of modern ,french4 ,indeed1 a transcriber's work properly consists chiefly in correctly putting into modern handwriting the deeds which are only illegible to those unfamiliar with the handwriting2 in consequence an actual acquaintance with the ,latin grammar is less important than a correct eye1 quick to note every minute difference in letters4 ,every stroke of the pen means something2 bars or curves are the representatives of absent words or syllables1 and are never dashed down hap-hazard or by accident4 ,therefore it is possible to understand the meaning of the abbreviated portions correctly1 although extension with absolute grammatical correctness can never be ensured without study of the language and a knowledge of its grammar4 ,one of the best methods of learning to read courthand is first to devote a short time to the study of shorthand2 any system will do1 it being merely a means of training the eye and brain into speedily noticing small shades of difference1 undetected except by comparison4 ,for in all kinds of shorthand the least stroke or dot1 or even a change in the position of a line1 will entirely alter the spelling or meaning of a word4 ,next1 ,i would advise the careful study of an old deed1 one of those written late in the seventeenth or early in the eighteenth century1 because these deeds give the phraseology or form of sentences1 and are often written in ,english in a fairly clear hand1 freer from contractions than earlier manuscripts1 and the beginner has so many new things to discover and learn that it is well to commence by not attempting too much at the first start4 ,an acquaintance with the style of words used in legal language is a good groundwork to commence with4 ,spread out the parchment before you2 never mind the fact that only a word or two1 or even only a chance letter here and there catches your eye4 ,then set to work to compare the letters of the words you do know with the letters in other words which at the commencement looked so strange to you4 ,it was in this way that ,egyptian hieroglyphics were first successfully studied4 ,remember that three consonants seldom come together2 no word is formed without the help of one or more vowels2 the final letter or letters more often supply a clue than the capital letter or beginning syllable1 especially in the so-called courthands4 ,beware of too imaginative guesses4 ,although this fault is easily remedied1 still1 it is better to spell a word out letter by letter1 however unintelligible and depressing the result at first may be4 ,it is so easy to take a name or word for granted1 and an idea once seized upon is not quickly eradicated1 and may bring about absurd results and deductions4 ,do not ponder too long over a word which puzzles you1 but go on1 leaving gaps in your copy with a stroke underneath corresponding with or leaving sufficient space for the missing word4 ,these spaces can then be filled in afterwards1 when the general sense of the document has been mastered1 and the aspect of the particular style of writing has become familiar4 ,then it will be found that words hitherto seemingly unintelligible resolve themselves into readable form1 and although apparently impossible to decipher at the first reading1 later on they present no difficulty4 ,a little practice and patience soon overcome the difficulties of the first start1 and after that the progress is rapid4 ,to begin by learning a variety of old alphabets seems to me so much waste of time1 although it would be a valuable groundwork to commence with4 ,the true alphabet for beginners lies in the contracted words1 whose missing portions must be supplied by the reader from the few letters given1 which are often not even one connected syllable1 but instead merely one or two letters out of the missing syllable clustered together4 ,the reason for this style of writing was to save time and material4 ,with use1 it grew into a complete system1 a language of its own4 ,at the time it was penned1 these contractions were no doubt perfectly familiar to all1 just as our modern abbreviations are4 ,of these last there are more contractions in use nowadays than would at first be realized--our daily correspondence is full of them2 these may have originated from the older system of contractions1 relics of it1 still left lingering on4 ,a few examples of modern abbreviations will not be out of place here1 as showing that a contracted form of writing is not so very difficult or extraordinary after all4 1 and1 derived from the ,latin et2 the second example1 which is still in use1 can be traced in very old documents from et1 till gradually it assumed its modern shape4 ,mr1 mister or master2 ,sr for sir was formerly in common use4 ,co1 company2 ,cie1 compagnie 7,french74 etc41 derived from the first three letters of the ,latin word etcetera4 ,the words #8with1 which1 whereof1 where1' etc41 were formerly abbreviated2 also yr for your1 ye the1 and many others now obsolete4 ,pounds1 shillings and pence we still designate by the ,latin s4 d4 ,the long word #8affectionate' is seldom written in full2 so1 too1 with many other words there are recognised forms of contraction1 and when this is borne in mind the abbreviations of old deeds appear in quite a different light1 and we attack their difficulties with less dread of failure4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,handwriting4 ,many books have been recently published on the subject of #8,character by ,handwriting1' but they are not very descriptive in detail1 although the theories and rules for character-describing by this means are both clear and decided4 ,it is now no longer the rule to teach children to write entirely by the aid of set copies1 as was the case with our forefathers1 who wrote after one approved pattern1 which children copied as nearly as possible from the original set for them2 therefore characteristic peculiarities were longer in asserting themselves1 and what is now considered a #8formed' handwriting was not developed till late in life4 ,there were1 and still are1 two divisions or classes of handwriting--the professional and the personal2 with the first the action was mechanical1 and exhibits few1 if any1 traces of personality4 ,yet even in the oldest manuscripts there are certain defined characteristics plainly shown4 ,the handwritings of historical and celebrated personages coincide to a remarkable degree with their known virtues and vices1 as criticised and detailed by their biographers4 ,as the art of writing became general1 its form varied more and more1 becoming gradually less formal1 and each person wrote as was easiest to himself4 ,education1 as a rule1 has a far from beneficial effect upon handwriting2 an active brain creates ideas too fast to give the hand time to form the letters clearly1 patiently and evenly1 the matter1 not the material1 being to the writer of primary importance4 ,so1 as study increased among all classes1 writing degenerated from its originally clear1 regular lettering into every style of penmanship4 ,of course a child's writing resembles only the copy-book1 of which it is supposed to be an exact imitation2 soon1 however1 the round curves sharpen1 the disconnected letters join without any breaks in the words2 the even lines and distances are no longer so carefully measured and considered2 eccentricities of style creep in1 with sundry loops and twirls1 giving the whole a grown-up appearance--a decided individuality of its own4 ,if the subject of handwriting as a test of character is carefully studied it will be found that immediate circumstances greatly influence it3 anxiety or great excitement of any kind1 illness or any violent emotion1 will for the moment greatly affect the writing4 ,from handwriting the doctor can hazard an opinion as to the mental state of his patient4 ,in all cases of paralysis the writing is temporarily affected1 and the patient is usually at first deprived of the power of writing2 when the mind recovers its consciousness and the muscles their strength1 the power returns1 but with a feebleness not formerly observed4 ,writing depends upon so many things--a firm grasp of the pen1 a pliability of the muscles1 clearness of vision and brain-power--even the writing materials1 pens1 ink and paper1 all make a difference4 ,it is not strange1 then1 that with so many causes upon which it depends1 writing should be an excellent test of temperament and bodily health4 ,any school-teacher or head of a college1 through whose hands a large correspondence passes1 usually contracts a habit of forming conclusions as to the mental and moral calibre of the writers1 their social status and natural bias of disposition4 ,a round1 childish handwriting is said to show conceit and self-satisfaction4 ,ignorance and conceit are often closely linked together4 ,the uneducated generally have a very good opinion of their own personal qualifications4 ,the most youthful form of writing is not1 therefore1 indicative of talent or general capacity1 and seldom shows any originality4 ,all needless flourishes and ornamentation are the result of egotism and vanity4 ,but be it remembered that any virtue exaggerated at once becomes a fault2 that whereas a little conceit is necessary to stimulate ambition1 the same in too great excess becomes egotistic vanity4 ,genius is apt to overestimate its own depth and originality1 yet without any self-appreciation there is danger of a lack of effort2 despair prevents perseverance1 and is a bar to any success4 ,excitability1 hastiness1 and impatience are all seen in the handwriting at a glance4 ,a quick brain suggests words and sentences so fast1 one upon another1 that though the pen races along the page it cannot write down the ideas quickly enough to satisfy the author4 ,with a calm1 calculating disposition this frantic haste is neither known nor understood--such persons do not rush to conclusions1 but ponder over every subject4 ,intuitive perception in the excitable person becomes judgment in a tranquil mind4 ,temper depends upon temperament4 ,the crosses of the letter #8t' are the index whereby to judge of it4 ,if these strokes are regular through a whole page of writing1 the writer may be assumed to have an even-placed temper2 if dashed off at random--quick short strokes1 somewhat higher than the letter itself--quick outbursts of anger may be expected1 but of short duration1 unless the stroke is firm and black1 in which case great violence may safely be predicted4 ,uncertainty of character and temper is shown by the variation of these strokes to the letter #8t'4 ,sometimes the cross is firm and black1 then next time it is light2 sometimes it is omitted altogether1 varying with each repetition of the letter like the opinions and sentiments of an undecided person4 ,the up and down strokes of the letters tell of strength or weakness of will2 gradations of light and shade1 too1 may be observed in these strokes4 ,the sloping ,italian handwriting of our grandmothers is just what might be expected from women refined and sensitive1 grounded in several branches of study1 well educated as a whole1 but not especially so in any one particular line4 ,the absence of any self-assertion is very strongly marked4 ,the independence of their granddaughters can be traced in every line and stroke of their pens4 ,little or no distinction is observable between the writing of young men and women nowadays4 ,even the graphologist dare scarcely hazard an opinion as to the sex of the writer1 but indulges in vague wording1 avoiding any direct use of personal pronouns4 ,capital letters tell us many points of interest4 ,by them originality1 talent1 and mental capacity are displayed1 as well as any latent vulgarity or want of education4 ,there are two styles of capital letters at present in use4 ,the high-class style employed by persons of education is plain and often eccentric1 but without much ornamentation4 ,the other may be called the middle class1 for it is used by servants and tradespeople having a fair amount of education1 mingled with a good deal of conceited ignorance and false pride4 ,with these last the capital letters are much adorned by loops1 hooks1 and curves1 noticeable principally in the heads of the letters or at their commencement4 ,perhaps1 for purposes of character delineation1 it will be better to give the characteristics1 pointing out the style and form of the letters peculiar to each4 ,plain1 neatly-formed handwriting shows an orderly mind1 the result of education4 ,the whole tendency of education is to regulate the mind and restrain the impulses4 ,education checks conceit1 for the more anyone knows1 the more aware does he become of the wide amount there is to be learnt1 and how little is the knowledge possessed by the cleverest scholars in the world4 ,it will generally be found that with writing having much resemblance1 a characteristic similarity also exists2 therefore1 to become proficient as a graphologist1 a careful study must be made of the writings of those whose whole life and character1 together with personal peculiarities1 are intimately known and understood1 and from this conclusions may be drawn and rules arrived at for future use4 ,affection is marked by open loops and a general slant or slope of the writing4 ,a hard nature1 unsympathetic and unimpressionable1 has very little artistic feeling or love of the fine arts2 therefore the same things which indicate a soft1 affectionate disposition will also indicate poetry1 music1 and painting1 or one or other kindred subjects4 ,the first of these accompanies a loving1 impulsive nature2 with music the impulse is replaced by perseverance2 for natural genius cannot expand without patient study4 ,in painting three things are absolutely necessary to produce an artist4 ,form1 colour1 light and shade--all these three will influence the writing2 but art of any kind is very complex4 ,success implies a certain degree of ambition1 and consequent upon it is vanity and egotism2 hence the artist's signature is generally peculiar and often unreadable1 from its originality1 egotism1 and exuberance of creative power4 ,imagination and impulse do not tend to improve handwriting4 ,the strokes are too erratic1 and the capital letters never follow the copy-book pattern4 ,over-haste is visible in every line4 ,a warm-hearted1 impulsive person feels deeply and passionately at the moment of writing1 and dashes off the words without regard to the effect they will produce upon the reader4 ,what is generally lacking is judgment and the power of analytical thought4 ,these important qualities may be detected in disjoined words1 which here and there may be seen even with a handwriting in which impulse and sequence of ideas are leading characteristics4 ,the writer has evidently paused to think1 although unaware of it himself4 ,these breaks give a power of criticism1 combined with clearness of intellect4 ,without breaks no common-sense is found1 but if they appear too often it shows a wearying and needless worry over trivial details1 and self-torment as to the opinions of other people4 ,truth and straightforwardness give even lines running across the page and regular distances from one word to another4 ,tact is very essential4 ,this quality requires often slight deceptions to be allowed or practised1 white lies1 or delusive silence2 hence an unevenness in the writing is observed4 ,it is a deviation1 although slight1 from the path of truth1 and here and there the letters rise or fall below the lines4 ,untruthfulness gives greater unevenness still2 but do not rush to conclusions on this point1 for an unformed handwriting shows this peculiarity very often1 being merely due1 not to evil qualities1 but to an unsteady hand employed in work to which it is unused4 ,very round even writing in which the vowels are not closed1 denotes candour and openness of disposition1 with an aptitude for giving advice1 whether asked or unasked1 not always of a complimentary kind4 ,blunt1 crabbed writing suggests obstinacy and a selfish love of power1 without thought for the feelings of others4 ,true selfishness gives every curve an inward bend1 very marked in the commencement of words or capital letters4 ,perseverance and patience are closely allied4 ,in the former the letter #8t' is hooked at the top1 and also its stroke has a dark curved end1 showing that when once an idea has been entertained no earthly persuasion will alter or eradicate it4 ,such writers have strongly-defined prejudices1 and are apt to take very strong dislikes without much cause4 ,calmness and patience also are frequently linked together--more often in later life1 when adversity has blunted the faculties1 or the dull routine of uneventful existence has destroyed all romance4 ,then the writing has short up-and-down strokes1 the curves are round1 the bars short and straight2 there are no loops or flourishes2 the whole writing exhibits great neatness and regularity4 ,economy of living1 curiously enough1 is marked by a spare use of ink4 ,the terminals are abrupt and blunt1 leaving off short4 ,where economy is the result of circumstances1 not disposition1 only some of the words are thus ended1 while others have open1 free curves1 and the long letters are looped4 ,generosity and liberality may be seen likewise in the end curve of every word4 ,where these characteristics are inconstant and variable1 the disposition will be found to be uncertain--liberal in some matters1 while needlessly economical and stingy in others4 ,illustration ,a person fond of society writes the capital letter #8,m' with the three upper curves on the same level4 ,if the tail of this letter is carried far below the line1 there is vulgarity of mind and imperfect education4 ,bars used instead of stops are the result of caution4 ,the writer fears lest his sentences should be misinterpreted by being run into each other4 ,when a bar is placed below the signature1 it means tenacity of purpose1 coupled with extreme caution2 perhaps1 also1 a dread of criticism and adverse opinions4 ,no dots to the letter #8i' means negligence1 a want of attention to details1 with but a small faculty of observation4 ,when the dots are placed at random1 neither above nor in proximity to the letter to which they belong1 impressionability1 want of reflection1 and impulsiveness may be anticipated4 ,ambition and gratified happiness give to the whole writing an upward tendency4 ,hopefulness lacks the firmness of ambition1 and appears only in the signature which curves upwards1 while the rest of the writing is impulsive1 without much firmness4 ,sorrow gives every line of the writing a downward inclination4 ,temporary affliction will at once show in the writing3 a preoccupied mind1 full of trouble1 cares little whether the letter then written is legible or neat2 hence the writing is erratic1 uncertain1 and the confusion of mind is clearly exhibited in every line4 ,irritable and touchy persons slope the flourishes only1 such as the cross of the letter #8t' and the upper parts of the capital letters4 ,when the capital letters stand alone in front of the words1 and the final letters also are isolated1 it betokens great creative power and ideality1 such as would form an author and clever writer4 ,the most personal part of a letter or document is1 of course1 the signature1 but alone it is not a safe guide to character4 ,the lines placed below or after it tell a great deal more than the actual name4 ,a curved bending line1 ending in a hook1 indicates coquetry1 love of effect1 and ideality4 ,an exaggerated1 comma-like form of line means caprice1 tempered by gravity of thought1 and versatility of ideas4 ,an unyielding will--fiery1 and at the same time determined--draws a firm hooked line after the name4 ,a wavy line shows great variety in mental power1 with originality4 ,resolution is shown by a plain line2 and extreme caution1 with full power to calculate effect and reason a subject from every point of view1 is shown by two lines and dots1 thus----3----4 ,to sum up the matter briefly1 it will be observed that a clever person cares very little about the form of his writing--it is the matter alone which concerns him2 whereas1 with a limited brain-power1 great care as to appearance is taken4 ,but human nature is never a simple combination of elements1 it is dependable upon a complexity of changes and chances4 ,it is said that with everyone a complete change takes place every seven years4 ,motives and circumstances all leave decided marks upon the character and mind of an individual4 ,not perhaps for years will innate virtues or vices become apparent1 which have lain dormant1 awaiting circumstances to develop them4 ,a collection of any person's old letters is very curious4 ,written from earliest childhood to extreme old age1 a veritable life's history lies in the faded ink2 and to study character from handwriting fairly it can only be done from such authenticated examples4 ,old letters written two or three hundred years ago are of great value for the purpose1 because1 so far as they are concerned1 all party spirit and prejudice is dead1 buried1 and forgotten4 ,their biographers no longer fear the consequence of a too candid and personal account1 and are therefore more likely to give a just and calm criticism of character1 weighing evenly in the balance both virtues and vices4 ,with historical characters it is curious to contrast the contemporary biographies with the graphologist's opinion of their handwriting1 given without knowing whose the writing was4 ,any collection of old ,,mss4 is interesting1 as showing the various styles of writing in vogue at different periods4 ,fashion or circumstances had some influence on this point4 ,royal marriages with foreign princesses brought ,england into contact with different nations4 ,wars in strange lands introduced alien words into our vocabulary1 some of which speedily became naturalized1 while others1 voted slang1 remained only for a short while and then disappeared4 ,new words are constantly being coined1 and take the place of others4 ,this may seem a trivial matter1 and irrelevant to the subject of old writing1 but any points bearing on the subject must throw new light upon it and help to elucidate it4 ,the personality of a writer can never be wholly separated from his works4 ,and in any question of date or authenticity of a document being called in question1 the value of graphology and its theories will be found of the utmost importance2 for the various changes in the style of handwriting1 or in the spelling of words1 although perhaps so minute and gradual as seldom to be remarked1 are1 nevertheless1 links in a chain which it would be extremely hard to forge successfully so as to deceive those acquainted with the matter and well versed in its peculiarities4 ,marked characteristics are noticeable in the old ,black ,letter ,,mss4 of the early days before printing1 and the authenticity of a deed1 etc41 may be decided by some slight peculiarity in its lettering4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,anglo-,,saxon1 ,,norman-,,french1 ,,latin1 ,,and ,,old ,,english4 ,although we are always told that our present ,english language is directly derived from that of our ,saxon forefathers1 this information gives us very little1 if any1 help towards deciphering the old ,anglo-,saxon documents4 ,the ,saxons1 we are told1 were not one nation1 but rather composed of an aggregate of tribes of ,germanic and ,scandinavian origin1 whose piratical instincts led them to seek adventure by sea and land and form new colonies1 just as at the present day ,englishmen go forth in search of fame and fortune in the uttermost parts of the earth4 ,illustration3 ,,extract ,,from ,,domesday4#a ,thus the ,saxon language1 although derived from one identical base1 was a collection of dialects banded together1 which1 in its educated and scholastic form1 greatly resembled ,german in its construction4 ,the language of the ,anglo-,saxon 7so far as ,great ,britain is concerned7 has been classified under three distinct headings1 the first being pure ,anglo-,saxon1 i4e41 the language as spoken by the first settlers1 with an admixture of ,celtic or ,british2 secondly1 this same combination with the addition of ,danish2 and thirdly1 the three above-named languages combined1 with the further addition of ,norman-,french1 having in all a ,saxon dialect for the basis1 to which were afterwards added new words brought into it by foreign invaders or emigrants from over the seas4 ,since the invention of printing great changes have taken place in our language1 and to go back prior to that epoch reveals greater changes still4 ,the writings of early chroniclers and poets are so full of words and phrases now obsolete that many books and dictionaries have been compiled to explain their meanings4 ,the ,lord's ,prayer1 as given in the ,durham ,book4 ,this is a copy of the ,gospels of the ,anglo-,saxon period4 ,it was formerly in the ,cottonian ,library1 now in the ,manuscript ,department of the ,british ,museum4 ,it is known as #8,nero ,d4 iv4' ,old ,sir ,robert ,cotton had busts of the ,roman ,emperors over his book-shelves1 and the names survive71 looks to us hopelessly foreign--only a few words are familiar4 ,the personal pronouns #8us1' #8we1' #8he1' #8him1' and the preposition #8to1' as well as the conjunction #8and1' are unchanged1 but the verbs are conjugated quite differently to the correct ,english of to-day2 still1 if we would seek for a living example resembling old ,saxon dialect1 it can easily be found in several parts of ,england1 such as ,devonshire1 ,dorsetshire1 and other counties1 the country-folk still speaking almost pure ,anglo-,saxon1 though this is fast dying out before the advance of education and ,board-school science4 ,the ,anglo-,saxon alphabetical characters differ only from the ,roman in the letter #8w1' written 4 ,in their alphabet there are also two additional double letters--#8th1' represented by the following letter 1 and #8dh1' 1 these last being frequently used in the construction of words4 ,the early ,saxon handwriting was bold and clear4 ,most of it now existing consists of monastic copies of books or charters4 ,the ,saxons were a clever and industrious people1 plodding and practical4 ,their abbeys were more of the nature of large seminaries or colleges1 where learning was carried on2 and in this respect the northern parts of ,england were better supplied than the south1 a result caused probably by each fresh influx of tribes landing on the northern and eastern coasts of the country1 and spreading inland from thence4 ,there seems to be no doubt that the reign of ,king ,alfred did much to promote study and an increased attention to literature1 previously neglected except among a few professed scholars4 ,a learned ,king would naturally set the fashion to his subjects1 and ,alfred must have possessed immense energy4 ,it was an extraordinary thing for a middle-aged man to be able to educate himself sufficiently to master the difficulties of a foreign language so opposed in construction to his own native tongue as ,latin1 which in nowise resembles ,saxon4 ,he must have toiled hard to have completed the many translations from ,latin into ,saxon which are accredited to him4 ,alfred was a popular hero1 and1 like all heroes1 was invested by tradition with the credit of every improvement in literature or art which took place within his era4 ,be this as it may1 there is no doubt that he did stimulate his fellow-countrymen to make efforts towards self-improvement1 by setting them a practical example in himself4 ,such examples are unfortunately rare2 they must always be productive of good results--an #8ounce of practice is worth a pound of precept4' ,from the time of ,king ,alfred's re-introduction of ,latin into this country it gradually gained ground as the language of scholars4 ,learned ecclesiastics coming to ,england found it convenient as the medium for exchange of thoughts and ideas4 ,it was for many centuries the accepted #8,volapuk1' understood by all who professed any learning4 ,rome was the light of the ,western world1 the centre from whence religion and learning was disseminated to the less enlightened parts of ,europe4 ,careful study of the old authors necessitated an acquaintance with both ,greek and ,latin4 ,the emissaries of the ,pope1 either as legates or missionaries1 spread all over civilized ,europe1 and carried with them the learning of their age4 ,intercourse between ,england and ,france was somewhat checked by dissensions and wars both at home and abroad1 but with the ,conquest came a large body of monks4 ,the chief wealth of ,normandy was invested in its rich abbeys1 from whence ,duke ,william had borrowed large sums of money to fit out his expedition upon the security of his future possession of ,england4 ,these loans he honestly and amply repaid by large grants of land out of his new kingdom2 hence new abbeys sprang up in ,england1 filled with foreign monks1 who brought over their language1 arts and sciences1 to teach in the new country they had adopted as their own4 ,the language of the court was of necessity ,norman-,french1 which differs as much from the ,french of to-day as ancient from modern ,english4 ,but a knowledge of ,french makes these early deeds easy to understand4 ,illustration3 ,,norman-,,french ,,deed4 ,the lower orders of the people clung persistently to their own old ,saxon tongue1 a fact clearly demonstrated by the way the old ,saxon field-names are to the present day retained1 and flowers1 animals1 and matters of everyday country-life bear names of evident ,saxon origin4 ,the ,saxons were a conquered race1 and as such became the servants of their conquerors4 ,the animals which in life they tended were eaten by the ,norman nobles1 who called them1 when used as food1 by names of ,french derivation4 ,thus the ,saxon #8sheep' when dead became #8mutton'2 #8pig' turned into #8pork'2 #8calf' into #8veal1' etc4 ,with the names of many wildflowers ,french origin is traceable1 especially with cultivated sorts4 ,we know the monks of the ,middle ,ages were clever gardeners1 and probably by them the wildflowers were named4 ,in ,berkshire the village children call field-daisies #8margs1' abbreviated1 without doubt1 from the ,french marguerite4 ,among garden flowers there are pansies1 ,french pens2 gillyflower1 girofll1 and many others2 but as a whole there are few words of distinctly ,latin origin to be found in the ,english dialects relating to everyday affairs4 ,norman-,french did not come into immediate use in legal documents after the ,conquest4 ,the earliest deeds of the ,norman kings were written in ,latin1 but after a while ,french1 the everyday language of the upper classes1 superseded it for law work--possibly there were duplicate copies of the deeds in both languages--but only for a comparatively short period1 a statute being passed in the thirty-sixth year of ,king ,edward ,,iii4 deciding upon ,latin as the law language of the realm1 and from this date the use of ,norman-,french died out1 and the ,english language may be said to have commenced4 ,the growing dislike of the ,english to foreign prelates led to a steady resistance of their claims1 culminating in the ,statutes of ,mortmain1 ,provisors and ,prmunire1 and finally in the suppression of all alien priories and foreign cells4 ,this stopped the influx of ,french and ,italian monks to our shores2 so it was that1 after nearly four centuries1 the ,norman-,french language died out and was forgotten4 ,during the ,middle ,ages1 and until the time of the ,reformation1 the monasteries still continued to be the principal seats of learning throughout the country1 and ,latin held its ground among scholars and lawyers4 ,the introduction of printing1 and1 finally1 the changes wrought by the ,reformation1 disturbed the pre-existing course of things4 ,the ,english language was gradually settling down into its present form1 and about the end of the fifteenth century it began more and more to be used for law business transactions4 ,the law-,latin1 as used in ,england1 degenerated greatly2 it became interspersed with words of native origin1 ,latinized by the lawyer4 ,old court-rolls especially are full of obsolete words2 so1 too1 are the public rolls1 but there are now many dictionaries explaining their meanings4 ,although of course1 here and there an unknown word may occur1 yet the context will usually explain or help towards its significance4 ,the legal ,latin became1 finally1 merely a series of mechanical forms2 these at last were translated into ,english4 ,for this reason a careful study of the wording of a deed of the eighteenth century in ,english will show that it is the counterpart of the same class of document in its older ,latin form4 ,latin1 like ,norman-,french1 had had its day and was dying out4 ,finally1 by ,george ,,iii4's ,act of ,parliament the native language was ordered to be used for law work1 and now ,latin has become obsolete1 so far as practical work is concerned4 ,understanding old legal ,latin--once a necessity for a lawyer--has now become an antiquarian profession4 ,one relic of ,anglo-,saxon remained on in our language for many centuries4 ,the double letter 1 #8th1' will be found in the written copies of monkish chartularies for place-names beginning with #8th4' ,even so late as the fifteenth century we find it freely employed in ,english documents4 ,i possess a copy of the criminal charges made against ,de la ,pole1 ,duke of ,suffolk1 for high treason1 #adej4 ,throughout the manuscript the ,saxon appears in such words as #8other1' #8that1' #8the1' etc41 which look curious written #8oer1' #8t1' #8e4' ,the in some words was printed #8y1' which continued in use until the last century4 ,i am not aware of any place-names having been altered by this change of lettering1 but it is quite possible that some changes may have occurred through it4 ,it would be easy for a person unaccustomed to the ,saxon to mistake it for other letters1 as #8th1' #8p1' or #8y' must be followed either by a vowel or the consonant #8r1' #8ph' in old documents being usually replaced by an #8f4' ,of late years many absurd mistakes have been made by the ,ordnance ,surveyors in their maps1 who1 mistaking the local dialect1 or from preconceived ideas as to what the names ought to be1 have set down many incorrectly4 ,on this subject ,i wrote formerly in a paper in the ,berkshire ,archological ,magazine4 ,a man from the ,south of ,england fails to comprehend the ,northern or ,western dialects4 ,country-folk from the ,north cannot understand a word spoken by ,southerners2 this also would account for errors4 ,spelling1 of course1 has so much altered that it is no safe guide towards derivation2 phonetic pronunciation of a word is more likely to give a clue to the origin4 ,field-names have been handed down orally from generation to generation2 and it is very curious to observe how faithfully the phonetic sounds have been preserved among an illiterate people1 long after the meanings of the words have disappeared4 ,the ,saxons named their fields from ordinary things1 or surroundings1 or the animals who fed in the meadows4 ,the following ,saxon words may be found occurring constantly as field-names3 cne1 fruitful2 cer1 field2 besn or fesne1 pasture2 ,ata1 ,atih1 tares1 or oats--the latter were common4 ,birce1 birch-tree4 ,cyrc1 ,cyrce1 ,cyrice1 ,circ1 ,circe1 church--the last two most common2 ,culfre1 a dove2 ,cealc1 chalk2 ,ceorl1 churl or husbandman4 ,ent1 a giant2 ,eorisc1 a bulrush2 ,errich1 stubble2 ,enid or ,ened1 a duck2 ,emn1 even4 ,fearras1 ,ferris1 oxen2 ,fearh1 a little pig2 ,fearh-,cwl1 swine-fever4 ,getreminc1 fortress2 ,gat or ,yat1 a ,goat4 ,halga1 a saint2 halig1 holy2 ,hyd1 hide1 a land measure2 ,ham1 home1 homestead2 ,hurst1 or ,hyrst1 a wood2 ,holt1 a grove2 ,hleotan1 to cast lots 7meadows were held in lots1 or allotments1 from a very early period1 and so continued up to the time of the ,enclosure ,acts72 ,hluton1 part allotted2 ,halm1 stubble4 ,ith ,yrnth1 arable2 ,ilt1 a sow4 ,ley1 ,lea1 ,leaze or ,lay1 ,lye1 meadow or grassland4 ,neolnes1 more properly spelt ,neowlnes1 an abyss4 ,on-l1 a burning4 ,riip1 harvest4 ,sul1 a plough2 ,stret1 or ,strt1 a street or public highway4 ,wong1 a meadow2 ,welig1 a willow2 ,wegleast1 a going out of the way2 ,wer1 an enclosure4 ,as a whole the ,english language has changed more during the past century than at any time of the preceding ages4 ,railway and telegraph have brought all parts of the kingdom into closer contact1 and intercourse with foreign countries accounts for constant alterations in language and customs4 ,new words are introduced and old ones die out2 it is the same in every language4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,old ,,deeds4 ,among old family papers it is rare to meet with many dating further back than the ,reformation2 first of all1 this may be accounted for by the enormous amount of land possessed by the monks1 who1 instead of having to search through deeds1 entered these grants and gifts of property into their charter-book4 ,the monastic estates1 after the ,dissolution1 were managed through the ,augmentation ,office2 many of the original deeds were destroyed or lost in the general confusion1 and a new distribution of the lands took place by the ,king irrespective of the former owners1 whose claims were totally ignored1 although in such grants or deeds of gift the name of the monastery formerly owning the property is usually named4 ,the ,king must have realized large sums of money by these transactions1 which were carried out through1 and in the names of1 his commissioners or agents1 and not usually granted direct from the ,crown2 very little of the land confiscated from the abbeys was retained as royal property1 but appears to have been almost immediately sold or granted away4 ,but to begin from the oldest reliable period at which deeds may refer to1 is to go back to the ,norman ,conquest1 or1 rather1 to the time when the lands had been distributed among the ,norman noblemen1 as described in the famous ,domesday ,book1 compiled1 it is said1 between #ajhj and #ajhe4 ,reference is therein made to previous ,saxon possessors2 but only in very few instances can any certain information be obtained of private property prior to the eleventh century4 ,private deeds do exist between the time of ,william ,i4 and ,richard ,i42 from this latter ,king's reign1 about ,a4,d4 #aagi1 legal memory dates#b2 but usually the earliest family deeds are of ,edward ,i41 because then it was that the legal era was fixed to commence4 ,this ,king has been1 so far as regards manorial rights and customs1 rightly called the #8,english ,solon4' ,he passed innumerable ,acts of ,parliament on the subject of legal matters2 he revised the whole of the national laws1 retaining but improving existing arrangements4 ,a most interesting account of early ,english law and manorial customs is published by the ,selden ,society4 ,it is very rare indeed to discover private deeds earlier than this2 but1 of course1 every rule has its exception4 ,to prove a title to property it is now only requisite to show a twenty years' possession of it4 ,papers forming the title deeds to farms or small holdings are seldom of any great age4 ,the custom of depositing estate records in the care of the family lawyer has tended to preserve a few deeds2 but1 on the other hand1 has resulted in much wholesale destruction of useless but curious documentary evidence4 ,vast numbers of deeds have been and are being sold when a lawyer's office has been broken up4 ,these papers1 having lain for years unclaimed until the ownership was lost or forgotten1 finally were sold to some antiquarian bookseller or antiquary1 or else the skin was cleansed and used again1 parchment being a valuable substance4 ,it is employed in many trades4 ,from it size is prepared4 ,gold-beaters employ it largely1 and also to the book-binder's trade it is essential1 besides having many other and varied uses4 ,even now lawyers find great difficulty in preserving and storing the deeds entrusted to their charge4 ,the dangers of fire and damp are conflicting1 and to avoid the one may bring about greater risk from the other cause4 ,parchment being an animal substance 7usually made from the skin of sheep71 if kept in a damp place1 soon begins to decay and become offensive1 mites readily attack it1 dirt and dust accumulate rapidly on its external woolly surface--all these make a search among hoards of old deeds anything but a pleasant or a cleanly occupation4 ,the usual storehouse for such collections was some unused garret or stable-loft1 where rats and mice ran riot and birds flew in and out as they liked4 ,forgotten1 perhaps1 for several generations1 the old papers lay untouched till death or removal brought changes1 and the deeds were either placed in safer keeping1 or else--alas6 the most usual course--were consigned to the flames as useless rubbish4 ,the quality of parchment varies much4 ,that upon which early deeds--those about the thirteenth century--are written1 is in small pieces1 woolly in texture and of a dark brown shade4 ,in the sixteenth century the sheets are larger1 smoother1 and yellow1 becoming whiter in colour and more even as its preparation was better understood and practised4 ,vellum was a finer sort of parchment prepared from the skins of very young or still-born animals4 ,of it the old manuscript books were made1 adorned with illuminations and miniature paintings1 which required a fine1 smooth surface1 and vellum was free from the flaws which frequently occur in the skins of mature animals4 ,with the history of paper-making we have nothing to do4 ,paper was known as early as the thirteenth century1 but for law work in ,england it was seldom1 if ever1 employed before the fourteenth century4 ,the earliest known examples are described as being made of silk manufactured abroad4 ,on the ,continent it was used for illuminated work in the place of vellum--at least1 so ,prou states1 but does not tell us of any notable examples4 ,the history of ,english-made paper is somewhat obscure4 ,ordinary lesson-books1 published for the enlightenment of the young1 state that the first ,english paper-mill was erected at ,dartford1 in ,kent1 by ,speilman1 a ,german1 in #aehh4 ,this1 however1 must be wrong1 for in that popular educator of the past generation1 the ,saturday ,magazine1 a short account is given of early paper and its water-marks1 and ,john ,tate is named as having a mill at ,hertford1 his device being a star of five points enclosed within a double circle4 ,john ,tate the younger is here stated to have made the paper for the first book printed on ,english-made paper about the year #adif4 ,it was written in ,latin1 and entitled #8,bartholomeus de ,proprietatibus ,rerum4' ,his mark upon it was a wheel4 ,this mill existed for thirty-five years--#adfj to #adif4 ,this same account goes on to say that the paper used by the early printers bore great variety of marks3 a bull1 fifteenth century3 the oxhead1 with the star between the horns1 late fifteenth century2 the black letter p2 the shears2 an open hand1 surmounted by a star2 a collared dog's head1 with a trefoil above it2 a crown1 an orb1 a shield charged with a bend1 and many other devices4 ,hone1 in his #8,everyday ,book1' also gives a few other marks4 ,he mentions the orb as a foreign paper-mark existing as early as #acja1 and says it is the #8oldest known mark4' ,hand-paper is the kind usually found used for early documents4 ,it was a convenient size for court-rolls or legal writings4 ,the name arose from its water-mark1 that of an open hand with a star above the middle finger4 ,this is found both in ,england and ,germany4 ,its date of manufacture was certainly older than #adej4 ,the actual device varied4 ,sometimes the fingers were raised in blessing1 sometimes it was a hand encased in a glove or gauntlet4 ,the star had sometimes five and at others six points4 ,on the wrist are the maker's initials4 ,on some coarse whitish-brown paper of #adfe a garter was used2 about the same date a bull or bull's head appears4 ,this is found on some of ,faust's earliest printed books4 ,these were detached sheets3 there was no distinction then between book or letter paper4 ,a careful study of paper-marks would be interesting and valuable if the authenticity or age of old papers or drawings were doubted1 though the question of forgery scarcely ever arises1 for so much knowledge and ingenuity would be required to produce a manuscript which would deceive an adept and pass muster as a veritable antique1 that fraud of this kind is well-nigh impossible4 ,paper was not known in ,france1 and consequently not used1 before #aacj4 ,it did not reach as far north as ,normandy until the fourteenth century2 therefore it is improbable that it found its way into ,england till after this date1 or1 if so1 only in very small quantities4 ,the oldest paper is coarse and rough1 scarcely sized at all1 so that the ink sank into it like blotting-paper1 making erasures impossible4 ,supposing even that paper was made in ,england in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries1 the quantities produced here were very small and inadequate to meet the demand2 hence the chief supply was of foreign manufacture even until a comparatively recent period4 ,the tax on ,english paper may have interfered with its production4 ,the ,netherlands and ,germany were the great paper-producing countries4 ,it was a ,state privilege1 and the water-marks used were either the arms of the royal patron or a crest or badge of the manufacturer1 so by this means the precise locality of some of these ancient manufacturers may be ascertained4 ,the ,dutch paper bore the arms of the country--i4e41 the lion rampant1 holding the sabre in one paw and the arrows 787 in the other4 ,the history of old paper-marks sadly needs a ,chaffers or a ,cripps to investigate the matter4 ,no such collection has ever been attempted1 nor has the subject hitherto met with the attention it demands and deserves4 ,perhaps1 now that antiquarianism is becoming so fashionable1 this1 like other kindred sciences1 will find some followers4 ,in the ,antiquary magazine for ,november and ,december1 #ahie1 may be seen two articles ,i wrote on old water-marks of paper4 ,the marks were chiefly collected from the old family papers belonging to the ,pulestons of ,emral4 ,these papers were1 ,i fear1 burnt after the death of my uncle1 the late ,sir ,gresley ,puleston1 ,bart4 ,as regards paper and paper-making1 ,mr4 ,s4 ,l4 ,sotheby published a costly work4 ,there is also a small book written by ,mr4 ,richard ,herring in #ahfc4 ,another important part of a deed is the ink with which it was written4 ,each scribe had his own particular receipt for making it1 the principal ingredients being oak-galls and sulphate of iron4 ,many chemicals are recommended as restoratives for faded ink1 but these should be avoided as far as possible1 as they are liable to stain and disfigure the parchment1 and in the end make matters worse4 ,familiarity with particular handwritings after some practice will enable the reader to make out otherwise unintelligible words without any other assistant than a powerful magnifying glass4 ,if the ink is very faint the simplest and most harmless restorative is sulphate of ammonia2 but its loathsome smell once endured is not easily forgotten2 the experiment in consequence is very seldom repeated1 for the result is scarcely good enough to risk a repetition of so horrible a smell1 and it is liable to affect the ,,mss4 ,coloured inks or pigments were seldom1 if ever1 employed for legal documents4 ,the use of these was restricted to the cloister1 requiring manipulation by an illuminator instead of a mere scribe4 ,red1 blue1 and green were in use2 these were mineral colours4 ,the red was composed either of red-lead or oxide of iron1 the green from copper1 and the blue from lapis lazuli finely powdered1 or else it1 too1 like the green1 was prepared from an oxide of copper4 ,illuminating was a separate profession apart from that of writing4 ,the charter or missal was finished by the scribe1 and then handed over to the artist to be adorned with fanciful capital letters and elaborate scroll-works4 ,such ornamentation was unnecessary for legal documents1 yet sometimes these had fancy headings1 which1 like the illuminations1 were put in after the writing was finished1 as is proved by the occasional omission of them1 although space is left where they ought to have been filled in4 ,seals and sealing-wax deserve a few words4 ,these came into use gradually4 ,the earliest deeds are very small1 and have very small insignificant seals4 ,there are some very fine seals in the ,record ,office ,museum 7formerly the ,rolls ,chapel74 ,it is said that neither the ,saxon nor ,norman noblemen could sign their own names1 but instead employed the ,christian sign of the cross 7still in use among the illiterate7 as their pledge of good faith1 and to witness their consent and approval4 ,the use of seals as appendices to deeds was a further proof that the deed itself was approved and executed4 ,a man's seal or signet was always regarded as his most sacred possession4 ,it was destroyed after death to avoid its being used for fraudulent purposes4 ,the use of signet-rings is very ancient4 ,many old ,roman and ,saxon signet-rings have been dug up from time to time in various parts of ,england4 ,small private seals bearing devices appear to have been attached to deeds of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries4 ,many of the large wax seals are very beautiful1 but few1 alas6 in private collections of deeds exist in any state of perfection4 ,the wax used for them was either its natural colour or else a sealing-wax of a very dark green1 also black1 or red2 white1 also1 was used1 now discoloured by age into a dingy yellow4 ,besides the royal seals1 each abbey had its own particular seal1 bearing either a view of the abbey1 a portrait of its patron saint1 or its badge or shield4 ,many of these are described by ,dugdale in the #8,monasticon1' but he was unable to discover the devices pertaining to the lesser houses or cells4 ,the fashion for large seals died out1 till at last only royal grants or similar documents of the sixteenth century have them attached4 ,in the ,georgian period we find small private seals placed on the margins of deeds4 ,these were not always the arms and crest of the person against whose signature they appear--perhaps belonged to the lawyer or one of the contracting parties4 ,here it is that a knowledge of heraldry is extremely useful4 ,the size and shape of a deed at first glance goes far with the experienced reader to determine its age1 even before a single word of it has been read2 likewise the general aspect will give a slight hint as to the possible contents without deciphering any of it4 ,the deeds relative to the earliest grants of land are very small in size1 a marked contrast to the voluminous sheets of parchment considered necessary to a modern conveyance or deed4 ,the writing often was minute1 but each letter was carefully formed4 ,many early deeds are in far better preservation than some of those written several centuries later1 when less attention was paid to the materials on which they were indited1 or the ink used4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,v4 ,,law ,,technicalities4 ,the two chief divisions into which all law deeds may be roughly classified are the deed-pole and the indenture4 ,the former is a square piece of parchment1 made by one person1 such as a will or a bond1 the indenture being the work of several parties4 ,of this latter kind are deeds of trusteeship1 marriage settlements1 mortgages1 and sales or transfers of land4 ,the indenture was so called from the fact that its upper edge was vandyked1 or indented--a very secure but primitive method of testing authenticity2 each party had a copy4 ,these duplicates were written on a single strip of parchment merely cut asunder afterwards1 through a word written between the two copies1 such as #8chirographum1' so that when required to be produced as evidence the two divided portions and words would fit each other exactly--indisputable evidence of their originality1 both simple and ingenious4 ,a very common form of deed1 met with among title-deeds1 is the #8,fine1' technically so-called from its opening sentence3 #8,hic est finalis concordia facta in curia ,domini ,regis'2 the ,sovereign's name follows with the year of accession1 after which are the names of the buyer and seller of the property1 a full description of the amount of acreage1 tenements1 etc4 ,after warranting the whole for life to its purchaser1 the deed concludes with the sum of money paid for the property2 this is written in words1 not figures4 ,these deeds are more puzzling to amateurs than any other4 ,the #8,fines' are narrow strips of parchment1 two in number2 they are closely covered with black lettering1 making them at first difficult to decipher4 ,this transfer of land by #8fine' originated at first from an actual suit at law commenced to recover possession of the lands1 and by this means to establish a clear indisputable title to it2 in course of time the suit was discontinued1 but the form of wording was retained by custom4 #8,a 8fine10' says ,blackstone1 #8is so called because it puts an end to the suit 7from the ,latin word finis1 an end71 which1 when once decided1 puts an end not only to that suit1 but also to all other controversies concerning the same matter1 for by this means an absolute sale was effected1 and all previous claims upon the property were made void4' ,sale by fine is of very ancient date4 ,instances of it are said to be known prior to the ,norman invasion4 ,we may1 therefore1 conclude that it was probably an old ,saxon custom1 or was devised in later times as a certain means to avoid dispute and disagreement arising from an imperfect title of possession4 ,there are several legal varieties of #8fines1' but these are of little consequence to the antiquary1 whose interest lies only in the names1 dates1 and localities mentioned1 and1 so long as the land changed its ownership1 cares little about the technical process by which the transfer was made4 ,another way of making a good title so as to legalize and effect a complete sale of property was that known as #8,sale by ,recovery4' ,this also consisted of a law-suit1 at first real1 then imaginary4 ,illustration3 ,,form ,,of ,,fine ,the prescribed form was very complicated4 ,explanations of it are to be found in most books on law subjects1 but the matter lies in a nutshell4 ,one man desired to sell certain land which another man was anxious to purchase1 whereupon the would-be purchaser issued a writ1 in which he pretended to claim the land4 ,at this stage of the affair a third party1 not really concerned in any way in it1 was brought forward to warrant the title of the real owner1 who then came forward bringing a witness proving ownership to his property2 thus an undisputable title to the land was established4 ,a deed of recovery was then issued rehearsing the whole transaction1 agreeing that a certain sum of money1 equivalent to the value of the land1 should be paid by the purchaser2 and here the bargain was concluded1 and the curtain fell on the legal farce4 ,some of these recovery deeds are quite works of art4 ,they are written in courthand on large squares of parchment1 smooth and white4 ,the heading and capital letter are ornamented with scroll-work in pen and ink4 ,generally an engraved portrait of the reigning ,sovereign was added4 ,part of this ornamentation was done by hand1 and the rest completed with steel engraving4 ,the most elaborate deeds are those of the ,stuart monarchs1 especially towards the end of the seventeenth century1 but after the time of the second ,george these well-executed deeds disappear4 ,the oldest statute relating to ,recoveries of which ,i find any mention is of the commencement of the reign of ,henry ,,vii41 but ,i have not met with any as early in date as this4 ,a beginner finds much difficulty in deciding between deeds of sale or appointment of trustees for the safe custody of land to secure marriage portions and deeds of mortgage4 ,all these three deeds are1 in point of size and general outline1 nearly identical2 the experienced lawyer can detect them at once2 he needs only to study what is called the operative part of the document1 avoiding any waste of time which wading through the technical phrases involves4 ,one of the commonest forms of deeds met with relative to the sale of land is that known as #8,lease and ,release1' a method invented by ,serjeant ,moore in the reign of ,henry ,,viii41 which1 from its simplicity1 speedily became very popular1 and superseded the other forms of sale4 ,the principal deeds referring to a ,lease and ,release are two in number4 ,the smaller of these is generally found wrapped up within the larger parchment1 as the two had to be kept together1 being in reality part and parcel of each other4 ,the smaller parchment was the lease drawn up between the parties2 by it a formal lease for a year of the premises or land was granted by the owner to the purchaser1 but no mention of any rent or sum of money is made in it1 and herein is the difference between the sale-lease and an ordinary lease1 for in this latter both the term of years and the yearly rental are expressly named4 ,the #8,release1' or larger parchment1 is dated a day following the lease which it cancels1 hereby gaining its name of #8release4' ,it is in reality the actual deed of sale1 for the price paid for the land will be found in it1 and a full and complete warranty securing it for ever to the purchaser4 ,an ordinary lease of premises is worded similarly to the above1 but differs from it in several ways2 usually it is a larger sheet of parchment4 ,the term of years varies from three1 five1 seven1 to twenty-one1 at a fixed rent paid either half-yearly or quarterly at the four principal feasts1 ,lady ,day1 or the ,feast of the ,annunciation1 the ,feast of ,st4 ,john1 or ,midsummer1 ,st4 ,michael and ,all ,angels1 better known as ,michaelmas1 and the ,feast of the ,nativity1 popularly called ,christmas ,day4 ,these deeds commence with the date of the day1 month and year1 followed by the names of the persons contracting the agreement1 with those of their co-trustees1 or witnesses1 usually selected from among relatives or connections by marriage1 or else immediate neighbours4 ,an exact terrier of the land is given1 its locality1 field-names1 and acreage4 ,three parts of the way down the sheet of parchment will be found the rent and term of years for which the land is granted1 together with stipulations as to repairs1 rights of ingress and egress2 any services1 customs or heriots1 whether due in kind or by payment2 last of all comes the warrant against intruders4 ,of course1 with deeds of sale there are other legal documentary forms1 with variations of wording1 but the two last above described are those generally met with4 ,the oldest form of sale is called a #8feoffment1' or grant4 ,externally it differs little in appearance from a #8fine1' at least as regards its earliest form1 both being very small1 closely-written deeds2 the first was in the set lawyer type of handwriting1 while a #8fine' was indited in courthand4 ,a #8feoffment1' or grant1 was the oldest and simplest form of document2 but in later times it was followed by a deed #8of ,uses1' which required many other deeds to follow in its wake before a permanent and satisfactory sale was effected4 ,it is all these legal formalities which make the reading of old deeds so unnecessarily confusing2 their intricacies can only be mastered by careful study of books on legal matters1 and a comparison of the several kinds of deeds above enumerated4 ,a mortgage deed differs from the sales or leases in several particulars3 firstly1 the term of years granted is usually absurdly long--nine hundred or a thousand years1 perhaps2 while in lieu of money the nominal rent of one peppercorn yearly1 or some equally insignificant equivalent1 was demanded4 ,in place of the rent in an ordinary lease the real reason of the mortgage is given in full1 with the date and appointed place where and when the borrowed money is to be repaid4 ,often the vicarage1 or the parson's house1 was chosen--perhaps considered as an additional guard against fraud1 and that the clergyman as a witness1 being a disinterested party1 would see justice done on both sides4 ,no mortgage deeds are old2 the older ones1 if they existed1 were probably destroyed as soon as the transaction was finished4 ,most of those found among family papers are of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries1 and refer to small pieces of land or cottages1 showing that even then the small owners became involved in debts and difficulties1 being obliged to raise money upon their holdings1 until finally the land itself had to be sold to satisfy the demands of the creditors1 the purchaser usually being the nearest large landed proprietor1 who paid a better price for what would join on to and complete the area of his estate4 ,these small holdings had probably been accumulated bit by bit out of the waste4 ,first1 perhaps1 the settler rigged up a primitive dwelling1 or hut1 the old tradition being that if a roofed dwelling with a chimney could be erected in one night a claim to the land was thereby established4 ,if undisturbed1 the squatter would gradually extend his boundaries2 but a small rent was generally demanded by the lord of the manor as an acknowledgment of the encroachment2 these little holdings are called #8key-holdings1' and are to be found in all parts of ,england4 ,at present there is a growing desire to increase the number of small proprietors2 #8fashion1' it is said1 #8repeats itself periodically4' ,former experience showed the result of small holders to be a failure2 no land1 however small in acreage1 can be worked without capital2 a succession of bad seasons causes immediate loss and continuous outlay without a compensating return2 debts once begun are apt to accumulate2 all trades are worked cheaper on a wholesale scale4 ,bit by bit1 as failure comes1 the small pieces of land will roll up into large properties again1 like balls of quicksilver separated only for awhile4 ,many of the deeds of mortgage are sad and silent witnesses of the gradual decay and downfall of old families4 ,the squire raised money to pay off trusts1 legacies1 and dowers4 ,he pledged his mansion2 and in the inventory of his household effects we can study many queer facts4 ,our ancestors' homes were scantily furnished2 such lists surprise us1 for they show what a very small amount of furniture was formerly considered necessary to render a house habitable4 ,among family papers there is often another class of deeds altogether3 one is a small square piece of parchment1 with a huge seal attached2 this is often enclosed in a rough tin case or box4 ,these are advowson deeds1 or presentation of ,church preferment4 ,the gifts of many ,church livings are in private hands4 ,it was originally an hereditary property1 and there are cases of it of very great antiquity2 but private family deeds referring to church property are seldom found earlier than the ,jacobean period1 and very seldom as old as that4 ,the earliest presentations or appointments to parochial duty were no doubt purely ecclesiastical1 but with the ,norman accession the secular and ecclesiastical affairs merged into closer proximity2 it was considered a religious privilege to rebuild or erect a church4 ,this the lord of the manor generally undertook1 perhaps originally as a private chapel or chantry4 ,the appointment of an officiating priest became an ecclesiastical matter1 being often granted to the monasteries by the patrons4 ,to avoid the encroachment of lay interference1 ,thomas ,beckett was the first to order that no clergyman should be instituted to a living without a bishop's approval and permission2 but there were often disputes on this subject4 ,few neighbourhoods existed without a monastery somewhere in the locality1 and from the nearest religious house a candidate was probably selected2 finally1 the right of presentation was claimed by the monastery1 with whom it may have1 by custom or by deed of gift1 previously rested4 ,some education and a knowledge of ,latin was essential for a priest1 and education was almost entirely confined to the monks or their pupils4 ,thomas ,beckett1 as ,archbishop1 issued his mandate on the subject of parochial presentations as a means of retaining such institutions in episcopal hands1 and so avoiding any appeals to the ,pope which might be made by his legates or the abbots4 ,with the monasteries the chantries also passed away1 soon being forgotten2 numberless small unbeneficed chapels were then allowed to fall into ruins1 the sites even of these now having been lost4 ,deeds recounting the appointment of chantry priests are rare1 and always possess some points of interest2 often chantry priests were appointed by bequest1 and sums of money left for their maintenance4 ,these appear1 however1 to have been entirely distinct from the parish priest1 although perhaps the office may eventually have merged into one and the same4 ,there seems from earliest times to have existed a jealousy between ,cathedral bodies and the monks2 but as the monastic orders waxed more and more wealthy and influential1 we lose sight of the contention1 and on all questions of early ,church history there yet needs an impartial writer to decide many matters which at present are still uncertain1 and are viewed by different writers according to their own particular religious bias1 whether ,anglican or ,roman2 hence as history they are too prejudiced to be entirely relied upon4 ,illustration3 ,,sheriff',s ,,roll 7,,neville ,,mss474 7,see page #ff47 ,a sheriff formerly was the most important personage in his county1 being the ambassador or representative of the ,sovereign4 ,he was appointed directly by the ,crown2 even at the present day the names of three county gentlemen are written down and supposed to be presented to the ,king1 who pricks the name of the man chosen to be sheriff2 but really the names follow in sequence1 each out-going sheriff adding a fresh name to the list previous to his own being erased as having served his turn4 ,the formal deed of appointment as sheriff was a narrow parchment strip1 with a fine seal attached to it2 his discharge from office was a very unimportant-looking document4 ,the sheriff's roll was the yearly bill of expenses incurred in the ,king's name by his sheriff or representative2 as a rule they are not very interesting1 although here and there the names of men appointed to local offices may appear1 facts which might interest the local historian2 but he would have to wade through the contents of many rolls before he extracted any information worth his attention1 and much time would have to be expended over such a search4 ,these rolls are long broad strips of parchment stitched together2 the upper edge is sometimes cut square1 and at others cut into a point or peak4 ,the wording runs as follows3 #8,in ,magno ,rotulo de anno 444 ,regis 444 in ,comitatu----' ,a list of the sheriffs of ,england 7,henry ,i4 to fourth year of ,edward ,,iii47 is to be found in the thirty-first report1 page #bfb1 of the ,deputy ,keeper of the ,public ,records4 ,a list of sheriffs is published 7,public ,record ,office3 ,lists and ,indices1 ,no4 ,,ix474 ,in some counties sheriff-lists with additional genealogies and notes have been compiled1 giving a very good county history of the oldest families of the shire4 ,a royal pardon was a deed-poll with a beautiful seal attached to it4 ,it commenced with the ,sovereign's name4 ,the writing was exact and well executed4 ,the deed was divided into clauses or sections1 the commencing word of each being written in very clear black letters4 ,after the word #8,sciatis' comes the royal license and the name of its recipient1 who is forgiven #8all rebellion and insurrection against the ,crown1 all homicide1 felony1 robbery or participation with such1' and the pardoned subject is permitted to retain his possessions3 the word #8,perdonamus' coming about the centre of the document4 ,unfortunately no information is given in the charter in any way as to the particular cause for pardon being granted or the offence committed4 ,this can only be guessed at by the help of ,english history1 and a probable reason be assigned from among the many disputed accessions1 civil wars1 religious controversies of bygone centuries1 all probable sources of high treason against the ,crown4 ,few old families were exempt from charges of treason if they chanced to take any part in public affairs or were known to have been stanch adherents to prohibited religion4 ,a bond is a small paper or parchment--on one side written in ,english1 on the other in ,latin--the promise to repay or pay money due2 generally the bond is in ,latin1 and the conditions of it written in ,english4 ,bonds were made out on the sale of property1 or for mortgages or legacies2 they occur in numbers among family papers4 ,if the deed does not begin with the ,king's name in whose reign it was made1 the year of the reign will be found at the end4 ,it must be remembered that ,henry ,,vi4 and ,charles ,,ii4 are both puzzling1 owing to civil wars1 and both reckoned from the date of the death of the previous ,sovereign4 ,henry ,,vi4 is reckoned from #adbb1 and includes the whole period till his death--forty-nine and a half years--of which only thirty-eight and a half years he actually was ,king4 ,charles ,,ii4 is reckoned from the year #afdi4 ,these are the principal kinds of deeds met with among family papers1 being the commonest legal forms4 ,if others are found of an unusual character they should be put aside for closer investigation when practice has given greater experience1 or be submitted to an expert for examination4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,manor ,,and ,,court ,,rolls4 ,the oldest account of an estate is to be obtained1 not from deeds of purchase and mortgage1 but from its own private records1 called court rolls1 a most curious class of documents1 puzzling to the antiquary because they contain local words obsolete and not recognisable through derivation4 ,manor rolls are a study in themselves1 a subject hitherto overlooked4 ,they give us an insight into the most primitive form of local government1 showing the manner in which lawlessness and disregard of laws were kept under before a regular magisterial jurisdiction came into existence4 ,the local manor court occupied the position and did the work now undertaken by the magistrates1 ,county ,court judges1 and ,county ,councils4 ,when complaints are raised as to an excessive imposition of fines for trivial misdemeanours by any of these modern means of justice1 ,i would advise the complainants to study some old court rolls1 wherein may be read the fines imposed for offences no longer punishable4 ,the villager was fined if he kept dogs or pigeons1 for trespass in the woods1 stealing brushwood1 for illegal fishing1 for fighting1 for allowing animals to stray and become impounded4 ,nor1 unless he was a freedman1 was he allowed to marry or give in marriage without his lord's permission4 ,all this sounds very arbitrary and severe2 in reality it probably was not so4 ,the bond between landlord and tenant must have been a very close one4 ,they were drawn into near connection one with another2 the well-being of one meant the welfare of the other4 ,nor was the meting forth of justice left solely in the hands of the lord of the manor1 but rather to the twelve jurymen who formed the court itself4 ,certainly this self-government opened a means for unfair influence and revenge of petty quarrels4 ,this was guarded against as far as possible4 ,a very common item brought before the court was the accusation of wrongful information laid by a man against his neighbour in direct opposition to the ninth commandment4 ,there were two sections of manor courts--the ,court ,leet and the ,court ,baron4 ,the former dealt with offences committed by the tenantry1 and contained much that is entertaining and curious2 the other was occupied with the tenants and their holdings1 of which they had every year to give account to the lord of the manor4 ,upon the death of a tenant1 or the expiration of the lease1 new presentments were made to the landlord for admission to the premises1 or a fresh life added to the lease from time to time4 ,in these rolls we find notices of heriots and other old services due from the tenants of certain lands2 indeed1 these old customs are not yet wholly extinct1 though they have frequently fallen into abeyance4 ,on some estates heriots are still due1 but1 as a rule1 have for many generations been compounded for by a money payment1 just in the same way that feudal service passed into small sums of money and finally died out1 or eventually took the form of money rent4 ,on many farms it was part of the rent to give the landlord yearly1 geese or cheese4 ,in a small farm of ours in ,cheshire the tenant had to give a cheese yearly1 cart coals1 keep a dog and a fighting-cock for his landlord4 ,the manorial history of ,england would carry us back very far did we attempt to trace it to its earliest beginnings4 ,perhaps the very first step towards it was the settlement of the ,saxon tribes1 who1 in appropriating and distributing the land1 laid the foundation of hereditary ownership4 ,there is no rule or limit as to how many manors there might be in each parish4 ,clearly the parish was the older division of the two2 nor can the creation of a manor be dated in any way1 for many of the old manors were subsequently split up into two or more lesser ones4 ,the affixes or manorial names are known to have1 in some instances1 varied with the family who held the land4 ,almost without exception these manorial names were directly derived from the possessors4 ,few are older than the ,norman period1 perhaps having supplanted those in existence previously4 ,where double parochial names are used1 the first is usually ,saxon1 the affix being a ,norman addition1 showing the fusion of the two races1 which1 though living in close proximity1 were yet totally distinct from each other4 ,during the ,middle ,ages manors were further subdivided1 easily to be accounted for in this way3 ,the owner of a manor was at first start the tenant of some wealthy and powerful nobleman1 who1 owning vast tracts of land1 sublet it out in manors1 which were after some generations bought outright1 or looked upon almost as freehold4 ,the tenant was the resident squire of the place1 living on the land1 and farming it with the assistance of his children and dependents4 ,after a time the family grew up1 the sons married and needed homes of their own4 ,in those days no one moved far away from the birthplace4 ,what was more natural than that the squire should provide homes for his children close around the old manor-house1 and1 dividing off the property by the manorial boundaries1 give to each a portion for self-maintenance8 ,this accounts for the large1 old-fashioned farmhouses to be found in most country parishes4 ,the history of each farm1 if investigated1 will furnish a curious proof of the conservatism with which certain boundaries were preserved1 and the manors regarded as sections seldom subdivided except into recognised lesser manors4 ,society was very primitive two or three hundred years ago4 ,it was then possible to live comfortably and make a living out of the land4 ,no foreign grain was imported to affect the prices of corn in country places4 ,competition was unknown1 and the people led a quiet1 uneventful existence1 following in the footsteps of their forefathers4 ,gradually changes have come about4 ,the old race of yeomen has died out2 the few that are left make us forcibly regret that this should be the case4 ,the yeoman was a man of good education and long pedigree2 he belonged to the largest section of ,english society1 called #8middle class4' ,agriculture was his profession2 he seldom left home1 consequently had few opportunities of spending money2 the character and personal history of every human being on the place was intimately known to him1 for the villagers lived and died in their native villages4 ,the roads were bad1 therefore traffic from place to place was restricted to what was absolutely necessary4 ,posts and passenger coaches were rarities1 and when first started met with little patronage from the majority of the people4 ,to return to the manorial courts4 ,these were held but once during the year4 ,it was the annual audit of the freemen on the estate1 the #8,visus franciplegii1' as the opening words of the court roll states4 ,quarter sessions were held four times in the year1 while the sheriff's tourn took place half-yearly4 ,these inquired into matters of public interest and public expense1 whereas the manor court dealt with trivial matters pertaining to the manor itself4 ,the sheriff's tourn and the manorial court were almost identical in object2 the first was the representative of the ,crown dispensing justice to the ,king's subjects2 in a lesser radius and degree the lord of the manor had a similar office to fulfil4 ,illustration3 ,,court ,,roll4 7,see page #ge47 ,manors were ruled by custom1 and customs varied in different places4 ,the general aspect of a court roll will always be found to be identical4 ,the older rolls are in ,latin1 but1 like the deeds1 the later ones are written in ,english4 ,the earliest ones are literally #8rolls' closely written on parchment in the handwriting called by the ,french #8minuscule4' ,every court roll has at its commencement the name of the manor written either above or on the margin4 ,the opening words read thus3 #8,visus franciplegii cum curia4' ,after this is the name of the lord of the manor1 the date of the day and month1 followed by the ,king's name and the number of years since he ascended the throne4 ,esson41 on the margin1 is the abbreviation for essonium1 an excuse--namely1 the jurymen who pleaded absence from the court4 ,following this are the names of the twelve jurymen present1 and then the work begins4 ,in the older rolls the presentment of offences are the principal items2 latterly only the tenants and their leases employed the attention of the court at its annual sitting4 ,the first thing to consider was usually the assize--licensing1 so to speak1 of bread and ale4 ,by this means fraud and adulteration were held in check4 ,the right of brewing ale was a privilege not to be infringed without penalty2 the fine imposed was at the rate of #a;d4 for each illegal brewing2 the offenders are generally women4 ,any damage to crops or fences1 highways needing repair1 quarrels ending in bloodshed1 neglect by which animals were permitted to stray and become seized by the hayward or pinder--all such offences are found chronicled in the court roll4 ,last of all is the sum total received in fines1 signed by the names of the two officers appointed to superintend the assize4 ,a court roll is always written throughout in one handwriting1 without any private marks or signatures4 ,from the writing1 they are generally the work of a professional scribe or clerk who must have had a regular education--first as a ,latin scholar1 secondly as an accountant1 and thirdly probably learnt to write before he learnt ,latin4 ,mistakes or erasures are seldom to be detected2 therefore the rolls must have been carefully copied at leisure from rough notes made at the time2 moreover1 the spelling of the surnames is fairly constant1 which would not be if written from dictation4 ,up to the ,reformation period the court rolls were cherished as being valuable records1 providing standards for future reference2 hence we find1 until then1 a fairly perfect sequence of these yearly rolls1 after which a break occurs1 and only a casual roll here and there is preserved4 ,no guide to court rolls would be complete unless the oldest form of the ,arabic numerals is given and explained4 ,the ,roman numerals are the oldest method of writing figures in ,europe1 but gradually the so-called ,arabic figures 7really of ,indian origin7 were introduced1 superseding the former style4 ,to ,gerbert1 otherwise known as ,pope ,silvester ,,ii4 7he died in #ajjc71 is attributed their introduction ,illustration3 xiith century4 xiiith century4 xivth century4 xvth century4 from the ,east to the ,west2 anyway1 from the twelfth century1 the ,arabic numerals rapidly came into use4 ,the #j was not invented before the twelfth century4 ,a curious resemblance is traceable between the figures of the alternate centuries4 ,our present style of figures has grown out of the older ones1 but is bolder in outline and curve4 ,the figure #e has passed through most variation1 while #f1 #h and #i have scarcely altered at all4 ,it must be remembered that before #ageb the ,old ,style was still used in ,england4 ,the year therefore commenced on ,march #beth instead of1 as it does at present1 on ,january #ast4 ,when the calendar was corrected in #ageb eleven days were omitted1 and ,september #bnd was followed by ,september #adth4 ,the people bewailed it1 and contemporary skits are numerous1 echoing the popular cry of #8,give us back our lost eleven days4' ,on the ,continent the alteration had taken place long before4 ,in some ,english parish church registers we find confusion as to the actual year date to be used for the months between ,christmas and ,lady ,day4 ,this uncertainty may be observed before #agej4 ,in many country places the old style was maintained long after the year #ageb4 ,i have a very curious old calendar of #adhc2 in it the saints' days are veritable red-letter days4 ,many of the saints named are unknown to us either by name or legend1 but in court rolls only the principal saints' days are mentioned as those on which the court sat4 ,some months seem to have been more favoured with saints' days than others4 ,the following list1 though by no means complete1 gives the chief ,english saints3 ,january4 #a4 ,circumcisio ,domini4 #ac4 ,st4 ,veronica4 #ac4 ,st4 ,hilary4 #be4 ,conversion of ,st4 ,paul4 ,february4 #a4 ,st4 ,bride1 or ,bridget4 #b4 ,purification of the ,virgin1 or ,candlemas ,day4 #bd4 ,st4 ,matthias the ,apostle4 ,march4 #a4 ,st4 ,david4 #b4 ,st4 ,chad4 #d4 ,st4 ,lucius1 ,pope and ,martyr1 ,a4,d4 #bec4 #ad4 ,st4 ,benet1 or ,benedict4 #ah4 ,st4 ,edward4 #ai4 ,st4 ,joseph1 the ,virgin's husband4 #bj4 ,st4 ,cuthbert4 #be4 ,annunciation of the ,virgin4 ,lady-,day4 ,april4 #bc4 ,st4 ,george4 #be4 ,st4 ,mark the ,evangelist4 ,may4 #a4 ,st4 ,philip and ,st4 ,james the ,less1 ,apostles4 #b4 ,st4 ,athanasius4 #c4 ,invention 7or discovery7 of the ,holy ,cross4 #e4 ,st4 ,hilary1 ,bishop of ,arles4 ,the two saints of this name are confusing1 but this ,st4 ,hilary is rarely mentioned in ,english documents4 #bf4 ,st4 ,augustine4 ,june4 #aa4 ,st4 ,barnabas1 ,apostle4 #ac4 ,st4 ,anthony of ,padua4 #bb4 ,st4 ,alban4 #bd4 ,nativity of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist4 ,midsummer ,day4 #bi4 ,sts4 ,peter and ,paul1 ,apostles4 #cj4 ,st4 ,paul1 ,apostle4 ,july4 #b4 ,visitation of the ,blessed ,virgin4 #ae4 ,st4 ,swithin4 #bb4 ,st4 ,mary ,magdalen4 #be4 ,st4 ,james the ,great1 ,apostle4 #be4 ,st4 ,christopher4 ,lammastide4 ,august4 #a4 ,st4 ,peter ad ,vincula1 or ,st4 ,peter in chains4 #e4 ,st4 ,oswald4 #f4 ,the ,transfiguration of our ,lord4 #ae4 ,the ,assumption of the ,virgin4 #ba4 ,st4 ,bernard4 #bd4 ,st4 ,bartholomew1 ,apostle4 #bh4 ,st4 ,austin1 or ,augustine4 #bi4 ,beheading of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist4 ,september4 #a4 ,st4 ,egidius1 or ,giles4 #h4 ,the ,nativity of the ,blessed ,virgin4 #ad4 ,exaltation of the ,holy ,cross4 #ba4 ,st4 ,matthew1 ,apostle and ,evangelist4 #bi4 ,st4 ,michael and ,all ,angels4 ,michaelmas4 ,october4 #d4 ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi4 #i4 ,st4 ,denis1 or ,dionysius of ,paris4 #ag4 ,st4 ,audry1 or ,etheldreda4 #ah4 ,st4 ,luke the ,evangelist4 #ba4 ,st4 ,ursula1 and #aa1jjj virgins4 #be4 ,st4 ,crispin4 #bh4 ,st4 ,simon the ,canaanite1 ,apostle4 ,november4 #a4 ,all ,saints' ,day4 #b4 ,all ,souls' ,day4 #aa4 ,st4 ,martin4 ,martinmas4 #af4 ,st4 ,edmund4 #ba4 ,presentation of the ,blessed ,virgin4 #bb4 ,st4 ,cecilia4 #be4 ,st4 ,catherine4 #cj4 ,st4 ,andrew1 ,apostle4 ,december4 #f4 ,st4 ,nicholas4 #h4 ,the ,conception of the ,blessed ,virgin4 #ac4 ,st4 ,lucy4 #ba4 ,st4 ,thomas1 ,apostle4 #be4 ,the ,nativity of our ,blessed ,lord4 ,christmas4 #bf4 ,st4 ,stephen4 #bg4 ,st4 ,john1 ,evangelist and ,apostle4 #bh4 ,the ,holy ,innocents4 #bi4 ,st4 ,thomas ,beckett4 ,the saints' days were brought before the people in many ways--in the village feasts1 or the dedication of churches1 in the mural paintings which covered the church walls1 and in the ,christian names given at baptism4 ,in the old rolls the date of the month is never mentioned1 the principal feast-day nearest to it being used instead4 ,saints' days1 as holidays1 were probably the most convenient days for assembling together for business4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,monastic ,,charters4 ,every abbey of any importance kept a chartulary--in other words1 a catalogue of its possessions in the copies of grants of land all collected within one or more volumes--a carefully compiled work1 giving all the benefactions and privileges of the foundation1 entered by the scribe or secretary of the establishment1 who must have spent many hours of his life over the work1 for these books are rarely found to be the work of more than one1 or at most two1 men--one handwriting continuing on until replaced by another4 ,great care and neatness was used in the formation of each black letter--even and perfect as the most exact printing ever done by machinery4 ,each charter was emphasized with an elaborate capital letter1 and the index or headings to them were filled in after the writing was finished1 as is proved by the fact that these were sometimes never completed4 ,the probability is that they were the work of another artist or illuminator1 and appear to have been sketched in with a brush or hair pencil1 the writing having been executed with a quill pen4 ,colour is sometimes employed to embellish and ornament the work1 but in the oldest chartularies colour1 usually red1 is only used to mark special passages1 or1 as in ,domesday ,book1 to point out names of persons or places4 ,the largest work on ,english monasteries was compiled by ,sir ,william ,dugdale2 but in so extensive a work as the #8,monasticon' too much was undertaken2 it was impossible to search deeply enough into existing records for information concerning every religious house throughout ,england4 ,therefore1 although a valuable foundation to start with1 much more may still be ascertained from manuscripts1 public and private1 particularly with regard to the lesser religious houses or cells to foreign abbeys4 ,christianity among the ,anglo-,saxons was a missionary undertaking1 therefore it encouraged the foundation of organizing centres2 but these seem at first to have rather taken the form of bishoprics than abbeys2 still1 information as to the early ,church in ,england does not exist sufficiently in detail to permit us to state clearly the actual religious work or its method of working4 ,later on the ,saxon abbeys partook rather of the nature of large training colleges1 where learning was carried on4 ,the mission of ,st4 ,augustine extended the monastic system1 and spread ,christianity to a wider extent4 ,it also encouraged the resort hither of foreign monks4 ,great rivalry existed between the ,english bishops and these foreign missionary priests1 a feud which never seems entirely to have died out4 ,the largest number of ,english abbeys sprang up after the ,norman ,conquest4 ,the invaders manifested their religion by bestowing large grants of lands as votive offerings and in token of gratitude1 while ,duke ,william's honest repayment of the loans given him for the equipment of his armada brought over hundreds of priests and monks to take possession of their new territories4 ,church building was a religious work often undertaken for the expiation of sins4 ,voluntary work is always the best of its kind4 ,to this day the remains of the old ,norman abbeys surprise us with their solidity of structure and elegance of design4 ,they must1 indeed1 have been beautiful when the interiors were fitted up with corresponding magnificence4 ,at first the monks were poor--they were given land1 not always of the best1 often in wild and unfrequented regions2 but by frugality1 skill and industry1 they soon brought it into a fertile state1 and lived on its produce and the gifts of their patrons4 ,the ,cistercians were great wool-dealers1 and we know how much ,english cloth was prized at home and abroad for its goodness of quality4 ,in course of time the monks1 by their labours1 became rich4 ,the need for toil being over1 they sank into indolent affluence2 instead of hard-working communities1 they became wealthy landowners4 ,the abbots were miniature kings1 ruling over their vassals and dependents1 living in almost royal state1 surrounded by their court4 ,the history of monastic ,england extends over very many centuries1 even if its commencement is only placed at the arrival of ,st4 ,augustine in ,a4,d4 #eig1 or later still1 with the ,norman invasion4 ,changes of all kinds took place in those long centuries4 ,large abbeys had sunk into poverty1 and others arisen in their places4 ,the monks had been subdivided into orders1 each having its own peculiar rules4 ,the oldest of these was the ,benedictine1 or ,black ,monks1 who held most of the largest monasteries--as many as #aef in number4 ,from this ,order arose the ,cistercians1 even more severe in their regulations--popular in ,england1 probably from having had an ,englishman as their founder1 ,stephen ,harding1 head of the ,monastery of ,citeaux 7,cistercium7 about the year #aabe4 ,this order had been approved by the ,pope twenty-five years previously4 ,gasquet gives the names of #hf ,cistercian houses in ,england1 the ,cluniac as #bf1 and ,carthusian as #i4 ,these lesser orders had each its own distinctive rules1 but1 as the above figures show1 were less popular than the older orders of monks4 ,the number of nunneries was also very large 7,gasquet gives #adj74 ,these were principally of the ,benedictine ,order4 ,i have seen it stated that there was only one house of ,white ,nuns in ,england1 that of ,grace ,dieu1 in ,leicestershire1 but this is not correct4 ,as the old ,benedictine ,order relaxed in severity1 the ,cistercians came forward1 and when these were no longer conspicuous for piety and austerity1 there arose the wandering missionaries known as ,friars1 who were also eloquent preachers1 a marked contrast to the half-educated clergy4 ,these friars were mendicants1 bound by oath neither to possess land nor money1 nor to enjoy luxury4 ,they went about preaching throughout the country2 it was the old story of the #8house divided against itself being unable to stand4' ,the friars preached against the monks1 and the monks opposed the clergy1 ending in the downfall of the three rivals under ,henry ,,viii4 ,the first order of friars was of ,spanish origin1 founded by ,dominic ,a4,d4 #abjd1 and confirmed in #abae4 ,they wore a brown habit of coarse hair-cloth4 ,a few years later ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi founded the ,grey ,friars1 called after him ,franciscans4 ,these came to ,england ,a4,d4 #abbd1 where they became very popular4 ,like the monks1 lesser orders arose out of these4 ,the ,premonstratensians gained little ground in ,england1 but the ,augustinian or ,austin ,friars had many followers1 both men and women4 ,henry ,,viii4's first attack on religious houses was made upon those whose yearly incomes did not exceed #bjj4 ,but the work thus begun did not end here4 ,it is said that #cgf small monasteries were doomed2 of these #abc escaped immediate dissolution4 ,throughout #aece and the succeeding five years the work of suppression was carried on4 ,during that time the monks foresaw that ultimately they were doomed1 and had time to sell or hide their choicest possessions before the ,commissioners appeared to claim them4 ,then no doubt many valuable manuscripts and papers were destroyed1 or else either hidden or removed out of the country4 ,in several places some of these buried treasures have come to light after being concealed for a long time4 ,in this way a beautiful copy of the ,reading ,abbey ,chartulary was preserved for two hundred years1 having been concealed in a secret chamber adjoining a chimney-stack in an old manor-house at ,shinfield1 only discovered by workmen during some repairs in the eighteenth century4 ,illustration3 ,,reading ,,abbey ,,charter4 7,photographed by ,mr4 ,a4 ,a4 ,harrison1 of ,theale4 ,kindly lent by ,lord ,fingall47 ,this book#c is a good example of its kind1 being perfect as the day when it was first hidden away4 ,in it are written the grants of lands from the ,abbey's second foundation by ,henry ,i4#d ,vast possessions given bit by bit--generally by those families whose ancestors lay buried in the abbey church1 for whose souls prayers were desired4 ,the inventories of relics are very curious1 and the vestments also are described4 ,there is a long list of the books in the abbey libraries of ,reading and ,leominster4 ,all the books in this long list disappeared1 no one knows where or how4 ,two volumes1 a missal and a book of hours1 said once to have been part of the abbey library1 were sold by auction in #ahhi4 ,nor was ,reading the only instance of the total disappearance of valuable monastic manuscripts4 ,gasquet speaks of the wanton destruction of manuscripts at this period1 and says that they were sold for all kinds of uses4 ,mr4 ,maskell1 #8,monument ,ritualia ,ecclesi ,anglican1' reckons there must have been more than #bej1jjj volumes of ,church service books in use1 and that they must have been destroyed to prevent men from following the worship of their forefathers4 ,a most interesting article on #8,ancient ,prymers1' the service books of the people1 appeared in the ,antiquary of ,march1 #ahib1 written by ,mr4 ,henry ,littlehales4 ,illustration3 ,,reading ,,abbey ,,chartulary4 7,photographed by ,mr4 ,a4 ,a4 ,harrison1 of ,theale47 ,the original deeds or grants of land to abbeys are seldom met with among private documents4 ,the wording differs little from that of an ordinary grant1 except that the donor gives for the good of his soul and the souls of his ancestors4 ,sometimes very interesting details may be gathered from the foundation deeds of chantries1 with the appointment of a priest to celebrate ,mass and offer up prayers for the dead1 receiving in return a salary derived from lands or else given at once in money4 ,original grants from the ,crown to abbeys are seldom dated the day or year they were written1 except that they conclude with the names of the bishops attesting them and the witnesses who were present1 although sometimes the ,king's reign is given1 or the episcopal year of the archbishop or diocesan bishop4 ,the names of the ,english archbishops and bishops are important as supplying the date of undated charters4 ,of the latter the contracted names of the sees are all given in ,wright's #8,court-hand ,restored1' but neither there nor in any other book is mention made of the ,norman bishops1#e who frequently appear as witnesses to monastic charters4 ,bishoprics of ,normandy1 etc4 ,name of ,see4 ,modern ,name4 ,archbishopric3 ,rothomagensis4 ,rouen4 ,bishopric3 ,baiocensis4 ,bayeux4 ,abrincatensis4 ,avranches4 ,lexoviensis4 ,lisieux4 ,ebroicensis4 ,evreux4 ,cadomensis4 ,caen4 ,sylvanectensis4 ,senliz4 ,bellovacensis4 ,beauvais4 ,atrebatensis4 ,arras4 ,constantiensis4 ,coutances ,sagiensis4 ,sez4 ,ambianensis or ,samarobrivensis4 ,amiens4 ,as likely to be a help towards affixing the date of undated charters ,i append a list of the archbishops and chancellors of ,england from the ,conquest to the fourteenth century2 also a few of the bishops of the same period4 ,archbishops of ,canterbury4 ,stigand #ajeb-ajgj ,lanfranc #ajgj-ajhi ,anselm #ajic-aaji ,ralph of ,escures #aaad-aabb ,william of ,corbeil #aabc-aacf ,theobald #aaci-aafa ,thomas ,beckett #aafb-aagj ,richard #aagd-aahd ,baldwin #aahe-aaij ,reginald ,fitz ,joscelin #aaia ,hubert ,walter #aaic-abje ,stephen ,langton #abjg-abbi ,richard le ,grand #abbi-abca ,edmund ,rich #abcd-abdj ,boniface of ,savoy #abde-abgj ,robert ,kilwardby #abgc-abgh ,john ,peckham #abgi-abib ,robert ,winchelsey #abid-acac ,next to ,canterbury came the important bishopric of ,london4 ,the latter was a very large and powerful diocese1 originating first at ,dorchester ,a4,d4 #fcd1 dividing into two sees1 ,winchester and ,sherborne1 ,a4,d4 #gje1 which were further subdivided1 the latter into ,sherborne and ,wells1 and the ,winchester see into ,selsey and ,ramsbury 7,corvinensis72 all reuniting in #ajge into the powerful bishopric of ,old ,sarum1 eventually removed to ,salisbury1 #abah4 ,thus it will be seen that ,winchester and ,sherborne were the chief bishoprics1 the others being offshoots of later creation4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,bishops of ,salisbury commenced under ,herman 7died #ajgg71 previously known as ,bishop of ,sherborne 7,scirburniensis74 ,osmund1 died ,dec4 #c1 #ajii4 ,roger1 elected #aajb1 consecrated #aajg1 died #aaci4 ,jocelin de ,bailul1 died a ,cistercian ,monk at ,waverley ,abbey1 #aahd4 ,hubert ,walter1 #aahi1 translated to ,canterbury1 #aaic4 ,herbert ,poore1 #aaid4 ,richard ,poore1 #abag4 ,the see then transferred to ,new ,sarum or ,salisbury4 ,robert ,bingham1 #abbh4 ,william of ,york1 #abdf4 ,giles de ,bridport1 #abef4 ,walter de ,la ,wyle1 #abfc4 ,robert de ,wykehampton1 #abga4 ,walter ,scammel1 #abhd4 ,henry de ,braundeston1 #abhg4 ,william de ,la ,corner1 #abhi4 ,nicolas ,longespe1 #abic4 ,simon of ,ghent1 #abjg4 ,roger de ,mortival1 #acae4 ,bishops of ,winchester who were ,chancellors of ,england4 ,william ,giffard1 introduced the ,cistercian ,monks into ,england #aajj-aabi ,nicholas ,ely #abfh-abhb ,john ,sandall #acaf-acbj ,adam ,orlton #accc-acde ,william ,edyngdon1 first ,prelate of the ,order of the ,garter2 the ,bishops of ,winchester have ever since retained this honour #acde-acfg ,william de ,wykeham4 ,introduced the ,perpendicular architecture into ,england2 built ,winchester ,college and ,new ,college1 ,oxford2 rebuilt part of his ,cathedral4 ,a great reformer of abuses #acfg-adjd ,henry ,beaufort 7,cardinal7 increased the ,st4 ,cross ,almshouses2 took a prominent part in the burning of ,joan of ,arc4 ,see ,shakespeare's #8,henry ,,vi4' #adjd-addg ,william de ,waynflete1 first ,provost of ,eton4 ,founded ,magdalen ,college1 ,oxford2 continued his master's 7,william de ,wykeham's7 reformation of abuses1 etc4 #addg-adhg ,thomas ,wolsey1 the celebrated ,cardinal ,wolsey of history4 ,held the see in commendam #aebh-aecj ,stephen ,gardiner4 ,he figures as one of the most prominent ecclesiastics during the reigns of ,henry ,,viii41 ,edward ,,vi41 and ,mary4 ,his life is part of the history of those times #aeca-aeej ,chief ,justices of ,england4 ,odo of ,bayeux and ,william ,fitz ,osbern1 ,earl of ,hereford #ajfg ,william de ,warren and ,richard ,fitz ,gilbert #ajgc ,lanfranc1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 ,geoffrey1 ,bishop of ,coutances1 and ,robert1 ,count of ,mortain #ajgh ,odo1 ,bishop of ,bayeux #ajhg-ajhh ,william de ,st4 ,carileph1 ,bishop of ,durham #ajhh ,ranulph ,flambard1 ,bishop of ,durham #ajid-aajj ,robert ,bloett1 ,bishop of ,lincoln #aajj-aajg ,roger ,le ,poor1 ,bishop of ,salisbury #aajg-aaci ,robert de ,beaumont1 ,earl of ,leicester #aaed-aafg ,richard de ,luci #aaed-aagi ,ranulph ,glanville #aahj-aahi ,hugh1 ,bishop of ,durham1 and ,william1 ,earl of ,essex #aahi ,hugh1 ,bishop of ,durham1 and ,william ,longchamp1 ,bishop of ,ely #aaij ,william ,longchamp alone #aaij ,walter of ,coutances1 ,archbishop of ,rouen #aaia-aaic ,hubert ,walter1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury #aaid-aaih ,geoffrey ,fitz ,peter1 ,earl of ,essex #aaih-abac ,peter des ,roches1 ,bishop of ,winchester1 native of ,poitiers #abad-abae ,hubert de ,burgh #abae-abcb ,stephen ,segrave #abcb-abcd ,hugh ,bigot #abeh-abfj ,hugh ,le ,despenser #abfj ,philip ,basset #abfa ,ralph de ,hengham #abgc-abhi ,gilbert de ,thornton #abhi-abie ,roger ,brabazon #abie ,chancellors of ,england4 ,herfast1 afterwards ,bishop of ,elmham #ajfh ,osbern1 afterwards ,bishop of ,exeter #ajgj-ajgd ,osmund1 afterwards ,bishop of ,salisbury #ajgd-ajgh ,maurice1 afterwards ,bishop of ,london #ajgh-ajhc ,william de ,beaufoe1 afterwards ,bishop of ,thetford #ajhc-ajhe ,william ,giffard #ajhf-ajij ,robert ,bloett #ajij ,walderic #ajic ,william ,giffard #ajid-aaja ,roger ,le ,poor #aaja-aajc ,william ,giffard #aajc-aajd ,walderic #aajd ,ranulph #aajh-aabc ,geoffrey ,rufus #aabd-aace ,roger ,le ,poor #aace-aaci ,philip #aaci ,thomas ,beckett #aaed-aafb ,ralph de ,warneville #aagc-aaha ,geoffrey1 the ,king's son #aaha-aahi ,william ,longchamp1 ,bishop of ,ely #aahi-aaig ,eustace1 ,bishop of ,ely #aaig-aaii ,hubert ,walter #aaii-abje ,walter ,grey #abje-abac ,peter des ,roches #abac-abad ,walter ,grey #abad ,richard de ,marisco #abad-abbf ,ralph ,neville #abbf-abdd ,walter de ,merton #abfa ,nicolas de ,ely #abfc ,thomas ,cantelupe #abfe ,walter ,giffard #abfe ,godfrey ,giffard #abfg ,richard ,middleton #abfi-abgb ,walter de ,merton #abgb ,robert ,burnell #abgc-abib ,john ,langton #abib ,william ,greenfield #acjb ,william of ,hamilton #acjd ,ralph ,baldock #acjg ,the witnesses were chosen from the ,king's chief officers1 with a few local magnates4 ,this will sometimes be a valuable guide to locality when the county is not named4 ,but as a rule the name of the county is written on the margin1 and also the name of the place1 together with a brief index of the contents of the charter4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,parish ,,registers4 ,the study of parish registers is quite apart from that of old deeds4 ,the writing of the former begins at the period where the latter usually end1 for deeds written in the seventeenth century are regarded by the antiquary as #8modern'2 but then comes the most difficult handwriting of all to decipher1 because the old race of scholarly clerks had died out and been replaced by less educated men4 ,parish registers are unique in many ways4 ,they contain information nowhere else obtainable4 ,sometimes1 besides the mere repetition of names1 there are inserted scraps of original information1 for the clergyman had undisputed control of the volumes until #afeb1 which remained usually in the keeping of his deputy1 the parish clerk1 and either of them could enter in the books whatever he pleased4 ,every now and then an outcry arises as to the condition and care of parish registers1 and desire is expressed that they should be deposited in a large public office similar to the ,public ,record ,office2 but anyone who has wished to make or obtain extracts from the registers at the diocesan registries is well aware of the trouble and expense involved4 ,search fees soon mount up4 ,as regards expense and difficulty of searching1 the ,registers of ,ireland are far worse than ,england4 ,many are the known instances where the precious volumes have been purposely mutilated1 or by neglect suffered to fall into decay and illegibility2 but1 as a whole1 it is wonderful to see the excellent condition and preservation of these old records1 which1 if once removed out of their own parishes into a large public collection1 would lose all individuality1 and become merged in the mass of manuscripts which are more or less buried in every large library4 ,it is a pity that some arrangement cannot be made to ensure preservation by a few copies being printed of each register4 ,transcribing is gradually being undertaken privately1 but ought to be worked on a more systematic plan with uniformity throughout ,england4 ,the ,parish ,register ,society prints volumes1 but there is no special library or collection of transcripts1 printed or ,,ms41 and the ,british ,museum refuses to buy any because they are not #8original1' which1 by the way1 could not legally be bought or possessed by anyone4 ,the printing of a few copies would not in any way affect the fees accruing to the clergy from researches1 but rather tend to increase them1 for at present much information is lost because its whereabouts is unknown4 ,it is this question of search-fees which causes such a steady resistance on the part of the resident clergy to any such project4 ,but in spite of this the work has been begun already1 and some day will be a public affair1 and not left to private enterprise4 ,the registers of many parishes are printed1 or have ,,ms4 transcripts all ready for the press2 nor is the expense as great as might be imagined4 ,a few copies unbound may be produced at a cost of from #c to #aj1 and can easily be covered by subscription4 ,it is not unusual1 when applying by letter for extracts from an old register1 to receive a reply of apology from the clergyman recommending a personal search on the part of the inquirer1 as the information could not be sent owing to inability to read the unfamiliar old handwriting4 ,this would be avoided if a typed or printed copy properly indexed were at hand for reference1 while on any important matter1 where an attested copy from the original was necessary1 it could be obtained as heretofore1 for legal work the original must be consulted1 and a certificate obtained from the clergyman4 ,the history of ,english parish registers commences from the ,reformation year of #aecf1 copied from the ,spanish idea4 ,whether any previous system had existed we are unable to say1 for information on the subject is lacking4 ,here and there fragments of registers are known earlier than the above-quoted date1 but these are the exception1 not the rule4 ,deaths noted down by the chantry priests or monks are found on the margins of old monastic breviaries1 when prayers for the souls of the departed had been desired4 ,the subject is one of vast importance1 for without proper registration it is impossible to decide the legality of a marriage or prove legitimacy of offspring1 both necessary points of law where inheritance of landed property is concerned4 ,the scheme of parochial registration1 as devised by ,henry ,,viii4's shrewd minister ,cromwell1 was only copied from a like plan long in use abroad4 ,the idea at first1 being new to the ,english people1 met with much opposition1 being mistaken for a new species of taxation4 ,nevertheless1 ,parliament ordered it to be carried out under penalty of fines1 and1 being found a valuable institution1 was submitted to1 until custom fully established it4 ,thus our parish registers cannot be older than #aecf4 ,though in a few instances earlier ,,mss4 exist they are the exception1 for the order did not become general till two years later1 therefore #aech may be reckoned as the year when registers may be said to have in reality begun in ,england4 ,at first the registers were carefully written1 the entries being in ,latin4 ,after a while less care was taken4 ,the notes were made on rough strips of paper called #8clerk's notes1' and were supposed to be entered at fixed intervals in the book2 but often this was irregularly performed1 and the strips were mislaid and lost before they could be copied4 ,in some parishes both the clerk's notes as well as the old register book may still be seen and compared4 ,very few persons know that these are the original entries1 and ,i believe ignorance of the fact excludes them as legal evidence4 ,the religious uncertainty of the succeeding reigns caused the question of registration to be ignored1 but ,queen ,elizabeth issued several commands on the subject1 notably that by which transcripts were yearly sent at ,easter to be preserved among the diocesan records4 ,most of the old parish register books now existing are transcripts made according to ,queen ,elizabeth's command1 as can be seen at a glance1 for the handwriting is uniform throughout1 which could not have been the case if the notes made by the clerk had been periodically copied into the book4 ,curiously1 the date of these ,acts is not known4 ,the bulk of the transcripts date from #aeeh4 ,another more stringent ,act1 to ensure yearly copies being made1 was passed upon ,james ,i4's accession to the throne1 and the clergyman's name was to be affixed to each page as witness that the copy was faithfully exact4 ,had these wise regulations been carried out to the letter1 and in the spirit that was intended1 we should now possess an invaluable corroboration of the accuracy of the parish registers2 but alas6 the transcripts to be found in the diocesan registries are meagre and imperfect4 ,years and series of years are missing1 and the entries are so lacking in detail as to be practically useless4 ,in some dioceses no transcripts remain--,rochester1 for instance4 ,personal search can1 of course1 be made among the diocesan registers1 and this is strongly to be recommended1 for any mistakes in a transcript render it not only valueless1 but mischievous4 ,extracts from registers are the most dangerous material a genealogist has to deal with4 ,unless further authenticated by wills and old deeds to confirm the relationship1 it will be found no easy job to piece together these broken links in the chain of evidence1 and without wilful misrepresentation being intended1 mistakes may and will occur4 ,take1 for instance1 any name1 and try to trace out the pedigree with the help of the parish register only4 ,at first it is easy enough1 whether worked backwards or forwards1 but after the first three or four generations have been worked out all certainty of relationship is lost1 and becomes confused4 ,the handwriting of the parish registers is a combination of the old set law-hand and the personal handwritings mentioned in the second chapter4 ,original entries 7i4e41 entries made at the time of performing the religious ceremony7 are seldom met with before the middle of ,james ,i4's reign1 by which time the ,latin language had fallen into disuse4 ,the ,commonwealth ,government passed an ,act of ,parliament appointing paid registrars to every village 7#afec74 ,these were often illiterate men1 whose only accomplishments consisted of being able to read and write1 and whose zeal and discretion alone regulated the keeping of the register books4 ,this duty was often but ill-performed1 especially when age and infirmity overtook the registrar1 who continued in office until death relieved him of his duties4 ,no second registrar seemed in any case to have been appointed1 nor did the ,act of ,parliament provide for such a contingency1 and the work of keeping the registers devolved again upon the clergyman and his assistant clerk4 ,for several years after the ,restoration of #affj the registers were irregularly kept1 and very erratic4 ,the old race of educated clerks was gone4 ,formerly1 when the registers first began1 clerkships may have been filled by men educated in the monasteries1 who1 when turned adrift1 were glad to employ themselves as priests' chaplains or private tutors as a means of livelihood4 ,until the last century very few small schools of any kind existed for the poorer classes1 except those provided by charitable bequests4 ,these were few and far between1 and could be of little benefit to the masses of the people4 ,no wonder1 then1 that the ill-paid clergy were obliged to be content with very uneducated men to serve in the capacity of clerk4 ,the registers of the latter part of the seventeenth century are indited in every variety of illegibly bad writing4 ,the chief difficulty of reading the old registers lies in the immense variety of forms a name was capable of passing through1 owing to the laxity of ,english spelling and pronunciation4 ,the people only knew their own surnames by oral tradition1 and were entirely dependent upon the parish clerk1 who wrote down the name as it sounded to him1 and as sounds have a different effect on different persons1 the commonest names often appeared in very strange and unrecognisable disguises before they finally crystallized into their modern forms4 ,eeles1 ,yeeles1 became ,wells4 ,it is not unusual to find items of miscellaneous information jotted down at random by the clergyman among the entries of births1 marriages1 and deaths4 ,heavy falls of snow1 disastrous floods1 periods of drought1 storms of any kind1 were all events of great local importance in country places1 and would remain for a long time as traditional landmarks in their annals4 ,alas6 such items are rare1 and are now rendered impossible in the printed columns of the modern register books4 ,the most useful and least troublesome way to catalogue the contents of a parish register for reference is to write out the year1 and below it enter the births1 marriages1 and deaths1 with the names occurring under each heading1 but without taking the time or trouble to copy the dates of day or month1 these last being only required for law investigations1 and for which purpose a signed certificate from the clergyman direct from the originals only would be received as evidence4 ,parliamentary blue-books have been issued on the subject of parochial registers1 and a most useful pamphlet is issued by the ,parish ,register ,society every few years1 giving as complete a catalogue as possible of all registers of which up to the present day printed copies or indexes have been made4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,parish ,,officers ,,and ,,their ,,books4 ,among the contents of the parish deed-chest wherein registers are supposed to be safely kept are often found other books and papers1 seemingly of little interest or importance1 but in reality very likely to yield curious and original scraps of information1 with glimpses into the life of the poorer classes during the past centuries4 ,some day these old account books1 now flung aside as worthless1 will be of great importance in an antiquary's eyes1 for they give lists of all the residents in the parish1 from the squire to the lowest and poorest1 showing the social status of each2 and further1 are of value when compared with the parish registers1 as giving a clue to the length of residence of inhabitants who1 if of the middle class1 sooner or later served their turn as parish officers2 and if paupers1 were entered as recipients of parochial charity4 ,previous to this century the churchwardens1 overseers1 road surveyors and parish constables held office for one year only1 being elected at the annual ,easter vestry2 now re-election is supposed to take place1 but the post is usually carried on from year to year without opposition4 ,apparently some rule of yearly income or rental governed the election1 or else certain tenements were represented in rotation by their tenants1 for widows were liable to serve1 in which case a son or some near neighbour was deputed to act in the woman's name4 ,now the custom of yearly change has died out1 and a churchwarden once elected goes on from year to year1 until sickness1 old age1 or death renders some fresh arrangement absolutely necessary4 ,this statement was #8caught up' by the reviewers of this book1 but1 nevertheless1 it is perfectly true4 ,surely1 if in those old days1 when education was so sparsely distributed1 and even reading and writing looked upon as sciences--if then it was possible to find men able and capable of directing local affairs1 it seems strange that now so few are considered fit for the post1 when every day-labourer's son is taught drawing and essay-writing in addition to his elementary studies4 ,the office of churchwarden is very old4 ,now it has lost most of its prestige1 and the churchwarden is almost forgotten except on the ,sundays when collections are made2 formerly each villager took a personal interest in affairs which some day he himself would probably be called upon to manage4 ,the two churchwardens of a parish represented the rival interests of its inhabitants3 the parson versus the squire and his tenants4 ,each officer had his clients' interests to uphold and consider4 ,the most onerous duty before the present system of ,poor ,law1 however1 fell upon the overseer of the poor1 in whose hands rested the responsibility of the proper distribution of the public funds in the shape of bequests and legacies2 to him came applications for relief1 and with him also were mooted all questions relating to the disposal of paupers1 both dead and alive4 ,edward ,,iii4 forbade the giving of alms to able-bodied men1 but no regular ,poor ,laws were invented till ,henry ,,viii4 was ,king4 ,the first ,acts of ,parliament relating to ,poor ,laws were passed towards the conclusion of ,queen ,elizabeth's long reign4 ,it was absolutely necessary to make some fresh statutes applicable to the new state of affairs consequent upon the ,reformation4 ,previously most of the charity had been distributed or directed by the monks1 and after these were dispersed and their lands seized by the ,crown and sold1 their unfortunate dependents were rendered still more dependent1 and all the severe laws against vagrancy and beggars made by the ,tudor sovereigns could not abate the nuisance or solve the difficult question1 while doles and gifts of bread or alms served only to increase the evil through toleration4 ,worse and worse the state of things became1 till towards the end of the last century the climax was reached2 there were then whole families of paupers who1 generation after generation1 made no effort towards self-support either for themselves or their offspring4 ,these last were brought up entirely on charity1 clothed1 fed1 and apprenticed1 till finally married by charity1 the fees being paid out of the charity money2 nor did the matter end there1 for1 probably1 after the lapse of years the wedded couple with their children 7if they became chargeable to the parish7 were returned to their native village1 again to become recipients of its charity till death claimed them1 and the parish paid the funeral expenses4 ,the first commission upon the ,poor ,laws took place in ,william ,,iv4's reign1 and since then reform has gradually been at work4 ,in many places public charity is still abused2 but no real good can be effected at once1 and every effort must be proved by long and fair trial1 under which all unsuitable experiments will fail1 and only the practical and beneficial ones will survive the test4 ,of course1 relief and outdoor assistance were left very much to the discretion and honesty of the overseer1 whose accounts were yearly scrutinized at the ,easter vestry1 when the parochial accounts were discussed4 ,sometimes these discussions were considered of sufficient importance to be entered in the parish books4 ,questions as to the ownership and distribution of pews in the church1 repairs to the edifice1 by whom they were to be done1 boundaries1 and whose business it was to keep in order certain roads lying between rival parishes--all such matters came forward for consideration1 and1 finally1 the officers for the ensuing year were elected1 and the books handed over to the new churchwardens4 ,perhaps a further check upon miscellaneous entries being made in the books was that all the accounts had #8to be passed' at the nearest ,sessions and signed by the presiding magistrate1 who was some neighbouring squire4 ,the parish constable is now replaced by the policeman supplied by the county1 as visible representative of the law in rural places4 ,one entry often found among the old accounts was of repairs done to the village stocks1 frequently used to punish petty offences1 especially drunkenness4 ,the pound1 too1 often needed mending2 fines for allowing animals to stray and become empounded are among the most frequent entries in old manor court rolls4 ,in many places a hayward was a regularly appointed officer for this purpose1 whose duty it was to capture the animals and attend to them until they were reclaimed by their owner or sold to defray expenses4 ,in ,berkshire the hayward1 or pinder1 gave a tally to the person who brought the beast found on his land1 and he did not deliver the beast until its owner produced the tally1 proving that compensation for damage had been properly paid1 as well as expenses for keep during its detention4 ,the offices of overseer of the poor and of road surveyor1 the latter called waywarden1 are not of any great antiquity2 nor are they of consequence so far as regards the old account books1 in which their elections are often not even mentioned4 ,as to the constable1 we only get a casual glimpse of his duties when we read a list of his expenses incurred in conveying some delinquent parishioner to the county gaol1 or of journeys taken to distant places to enquire into the antecedents of paupers1 or in taking them back to their own villages4 ,it is the overseers' accounts which are really curious--those long lists of garments bought to clothe the paupers and their children1 the old apprentice forms by which the children were placed out in service so soon as they were capable of earning a stray sixpence towards their own keep4 ,cruel as it seemed to be to send out such young children to work1 it was1 in reality1 the kindest thing that could be done for them1 for it gave them a chance of thoroughly learning a trade and so becoming independent and working for themselves4 ,with all our modern ,poor ,law organization and schemes of education1 ,i believe in the end we shall eventually return to the old system of juvenile apprenticeships--a far more practical method of teaching than any mere class instruction4 ,maybe a bundle of old papers are rolled together among the account books4 ,these may be the orders for the removal of paupers back to the village they called #8home1' a custom first originated by some ,acts of ,parliament passed by ,charles ,,ii4 ,at the same time the parish officers were commanded and forced by penalties to provide for paupers removed back into their parish1 and1 to prevent fraud1 written proofs as to the proper home or residence of the paupers had to be obtained and produced2 these papers are called #8settlements4' ,paupers are now removed back to the workhouse of their own district if they can prove a certain length of residence4 ,the parish officers did their best for the welfare of their charges3 they provided the old women with spinning-wheels1 so that they could earn a trifle for themselves1 while the men were set to work on the road2 when failing in health they were tended by a parish nurse1 and if sick the doctor saw them4 ,sometimes they were sent to ,bath or ,cheltenham to be cured by the far-famed waters4 ,for many years these old annuitants lingered on1 till we read the last entry paid for burying ,goody or ,goodman ,so-and-so4 ,any public event which required to be celebrated by the ringing of the church bells is sure to be mentioned among the ordinary expenses4 ,there are in the old books 7those of that unsettled time when the religion of the ,state varied according to the ,sovereign in power1 during the ,tudor and ,stuart dynasties7 many notices of the alterations wrought both in town and country places4 ,the church goods were first catalogued by order of ,edward ,,vi4's ,ministers2 rich vestments1 altar hangings1 and numerous vessels are named in the first list1 but later on1 under ,queen ,elizabeth1 the parish churches were further despoiled1 till there was little left for the ,puritans to remove1 and in the later lists only the old service books and books of religious instruction are left to the churchwardens to chronicle4 ,although instances as early as #abhg are on record1 the erection of pews was an innovation only introduced by degrees after the ,reformation4 ,the destruction of screens and the removal of altars caused altar rails and communion tables to be used instead4 ,then came the terrors of civil war4 ,upon the churchwardens devolved the duty of providing burial for soldiers slain in battle4 ,such burials were not often in the churchyard1 but on the boundaries of parishes1 the expenses being defrayed equally by both parishes2 this was probably an old custom in warfare1 but it was carried out as late as the ,commonwealth4 ,a battle was a public calamity1 and the responsibility of providing interment for the slain was therefore a public duty4 ,after the ,restoration of ,charles ,,ii4 the churches were repaired and the royal arms restored4 ,later on we find some parsons resigning their work from nonconforming scruples2 at this time1 too1 are notices of excommunicated persons4 ,the ,puritan zeal was aroused by ,james ,,ii4's injudicious attempt to restore ,catholicism2 and attendance at church1 first commanded by ,queen ,elizabeth1 was further enforced by an order that taking of the ,sacrament should be regarded as a test of conformity2 for disobedience the punishment of excommunication was inflicted upon the churchwardens' application to the bishop4 ,the ,recusants1 as papists were called1 were treated with great severity and injustice1 and heavily fined for their religious beliefs4 ,any fresh ,act of ,parliament with reference to fees or taxes was soon noted in the parish books4 ,fees varied in different places1 according to custom4 ,prior to the eighteenth century fees for burial within the church were payable to the churchwardens1 but afterwards became the parson's perquisite4 ,these entries in the churchwardens' books may lead to the identification of vaults and interments not noted in the parish register1 and consequently forgotten4 ,the burial of strangers was always charged for at a higher rate2 for paupers the parish paid the expenses1 and the tax of #c;d4 on each burial1 as levied by ,act of ,parliament1 was not enforced4 ,taxes were levied on many things under the ,georges1 but none were more obnoxious to the people than the birth1 marriage1 and death taxes1 of which the clergyman was made to act as a most unwilling tax-gatherer4 ,the window-tax fell heavily on old manor houses pierced with innumerable windows and skylights4 ,it was then that many windows were blocked up to avoid payment4 ,in the last century are many entries of payment for the release of men seized for service in the army or navy2 when the father of a family went away1 his wife and children were left to be provided for by charity1 and the first payment by the churchwardens for his release was in the end the cheapest4 ,a list of rails 7spelt usually #8rayles'7 surrounding the churchyard reminds one of another almost obsolete custom1 that of each person repairing the rail in the fence next to his property or for which he was liable4 ,the liability was attached to the land1 though custom decided whether the owner or the occupier was the person to do such repairs4 ,last1 not least1 in the parish chest were bundles of old papers1 technically known as #8briefs4' ,in the account books all church collections were duly entered4 ,originally collections were more of the nature of voluntary rates1 for the name of each donor is given and the sum he gave1 varying in accordance with his social position and means4 ,the origin of church collections is obscure2 no doubt the offerings given at the ,sacrament were always devoted to the relief of poverty and distress4 ,to regulate and restrict the right of levying collections ,acts of ,parliament were passed1 and no collection was allowed to be made without a proper license called a #8brief'2 but the issuing of these grew to an alarming extent4 ,briefs were issued for all sorts of emergencies and disasters1 principally for damage by fire1 there being then no insurance offices2 and the old buildings1 once set alight1 were seldom rescued from total demolition4 ,a complete list of early briefs would be curious1 but would be so extensive as to fill a large volume4 ,the subject has not met with the interest it deserves1 but ,i believe now it is beginning to be studied4 ,the churchwardens probably kept few1 if any1 accounts prior to the sixteenth century1 therefore any older church collections are unrecorded or only mentioned by chance4 ,in an old parish book of ,sulhamstead are entries of the following collections3 #afgj4 ,collected towards the redemption of ,english captives in ,turkey2 and1 again1 in #afhj1 a similar collection took place4 ,it puzzled me much why such a small ,berkshire parish should subscribe so liberally for the release of slaves2 but this was explained on discovering that ,turkish pirates infested the seas1 and even landed with impunity on the ,western coasts1 and carried off prisoners1 both men and women1 to become slaves4 ,the main road to the ,west ran through ,berkshire2 travellers along it doubtless brought tales of such wild deeds1 which lost nothing in the telling1 and excited the sympathy of the country-folk4 ,in #afii money was again collected2 this time to redeem #cjj captives detained by the ,king of ,morocco4 ,in #afgh funds were collected towards the rebuilding of ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 destroyed twelve years previously in the ,great ,fire of ,london4 ,many papists all over ,england added their contributions to this collection4 #afii4 ,collection was made for the ,french refugees and ,vaudois settled in ,switzerland1 who had fled at the revocation of the ,edict of ,nantes4 ,to inhabitants of ,sulhamstead village this may have had a keener interest in that ,samuel ,morland1 afterwards made a baronet1 the son of a former rector1 ,rev4 ,thomas ,morland1 was sent out by ,government in #afee to inquire into the condition of the ,waldenses1 and he wrote thereon a book descriptive of the country and its inhabitants4 ,martin ,morland1 another son of the rector1 had returned to his old home--at the ,restoration2 he resigned his living in #affe--;for here two of his sons were born4 #afhg4 ,brief for loss by fire in ,aylesford4 #afhi4 ,loss by fire at ,bishops ,lavington1 ,wilts4 #afij4 ,ditto1 ,east ,smithfield4 ,town of ,stafford4 ,town of ,bungay1 ,suffolk4 #afij4 ,in the parish of ,st4 ,george's1 in the borough of ,southwark4 ,in the ,town of ,st4 ,ives1 ,huntingdonshire4 ,five collections for fires in different counties made in one small parish within a year6 ,in #agjc1 brief for refugees in the ,principality of ,orange4 ,after #agjc the givers' names are no longer entered4 ,the parish doctor was regularly engaged by the churchwardens4 ,in #aggd the agreement for ,sulhamstead was made and signed by the doctor1 and witnessed that he #8should do the business of surgery and apothecary1 broken bones excepted1 for the yearly sum of five guineas'6 ,no wonder that these hard-worked physicians lacked skill1 and relied more upon practice than education for what talent they did possess4 ,the perambulation of parish bounds was another vestry question1 upon which rested disputed tithes4 ,in entries of tithe old field-names1 now forgotten1 may often be recovered4 ,the commutation of tithe also was discussed1 and in some places the parson made agreements with his parishioners on the subject4 ,visitation fees came before the vestry1 and sending copies of the register to the ,diocesan ,registry was1 or ought to have been1 an annual occurrence4 ,any dispute seems to have come within the vestry's jurisdiction1 and all dry subjects were washed down with plenty of ale1 an item regularly entered among the expenses4 ,perhaps it was at the vestry that the village urchins came up to claim rewards offered for the extermination of vermin1 their instinctive love of sport being further developed by their love of gain4 ,foxes are among the animals named on the list1 together with stoats1 sparrows1 etc41 and the prices paid for this wholesale destruction seem very high4 ,the spelling of many of the old account books is decidedly phonetic and original1 but as a whole they are legible and neatly kept4 ,they need nothing to explain their meanings as to what class of information their pages will yield1 except a guide such as ,i have endeavoured to give1 for the books of one parish closely resemble all others4 ,the history of a parish can never properly be written if the parish books are missing4 ,the value of these books is not fully appreciated1 and they are too often thrown aside as useless rubbish4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,x4 ,,books ,,on ,,paleography ,,and ,,kindred ,,subjects4 ,part of a guidebook's business is to direct people's attention to other similar works likely to be of use to them4 ,few accomplishments can be learnt with the aid of only one book on the subject1 and paleography is a combination of many elements4 ,few ,english writers have expended their genius in books on handwriting2 it has not in this country been looked upon as one of the sciences4 ,abroad the subject has been more studied1 especially by the ,french1 in whose language many valuable books on it have been compiled4 ,the type required for the abbreviations is expensive2 small editions only were issued1 and many valuable works are in consequence rare and little known1 being only met with in public libraries or among collections of old books4 ,thus seventeen volumes of #8,la ,bibliothque de l'cole des ,chartres1' published in ,paris between the years #ahci and #ahhf1 will fetch as much as #cj2 #8,album de la ,palographie' 7,quantin1 #ahhg71 #f2 #8,elements de la ,palographie1' par ,natalis de ,wailly1 two volumes1 #ahch1 #c #cs42 #8,muse des ,archives ,nationales1' #ahgb1 #a #ajs4 ,a very useful book1 less expensive than the above1 was written by ,prou1 published in ,paris by ,alphonse ,picard1 diteur1 #hb1 ,rue ,bonaparte2 and cheaper still than this is the #8,palographie des ,chartes et des ,manuscrits du ,,xi4 au ,,xvii4 ,sicles1' par ,alphonse ,chassant1 published by ,auguste ,aubry1 ,rue ,dauphine #af1 ,paris4 ,the best-known cheap book on the subject1 however1 is a small paper-bound volume1 #8,dictionnaire des ,abbrviations ,latines et ,franaises1' par ,alphonse ,chassant1 published by ,jules ,martin1 #ai1 ,boulevard ,haussmann1 ,paris1 at the low price of #b francs #ej centimes2 it has already reached a fifth edition4 ,there are also books on paleography written in ,german1 ,spanish and ,italian1 but these are seldom met with in ,england4 ,now let us see what our own countrymen have done towards elucidating our national manuscripts4 ,the list will not be a long one4 ,it must be borne in mind that first of all four separate languages are required1 namely1 ,anglo-,saxon1 ,norman-,french1 ,latin and ,old ,english4 ,for the first of these1 the standard work is ,bosworth's ,anglo-,saxon dictionary2 a second-hand copy may be bought for #hs4 #f;d4 ,it contains the alphabet and grammatical peculiarities of the ,anglo-,saxon language1 besides the dictionary of words4 ,for ,norman-,french1 all that is required at first start is a familiarity with the modern language4 ,any good1 old-fashioned dictionary will be of assistance1 and later on ,roquefort's dictionary1 ,lacombe's ,burguy1 and the glossary in the ,supplement to ,ducange1 may be resorted to1 to solve difficulties4 ,latin and ,english may be studied together1 the one being translated verbatim from the other4 ,the standard ,english work upon handwriting as a whole is called #8,the ,origin and ,progress of ,handwriting1' by ,astle2 it was published in the beginning of this century4 ,a good copy is now worth two or three sovereigns1 though ,i have seen it advertised for #abs4 #f;d4 ,this book deals with every kind of known writing from its earliest existence4 ,there are facsimiles of ,hebrew1 ,sanscrit1 ,greek1 ,latin1 and other languages1 besides specimens of ,english charters of each century4 ,the ,paleographic ,society was started in #ahgc1 and their yearly volumes contain exact representations of the old documents1 but these cost #a #as4 each4 ,they are valuable as having the facsimile and its transcript side by side1 but as yet they have only selected very old charters1 not considering medival ,english deeds worthy of consideration4 ,bosworth's ,anglo-,saxon dictionary is the standard work on this subject4 ,some ,anglo-,saxon manuscripts were published in #ahgh by command of the ,queen1 upon the recommendation of the ,master of the ,rolls1 the work being undertaken by ,general ,cameron1 director of the ,ordnance ,survey1 with translations added by ,w4 ,basevi-,saunders4 ,the charters selected were those among the archives of ,canterbury ,cathedral1 as they give three centuries of ,anglo-,saxon history1 ,a4,d4 #gdb to ,a4,d4 #ajdi4 ,this work now fetches #b #bs4 ,a collection of early ,anglo-,saxon charters1 those of ,abingdon ,abbey1 has been issued in the #8,rolls ,series' in two volumes4#f ,other ,anglo-,saxon documents have been printed and translated at various times4 ,domesday ,survey has been reproduced by a photographic process1 and is extremely clear and well executed2 it is also published in four volumes in a more readable type1 but still abbreviated4 ,each county can be obtained in a separate volume4 ,the translations are not given2 this for the student is rather an advantage than otherwise4 ,no subject has been more studied than ,domesday ,book4 ,translations1 explanations and dictionaries have been written upon it4 ,these are very valuable as explaining the obscure points and giving the modern acreage1 as compared with the carucate1 bovate and hide4 ,to understand a county history these must be closely compared4 ,many of the manors named in the old ,survey are now lost4 ,it must be remembered that waste lands and commons were not always mentioned1 nor were churches or any property which was not taxable4 ,for this reason ,domesday often disappoints us by its meagreness of detail1 but it forms the beginning or basis from which an inquiry may be started1 and to pursue it through the centuries which followed1 the public rolls and manuscripts are the only means of information2 of these ,domesday will prove valuable as a key4 ,the really practical book on old ,english writing best known and most popular1 because neither complicated nor expensive1 is ,wright's #8,court-hand ,restored1' price #a1 compiled in #ahdf to meet a long-felt want1 for ,latin having ceased as the law language1 lawyers no longer were obliged to know old legal forms and words as part of their profession1 although they often felt the need of understanding them where any search through old deeds was requisite4 ,since then this book has passed through nine editions1 the last of which was brought out in #ahgi1 edited and improved by ,mr4 ,c4 ,t4 ,martin1 of the ,public ,record ,office4#g ,it contains alphabets in all styles1 facsimiles of all classes of ,english writing1 with translations1 a glossary of obsolete words and place-names1 supplying a valuable textbook to paleography1 giving the reader all the information necessary for studying old deeds4 ,since then 7#ahib7 ,mr4 ,martin has compiled a fuller and more elaborate glossary1 called #8,the ,record ,interpreter1' #ajs4 #f;d4 ,the amateur will need no other books if he is provided with these two volumes4 ,a list of abbreviations taken from the ,pipe ,rolls was issued among the yearly volumes of the ,pipe ,rolls ,society1 price #abs4 #f;d4 ,the fourth volume of #8,the ,registrum ,palatinum ,dunelmense1' edited by the late ,sir ,thomas ,duffus ,hardy1 in the ,rolls ,series of #8,chronicles and ,memorials1' also contains a list of contracted words and their explanations4 ,its price is #ajs4 #f;d4 ,the study of old deeds brings in its train a multiplicity of other subjects bearing upon old customs and legal formul1 some of which were complicated4 ,all the writers upon the law explain these formalities2 #8though now antiquated so far as the actual law work and procedure is concerned1' they give the ancient methods2 of these #8,blackstone's ,commentaries' is the best known4 ,jacobs' #8,law ,dictionary' is another similar book2 also #8,a ,new ,law ,dictionary1' by ,j4 ,nicholson4 ,but these books are now out of date2 they may by chance be met with at sales or on bookstalls1 where they may be bought for a few shillings4 ,perhaps an advertisement in the ,exchange and ,mart might be successful in obtaining replies4 ,of guides to various branches of archology there are plenty lately issued since the subject became fashionable4 #8,record ,searching1' by ,w4 ,rye1 gives a glimpse into the various public collections of books and ,,mss41 and the class of information likely to be derived from manuscripts4 #8,how to write the ,history of a ,family1' by ,phillimore1 is a similar work1 useful to genealogists4 #8,how to write the ,history of a ,parish1' by ,j4 ,c4 ,cox1 ,,ll4,d4 ,the information contained in all these three last books might be with advantage remodelled and extended4 ,they are in reality indices to help the archologist and put him in the way of obtaining information4 ,a charming little book1 full of information1 has been written by ,mr4 ,chester ,waters1 upon ,parish ,registers1 price #cs4 #i;d4 ,every clergyman should possess a copy of it4#h ,on ,church ,history there are recently published two very good #as4 volumes1 called #8,illustrated ,notes on ,english ,church ,history1' by ,rev4 ,arthur ,lane2 small engravings of all the ,english cathedrals and many handsome and celebrated churches are given1 but no descriptions of them4 ,a very good series of ,diocesan ,histories has been brought out by the ,society for ,promoting ,christian ,knowledge4 ,these may now be bought second-hand at #as4 per volume4 ,for derivation of words and place-names there is no better guide than ,taylor's #8,words and ,places1' and ,edmunds' #8,place-names'2 both these are trustworthy1 and have become recognised authorities2 and also ,bosworth's ,anglo-,saxon dictionary4 ,quality rather than quantity should be the antiquary's motto in his choice of a library1 but antiquarianism and archology require many books of reference1 and it is well to know those books most likely to be of permanent use instead of wasting room upon volumes not required after the first reading4 ,upon ,manor ,rolls there is a very clever work lately issued by the ,selden ,society 7volume ii474 ,it gives much new information on ,manorial ,customs4 ,all the volumes issued by this society are very interesting4 ,they are edited by ,f4 ,w4 ,maitland4 ,upon ,monastic ,history there are many very interesting books1 mostly published by ,burns and ,oates1 ,london4 ,a list of useful books might be extended indefinitely1 especially if brought up to date4 ,archology is a cumulative science gleaned from varied sources4 ,the antiquary usually is possessed of more brains than money1 but if he is fortunate enough to possess both1 a large library will be to him a never-ending source of amusement4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,old ,,letters4 ,there were always two divisions of handwriting3 the formal hand1 employed for clerk's work1 and a freer1 less mechanical1 less careful style1 used for private correspondence4 ,writing was a profession1 and1 as late as the sixteenth century1 when it was necessary to communicate with persons at a distance1 a professional scribe was employed to write the letter4 ,even now in slums may be seen the notice of #8,letters written here1' though this chiefly refers to it being a shop address to which letters may be directed4 ,but letter-writing was rare1 and did not become general till after the sixteenth century2 even then it was restricted to the upper classes of society4 ,i have in ,chapter ,,iv4 given a brief account of the paper used in ,england4 ,letter or post paper was made of a square uniform sheet1 folded2 it was known as #8,pot paper1' from its water-mark4 ,this varied slightly1 the jug or water-pot being much more elaborate in some examples4 ,it came principally from abroad1 either the ,low ,countries or ,germany2 each separate factory very likely adopted a distinct shape2 the makers' initials are to be found upon the band across the pot1 but are difficult to read1 nor so far as ,i know is anything known about the manufacturers or their names4 ,illustration3 7#aefa7 7#aefc7 7#afbc7 ,the three above marks are taken from some old letters1 and are good types of their kind2 a more careful study of water-marks would show the dates of undated papers1 and be a safeguard against forgery4 ,the writing of old letters ,i have placed after the chapter on registers1 because the latter forms a link between the clerical and personal handwritings4 ,the letters have changed entirely from the old black-letter style to a similar style1 like that still in use in ,germany1 and assuming a distinct character4 ,illustration3 ,,some ,,quaint ,,letters ,,from ,,old ,,parish ,,registers4 ,therefore1 not only was the material for letter-writing 7i4e41 paper7 of foreign manufacture1 but also the handwriting bore close resemblance to foreign styles4 ,this may have resulted from the original ,anglo-,saxon element in the nationality of the people1 aided by the constant immigration of merchants from the ,low ,countries1 who came over to ,england during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries1 and established various branches of trade1 chiefly in linen or woollen goods4 ,they naturally introduced also the fashions and customs of their own nations4 ,added to this was the marriage of the ,king1 ,richard ,,ii41 with the ,german ,princess ,anne of ,bohemia1 followed closely by the religious zeal of the ,reformers1 bringing ,germans and ,german ideas strongly to the fore in ,english politics4 ,the earliest printers were ,german1 and about the time of this invention the small letter e written backwards first came into use4 ,family deeds are usually only legal matter1 but here and there are found among them old letters and papers of value4 ,lifelong imprisonment was often the result of a thoughtless committal of ideas into tangible form4 ,letters were dangerous witnesses1 and as such were destroyed as soon as read4 ,the posts and messengers were not safe from inspection2 spies were employed freely on all sides1 and men1 not afraid to suffer for their opinions1 nevertheless did not care to risk their necks by needless imprudence4 ,the earliest newspapers had a blank column left to be filled by the sender with the latest intelligence or local news4 ,these were fitly called #8,news letters4' ,the phraseology of a seventeenth-century letter seems to us strange on account of the conjugation of the verbs1 the use of #8hath' in place of #8has1' and the absence of all unnecessary adverbs2 the sentences1 too1 are longer4 ,the commencing words and the final winding up of letters have both changed in the past two hundred years4 ,with the eighteenth century we see these changes gradually settling down and altering into the modern forms4 ,the old ,english ye for #8the1' and the abbreviated for #8and1' and the 7symbol7 7d7 written in its antiquated shape1 still remain1 but the ,german letters by degrees are given up4 ,the writing of each generation is most distinctly marked2 the dates from it may be approximately fixed without any difficulty1 as well as the age and character of the writer4 ,it has been said that the introduction of cheap postage1 and the immense increase of everyday correspondence1 has ruined handwriting1 while the typewriter is quickly becoming universal1 and banished for ever the art of composition4 ,true1 the short letters of to-day will not bear comparison with the neat1 voluminous diary-letters1 full of graphic scenic descriptions1 which our grandparents were wont to compile for the benefit of relations left at home2 now1 when similar correspondence is undertaken1 it is copied out by the typewriter or printed1 for few people will take the trouble to read manuscript compositions4 ,looking beyond the opening years of the nineteenth century1 we see a marked paucity of ideas and carelessness of calligraphy in the correspondence4 ,in the seventeenth century men were the chief correspondents on matters of business2 few letters are preserved except on such topics1 which is a pity1 for a letter must always be a unique production1 the best evidence procurable of the writer and his times4 ,there is little to be said on the subject of old letters4 ,practice in reading them makes the lettering familiar1 and gives facility which no guidebook could explain2 letters1 both ancient and modern1 will assume a new interest when the little trifling1 characteristic peculiarities of the writer are examined by their aid4 ,old receipts1 expense-books1 and farm accounts are found in plenty among old papers4 ,these are valuable as giving long-lost field-names and other details of parochial history2 but what we should prize now would be descriptions of people and places as they existed some hundreds of years ago4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,abbreviations1 ,,etc4 ,in most books treating of ancient handwriting1 the abbreviations and contractions are put forward as the most important part2 certainly it is necessary to study them carefully1 but it was never intended by the old scribes that they should be regarded as a language in themselves4 ,at first they were used to save time and space1 then1 by degrees1 they increased in multiplicity as well as complexity1 till banished altogether by the invention of printing1 upon the advance of which the professional scribe disappeared4 ,the contracted words most frequently used are not always necessary to the sense of the sentence1 which may be arrived at without them4 ,it is a waste of time to puzzle over a word after its meaning has been arrived at4 ,many persons who require ,,ms4 extracts from public offices take rough notes with the letters of the contracted word2 these can be extended afterwards at home1 when there is time to seek in dictionaries for the abbreviation or its meaning2 with practice the opening words of a sentence will very often supply the context4 ,the oldest forms of contraction are a straight line over a word or a curve2 these indicate that a portion of the word only is present1 but no clue is given as to the letters left out1 or else the straight line may mean m or n4 ,later on the straight line above a word came to represent the letters m and n4 ,in words where these letters were duplicated the second one was omitted and the line placed above to indicate its absence4 ,this continued in use until late in the eighteenth century4 ,comon meant #8common1' and comendation #8commendation4' ,if a curved line was over the end syllable of a word1 it meant one or more letters omitted at the end of a word4 ,verbs are the most troublesome class of contracted words1 for a contraction over a verb may mean any syllable1 according to the proper grammatical conjugation4 ,here it is that knowledge of the ,latin grammar is a necessity4 ,the meaning of the sentences may often be deciphered without extending the words1 and the correct conjugation of the verbs can be added afterwards by another person1 if the student's knowledge of ,latin is too limited to accomplish this with accuracy4 ,certain signs or contractions are fairly constant in their meanings1 always taking the place of special syllables4 ,thus a bold apostrophe above the line will be found to indicate #8er1' #8ir1' #8or1' #8re4' ,symbol ur4 et1 us4 ,in ,domesday #8et' is written 4 ,symbol ram1 ras1 ris4 ,symbol is4 us1 ous1 os4 ,a small letter over a word shows that a syllable is left out of which this letter formed part4 ,the letter #8p' had a system of its own1 frequently used in old deeds and also in old letters3 per1 par1 por4 ,symbol pre4 pro4 ,in old court rolls #8and' is written #8,symbolt1' and #8est' appears as #81' especially in courthand law deeds4 ,a line drawn through the head of the letter #8,symbol' means also the addition of other letters1 as is1 e1 etc4 ,this contraction in names is apt to be confused with double #8tt4' ,it is said that our alphabet did not formerly contain as many letters as at present4 ,the letters #8i' and #8j' were identical until a recent period4 #8,w' is said to have been derived from two #8u's1' and is always so written in old deeds1 joined together1 while #8u' and #8v' were used indiscriminately4 ,in old manuscripts the shortstroke letters were formed alike2 thus #8n1' #8u1' #8w1' #8i1' are merely strokes or minims1 difficult to distinguish1 more particularly where any of these letters occur side by side in the formation of words2 to count the strokes is the only guide4 ,practice and a knowledge of likely words to be employed solve the knotty point4 ,the chief difficulty of all lies in the correct rendering of names1 for these have perpetually changed in their spelling4 ,in a single deed several different forms may be observed1 the result of clerical copying4 ,even with names the system of abbreviation was carried on1 especially among court rolls2 this will be noticed in such surnames as #8,couper' written #8,coup1' #8,shepherd' as #8,shep4' ,in certain styles of medival writing the terminals of words are carried upwards with a long sweep1 and are confusing in their resemblance to abbreviation marks4 ,here1 again1 practice alone accustoms the eye to decide whether a word is complete or not4 ,dots and other kinds of stops in writing have only come gradually into use in their present significance1 and the use of these is now less observed than early in the last century4 ,in the ,anglo-,saxon manuscripts1 as in ,roman inscriptions1 the dot is freely used to denote contractions as well as to divide the words from each other4 ,in ,domesday this is also noticed2 but with later manuscripts the dot1 or point1 such as is used in ,norman times1 fell into disuse in favour of lines or curves for the abbreviated syllables4 ,upon the introduction of printing our various kinds of stops are first observed4 ,it is said that the ,elzevirs invented some of them4 ,the reversed semicolon is commonly observed in some manuscripts4 ,sooner or later1 in any antiquarian search1 the printed sources of information will be exhausted1 and are not unfrequently found to be untrustworthy1 especially existing county histories1 which1 being compiled by men unacquainted with every minor detail of the locality1 are naturally liable to confuse places of similar names4 ,nor is it possible in so large a subject as a county history to enter minutely into the separate parish histories of places and people4 ,thus after awhile the untrustworthiness and insufficiency of book-knowledge will be discovered1 and some more original source of information become desired4 ,manuscripts exist in plenty1 but are of little value unless studied personally2 for professional readers1 although able to read quickly and correctly1 only give the information desired2 whereas in a personal search one subject opens out fresh clues to others of equal importance1 and new light is continually being thrown upon hitherto unnoticed points2 moreover1 only by a personal investigation can the antiquary be certain that he has obtained exactly what he required4 ,there are now plenty of opportunities open to the public of seeing the old documents pertaining to various offices and societies1 besides private collections1 but without some previous knowledge of the old handwritings1 etc41 this permission is practically valueless4 ,therefore1 #8,persevere and practise' is the best motto ,i can give to those interested in the matter1 for proficiency comes quickly to those who seek it2 and1 as in all subjects1 #8,nothing succeeds like success4' ,illustration ,illustration ,,appendix4 ,,legal ,,memory4 7,see page #db47 #8,,whitchurch ,,rectory1 #8,,reading1 #8,october #ab1 #ahib4 #8,,dear ,,miss ,,thoyts1 #8,i must even send you an instant reply to your note1 in order to satisfy your perplexity4 #8,i was many years searching for the reason why legal memory began with ,richard ,i4 ,i once asked an eminent ,q4,c4 the question1 and though he had been a ,law ,lecturer1 and was shortly afterwards put upon the ,bench1 he could not tell me why--he only knew the fact4 #8,it is one of the signs1 good or bad1 of the present times1 that your sex will not1 like their mothers and grandmothers1 be satisfied with being told the fact1 but will be told why4 #8,now the 8why0 of this is just as follows3 ,the ,norman ,conquest upset a great many ,saxon titles to estates1 but not all4 ,and on the voidance of a ,norman who had no title but his own right hand1 the ,saxon would try to recover1 and1 ,i suppose1 not unfrequently succeeded1 by reason of being on the spot and putting on the ,norman's shoes while they were warm4 ,hence endless litigations1 because the more distant ,norman kin inherited at least this much--contempt for a ,saxon4 #8,by ,a4,d4 #aagi things began to settle down and ,norman and ,saxon to be amalgamated1 and it was then1 or perhaps rather later1 agreed1 in the ,high ,courts1 that in questions of title you should not go behind the above date4 #8,now this is not inconsistent with what you may have read in ,selden1 vol4 ii4 ,i have not read it1 but ,i offer this solution--that it 7i4e41 ,selden1 vol4 ii47 does not mean to speak of manorial law in respect of the ,high ,court of ,justice of the ,realm1 but of the intra-manorial regulations of court leets and court barons4 #8,yours sincerely1 #8,,john ,,slater4' ,,the ,,end4 ,elliot ,stock1 #fb1 ,paternoster ,row1 ,london4 ,illustration ,,footnotes3 #a ,from photos kindly lent by ,mr4 ,a4 ,harrison1 of ,theale4 #b ,see ,appendix4 #c ,the property of the ,earl of ,fingall from his ancestors the ,wollascots4 #d ,a complete copy of the ,chartulary was made by me through the kindness of the ,earl of ,fingall4 #e ,a list of ,french ,bishops will be found in #8,gallia ,christiana1' or in #8,neustria ,pia4' #f ,this also contains a good glossary of ,anglo-,saxon words4 #g ,who has kindly revised this little volume4 #h ,only procurable second-hand4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 #a4 ,obvious printers'1 punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently4 #b4 ,italics are shown as xxx4 #c4 ,bold print is shown as xxx4 #d4 ,some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original4