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 HOW TO DECIPHER AND STUDY OLD 
 DOCUMENTS. 
 
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 THE KEY TO THE FAMILY DEED CHEST. 
 
 HOW TO DECIPHER 
 
 AND 
 
 STUDY OLD DOCUMENTS 
 
 BEING A GUIDE TO THE READING OF 
 ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 E. E. THOYTS. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY 
 
 C. TRICE MARTIN, 
 
 ASSISTANT KEEPER OF H.M. RECORDS. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 1893.
 
 z. 
 
 JI3 
 
 /-> -7r UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 ^ /-> &ANTA BARBARA COLLEGE LIBRA** 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 BOOKS written to teach any branch of 
 human knowledge are, in most cases, 
 written by persons who have long known and 
 used the knowledge which they impart, and, 
 perhaps for that reason, have more or less for- 
 gotten the steps of the ladder up which they 
 have climbed ; but in this case the process has 
 been so recent, that the difficulties and dangers of 
 each step have been remembered, and the reader 
 accordingly warned against them. 
 
 The meaning of the various kinds of documents 
 which are likely to be found among the title-deeds 
 of an estate, or among the archives of a parish or 
 a corporation, are described without needless tech- 
 nicalities, in a practical way, which will appeal to 
 those who begin to work among such material 
 without previous knowledge.
 
 vi Introduction. 
 
 The first step, of course, is to learn to read. 
 This wants perseverance and a quick eye, but 
 regular practice will soon enable the student to 
 read any ordinary documents, which at first 
 seemed utterly unintelligible, and gradually the 
 power of understanding really difficult and ob- 
 scure MSS. will be acquired. But this first step 
 must be thoroughly mastered, for to attempt 
 to get information from old writings without 
 thoroughly knowing the forms of the letters, and 
 the different systems of abbreviations and con- 
 tractions, would be like trying to keep accounts 
 without knowing how to add up a column of 
 figures. 
 
 And indeed paleography is the foundation of 
 all history. There may be historians, like the 
 late Mr. Freeman, who have but little knowledge 
 of the science (he, I believe, boasted of his in- 
 ability to read a manuscript), but then such 
 writers rely on the paleographic knowledge of 
 others, who have edited the manuscripts which 
 they desire to use, and they have, or ought to 
 have, sufficient scholarship to judge which are the 
 best editions, and even occasionally to detect 
 editors' mistakes. 
 
 But an acquaintance with this branch of know- 
 ledge is often of the greatest use to biographers 
 and historians. It is much better, for instance,
 
 Introduction. vii 
 
 to be able to judge whether a certain document 
 is of the age which it professes, or in whose hand 
 a draft of a treaty is, than to have to accept the 
 opinion of someone else. 
 
 The mistakes made for want of this knowledge 
 are common, and sometimes very amusing. 
 Familiar enough is the old story of the parish 
 priest in the time of King Henry VIII., who in 
 the canon of the Mass, in the prayer after taking 
 the wine, read the word : sumfisimus, as mump- 
 simus, because he had a thirteenth-century missal 
 in which s and m are much alike, and refused to 
 alter his mistake when it was pointed out to him. 
 It was referred to by King Henry VIII. in his 
 speech to the Parliament in 1545, and, in fact, this 
 ignorant priest has ' made himself an everlasting 
 name ' for conservative stupidity. 
 
 In more recent times, the historian of one of 
 our beautiful north-country abbeys talks of a gift 
 of a silver chest by the founder in the eleventh 
 century. The reader wonders what this chest 
 could have been was it a native work or im- 
 ported ? was it some ecclesiastical ornament or 
 merely a strong box ? But on turning to the 
 document on which the account is based, the 
 meaning is clear. It was not a chest of silver, 
 but an ordinary mark of silver. The MS. reads 
 unamarcdargenti. The writer of the book had
 
 viii Introduction. 
 
 not noticed the contraction over the first , 
 divided the words wrongly, and read it unam 
 arcam, instead of unam mar cam. 
 
 In another similar book the story is narrated 
 of the ill-treatment by a forester of an abbot 
 whose house was near a royal forest. The abbot 
 was no doubt like the monk who made the cele- 
 brated pilgrimage to Canterbury 
 
 ' An outrydere that lovede venerye. 
 
 ***** 
 He yaf nat of that text a pulled hen 
 That seith that hunters been nat holy men.' 
 
 And perhaps the forester had good reason to com- 
 plain of him. But in the account of the quarrel, 
 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 take, as he probably 
 would have found something far better worth 
 carrying off. However, on looking at the MS. it 
 appears almost certain that what was read as 
 chous is really chens, that is, chiens. In fact, they 
 were the 
 
 'Grehoundes he hadde as swifte as fowel in flight, 
 For priking and for hunting for the hare,' 
 
 who were perhaps lying before the fire asleep after 
 a long afternoon's coursing. 
 
 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 there ; it is
 
 Introduction. ix 
 
 suggested, because the forester would not allow 
 anyone to come to administer the last consola- 
 tions of religion. But the words de murir, on 
 which the observation is based, are merely a care- 
 less scribe's writing of demeurer. 
 
 In another book farmers are represented as 
 using stones for fuel, which are suggested to have 
 been coal ; but this results from misreading 
 petarum (peat), as if it were pet a rum, a contracted 
 form ofpetrarum (stones). 
 
 The spreading desire to know something of pale- 
 ography is very remarkable, and is much to be 
 commended. For all persons who interest them- 
 selves in the documents to which they may have 
 access in the possession of private persons, or in 
 repositories not generally known, are helping in 
 the grand work of making clear the laws and 
 customs and mode of living of our ancestors, and 
 thus constantly come across information, not to 
 be found in our more public collections of records, 
 which often throws light on many dark passages 
 of history. 
 
 C. T. MARTIN.
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 IN the following pages I have tried to describe 
 the things which puzzled me when, as a 
 beginner, I first essayed to read and understand 
 the old records of bygone times. Written in a 
 language I knew not, relating to customs no 
 longer existing, all was strange and unfamiliar. 
 I toiled on ; by degrees light dawned and the 
 difficulties melted away. The knowledge thus 
 gained I have endeavoured, in all humility, to 
 write down as a possible guide and help to 
 others who may, like myself, prefer to follow 
 antiquarian research by means of old deeds and 
 other manuscripts, as being the original source 
 and most trustworthy fountain-head of knowledge, 
 and by this means to avoid as much as possible 
 repeating the assertions and mistakes of previous 
 writers. 
 
 In the chapter on Paleography I have named
 
 xii Author s Preface. 
 
 the books which were my guides, and in these 
 pages I have tried to supply information supple- 
 mentary to what is already printed on the subject, 
 rather than repeat what has previously been 
 explained. The growing fashion for all kinds of 
 antiquarianism creates a desire for books treating 
 upon such subjects, and this has induced me to 
 write this book. 
 
 E. E. THOYTS. 
 
 SULHAMSTEAD, May, 1893.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. HINTS TO THE BEGINNER 
 II. CHARACTER BY HANDWRITING 
 
 PACK 
 I 
 
 28 
 
 III. SAXON, NORMAN-FRENCH AND LAW LATIN 
 
 IV. OLD DEEDS ..... 
 
 V. LAW TECHNICALITIES . . . 
 
 VI. MANOR AND COURT ROLLS 
 
 VII. MONASTIC CHARTERS .... 
 
 VIII. PARISH REGISTERS .... 
 
 IX. PARISH OFFICERS AND THEIR ACCOUNT BOOKS Sft 
 
 X. BOOKS ON PALEOGRAPHY . . . 124 
 
 XI. OLD LETTERS . . . . .132 
 
 XII. ABBREVIATIONS, ETC. . . . .138 
 
 63- -jo
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 SIGNATURE 
 
 EXTRACT FROM DOMESDAY 
 
 NORMAN-FRENCH DEED . 
 
 FORM OF FINE 
 
 SHERIFF'S ROLL (NEVILLE MSS.) 
 
 COURT ROLL 
 
 ARABIC NUMERALS 
 
 READING ABBEY CARTULARY 
 
 READING ABBEY CARTULARY 
 
 PAPER-MAKER'S INITIALS 
 
 ALPHABETS 
 
 PAGE 
 19 
 
 34 
 57 
 66 
 
 76 
 
 79 
 
 9i 
 
 93 
 
 133 
 
 134
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 77, line 2, for ' minisculc ' read ' minuscule.' 
 85, line 4, for ' single ' read ' one or more.' 
 ,, 89, line \T, for ' mendicant orders' read 'mendicants.' 
 ,, 89, line 26, for ' 1219' read ' 1204, and confirmed in 
 
 1215.' 
 , , 92, for ' Monument* Ritualize ' read ' Monumenta 
 
 fs Ritualia.' 
 , , 3, for ' charter ' read ' cartulary. '
 
 HOW TO DECIPHER AND STUDY OLD 
 DOCUMENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HINTS TO BEGINNERS. 
 
 FASHION changes in everything; but these 
 alterations go on so imperceptibly, so gra- 
 dually, that ofttimes we fail to recognise their 
 progress except by glancing backwards into the 
 past. 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 paper ; and a hopeless feeling of help- 
 lessness reduces the amateur to the verge Of 
 despair as the pages of unintelligible hiero- 
 glyphics are spread out, lacking in any sense, 
 and as unfamiliar as Sanscrit or Egyptian 
 characters. But perseverance conquers all 
 difficulties. 
 
 Every generation has its own particular type 
 
 i
 
 2 Hints to Beginners. 
 
 of writing. Compare, for instance, any bundle 
 of letters taken, hap-hazard, out of an old desk 
 or secretaire ; it is quite easy to sort them into 
 bundles in sequence of dates, and also guess 
 accurately the age and position of the writers. 
 
 The flowing Italian hand, used by educated 
 women early in this century, has changed with 
 fashion into the freer style of the succeeding 
 generation ; this in the third generation has 
 further developed into the bold, decisive, almost 
 masculine writing adopted by the more strong- 
 minded females of the latter end of this nine- 
 teenth century. 
 
 Of course, school-teaching is responsible to a 
 certain extent for a set handwriting. Our Univer- 
 sity men of to-day all, with few exceptions, use 
 a neat scholarly form of writing, free from 
 flourishes, and with simple capital letters and 
 the small broken-backed Greek letter . Com- 
 pared with the scholar's, the soldier's writing 
 is bolder and rounder, while the clerk's is still 
 more distinct in type in its open lettering, inter- 
 spersed with curls and twists. So with most 
 professions it will be found that each has special 
 characteristics ; but these are liable to change 
 according to circumstances ; thus, the clerk will 
 form his letters less distinctly after the need of 
 great legibility no longer compels him to careful- 
 ness. Self-education will often alter a vulgar
 
 Hints to Beginners. \ 
 
 O O 
 
 ill-formed writing to a better, more studied style ; 
 and writing is the clearest proof of both bodily 
 and mental condition, for in casesj)f^paralysis or / 
 mental aberration the doctor takes it as a certain ' "*/ ' 
 guide. 
 
 Looking back to the days when writing was a 
 profession of itself, it can easily be understood 
 how it is that we find less variety among old 
 writings. For in those days, before printing was 
 discovered, or at least but imperfectly executed 
 and understood, all books had to be produced by 
 hand, and were the work either of paid scribes, 
 whose duty it was to reproduce copies of well- 
 known authors ; or else copied out by clerks 
 or private secretaries at the dictation of the 
 authors themselves, who could seldom spare the 
 time to commit their ideas to paper, or, even 
 if they did so, it was customary to have addi- 
 tional copies made by professed scribes. Un- 
 acquainted with the subjects of the books, and 
 copying merely from verbal dictation, it is no 
 wonder that mistakes and misunderstandings 
 often occurred, especially in the spelling of place 
 and personal names ; for one man reading aloud 
 to several scribes, each would write down the 
 names and words as they sounded to his indi- 
 vidual sense of hearing, for the constant interrup- 
 tion necessary to ensure complete accuracy would 
 cause the process to be tedious and very lengthy. 
 
 12
 
 4 Hints to Beginners. 
 
 Private correspondence, even, was carried on 
 as a profession ; writing shops existed up to a 
 comparatively late period. 
 
 Authors who wrote their own books had them 
 afterwards transcribed neatly for preservation, and 
 probably destroyed the original notes, for of these 
 comparatively few, if any, exist. 
 
 All the earliest writers had a special educa- 
 tion for their profession, being sent to some 
 monastery for that purpose ; hence they were 
 either foreigners, or educated under foreign 
 monks, either French or Italian, and the effect 
 of this teaching is clearly demonstrated by the 
 similitude which exists all over Europe between 
 manuscripts of the early Middle Ages. 
 
 In England the Norman Conquest overruled 
 most of the previous customs and styles. Vast 
 crowds of Normans emigrated continuously to our 
 shores. This went on more or less for at least 
 three or four centuries, and then prejudice against 
 foreigners asserted itself, and the Saxon element, 
 which still remained among the lower classes of 
 the people, gained the ascendant. In the reign 
 of Henry V. alien priories were suppressed, and 
 foreign monks and priests no longer travelled 
 backwards and forwards from the Norman abbeys 
 to the junior houses or cells in England. The 
 rich merchants, who resorted here from the Low 
 Countries and Germany, brought with them their
 
 Hints to Beginners. 5 
 
 own customs and fashions ; and at this time will 
 first be noticed the use of a written character, 
 like the modern German, which steadily came 
 more and more into use until, the end of the 
 seventeenth century, when it died out and the 
 style altered to a rounder, freer hand. 
 
 So long as education was almost entirely 
 monastic, or at least conducted by teachers 
 trained in monastic institutions, we find (as we 
 should naturally expect to do) a regularity, care- 
 fulness and formality in the handwriting of the 
 period ; but so soon as England had shaken off 
 the authority of Rome and the educated com- 
 munities had been scattered and disbanded, a 
 marked change took place in all kinds of writing. 
 The monks and nuns, rendered homeless by the 
 Reformation, returned to their native villages, 
 thus spreading education among all classes and 
 creating a desire after learning. But the primary 
 cause of the alteration in handwriting, so very 
 marked in the sixteenth century, was perhaps 
 attributable to the introduction of the art of 
 printing, which naturally was fatal to handwriting 
 as a profession. The scribe was no longer re- 
 quired to multiply the author's productions ; so 
 that lawyers and public office clerks only remained 
 out of the large class who had formerly earned 
 their living as professional writers. In the 
 actual writing, also, a change took place. The
 
 6 Hints to Beginners. 
 
 old elaborate letters were supplanted by the 
 simple capitals copied from the printer's blocks. 
 Some day, maybe, writing will die out altogether ; 
 every year fresh improvements and inventions 
 are increasing ; even now type-writers and multi- 
 plying machines are used in place of handwriting 
 in many offices. 
 
 A hundred years ago, very few if any of the 
 labourers could either read or write ; even now, in 
 out-of-the-way country places, there exist a few 
 old people ignorant of these (to us) necessary arts. 
 The marriage registers of the last century prove 
 to us the ignorance of the country folk, for neither 
 the contracting parties nor their witnesses could 
 often write their names, and instead used either 
 some eccentric monogram bearing a faint re- 
 semblance 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 cross, which has been in use by the 
 illiterate from Saxon times as a pledge of good 
 faith and consent. 
 
 Previous to the present century, all education 
 in country places was either nil or provided out 
 of the bounty of the squire or parson, the teacher 
 being some old ignorant person prevented by age 
 or bodily infirmity from pursuing active labour, 
 and whose qualifications were merely a smattering 
 of the 'three R's,' which, with plain sewing,
 
 Hints to Beginners. 7 
 
 was the whole of his useful though scanty i 
 pertoire. Children then were sent out to work at 
 the age of nine or ten years, and earlier if any- 
 body could be found to employ them. When once 
 placed out, they had no opportunities of gaining 
 further book knowledge, and soon forgot the little 
 they had learnt for want of practice or stimula- 
 tion, nor had they sufficient mental capacity to 
 study by themselves, except in very exceptional 
 cases of natural genius. 
 
 If this was the state of things within the 
 memory of those still alive, we can well believe 
 how very limited was the knowledge of hand- 
 writing some hundreds of years ago, and can 
 more fully understand that the scribe was a very 
 important personage, and took great pride in his 
 work. 
 
 It is very rare to find mistakes or erasures in 
 the lettering of old charters. Varieties of spelling 
 occur everywhere ; a name is often found spelt 
 two or three different ways on the same page ; 
 but this is easily explained if the work was 
 written from dictation, especially if pronounced 
 to or by a foreigner. Our English language is so 
 full of unexpected variations of spelling that 
 it is no wonder that names of people and places 
 suffered at the hands of a transcriber unacquainted 
 with the localities, and who merely wrote down 
 the words as they sounded to him. The actual
 
 8 Hints to Beginners. 
 
 spelling of words remained fairly constant. Cer- 
 tainly to us they look very curious, for English 
 orthography has undergone innumerable changes ; 
 in course of time new words are being repeatedly 
 coined, and old words alter not only in spelling, 
 but also in meaning and significance. If we wish 
 for an example of Old English phraseology, we 
 have our present version of the Bible which, 
 being translated into English in the seventeenth 
 century, now sounds quaint, and in many parts 
 the sense of the words is a matter of dispute. 
 If it be compared with the Revised Version the 
 changes which have taken place in the two past 
 centuries become very evident. All this must be 
 borne in mind when the task of transcribing and 
 translating old writing is undertaken, and allow- 
 ance must be made for all such alterations both 
 in style and spelling. 
 
 It has been said that a knowledge of Latin is 
 indispensable to the would-be transcriber of old 
 deeds ; this is not really the case for ordinary anti- 
 quarian research, for the meaning can be discovered 
 easily with only a very slight amount of instruction. 
 Legal Latin consists so entirely of set forms that 
 when once these forms are familiar to the reader, 
 they are without any difficulty recognised, and 
 are so little liable to any variations that they are 
 easily rendered into English. The most important 
 points being a correct and accurate attention to
 
 Hints to Beginners. 9 
 
 the names of people and places, with the de- 
 scriptions of the localities referred to. As the 
 use of Latin for legal transactions almost entirely 
 superseded the Norman-French language after 
 the reign of Edward III. (although it is an open 
 question whether deeds were not duplicated into 
 the two languages), very few old deeds are met 
 with in the latter language, and those few are 
 usually so well written and very legible, that 
 they can easily be understood with the help of 
 a slight knowledge of modern French. 
 
 Indeed, a transcriber's work properly consists 
 chiefly in correctly putting into modern hand- 
 writing the deeds which are only illegible to the 
 uninitiated ; in consequence, an actual acquaint- 
 ance with the Latin grammar is less important 
 than a correct eye, quick to note every minute 
 difference in letters. Every stroke of the pen 
 means something ; bars or curves are the repre- 
 sentatives of absent words or syllables, and are 
 never dashed down hap-hazard or by accident. 
 Therefore it is possible to understand the abbre- 
 viated portions correctly, although extension with 
 absolute correctness can never be ensured without 
 study of the language and a knowledge of its 
 grammar. 
 
 One of the best methods of learning to read 
 courthand, is first to devote a short time to 
 the study of shorthand ; any system will do,
 
 io Hints to Beginners. 
 
 it being merely a means of training the eye 
 and brain into speedily noticing small shades 
 of difference, undetected except by comparison. 
 For in all kinds of shorthand the least stroke or 
 dot, or even a change in the position of a line, will 
 entirely alter the spelling or meaning of a word. 
 
 Next, I would advise the careful study of an old 
 deed, one of those written late in the seventeenth 
 century or early in the eighteenth, because these 
 deeds give the phraseology or form of sentences, 
 and are often written in English in a fairly clear 
 hand, freer from contractions than earlier manu- 
 scripts, and the beginner has so many new things 
 to discover and learn that it is well to com- 
 mence by not attempting too much at the first 
 start. An acquaintance with the style of words 
 used in legal language is a good groundwork to 
 commence with. Spread out the parchment 
 before you ; never mind the fact that only a word 
 or two, or even only a chance letter here and 
 there catches your eye. Then set to work to 
 compare the letters of the words you do know 
 with the letters in other words which at the com- 
 mencement looked so strange to you. 
 
 It was in this way that Egyptian hieroglyphics 
 were first successfully studied. 
 
 Remember that consonants seldom come to- 
 gether ; no word is formed without the help of 
 one or more vowels ; the final letter or letters
 
 Hints to Beginners. 1 1 
 
 more often supply a clue than the capital letter 
 or beginning syllable, especially in the so-called 
 courthands. 
 
 Beware of too imaginative guesses. Although 
 this fault is easily remedied, still, it is better to 
 spell a word out letter by letter, however unin- 
 telligible and depressing the result at first may 
 be. It is so easy to take a name or word for 
 granted, and an idea once seized upon is not 
 quickly eradicated, and may bring about absurd 
 results and deductions. 
 
 Do not ponder too long over a word which 
 puzzles you, but go on, leaving gaps in your copy 
 with a stroke underneath corresponding with or 
 leaving sufficient space for the missing word. 
 These spaces can then be filled in afterwards, 
 when the general sense of the document has been 
 mastered and the aspect of the particular style of 
 writing has become familiar. Then it will be 
 found that words hitherto seemingly unintelligible 
 resolve themselves into readable form, and al- 
 though apparently impossible to decipher at the 
 first reading, later on they present no difficulty. 
 A little practice and patience soon overcome the 
 difficulties of the first start, and after that the 
 progress is rapid. 
 
 To begin by learning a variety of old alphabets 
 seems to me so much waste of time, although it 
 would be a valuable groundwork to commence
 
 F2 Hints to Beginners. 
 
 with. The true alphabet for beginners lies in the 
 contracted words, whose missing portions must 
 be supplied by the reader from the few letters 
 given, which are often not even one connected 
 syllable, but instead merely one or two letters 
 out of the missing syllable clustered together. 
 
 The reason for this style of writing was to save 
 time and material. With use it grew into a com- 
 plete system, a language of its own. At the time 
 it was penned, these contractions were no doubt 
 perfectly familiar to all, just as our modern 
 abbreviations are. Of these last there are more 
 contractions in use nowadays than would at 
 first be realized our daily correspondence is full 
 of them ; these may have originated from the 
 older system of contractions, and be relics of it, 
 still left lingering on. 
 
 A few examples of modern abbreviations will 
 not be out of place here, as showing that a con- 
 tracted form of writing is not so very difficult or 
 extraordinary after all. 
 
 &, and, derived from the Latin et ; the second 
 example, which is still in use, can be traced in 
 very old documents from et, till gradually it 
 assumed its modern shape. 
 
 M r , mister or master ; S r for sir was formerly 
 in common use. 
 
 C, company ; C ie , compagnie (French) ; etc., 
 the first three letters of the Latin wordsetcetera.
 
 Hints to Beginners. 13 
 
 The words with, which, whereof, where, etc., 
 were formerly abbreviated; also y r for your, y e 
 the, and many others now obsolete. 
 
 Pounds, shillings and pence we still designate 
 by the Latin s. d. 
 
 The long word ' affectionate ' is seldom written 
 in full ; so, too, with many other words there are 
 recognised forms of contraction, and when this 
 is borne in mind the abbreviations of old deeds 
 appear in quite' a different light, and we attack 
 their difficulties with less dread of failure.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HANDWRITING. 
 
 MANY books have been recently published 
 on the subject of ' Character by Hand- 
 writing,' but they are not very descriptive in 
 detail, although the theories and rules for char- 
 acter-describing by this means are both clear and 
 decided. 
 
 It is now no longer the rule to teach children 
 to write entirely by the aid of set copies, as was 
 the case with our forefathers, who wrote after one 
 approved pattern, which children copied as nearly 
 as possible from the original set for them ; there- 
 fore characteristic peculiarities were longer in 
 asserting themselves, and what is now considered 
 a ' formed ' handwriting was not developed till 
 late in life. 
 
 There were, and still are, two divisions or classes 
 of handwriting the professional and the personal ; 
 with the first the action was mechanical, and
 
 Handwriting. 1 5 
 
 exhibits few, if any, traces of personality. Yet 
 even in the .oldest manuscripts there are cer- 
 tain defined characteristics plainly shown. The 
 handwritings of historical and celebrated person- 
 ages coincide to a remarkable degree with their 
 known virtues and vices, as criticised and detailed 
 by their biographers. 
 
 As the art of writing became general, its form 
 varied more and more, becoming gradually less 
 formal, and each person wrote as was easiest to 
 himself. Education, as a rule, has a far from 
 beneficial effect upon handwriting ; an active 
 brain creates ideas too fast to give the hand 
 time to form the letters clearly, patiently and 
 evenly, the matter, not the material, being to the 
 writer of primary importance. 
 
 So, as study increased among all classes, 
 writing degenerated from its originally clear, 
 regular lettering into every style of penmanship. 
 
 Of course a child's writing resembles only the 
 copy-book, of which it is supposed to be an exact 
 imitation ; soon, however, the round curves 
 sharpen, the disconnected letters join without any 
 breaks in the words ; the even lines and dis- 
 tances are no longer so carefully measured and 
 considered ; eccentricities of style creep in, with 
 sundry loops and twirls, giving the whole a grown- 
 up appearance a decided individuality of its own. 
 
 If the subject of handwriting as a test of
 
 1 6 Handwriting. 
 
 character is carefully studied it will be found that 
 immediate circumstances greatly influence it : 
 anxiety or great excitement of any kind, illness 
 or any violent emotion, will for the moment greatly 
 affect the writing. From_handwriting the^ doctor 
 can^ hazard an opinion as to the_mental state of 
 his patient. In all cases of paralysis Jljie writing 
 is_tempojrarily affected, and the patient is usually 
 at first deprived of the power of writing ; when the 
 mind recovers its consciousness and the muscles 
 their strength, the power returns, but with a feeble- 
 ness not formerly observed. Writing depends 
 upon so many things a firm grasp of the pen, a 
 pliability of the muscles, clearness of vision and 
 brain-power even the writing-materials, pens, 
 ink and paper, all make a difference. It is not 
 strange, then, that with so many causes upon 
 which it depends, writing should be an excellent 
 test of temperament and bodily health. 
 
 Any school-teacher or head of a college through 
 whose hands a large correspondence passes, 
 usually contracts a habit of forming conclusions 
 as to the mental and moral calibre of the writers, 
 their social status and natural bias of disposition. 
 A round, childish handwriting is said to show 
 conceit and self-satisfaction. Ignorance and con- 
 ceit are often closely linked together. The 
 uneducated generally have a very good opinion of 
 their own personal qualifications. The most
 
 Handwriting. 1 7 
 
 youthful form of writing is not, therefore, indica- 
 tive of talent or general capacity, and seldom 
 shows any originality. 
 
 All needless flourishes and ornamentation are 
 the result of egotism and vanity. But be it re- 
 membered that any virtue exaggerated at once 
 becomes a fault ; that whereas a little conceit is 
 necessary to stimulate ambition, the same in too 
 great excess becomes egotistic vanity. Genius is 
 apt to over-estimate its own depth and originality, 
 yet without any self-appreciation there is danger 
 of a lack of effort ; despair prevents perseverance, 
 and is a bar to any success. 
 
 Excitability, hastiness, and impatience are all 
 seen in the handwriting at a glance. A quick brain 
 suggests words and sentences so fast, one upon 
 another, that though the pen races along the page 
 it cannot write down the ideas quickly enough to 
 satisfy the author. With a calm, calculating 
 disposition this frantic haste is neither known 
 nor understood such persons do not rush to 
 conclusions, but ponder over every subject. 
 Intuitive perception in the excitable person 
 becomes judgment in a tranquil mind. Temper 
 depends upon temperament. The crosses of the 
 letter ' t ' are the index whereby to judge of it. 
 If these strokes are regular through a whole page 
 of writing, the writer may be assumed to have an 
 even-placed temper ; if dashed off at random 
 
 2
 
 1 8 Handwriting. 
 
 quick short strokes, somewhat higher than the 
 letter itself quick outbursts of anger may be 
 expected, but of short duration, unless the stroke 
 is firm and black, in which case great violence may 
 safely be predicted. 
 
 Uncertainty of character and temper is shown 
 by the variation of these strokes to the letter ' t '. 
 Sometimes the cross is firm and black, then next 
 time it is light ; sometimes it is omitted altogether, 
 varying with each repetition of the letter like the 
 opinions and sentiments of an undecided person. 
 The up and down strokes of the letters tell of 
 strength or weakness of will ; gradations of light 
 and shade, too, may be observed in these strokes. 
 The sloping Italian handwriting of our grand- 
 mothers is just what might be expected from 
 women refined and sensitive, grounded in several 
 branches of study, well educated as a whole, but 
 not especially so in any one particular line. The 
 absence of any self-assertion is very strongly 
 marked. The independence of their grand- 
 daughters can be traced in every line and stroke of 
 their pens. Little or no distinction is observable 
 between the writing of young men and women 
 nowadays. Even the graphologist dare scarcely 
 hazard an opinion as to the sex of the writer, but 
 indulges in vague wording, avoiding any direct 
 use of personal pronouns. 
 
 Capital letters tell us many points of interest.
 
 Handwriting. 1 9 
 
 By them originality, talent, and mental capacity 
 are displayed, as well as any latent vulgarity or 
 want of education. There are two styles of 
 capital letters at present in use. The high-class 
 style employed by persons of education is plain 
 and often eccentric, but without much orna- 
 mentation. The other may be called the middle- 
 class, for it is used by servants and tradespeople 
 having a fair amount of education, mingled with 
 a good deal of conceited ignorance and false pride. 
 With these last the capital letters are much 
 
 adorned by loops, hooks, and curves, noticeable 
 principally in the heads of the letters or at their 
 commencement. Perhaps, for purposes of char- 
 acter delineation, it will be better to give the 
 characteristics, pointing out the style and form 
 of the letters peculiar to each. 
 
 It will generally be found that with writing 
 having much resemblance, a characteristic simi- 
 larity also exists ; therefore, to become proficient 
 as a graphologist, a careful study must be made 
 of the writings of those whose whole life and 
 
 2 2
 
 2O Handwriting. 
 
 character, together with personal peculiarities, 
 are intimately known and understood, and from 
 this, conclusions may be drawn and rules arrived 
 at for future use. 
 
 Affection is marked by open loops and a general 
 slant or slope of the writing. A hard nature, 
 unsympathetic and unimpressionable, has very 
 little artistic feeling or love of the fine arts ; 
 therefore the same things which indicate a soft, 
 affectionate disposition will also indicate poetry, 
 music, and painting, or one or other kindred 
 subjects. The first of these accompanies a 
 loving, impulsive nature ; with music the im- 
 pulse is replaced by perseverance ; for natural 
 genius cannot expand without patient study. 
 In painting three things are absolutely neces- 
 sary to produce an artist. Form, colour, light 
 and shade all these three will influence the 
 writing ; but art of any kind is very complex. 
 Success implies a certain degree of ambition, and 
 consequent upon it is vanity and egotism ; hence 
 the artist's signature is generally peculiar and 
 often unreadable, from its originality, egotism, 
 and exuberance of creative power. 
 
 Imagination and impulse do not tend to im- 
 prove handwriting. The strokes are too erratic, 
 and the capital letters never follow the copybook 
 pattern. Over-haste is visible in every line. A 
 warm-hearted, impulsive person feels deeply and
 
 Handwriting. 2 1 
 
 passionately at the moment of writing, and dashes 
 off the words without regard to the effect they 
 will produce upon the reader. What is generally 
 lacking, is judgment and the power of analytical 
 thought. These important qualities may be de- 
 tected in disjoined words, which here and there 
 may be seen even with a handwriting in which 
 impulse and sequence of ideas are leading char- 
 acteristics. The writer has evidently paused to 
 think, although unaware of it himself. These 
 breaks give a power of criticism, combined with 
 clearness of intellect. Without breaks no common- 
 sense is found, but if they appear too often it shows 
 a wearying and needless worry over trivial details, 
 and self- torment as to the opinions of other people. 
 Truth and straightforwardness give even lines 
 running across the page and regular distances 
 from one word to another. Tact is very essential. 
 This quality requires often slight deceptions to 
 be allowed or practised, white lies, or delusive 
 silence ; hence an unevenness in the writing is 
 observed. It is a deviation, although slight, from 
 the path of truth, and here and there the letters 
 rise or fall below the lines. Untruthfulness gives 
 greater unevenness still; but do not rush to con- 
 clusions on this point, for an unformed hand- 
 writing shows this peculiarity very often, being 
 merely due, not to evil qualities, but to an unsteady 
 hand employed in work to which it is unused.
 
 2 2 Handwriting. 
 
 Very round even writing in which the vowels 
 are not closed, denotes candour and openness of 
 disposition, with an aptitude for giving advice, 
 whether asked or unasked, not always of a com- 
 plimentary kind. Blunt, crabbed writing suggests 
 obstinacy and a selfish love of power, without 
 thought for the feelings of others. True selfishness 
 gives every curve an inward bend, very marked 
 in the commencement of words or capital letters. 
 
 Perseverance and patience are closely allied. 
 In the former the letter ' t ' is hooked at the top, 
 and also its stroke has a dark curved end, showing 
 that when once an idea has been entertained no 
 earthly persuasion will alter or eradicate it. 
 Such writers have strongly-defined prejudices, 
 and are apt to take very strong dislikes without 
 much cause. 
 
 Calmness and patience also are frequently 
 linked together more often in later life, when 
 adversity has blunted the faculties, or the dull 
 routine of uneventful existence has destroyed all 
 romance. Then the writing has short up-and- 
 down strokes, the curves are round, the bars short 
 and straight ; there are no loops or flourishes ; 
 the whole writing exhibits great neatness and 
 regularity. Economy of living, curiously enough, 
 is marked by a spare use of ink. The terminals 
 are abrupt and blunt, leaving off short. Where 
 economy is the result of circumstances, not dis-
 
 Handwriting. 23 
 
 position, only some of the words are thus ended, 
 while others have open, free curves, and the long 
 letters are looped. Generosity and liberality may 
 be seen likewise in the end curve of every word. 
 Where these characteristics are inconstant and 
 variable the disposition will be found to be un- 
 certain liberal in some matters, while needlessly 
 economical and stingy in others. 
 
 A person fond of society writes the capital 
 letter ' M ' with the three upper curves on the 
 same level. If the tail of this letter is carried 
 far below the line, there is vulgarity of mind 
 and imperfect education. Bars used instead 
 of stops are the result of caution. The writer 
 fears lest his sentences should be misinterpreted by 
 being run into each other. When a bar is placed 
 below the signature, it means tenacity of purpose, 
 coupled with extreme caution ; perhaps, also, a 
 dread of criticism and adverse opinions. No dots 
 to the letter ' i ' means negligence, a want of atten- 
 tion to details, with but a small faculty of obser- 
 vation. When the dots are placed at random, 
 neither above nor in proximity to the letter to 
 which they belong, impressionability, want of re- 
 flection, and impulsiveness may be anticipated. 
 
 Ambition and gratified happiness give to the 
 whole writing an upward tendency. Hopefulness 
 lacks the firmness of ambition, and appears only 
 in the signature which curves upwards, while the
 
 24 Handwriting. 
 
 rest of the writing is impulsive, without much 
 firmness. 
 
 Sorrow gives every line of the writing a down- 
 ward inclination. Temporary affliction will at 
 once show in the writing : a preoccupied mind, 
 full of trouble, cares little whether the letter then 
 written is legible or neat ; hence the writing is 
 erratic, uncertain, and the confusion of mind is 
 clearly exhibited in every line. Irritable and 
 touchy persons slope the flourishes only, such as 
 the cross of the letter ' t ' and the upper parts of 
 the capital letters. When the capital letters 
 stand alone in front of the words, and the final 
 letters also are isolated, it betokens great creative 
 power and ideality, such as would form an author 
 and clever writer. 
 
 The most personal part of a letter or document 
 is, of course, the signature, but alone it is not a 
 safe guide to character. The lines placed below 
 or after it tell a great deal more than the actual 
 name. 
 
 A curved bending line, ending in a hook, indi- 
 cates coquetry, love of effect, and ideality. 
 
 An exaggerated, comma-like form of line means 
 caprice, tempered by gravity of thought, and 
 versatility of ideas. 
 
 An unyielding will fiery, and at the same time 
 determined draws a firm hooked line after the 
 name.
 
 Handwriting. 25 
 
 A wavy line shows great variety in mental power, 
 with originality. 
 
 Resolution is shown by a plain line ; and ex- 
 treme caution, with full power to calculate effect 
 and reason a subject from every point of view, is 
 shown by two lin^s and dots, thus : . 
 
 To sum up the matter briefly, it will be 
 observed that a clever person cares very little 
 about the form of his writing it is the matter 
 alone which concerns him ; whereas, with a 
 limited brain power, great care as to appearance 
 is taken. But human nature is never a simple 
 combination of elements, it is dependable upon 
 a complexity of changes and chances. 
 
 It is said that with everyone a complete change 
 takes place every seven years. Motives and cir- 
 cumstances all leave decided marks upon the 
 character and mind of an individual. Not perhaps 
 for years will innate virtues or vices become 
 apparent, which have lain dormant, awaiting 
 circumstances to develop them. 
 
 A collection of any person's old letters is very 
 curious. Written from earliest childhood to 
 extreme old age, a veritable life's history lies in the 
 faded ink ; and to study character from hand- 
 writing fairly it can only be done from such 
 authenticated examples. 
 
 Old letters written two or three hundred years 
 ago are of great value for the purpose, because, so
 
 26 Handwriting. 
 
 far as they are concerned, all party spirit and 
 prejudice is dead, buried, and forgotten. Their 
 biographers no longer fear the consequence of a 
 too candid and personal account, and are there- 
 fore more likely to give a just and calm criticism 
 of character, weighing evenly in the balance both 
 virtues and vices. With historical characters it 
 is curious to contrast the contemporary bio- 
 graphies with the graphologist's opinion of their 
 handwriting, given without knowing whose the 
 writing was. 
 
 Any collection of old MSS. is interesting, as 
 showing the various styles of writing in vogue at 
 different periods. Fashion or circumstances had 
 some influence on this point. Royal marriages with 
 foreign princesses brought England into contact 
 with different nations. Wars in strange lands 
 introduced alien words into our vocabulary, some 
 of which speedily became naturalized, while 
 others, voted slang, remained only for a short 
 while and then disappeared. New words are 
 constantly being coined, and take the place of 
 others. This may seem a trivial matter, and 
 irrelevant to the subject of old writing, but any 
 points bearing on the subject must throw new 
 light upon it and help to elucidate it. 
 
 The personality of a writer can never be wholly 
 separated from his works. And in any question 
 of date or authenticity of a document being
 
 Handwriting. 2 7 
 
 called in question, the value of graphology and 
 its theories will be found of the utmost impor- 
 tance ; for the various changes in the style of 
 handwriting, or in the spelling of words, although 
 perhaps so minute and gradual as seldom to be 
 remarked, are, nevertheless, 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 peculiarities.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON, NORMAN-FRENCH, LATIN, AND OLD 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 A LTHOUGH we are always told that our 
 2~\. present English language is directly derived 
 from that of our Saxon forefathers, this informa- 
 tion gives us very little, if any, help towards 
 deciphering the old Anglo-Saxon documents. The 
 Saxons, we are told, were not one nation, but 
 rather composed of an aggregate of tribes of 
 Germanic and Scandinavian origin, whose pirati- 
 cal instincts led them to seek adventure by sea 
 and land and form new colonies, just as at the 
 present day Englishmen go forth in search of fame 
 and fortune in the uttermost parts of the earth. 
 
 Thus the Saxon language, although derived 
 from one identical base, was a collection of 
 dialects banded together, which, in its educated 
 and scholastic form, greatly resembled German in 
 its construction.
 
 Anglo-Saxon^ Norm an- French, etc. 29 
 
 The language of the Anglo-Saxons (so far as 
 Great Britain is concerned) has been classified 
 
 EXTRACT FROM DOMESDAY. 
 
 under three distinct headings, the first being pure 
 Anglo-Saxon, i.e., the language as spoken by the 
 first settlers, with an admixture of Celtic or
 
 30 Anglo-Saxon, Norman- French, 
 
 British ; secondly, this same combination with 
 the addition of Danish ; and thirdly, the three 
 above - named languages combined, with the 
 further addition of Norman-French, having in 
 all a Saxon dialect for the basis, to which were 
 afterwards added new words brought into it by 
 foreign invaders or emigrants from over the seas. 
 Ever since the invention of printing great changes 
 have taken place in our language, and to go back 
 prior to that epoch reveals greater changes still. 
 
 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 meanings. 
 
 The Lord's Prayer, as given in the Durham 
 Book,* looks to us hopelessly foreign only a few 
 words are familiar. The personal pronouns ' us,' 
 ' we,' ' he,' ' him,' and the preposition ' to,' as well 
 as the conjunction 'and/ are unchanged, but the 
 verbs are conjugated quite differently to the 
 correct English of to-day ; still, if we would seek 
 for a living example resembling old Saxon dialect, 
 it can easily be found in several parts of England, 
 such as Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and other 
 counties, the country-folk still speaking almost 
 
 * This is a copy of the Gospels of the Anglo-Saxon period. It 
 was formerly in the Cottonian Library, now in the Manuscript 
 Department of the British Museum. It is known as ' Nero D. iv.' 
 Old Sir Robert Cotton had busts of the Roman Emperors over his 
 book shelves, and the names survive.
 
 Latin, and Old English. 31 
 
 pure Anglo-Saxon, though this is fast dying out 
 before the advance of education and Board school 
 science. The Anglo-Saxon alphabetical char- 
 acters differ only from the Roman in the letter 
 'w,' written )> : there are also two additional 
 double letters ' th,' represented by the following 
 letter p, and ' dh,' ft, these last being in frequent 
 use in the construction of words. 
 
 The early Saxon handwriting was bold and 
 clear. Most of it now existing consists of 
 monastic copies of books or charters. The 
 Saxons were a clever and industrious people, 
 plodding and practical. Their abbeys were more 
 of the nature of large seminaries or colleges, where 
 learning was carried on ; and in this respect th e 
 northern parts of England were better supplied 
 than the south, a result caused probably by each 
 fresh influx of tribes landing on the northern 
 and eastern coasts of the country, and spreading 
 inland from thence. There seems to be no doubt 
 that the reign of King Alfred did much to promote 
 study and an increased attention to literature, 
 hitherto neglected except among a few professed 
 scholars. 
 
 A learned king would naturally set the fashion 
 to his subjects, and Alfred must have possessed 
 immense energy, for it was an extraordinary thing 
 for a middle - aged man to be able to educate 
 himself sufficiently to master the difficulties of a
 
 32 Anglo-Saxon, Norman- French, 
 
 foreign language so opposed in construction to 
 his own native tongue as Latin, which in nowise 
 resembles Saxon. He must have toiled hard to 
 have completed the many translations from Latin 
 into Saxon which are accredited to him. 
 
 Alfred was a popular hero, and, like all heroes, 
 was invested by tradition with the credit of every 
 improvement in literature or art which took place 
 within his era. Be this as it may, there is no 
 doubt that he did stimulate his fellow-countrymen 
 to make efforts towards self-improvement, by 
 setting them a practical example in himself. 
 Such examples are rare, unfortunately ; they 
 must always be productive of good results an 
 ' ounce of practice is worth a pound of precept.' 
 
 From the time of King Alfred's re-introduction 
 of Latin into this country it gradually gained 
 ground as the language of scholars. Learned 
 ecclesiastics coming to England found it con- 
 venient as the medium for exchange of thoughts 
 and ideas. It was for many centuries the accepted 
 4 Volapuk,' understood by all who professed to 
 any learning. 
 
 Rome was the light of the western world, the 
 centre froi whence religion and learning was 
 disseminated to the less enlightened parts of 
 Europe. Careful study of the old authors necessi- 
 tated an acquaintance with both Greek and 
 Latin. The emissaries of the Pope, either as
 
 Latin, and Old English. 33 
 
 legates or missionaries, spread all over civilized 
 Europe, and carried with them the learning of 
 their age. 
 
 Intercourse between England and France was 
 somewhat checked by dissensions and wars both 
 at home and abroad, but with the Conquest came 
 a large body of monks, for the chief wealth of 
 Normandy was invested in its rich abbeys, from df 
 whence Duke William had borrowed large sums 
 of money to fit out his expedition upon the 
 security of his future possession of England. 
 These loans he honestly and amply repaid by 
 large grants of land out of his new kingdom ; 
 hence new abbeys sprang up filled with foreign 
 monks, who brought over their language, arts and 
 sciences, to teach in the new country they had 
 adopted as their own. The language of the 
 court was of necessity Norman-French, which 
 differs as much from the French of to-day as 
 ancient from modern English. But a know- 
 ledge of French makes these early deeds easy to 
 understand. 
 
 By degrees the Norman-French language came 
 into use in legal matters, partially superseding 
 Latin ; probably copies of deeds (rarely copies of 
 the same deed are preserved) were made in both 
 languages. 
 
 The lower orders of the people clung per- 
 sistently to their own old Saxon tongue, a fact 
 
 3
 
 i c-5 K Q'' C* i * Q IT cj TVJB. w 5 
 
 i *
 
 Latin, and Old English. 35 
 
 clearly demonstrated by the way the old Saxon 
 field-names are to the present day retained, and 
 flowers, animals and matters of everyday country- 
 life bear names of evident Saxon origin. The 
 Saxons were a conquered race, and as such 
 became the servants of their conquerors. The 
 animals which in life they tended were eaten by 
 the Norman nobles, who called them, when used 
 as food, by names of French derivation. Thus 
 the Saxon 'sheep' became 'mutton'; 'pig' turned 
 into 'pork'; 'calf into 'veal,' etc. With the names 
 of many wild flowers French origin is traceable, 
 especially with cultivated sorts. In Berkshire the 
 village children call field-daisies ' margs,' abbrevi- 
 ated, without doubt, from the French marguerite. 
 Among garden flowers there are pansies, French 
 pense ; gillyflower, girofle, and many others ; but 
 as a whole there are few words of distinctly Latin 
 origin to be found in the English language relating 
 to every-day affairs. Norman-French did not come 
 into immediate use in legal documents after the 
 Conquest. The earliest deeds of the Norman 
 kings were written in Latin, but after a while 
 French superseded it for law work, but only for a 
 comparatively short period, a statute being passed 
 in the thirty-sixth year of King Edward III. de- 
 ciding upon Latin as the law language of the 
 realm, and from this date the use of Norman- 
 French died out. 
 
 32
 
 36 Anglo-Saxon, Norman- French, 
 
 The growing dislike of the English to foreign 
 prelates led to a steady resistance of their claims, 
 culminating in the Statutes of Mortmain, Provisors 
 and Prsemunire, and finally in the suppression of 
 all alien priories and foreign cells. This stopped 
 the influx of French and Italian monks to our 
 shores ; so it was that, after nearly four centuries, 
 the Norman-French language died out and was 
 forgotten. During the Middle Ages, and until 
 the time of the Reformation, the monasteries still 
 continued to be the principal seats of learning 
 throughout the country, and Latin held its ground 
 among scholars and lawyers. The introduction 
 of printing, and finally the changes wrought 
 by the Reformation, disturbed the pre-existing 
 course of things. English gradually was settling 
 down into its present form, and about the end 
 of the fifteenth century it began to be used 
 for law business transactions more and more. 
 Latin, like Norman-French, had had its day 
 and was dying out. Finally, by George III.'s 
 Act of Parliament the native language was 
 ordered to be used for law work, and now Latin 
 has become obsolete, so far as practical work is 
 concerned ; and understanding old legal Latin 
 once a necessity for a lawyer has now become 
 an antiquarian profession. One relic of Anglo- 
 Saxon remained on in our language for many 
 centuries. The double letter )>, ' th,' will be found
 
 Latin, and Old English. 37 
 
 in the written copies of monkish chartularies for 
 place-names beginning with 'th.' Even so late as 
 the fifteenth century we find it freely employed in 
 English documents. I possess a copy of the 
 criminal charges made against De la Pole, Duke 
 of Suffolk, for high treason, 1450.* Throughout 
 the manuscript the Saxon )> appears in such words 
 as ' other,' ' that,' ' the,' etc., which look curious 
 written 'ofer,' '}>',' ' J>e.' 
 
 About the time when printing was brought over 
 and practised in England the Saxon \ disap- 
 peared. The p in some words was printed ' y,' 
 which continued in use until the present century. 
 I am not aware of any place-names having been 
 altered by this change of lettering, but it is quite 
 possible that some changes may have occurred 
 through it. It would be easy for a person un- 
 accustomed to the Saxon ]> to mistake it for other 
 letters ; nor would it sound phonetically wrong, 
 as either ' th,' ' p,' or ' y ' must be followed either 
 by a vowel or the consonant * r,' ' ph ' in old 
 documents being usually replaced by an ' f.' 
 
 Of late years many absurd mistakes have been 
 made by Ordnance Surveyors who, mistaking 
 the local dialect or from preconceived ideas as to 
 what the names ought to be, have set down 
 many incorrectly. On this subject I wrote re- 
 cently in a paper in the Berkshire Archaological 
 
 Now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
 
 38 Anglo-Saxon, Norman-French, 
 
 Magazine. A man from the South of England 
 fails to comprehend the northern or western 
 dialects. Country-folk from the north cannot 
 understand a word spoken by southerners ; 
 this also would account for errors. Spelling of 
 course has altered ; it is no safe guide towards 
 derivation ; phonetic pronunciation of a word is 
 more likely to give a clue to the origin. Field- 
 names have been handed down orally from gene- 
 ration to generation ; and it is very curious to 
 observe how faithfully the phonetic sounds have 
 been preserved among an illiterate people, long 
 after the meanings of the words have disappeared. 
 The Saxons named their fields from ordinary 
 things, or surroundings, or the animals who fed 
 in the meadows. The following Saxon words 
 may be found occurring constantly as field- 
 names: 
 
 JEcne, fruitful ; JEcer, field ; JEbesn or 
 
 pasture ; A ta, A tih, tares, or oats, the latter 
 
 were common. 
 Birce, birch-tree. 
 Cyrc, Cyrce, Cyrice, Circ, Circe, church, the last two 
 
 most common ; Culfre, a dove ; Cealc, chalk ; 
 
 Ceorl, churl or husbandman. 
 Ent, a giant ; Eorisc, a bulrush : Errich, stubble ; 
 
 Enid or Ened a duck ; Emn, even. 
 Fearras, Ferris, oxen.
 
 Latin, and Old English. 39 
 
 Fearh, a little pig ; Fearh-Cw&l, swine-fever. 
 
 Getreminc, fortress ; Gat or Yat, a goat. 
 
 Halga, a saint ; halig, holy ; Hyd, a hide ; Ham, 
 home, homestead ; Hurst, or Hyrst, a wood ; 
 Holt, a grove ; Hleotan, to cast lots (meadows 
 were held in lots, or allotments, from a very 
 early period, and so continued up to the time 
 of the Enclosure Acts) ; Hluton, part allotted ; 
 Halm, stubble. 
 
 Ith yrnth, arable ; lit, a sow. 
 
 Ley, Lea, Leaze or Lay, Lye, meadow or grass- 
 land. 
 
 Neolnes, more properly spelt Neowlnes, an abyss. 
 
 On-cel, a burning. 
 
 Rene, a course ; Riip, harvest. 
 
 Sul, a plough; Stret, or Street, a street or public 
 highway. 
 
 Wong, a meadow; Welig, a willow; Wegleast, a 
 going out of the way ; Wer, an enclosure. 
 
 The law-Latin, as used in England, degenerated 
 greatly; it became interspersed with words of 
 native origin, Latinized by the lawyer. Old 
 court-rolls especially are full of obsolete words ; 
 so too are the public rolls, but there are now 
 many dictionaries explaining their meanings, 
 although, of course, here and there an unknown 
 word may occur, yet the context will usually ex- 
 plain or help towards its significance. As a
 
 4O Anglo-Saxon, Norman- French, etc. 
 
 whole, the English language has changed more 
 during the present century than at any time 
 of the preceding ages. Railway and telegraph 
 have brought all parts of the kingdom into closer 
 contact, and also with foreign countries, which 
 would account for constant alterations in language 
 and customs. 
 
 The legal Latin became, finally, merely a series 
 of mechanical forms ; these at last were translated 
 into English. 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 
 form.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OLD DEEDS. 
 
 AMONG old family papers it is rare to meet 
 with many dating further back than the 
 Reformation ; first of all, this may be accounted 
 for by the enormous amount of land possessed 
 by the monks, who, instead of having to search 
 through deeds, entered these grants and gifts of 
 property into their charter-book. The monastic 
 estates, after the Dissolution, were managed 
 through the Augmentation Office; many of the 
 original deeds were destroyed or lost in the 
 general confusion, and a new distribution of the 
 lands took place by the king irrespective of 
 the former owners, whose claims were totally 
 ignored, although in such grants or deeds of gift 
 the name of the monastery formerly owning the 
 property is usually named. 
 
 The king must have realized large sums of 
 money by these transactions, which were carried
 
 42 Old Deeds. 
 
 out through his commissioners or agents, and not 
 usually granted direct from the Crown ; very little 
 of the land confiscated from the abbeys was re- 
 tained as royal property, but appears to have 
 been almost immediately sold or granted away. 
 
 But to begin from the oldest reliable period at 
 which deeds may refer to, is to go back to the 
 Norman Conquest, or rather, to the time when 
 the lands had been distributed among the 
 Norman noblemen, as described in the famous 
 Domesday Book, compiled it is said between 
 1080 and 1085. Reference is therein made to 
 previous Saxon possessors ; but only in very few 
 instances can any certain information be obtained 
 of private property prior to the eleventh century. 
 
 Private deeds do exist between the time of 
 William I. and Richard I. ; from this latter king's 
 reign, about A.D. 1179, legal memory dates ; but 
 usually the earliest family deeds are of Edward I., CM- 
 because then it was that the legal era was fixed to 
 commence. This king has been, so far as regards 
 manorial rights and customs, rightly called the 
 ' English Solon.' He passed innumerable Acts of 
 Parliament on the subject of legal matters ; he 
 revised the whole of the national laws, retaining 
 but improving existing arrangements. A most 
 interesting account of early English law and 
 manorial customs is published by the Selden 
 Society. It is very rare indeed to discover private
 
 Old Deeds. 43 
 
 deeds earlier than this ; but, of course, every rule 
 has its exception. 
 
 To prove a title to property it is now only joy*** fr 
 requisite to show a twenty years' possession of it. *}** ** ^ 
 Papers forming the title deeds to farms or small 
 holdings are seldom of any great age. The 
 custom of depositing estate records in the care 
 of the family lawyer has tended to preserve a few 
 deeds ; but, on the other hand, has resulted in 
 much wholesale destruction of useless but curious 
 documentary evidence. 
 
 Parchment being an animal substance (usually 
 made from the skin of sheep), if kept in a damp 
 place, soon begins to decay and become offensive, 
 mites readily attack it, dirt and dust accumulate 
 rapidly on its external woolly surface all these 
 make a search among hoards of old deeds any- 
 thing but a pleasant or a cleanly occupation. 
 
 The usual storehouse for such collections was 
 some unused garret or stable-loft, where rats and 
 mice ran riot and birds flew in and out as they 
 liked. Forgotten, perhaps, for several generations, 
 the old papers lay untouched till death or removal 
 brought changes, and the deeds were either placed 
 in safer keeping, or else alas ! the most usual 
 course were consigned to the flames as useless 
 rubbish. 
 
 Even now lawyers find great difficulty in pre- 
 serving and storing the deeds entrusted to their
 
 44 Old Deeds. 
 
 charge. The dangers of fire and damp are con- 
 flicting, and to avoid the one may bring about 
 greater risk from the other cause. Vast numbers 
 of deeds have been sold when a lawyer's office 
 has been broken up. These papers, having lain 
 for years unclaimed until the ownership was lost 
 or forgotten, finally were sold to some anti- 
 quarian bookseller or antiquary, or else the skin 
 was cleansed and used again ; parchment being 
 a valuable substance. It is employed in many 
 trades. From it size is prepared. Gold-beaters 
 employ it largely, and also to the bookbinders' 
 trade it is essential, besides having many other 
 and varied uses. 
 
 The quality of parchment varies much. That 
 upon which early deeds, those about the thirteenth 
 century, are written, is in small pieces, woolly in 
 texture and of a dark brown shade. In the six- 
 teenth century the sheets are larger, smoother, 
 and yellow, becoming whiter in colour and more 
 even as its preparation was better understood and 
 practised. 
 
 Vellum was a finer sort of parchment prepared 
 from the skins of very young or still-born animals. 
 Of it the old manuscript books were made, 
 adorned with illuminations and miniature paint- 
 ings, which required a fine, smooth surface, and 
 vellum was free from the flaws which frequently 
 occur in the skins of mature animals.
 
 Old Deeds. 45 
 
 With the history of paper-making we have 
 nothing to do. Paper was known as early as the 
 thirteenth century, but for law work in England 
 it was seldom, if ever, employed before the four- 
 teenth century. The earliest known examples are 
 described as being made of silk manufactured 
 abroad, where it was used for illuminated work in 
 place of vellum at least, so Prou states, but does 
 not tell us of any notable examples. 
 
 The history of English-made paper is some- 
 what obscure. Ordinary books published for the 
 enlightenment of the young state that the first 
 English paper-mill was erected at Dartford, in 
 Kent, by Speilman, a German, in 1588. This, 
 however, must be wrong, for in that popular 
 educator of the past generation, the Saturday 
 Magazine, a short account is given of early 
 paper and its water-marks, and John Tate is 
 named as having a mill at Hertford, his device 
 being a star of five points enclosed within a 
 double circle. John Tate the younger is here 
 stated to have made the paper for the first book 
 printed on English-made paper about the year 
 1496. It was written in Latin, and entitled 
 ' Bartholomeus de Proprietatibus Rerum.' His 
 mark upon it was a wheel. This same account 
 goes on to say that the paper used by the early 
 printers bore great variety of marks the ox- 
 head, with the star between the horns; the black 
 letter P ; the shears ; an open hand, surmounted
 
 46 Old Deeds. 
 
 by a star ; a collared dog's head, with a trefoil 
 above it ; a crown, an orb, a shield charged with 
 a bend, and many other devices. Hone, in his 
 ' Everyday Book,' also gives a few other marks. 
 He mentions the orb as a foreign paper-mark 
 existing as early as 1301, and says it is the 
 ' oldest known mark.' 
 
 Hand-paper is the kind usually found used for 
 early documents. It was a convenient size for 
 court-rolls or legal writings. The name arose 
 from its water-mark, that of an open hand with a 
 star above the middle finger. This is found both 
 in England and Germany. Its date of manu- 
 facture was certainly older than 1450. The actual 
 device varied. Sometimes the fingers were raised 
 in blessing, sometimes it was a hand encased in 
 a glove or gauntlet. The star had sometimes five 
 and at others six points. 
 
 On some coarse whitish-brown paper of 1465 a 
 garter was used ; about the same date a bull or 
 bull's head appears. These were detached sheets, 
 but probably there was no distinction then 
 between book or letter paper. 
 
 A careful study of paper-marks would be in- 
 teresting and valuable if the authenticity or age 
 of old papers were doubted, though the question 
 of forgery scarcely ever arises, for so much know- 
 ledge and ingenuity would be required to produce 
 a manuscript which would deceive an adept and
 
 Old Deeds. 47 
 
 pass muster as a veritable antique, that fraud of 
 this kind is well-nigh impossible. 
 
 Paper was not known in France, and conse- 
 quently not used, before 1130. It did not reach 
 as far north as Normandy until the fourteenth 
 century ; therefore it is improbable that it found 
 its way into England till after this date, or, if so, 
 only in very small quantities. The oldest paper 
 is coarse and rough, scarcely sized at all, so that 
 the ink sank into it like blotting-paper, making 
 erasures impossible. 
 
 Supposing even that paper was made in 
 England in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
 the quantities produced here were very small and 
 inadequate to meet the demand ; hence the chief 
 supply was of foreign manufacture even until a 
 comparatively recent period. 
 
 The Netherlands and Germany were the great 
 paper-producing countries. It was a state pri- 
 vilege, and the water-marks used were either the 
 arms of the royal patron or a crest or badge of 
 the manufacturer, so by this means the precise 
 locality of some of these ancient manufacturers 
 may be ascertained. 
 
 The history of old paper-marks sadly needs a 
 Chaffers or a Cripps to investigate the matter. 
 No such collection has ever been attempted, nor 
 has the subject hitherto met with the attention it 
 demands and deserves. Perhaps, now that anti-
 
 48 Old Deeds. 
 
 quarianism is becoming so fashionable, this, like 
 other kindred sciences, will find some followers. 
 
 Another important part of a deed is the ink 
 with which it was written. Each scribe had his 
 own particular receipt for making it, the principal 
 ingredients being oak galls and sulphate of iron. 
 Many chemicals are recommended as restoratives 
 for faded ink, but these should be avoided as far 
 as possible, as they are liable to stain and dis- 
 figure the parchment, and in the end make 
 matters worse. 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 glass. 
 
 If the ink is very faint the simplest and most 
 harmless restorative is sulphate of ammonia ; 
 but its loathsome smell once endured is not easily 
 forgotten ; the experiment in consequence is very 
 seldom repeated, for the result is scarcely good 
 enough to risk a repetition of so horrible a smell. 
 
 Coloured inks or pigments were seldom, if ever, 
 employed for legal documents. The use of these 
 was restricted to the cloister, requiring manipula- 
 tion by an illuminator instead of a mere scribe. 
 Red, blue and green were in use ; these were 
 mineral colours. The red was composed either of 
 red lead or oxide of iron, the green from copper, 
 and the blue from lapis lazuli finely powdered, or
 
 Old Deeds. 49 
 
 else it, too, like the green, was prepared from an 
 oxide of copper. 
 
 Illuminating was a separate profession apart 
 from that of writing. The charter or missal was 
 finished by the scribe, and then handed over to 
 the artist to be adorned with fanciful capital 
 letters and elaborate scroll-works. Such orna- 
 mentation was unnecessary for legal documents, 
 yet sometimes these had fancy headings, which, 
 like the illuminations, were put in after the 
 writing was finished, as is proved by the occa- 
 sional omission of them, although space is left 
 where they ought to have been filled in. 
 
 Seals and sealing-wax deserve a few words. 
 These came into use gradually. The earliest 
 deeds are very small, and have very small in- 
 significant seals. 
 
 It is said that neither the Saxonnor Norman 
 noblemen could sign their own names, but instead 
 employed the Christian sign of the cross (still in 
 use among the illiterate) as their pledge of good 
 faith, and to witness their consent and approval. 
 The Normans perhaps introduced the use of seals 
 as appendices to deeds as a further proof that the 
 deed itself was approved and executed. A man's 
 seal or signet was always regarded as his most 
 sacred possession. It was destroyed after death 
 to avoid its being used for fraudulent purposes. 
 
 The use of signet-rings is very ancient. Many 
 
 4
 
 50 Old Deeds. 
 
 old Saxon and Roman signets have been dug up 
 from time to time in various parts of England ; 
 but small private seals bearing devices do not 
 appear to have been attached to deeds earlier 
 than the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 
 
 Many of the large wax seals are very beautiful, 
 but few, alas ! exist in any state of perfection. 
 The wax used for them was either its natural 
 colour or else a sealing-wax of a very dark green, 
 almost black, or red ; white, also, was used, now 
 discoloured by age into a dingy yellow. Yellow 
 wax was also common. Besides the royal seals, 
 each abbey had its own particular seal, upon which 
 was either a view of the abbey, a portrait of its 
 patron saint, or its badge or shield. Many of these 
 are described by Dugdale in the ' Monasticon,' 
 but he was unable to discover the devices pertain- 
 ing to the lesser houses or cells. The fashion for 
 seals died out, till at last only royal grants or 
 similar documents of the sixteenth century have 
 them attached. In the Georgian period we find 
 small private seals placed on the margin of 
 deeds. These were not always the arms and 
 crest of the person against whose signature they 
 appear, but perhaps belonged to the lawyer or 
 one of the contracting parties. Here it is that a 
 knowledge of heraldry is extremely useful. 
 
 The size and shape of a deed at first glance 
 goes far with the experienced reader to determine
 
 Old Deeds. 51 
 
 its age, even before a single word of it has been 
 read ; likewise the general aspect will give a slight 
 hint as to the possible contents without decipher- 
 ing any of it. 
 
 The deeds relative to the earliest grants of land 
 are very small, a marked contrast to the volu- 
 minous sheets of parchment considered necessary 
 to a modern conveyance or deed. The writing 
 often was minute, but each letter was carefully 
 formed. Many early deeds are in far better 
 preservation than some of those written several 
 centuries later, when less attention was paid to 
 the materials on which they were indited, or the 
 ink used.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 LAW TECHNICALITIES. 
 
 THE two chief divisions into which all law 
 deeds may be roughly classified are the 
 deed-poll and the indenture. The former is a 
 square piece of parchment, made by one person, 
 such as a will or a bond ; while the indenture was 
 the work of several parties. Of this latter kind 
 are deeds of trusteeship, marriage settlements, 
 mortgages, and sales or transfers of land. 
 
 The indenture was so called from the fact that 
 its upper edge was vandyked, or indented a very 
 secure but primitive method of testing authen- 
 ticity ; each party had a copy. These duplicates 
 were written on a single strip of parchment 
 merely cut asunder afterwards, through a word 
 written between the two copies, such as ' chiro- 
 graphum,' so that when required to be produced 
 as evidence the two divided portions and words 
 would fit each other exactly indisputable evidence 
 of their originality, both simple and ingenious.
 
 Law Technicalities. 53 
 
 A very common form of deed, met with among 
 title-deeds, is the ' Fine,' technically so-called from 
 its opening sentence : * Hie est finalis concordia 
 facta in curia Domini Regis'; the sovereign's 
 name follows with the year of accession, after 
 which are the names of the buyer and seller of 
 the property, a full description of the amount of 
 acreage, tenements, etc. After warranting the 
 whole for life to its purchaser, the deed concludes 
 with the sum of money paid for the property ; 
 this is written in words, not figures. These deeds 
 are more puzzling to amateurs than any other. 
 The ' Fines ' are narrow strips of parchment, 
 two in number ; they are closely covered with 
 black lettering, making them at first difficult 
 to decipher. 
 
 This transfer of land by ' fine ' originated at 
 first from an actual suit at law commenced to 
 recover possession of the lands, and by this means 
 to establish a clear indisputable title to it ; in 
 course of time the suit was discontinued, but the 
 form of wording was retained by custom. 
 
 ' A " fine," ' says Blackstone, ' is so called 
 because it puts an end to the suit (from the Latin 
 word finis, an end), which, when once decided, 
 puts an end not only to that suit, but also to all 
 other controversies concerning the same matter, 
 for by this means an absolute sale was effected,
 
 54 
 
 Form of Fine. 
 
 Jjorm of Jine. 
 
 I. Hsec est finalis Concordia facta in Curia Domini Regis apud 
 ... in ... anno regni Regis . . . 
 
 2. Coram . . . . et aliis fidelibus domini Regis tune ibi prae- 
 sentibus . . . 
 
 3. Inter A B, petentem, et C D, tenentem [per E F, positum 
 loco ipsius C D, ad lucrandum vel perdendum] . . . 
 
 4. De .... 
 
 In terra, in prata, in pascuis, in 
 molendinis, in stagnis, et in omnibus 
 pertinentiis ejusdem terrse. 
 
 5. Unde placitum fuit inter 
 eos in Curia domini Regis, 
 scilicet 
 
 Unde recognitio de morte 
 antecessoris summonita fuit inter 
 eos in praefata Curia, viz., 
 
 6. Quod idem 1 Quod idem 1 C D, 
 C D, concessit ei- quietum clamavit 
 dem A B, et he- pro se et heredibus 
 redibus suis totam suis totum jus et 
 terram, etc. clamium qd. habuit 
 in tota terra, etc. 
 
 [The appurtenances are here 
 sometimes set out at length.] 
 
 Quod idem 1 C D, re- 
 cognovit totam terram, 
 etc., esse jus et hered- 
 itatem ipsius A B [ut 
 ilia qute idem A B, 
 habuit de dono prae- 
 dicti C D] et terram 
 illam quietam clamavit 
 a se et heredibus suis 
 imperpetuum. 
 
 7. Praedicto A B, et hered- 
 ibus suis imperpetuum. 
 
 Et assignatis suis prseter- 
 quam viris religiosis. 
 
 8. Et pro hac 
 
 9. Concess- 
 ione 
 
 recog- 
 nitione 
 
 remiss- 
 ione 
 
 quieta cla- 
 innntia 
 
 fine et 
 concordia. 
 
 IO. Prsed ictus A B. 
 
 1 Idem, or prsedictus, or pnefatus, or memoratus.
 
 Form of Fine. 
 
 55 
 
 II. Dedit 
 
 predicto 
 
 p < i a. CL p- 
 s <J> ^ n 
 
 w P re re 
 
 C 
 
 D. 
 
 
 g p:g 
 
 ~ 3 5 9-n 
 % * ? g 
 
 i 
 
 N^*~ ~ 
 
 p re 
 3 g. 
 
 I 6 *!! 
 
 3 3 r 1 !-!- 
 
 . . solidos 
 esterling . . 
 
 unam ju- 
 vencam ... 
 
 "S-B 
 
 re 3 
 p. ft 
 
 ' *3 * E 
 
 1 5 'T- i. 
 
 niarcas ar- 
 
 unum 
 
 o' S! 
 
 .11 
 
 S. "" 
 
 genti . . be- 
 
 ostorium 
 
 i| 
 
 
 "^ g.2- j2 5 
 
 santia . . de- 
 
 sorum 
 
 
 tg" 
 
 |3^ 
 
 narios. 
 
 
 S & 
 
 j 3 g 
 
 
 
 
 ?8 r> 
 
 ^.0 
 
 Qj H 9 41 
 
 
 
 Q 
 
 Cr* re re 
 
 p g"^- 
 
 
 
 "O p 
 
 e-g 
 
 g- 1 2. tr 
 
 
 
 o 3 
 
 f& ^-. fD 
 
 . n i 
 
 12. Et prasdictus C D, et heredes ejus warantizabunt eidem A B, 
 prsedicta tenementa, etc., cum pertinentiis contra omnes homines 
 [qui de stirpe suo exierint.] 
 
 [Here the fine, especially if it is of early date, will end ; but in 
 cases of subinfeudation, where rent or services are reserved, the 
 following forms occur after 6.] 
 
 13. Habendfa] et tenend[a] eidem A B, de predicto C D, et 
 heredibus suis imperpetuum (or tola vita sua). 
 
 14. Reddendo inde per ann. (tola vita ipsius) . . . .s. ad 
 terminos scilicet medietatem ad festum S ci . . . . et aliam [alteram] 
 ad festum S ci . . . . pro omnibus serviciis consuetudinihus et exac- 
 tionibus ad praedictum C D, et heredes ejus pertinentibus. 
 
 15. Et faciendo inde Capitalibus dominis de feodo (or, feodi 
 illius) pro prsedicto C D, omnia alia servicia quae ad ilia tenementa, 
 etc., pertinent [salvo forinseco servitio]. 
 
 16. If the grant was for the tenant's life only, this occurs : Et 
 post decessum ipsius A B, prsedicta tenementa cum pertinenciis 
 integre revertentur ad prsedictum C D, quieta de heredibus ipsius 
 A B, tenenda de capitalibus dominis feodi illius per servitia quae ad 
 ilia pertinent. 
 
 17. If the rent was reserved during the grantor's life only, then 
 this : Et post decessum ipsius C D, prsedictus A B, et heredes ejus 
 erunt quieti de solutione prsedicti redditus imperpetuum. 
 
 18. If the fine is to entail the property the habendum clause will 
 
 run thus : Habendum et tenendum \ e !^ dem A B, et E F, 
 
 ( eidem A B, et heredibus 
 
 ( et hered . . de corporibus eorum inter eos procreatis. 
 \ quos idem A B, de corpore E F, uxoris ejus [legitime] procrea- 
 ( verit.
 
 56 Law Technicalities. 
 
 and all previous claims upon the property were 
 made void.' 
 
 Sale by fine is of very ancient date. Instances 
 of it are said to be known prior to the Norman 
 invasion. We may, therefore, conclude that it was 
 probably an old Saxon custom, or was devised in 
 later times as a certain means to avoid dispute 
 and disagreement arising from an imperfect title 
 of possession. 
 
 There are several legal varieties of 'fines,' but 
 these are of little consequence to the antiquary, 
 whose interest lies only in the names, dates, and 
 localities mentioned, and, so long as the land 
 changed its ownership, cares little about the 
 technical process by which the transfer was made. 
 
 Another way of making a good title so as to 
 legalize and effect a complete sale of property was 
 that known as 'Sale by Recovery.' This also con- 
 sisted of a law-suit, at first real, then imaginary. 
 
 The prescribed form was very complicated. 
 Explanations of it are to be found in most books 
 on law subjects, but the matter lies in a nutshell. 
 One man desired to sell certain land which 
 another man was anxious to purchase ; where- 
 upon the would-be purchaser issued a writ, in 
 which he pretended to claim the land ; at this 
 stage of the affair a third party, not really con- 
 cerned in any way in it, was brought forward to 
 warrant the title of the real owner, who then
 
 Law Technicalities. 
 
 57 
 
 ^Jc&vsxt,* Snnejtgnoz &K)*(9i$*$>yP(l ffitntap* arnifcpa (vwrfmf 
 ^ayfcfr;fiifh^afc^TO(ff.<ff*Wft'mr .ftfK-utj^^f^tfin^jt 
 
 FORM OF FINK.
 
 58 Law Technicalities. 
 
 came forward bringing a witness proving owner- 
 ship to his property; thus an undisputable title 
 to the land was established. A deed of recovery 
 is then issued, rehearsing the whole transaction, 
 agreeing that a certain sum of money, equivalent 
 to the value of the land, should be paid by the 
 purchaser ; and here the bargain was concluded, 
 and the curtain fell on the legal farce. 
 
 Some of these recovery deeds are quite works 
 of art. They are written in courthand, on large 
 squares of parchment, smooth and white. The 
 heading and capital letter are ornamented with 
 scroll-work in pen and ink. Generally an en- 
 graved portrait of the reigning sovereign was 
 added. Part of this ornamentation was done by 
 hand and the rest completed with steel engraving. 
 The most elaborate deeds are those of the Stuart 
 monarchs, especially towards the end of the 
 seventeenth century, but after the time of the 
 second George these well-executed deeds dis- 
 appear. 
 
 The oldest statute relating to Recoveries of 
 which I find any mention is of the commence- 
 ment of the reign of Henry VII., but I have not 
 met with any as early in date as this. 
 
 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 mortgage ; all these three
 
 Law Technicalities. 59 
 
 deeds are, in point of size and general outline, 
 nearly identical ; the experienced lawyer can 
 detect them at once ; he needs only to study what 
 is called the operative part of the document, 
 avoiding any waste of time which wading through 
 the technical phrases involves. 
 
 One of the commonest forms of deeds met with 
 relative to the sale of land are those known as 
 ' Lease and Release,' a method invented by 
 Sergeant Moore in the reign of Henry VIII., 
 which, from its simplicity, speedily became very 
 popular, and superseded the other forms of sale. 
 
 The principal deeds referring to a Lease and 
 Release are two in number. The smaller of these 
 is generally found wrapped up within the larger 
 parchment, as the two had to be kept together, 
 being in reality part and parcel of each other. 
 The smaller parchment was the lease drawn up 
 between the parties; by it a formal lease for a 
 year of the premises or land was granted by the 
 owner to the purchaser, but no mention of any 
 rent or sum of money is made in it, and herein is 
 the difference between the sale-lease and an 
 ordinary lease, for in this latter both the term of 
 years and the yearly rental are expressly named. 
 
 The ' Release,' or larger parchment, is dated a 
 day following the lease which it cancels, hereby 
 gaining its name of ' release.' It is in reality the 
 actual deed of sale, for the price paid for the land
 
 60 Law Technicalities. 
 
 will be found in it, and a full and complete 
 warranty securing it for ever to the purchaser. 
 
 An ordinary lease of premises is worded simi- 
 larly to the above, but differs from it in several 
 ways ; usually it is a larger sheet of parchment. 
 The term of years varies from three, five, seven, 
 to twenty-one, at a fixed rent paid either half- 
 yearly or quarterly at the four principal feasts, 
 Lady Day, or the Feast of the Annunciation, the 
 Feast of St. John, or Midsummer, St. Michael and 
 All Angels, better known as Michaelmas, and the 
 Feast of the Nativity, popularly called Christmas 
 Day. These deeds commence with the date of 
 the day, month and year, followed by the names 
 of the persons contracting the agreement, with 
 those of their co-trustees, or witnesses, usually 
 selected from among relatives or connections by 
 marriage, or else immediate neighbours. An 
 exact terrier of the land is given, its locality, 
 field-names, and acreage. Three parts of the 
 way down the sheet of parchment will be found 
 the rent and term of years for which the land is 
 granted, together with stipulations as to repairs, 
 rights of ingress and egress ; any services, cus- 
 toms or heriots, whether due in kind or by pay- 
 ment ; last of all comes the warrant against 
 intruders. Of course, with deeds of sale there are 
 other legal documentary forms, with variations of 
 wording, but the two last above described are 
 those generally met with.
 
 Law Technicalities. 6 1 
 
 The oldest form of sale is called a ' feoffment ' or 
 grant. Externally it differs little in appearance 
 from a ' fine,' at least as regards its earliest form, 
 both being very small closely-written deeds ; the 
 first was in the set lawyer type of handwriting, 
 while a ' fine ' was indited in courthand. 
 
 A ' feoffment,' or grant, was the oldest and 
 simplest form of document ; but in later times it 
 was followed by a deed ' of Uses ' which required 
 many other deeds to follow in its wake before a 
 permanent and satisfactory sale was effected. 
 
 It is all these legal formalities which make 
 the reading of old deeds so unnecessarily con- 
 fusing ; their intricacies can only be mastered by 
 careful study of books on legal matters, and a 
 comparison of the several kinds of deeds above 
 enumerated. A mortgage deed differs from the 
 sales or leases in several particulars ; firstly, the 
 term of years granted is usually absurdly long, 
 nine hundred or a thousand years, perhaps ; 
 while in lieu of money, the nominal rent of one 
 peppercorn yearly, or some equally insignificant 
 equivalent was demanded. In place of the rent 
 in an ordinary lease, the real reason of the 
 mortgage is given in full, with the date and 
 appointed place where and when the borrowed 
 money is to be repaid. Often the vicarage, or 
 the parson's house, was chosen perhaps con- 
 sidered as an additional guard against fraud,
 
 62 Law Technicalities. 
 
 and that the clergyman as a witness, being a 
 disinterested party, would see justice done on 
 both sides. No mortgage deeds are old ; the 
 older ones, if they existed, were probably destroyed 
 as soon as the transaction was finished. Most 
 of those found among family papers are of the 
 eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and refer to 
 small pieces of land or cottages, showing that 
 even then the small owners became involved in 
 debts and difficulties, being obliged to raise 
 money upon their holdings until finally the land 
 itself had to be sold to satisfy the demands of the 
 creditors, the purchaser usually being the nearest 
 large landed proprietor, who paid a better price 
 for what would join on to and complete the area 
 of his estate. These small holdings had probably 
 been accumulated bit by bit out of the waste. 
 First, perhaps, the settler rigged up a primitive 
 dwelling, or hut ; the old tradition being that if 
 a roofed dwelling could be erected in one night 
 a claim to the land was thereby established. If 
 undisturbed, the squatter would gradually extend 
 his boundaries; but a small rent was generally 
 demanded by the lord of the manor as an ac- 
 knowledgment of the encroachment; these little 
 holdings are called ' key-holdings,' and are to be 
 found in all parts of England. 
 
 At present there is a growing desire to increase 
 the number of small proprietors ; ' fashion,' it is
 
 Law Technicalities. 63 
 
 said, ' repeats itself periodically.' Former ex- 
 perience showed the result of small holders to be 
 a failure ; no land, however small in acreage, can 
 be worked without capital ; a succession of bad 
 seasons cause immediate loss and continuous 
 outlay without a compensating return ; debts 
 once begun, are apt to accumulate ; all trades are 
 worked cheaper on a wholesale scale. Bit by bit, 
 as failure comes, the small pieces of land will roll 
 up into large properties again, like balls of quick- 
 silver separated only for awhile. 
 
 Many of the deeds of mortgage are sad and 
 silent witnesses of the gradual decay and down- 
 fall of old families. 
 
 The squire raised money to pay off trusts, 
 legacies, and dowers. He pledged his mansion ; 
 and in the inventory of his household effects 
 we can study many queer facts. Our ancestors' 
 homes were scantily furnished ; such lists surprise 
 us, for they show what a very small amount of 
 furniture was formerly considered necessary to 
 render a house habitable. 
 
 Among family papers there is often another class 
 of deeds altogether : one is a small square piece 
 of parchment, with a huge seal attached ; this is 
 often enclosed in a rough tin case or box. These 
 are advowson deeds, or presentation of Church 
 preferment. The gifts of many Church livings 
 are in private hands. It was originally an heredi-
 
 64 Law Technicalities. 
 
 tary property, and there are cases of it of very 
 great antiquity ; but private family deeds refer- 
 ring to church property are seldom found earlier 
 than the Jacobean period, and very seldom as old 
 as that. 
 
 The earliest presentations or appointments to 
 parochial duty were no doubt purely ecclesiastical, 
 but with the Norman accession the secular and 
 ecclesiastical affairs merged into closer proximity ; 
 it was considered a religious privilege to rebuild 
 or erect a church. This the lord of the manor 
 generally undertook, or perhaps originally as a 
 private chapel or chantry. The appointment of an 
 officiating priest became an ecclesiastical matter, 
 being often granted to the monasteries by the 
 patrons. To avoid the encroachment of lay in- 
 terference, Thomas a Beckett first ordered that 
 no clergyman should be instituted to a living 
 without a bishop's approval and permission ; but 
 there were often disputes on this subject. Few 
 neighbourhoods existed without a monastery some- 
 where in the locality, and from the nearest religious 
 house a candidate was probably selected ; finally, 
 the right of presentation was claimed by the 
 monastery, with whom it may have, by custom or 
 by deed of gift, previously rested. Some education 
 and a knowledge of Latin was essential for a priest, 
 and education was almost entirely confined to the 
 monks or their pupils. Thomas a Beckett, as
 
 Law Technicalities. 65 
 
 archbishop, issued his mandate on the subject of 
 parochial presentations as a means of retaining 
 such institutions in episcopal hands, and so avoid- 
 ing any appeals to the Pope which might be made 
 by his legates or the abbots. With the monas- 
 teries, the chantries also passed away, soon being 
 forgotten ; numberless small unbeneficed chapels 
 were then allowed to fall into ruins ; the sites 
 even of these now having been lost. 
 
 Deeds recounting the appointment of chantry 
 priests are rare, and always possess some points 
 of interest ; often chantry priests were appointed 
 by bequest, and sums of money left for their 
 maintenance. These appear, however, to have 
 been entirely distinct from the parish priest, 
 although perhaps the office may eventually have 
 merged into one and the same. 
 
 There seems from earliest times to have existed 
 a jealousy between Cathedral bodies and the 
 monks ; but as the monastic orders waxed more 
 and more wealthy and influential, we lose sight 
 of the contention, and on all questions of early 
 Church history there yet needs an impartial writer 
 to decide many matters which at present are 
 still uncertain, and are viewed by different writers 
 according to their own particular religious bias, 
 whether Anglican or Roman ; hence, as history, 
 they are too prejudiced to be entirely relied upon. 
 
 A sheriff formerly was the most important 
 
 5
 
 SHERIFF'S ROLL (NEVILLE M.SS.).
 
 Law Technicalities. 67 
 
 personage in his county, being the ambassador or 
 representative of the sovereign. He was ap- 
 pointed directly by the Crown ; even at the present 
 day the names of three county gentlemen are 
 written down and supposed to be presented to 
 the Queen, who pricks the name of the man 
 chosen to be sheriff ; but really the names follow 
 in sequence, each out-going sheriff adding a fresh 
 name to the list previous to his own being erased 
 as having served his turn. 
 
 The formal deed of appointment as sheriff was 
 a narrow parchment strip, with a fine seal attached 
 to it ; his discharge from office was a very unim- 
 portant-looking document. 
 
 The sheriff's roll was the yearly bill of expenses 
 incurred in the king's name by his sheriff or 
 representative ; as a rule they are not very 
 interesting, although here and there the names of 
 men appointed to local offices may appear, facts 
 which might interest the local historian ; but he 
 would have to wade through the contents of 
 many rolls before he extracted any information 
 worth his attention, and much time would have 
 to be expended over such a search. These rolls 
 are long broad strips of parchment stitched 
 together ; the upper edge is sometimes cut square, 
 and at others cut into a point or peak. 
 
 The wording runs as follows : 
 
 ' In Magno Rotulo de anno . . . Regis ... in Comitatu. ' 
 
 52
 
 68 Law Technicalities. 
 
 A list of the sheriffs of England (Henry I. to 
 fourth year of Edward III.) is to be found in the 
 thirty-first report, page 262, of the deputy keeper 
 of the Public Records. In some counties, sheriff- 
 lists with additional genealogies and notes have 
 been compiled, giving a very good county history 
 of the oldest families of the shire. 
 
 A royal pardon was a deed - poll with a 
 beautiful seal attached to it. It commenced 
 with the sovereign's name. The writing was 
 exact and well executed. The deed was divided 
 into clauses or sections, the commencing word of 
 each being written in very clear black letter. 
 After the word ' Sciatis ' comes the royal license 
 and the name of its recipient, who is forgiven ' all 
 rebellion and insurrection against the Crown, all 
 homicide, felony, robbery or participation with 
 such,' and the pardoned subject is permitted to 
 retain his possessions ; the word ' Perdonamus ' 
 coming about the centre of the document. 
 
 Unfortunately no information is given in the 
 Charter in any way as to the particular cause for 
 pardon being granted or the offence committed. 
 This can only be guessed at by the help of English 
 history, and a probable reason be assigned from 
 among the many disputed accessions, civil wars, 
 religious controversies of bygone centuries, all 
 probable sources of high treason against the 
 Crown.
 
 Law Technicalities. 69 
 
 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 religion. 
 
 A bond is a small paper or parchment on one 
 side written in English, on the other in Latin 
 the promise to repay or pay money due ; generally 
 the bond is in Latin, and the conditions of it 
 written in English. Bonds were made out on the 
 sale of property, or for mortgages or legacies : they 
 occur in numbers among family papers. 
 
 These are the principal kinds of deeds met 
 with, being the commonest legal forms. If others 
 are found of an unusual character they should be 
 put aside for closer investigation when practice 
 has given greater experience, or be submitted to 
 an expert for examination.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MANOR AND COURT ROLLS. 
 
 THE oldest account of an estate is to be obtained, 
 not from deeds of purchase and mortgage, but 
 from its own private records, called court rolls, 
 a most curious class of documents, puzzling to 
 the antiquary because they contain local words 
 obsolete and not recognisable through derivation. 
 Manor rolls are a study in themselves, a subject 
 hitherto overlooked. They give us an insight 
 into the most primitive form of local government, 
 showing the manner in which lawlessness and dis- 
 regard of laws were kept under, before a regular 
 magisterial jurisdiction came into existence. The 
 local manor court occupied the position and did 
 the work now undertaken by the magistrates, 
 County Court judges, and County Councils. When 
 complaints are raised as to an excessive imposition 
 of fines for trivial misdemeanours by any of these 
 modern means of justice, I would advise the com-
 
 Manor and Court Rolls. 71 
 
 plainants to study some old court rolls, wherein 
 may be read, ' Fines imposed for offences no longer 
 punishable.' The villager was fined if he kept 
 dogs or pigeons, for trespass in the woods, stealing 
 brushwood, for illegal fishing, for fighting, for 
 allowing animals to stray and become impounded. 
 Nor, unless he was a freedman, was he allowed to 
 marry or give in marriage without his lord's per- 
 mission. All this sounds very arbitrary and 
 severe ; in reality it probably was not so. The 
 bond between landlord and tenant must have been 
 a very close one. They were drawn into near 
 connection one with another ; the well-being of 
 one meant the welfare of the other. Nor was the 
 meting forth of justice left solely in the hands of 
 the lord of the manor, but rather to the twelve 
 jurymen who formed the court itself. Certainly, 
 this self-government opened a means for unfair 
 influence and revenge of petty quarrels. This 
 was guarded against as far as possible. 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 commandment. 
 
 There were two sections of manor courts the 
 Court Leet and the Court Baron. The former 
 dealt with offences committed by the tenantry, and 
 contained much that is entertaining and curious ; 
 the other was occupied with the tenants and their
 
 72 Manor and Court Rolls. 
 
 holdings, of which they had every year to give 
 account to the lord of the manor. Upon the 
 death of a tenant, or the expiration of the lease, 
 new presentments were made to the landlord for 
 admission to the premises, or a fresh life added 
 to the lease from time to time. In these rolls we 
 find notices of heriots and other old services due 
 from the tenants of certain lands ; indeed, these 
 old customs are not yet wholly extinct, though 
 they have frequently fallen into abeyance. On 
 some estates, heriots are still due, but, as a rule, 
 have for many generations been compounded for 
 by a money payment, just in the same way that 
 feudal service passed into small sums of money 
 and finally died out, or eventually took the form 
 of money rent. 
 
 On many farms it was part of the rent to give 
 the landlord yearly geese or cheese. In a small 
 farm of ours in Cheshire the tenant had to give 
 a cheese yearly, cart coals, keep a dog and a 
 fighting cock for his landlord. All these dues are 
 now gradually being given up. 
 
 The manorial history of England would carry 
 us back very far did we attempt to trace it to its 
 earliest beginnings. Perhaps the very first step 
 towards it was the settlement of the Saxon tribes, 
 who, in appropriating and distributing the land, 
 laid the foundation of hereditary ownership. 
 There is no rule or limit as to how many manors
 
 Manor and Court Rolls. 73 
 
 there might be in each parish. Clearly the parish 
 was the older division of the two ; nor can the 
 creation of a manor be dated in any way, for many 
 of the old manors were subsequently split up into 
 two or more lesser ones. The affixes or manorial 
 names are known to have, in some instances, varied 
 with the family who held the land. Almost without 
 exception, these manorial names were directly de- 
 rived from the possessors. Few are older than the 
 Norman period, perhaps having supplanted those 
 in existence previously. Where double parochial 
 names are used, the first is usually Saxon, the affix 
 being a Norman addition, showing the fusion of the 
 two races, which, though living in close proximity, 
 were yet totally distinct from each other. 
 
 During the Middle Ages, manors were further 
 subdivided, easily to be accounted for in this 
 way : The owner of a manor was at first start the 
 tenant of some wealthy and powerful nobleman, 
 who, owning vast tracts of land, sub-let it out in 
 manors, which were after some generations bought 
 outright, or looked upon almost as freehold. The 
 tenant was the resident squire of the place, living 
 on the land, and farming it with the assistance of 
 his children and dependents. After a time the 
 family grew up, the sons married and needed 
 homes of their own. In those days no one moved 
 far away from the birthplace. What was more 
 natural than that the squire should provide homes
 
 74 Manor and Court Rolls. 
 
 for his children close around the old manor- 
 house, and, dividing off the property by the 
 manorial boundaries, give to each a portion for 
 self-maintenance ? This accounts for the large, 
 old-fashioned farmhouses to be found in most 
 country parishes. The history of each farm, if 
 investigated, will furnish a curious proof of the 
 conservatism with which certain boundaries were 
 preserved, and the manors regarded as sections 
 seldom subdivided except into recognised lesser 
 manors. 
 
 Society was very primitive two or three hundred 
 years ago. It was then possible to live comfort- 
 ably and make a living out of the land. No 
 foreign grain was imported to affect the prices 
 of corn in country places. Competition was 
 unknown, and the people led a quiet, uneventful 
 existence, following in the footsteps of their fore- 
 fathers. Gradually changes have come about. 
 The old race of yeomen have died out ; the few 
 that are left make us forcibly regret that this 
 should be the case. 
 
 The yeoman was a man of good education and 
 long pedigree; he belonged to the largest section 
 of English society, called ' middle class.' Agricul- 
 ture was his profession ; he seldom left home, 
 consequently had few opportunities of spending 
 money ; the character and personal history of 
 every human being on the place was intimately
 
 Manor and Court Rolls. 75 
 
 known to him, for the villagers lived and died in 
 their native villages. The roads were bad, there- 
 fore traffic from place to place was restricted to 
 what was absolutely necessary. Posts and 
 passenger coaches were rarities, and when first 
 started met with little patronage from the 
 majority of the people. 
 
 To return to the manorial courts. These were 
 held but once during the year. It was the annual 
 audit of the freemen on the estate, the 'Visus 
 franciplegii,' as the opening words of the court 
 roll states. 
 
 Quarter sessions were held four times in the 
 year, while the sheriff's tourn took place half 
 yearly. These inquired into matters of public 
 interest and public expense, whereas the manor 
 court dealt with trivial matters pertaining to the 
 locality. The sheriff's tourn and the manorial 
 court were almost identical in object ; the first 
 was the representative of the Crown dispensing 
 justice to the king's subjects; in a lesser radius 
 and degree, the lord of the manor had a similar 
 office to fulfil. 
 
 Manors were ruled by custom, and customs 
 varied in different places. The general aspect of 
 a court roll will always be found to be identical. 
 The older rolls are in Latin, but, like the deeds, 
 the later ones are written in English. The earliest 
 ones are literally 'rolls' closely written on parch-
 
 it 
 
 <4 a 
 
 C? & 
 
 T"<s 
 *$ 
 
 di s^ f . 
 
 r ,^ 
 
 <**=. '* 
 \J 
 
 5 
 
 V 
 
 94 
 
 ?! 
 
 &
 
 Manor and Court Rolls. 77 
 
 ment in the handwriting called by the French 
 'minuscule.' 
 
 Every court roll has at its commencement the 
 name of the manor written either above or on the 
 margin. The opening words read thus, ' Visus 
 franciplegii cum curia.' After this is the name of 
 the lord of the manor, the date of the day and 
 month, followed by the king's name and the 
 number of years since he ascended the throne. 
 
 Esson., on the margin, is the abbreviation for 
 essonium, an excuse namely, the jurymen who 
 pleaded absence from the court. Following this 
 are the names of the twelve jurymen present, and 
 then the work begins. 
 
 In the. older rolls the presentment of offences 
 are the principal items ; latterly only the tenants 
 and their leases employed the attention of the 
 court at its annual sitting. 
 
 The first thing to consider was usually the 
 assize licensing, so to speak, of bread and ale. 
 By this means fraud and adulteration were held 
 in check. The right of brewing ale was a privilege 
 not to be infringed without penalty ; the fine 
 imposed was at the rate of id. for each illegal 
 brewing, the offenders are generally women. 
 
 Any damage to crops or fences, highways 
 needing repair, quarrels ending in bloodshed, 
 neglect by which animals were permitted to stray 
 and become seized by the hayward or pinder
 
 78 Manor and Court Rolls. 
 
 All such offences are found chronicled in the 
 court roll. Last of all is the sum total received 
 in fines, signed by the names of the two officers 
 appointed to superintend the assize. 
 
 A court roll is always written throughout in 
 one handwriting, without any private marks or 
 signatures. From the writing, they are generally 
 the work of a professional scribe or clerk who 
 must have had a regular education first as a 
 Latin scholar, secondly as an accountant, and 
 thirdly as a writer mistakes or erasures are 
 seldom to be detected ; therefore the rolls must 
 have been carefully copied at leisure from rough 
 notes made at the time ; moreover, the spelling 
 of the surnames is fairly constant, which would 
 not be if written from dictation. 
 
 Up to the Reformation period, the court rolls 
 were cherished as being valuable records, pro- 
 viding standards for future reference ; hence we 
 find, until then, a fairly perfect sequence of these 
 yearly rolls, after which a break occurs, and only 
 a casual roll here and there is preserved. No 
 guide to court rolls would be complete unless 
 the oldest form of the Arabic numerals is given 
 and explained. 
 
 The Roman numerals are the oldest method of 
 writing figures in Europe, but gradually the so- 
 called Arabic figures (really of Indian origin) were 
 introduced, superseding the former style. To
 
 Manor and Court Rolls. 79 
 
 Gerbert, otherwise known as Pope Silvester II. 
 (he died in 1003), is attributed their introduction 
 from the East to the West ; any way, from the 
 twelfth century, the Arabic numerals rapidly came 
 
 xiith century, xiiith century, xivth century, xvth century. 
 
 , . > * 
 
 j. ^ is a. *. 
 
 f 
 
 1 t- r 
 
 ff C A 
 
 ? A 7 A, 7 
 
 9. <fr & 99 
 
 > 9 
 
 0. 
 
 into use. The o was not invented before the 
 twelfth century. A curious resemblance is trace- 
 able between the figures of the alternate centuries. 
 Our present style of figures has grown out of the
 
 8o Manor and Court Rolls. 
 
 older ones, but is bolder in outline and curve. 
 The figure 5 has passed through most variation, 
 while 6, 8 and 9 have scarcely altered at all. 
 
 It must be remembered that before 1752, the 
 old style was still used in England. The year 
 therefore commenced on March 25th instead, as 
 it does at present, of January ist. When the 
 calendar was corrected in 1752, eleven days were 
 omitted, and September 2nd was followed by 
 September i4th. The people bewailed it, and 
 contemporary skits are numerous, echoing the 
 popular cry of ' Give us back our lost eleven 
 days.' 
 
 On the Continent the alteration had taken 
 place long before. 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 Day. This uncertainty may be observed 
 before 1750. In many country places the old style 
 was maintained long after the year 1752. 
 
 I have a very curious old calendar of 1483 ; in 
 it the saints' days are veritable red-letter days. 
 Many of the saints named are unknown to us 
 either by name or legend, but in court rolls only 
 the principal saints' days are mentioned as those 
 on which the court sat. 
 
 Some months seem to have been more favoured 
 with saints' days than others. The following list 
 gives the chief English saints :
 
 Manor and Court Rolls. 81 
 
 January. 
 
 i. Circumcisio Domini. 
 13. St. Veronica. 
 
 13. St. Hilary. 
 
 25. Conversion of St. Paul. 
 
 February. 
 
 1. St. Bride, or Bridget. 
 
 2. Purification of the Virgin, or Candle- 
 
 mas Day. 
 
 24. St. Mathias the Apostle. 
 
 March. 
 
 1. St. David. 
 
 2. St. Chad. 
 
 4. St. Lucius, Pope and Martyr, A.D. 253. 
 
 14. St. Benet, or Benedict. 
 
 18. St. Edward. 
 
 19. St. Joseph the Virgin's husband. 
 
 20. St. Cuthbert. 
 
 25. Annunciation of the Virgin. Lady- Day. 
 
 April. 
 
 23. St. George. 
 
 25. St. Mark the Evangelist. 
 
 May. 
 
 1. St. Philip and St. James the Less, 
 
 Apostles. 
 
 2. St. Athanasius. 
 
 6
 
 82 Manor and Court Roils. 
 
 3. Invention (or discovery) of the Holy 
 Cross. 
 
 5. St. Hilary, bishop of Aries. The two 
 saints of this name are confusing, 
 but this St. Hilary is rarely men- 
 tioned in English documents. 
 26. St. Augustine. 
 
 June. 
 
 ii. St. Barnabas, Apostle. 
 13. St. Anthony of Padua. 
 22. St. Alban. 
 
 24. Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Mid- 
 
 summer Day. 
 
 29. Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles. 
 
 30. St. Paul, Apostle. 
 
 July. 
 
 2. Visitation of the Blessed Virgin. 
 15. St. Swithin. 
 22. St. Mary Magdalen. 
 
 25. St. James the Great, Apostle. 
 25. St. Christopher. Lammastide. 
 
 August. 
 
 i. St. Peter ad Vincula,or St. Peter in chains. 
 
 5. St. Oswald. 
 
 6. The Transfiguration of our Lord. 
 15. The Assumption of the Virgin. 
 21. St. Bernard.
 
 Manor and Court Rolls. 83 
 
 24. St. Bartholomew, Apostle. 
 
 28. St. Austin or Augustine. 
 
 29. Beheading of St. John the Baptist. 
 
 September. 
 
 i. St. Egidius, or Giles. 
 
 8. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. 
 14. Exaltation of the Holy Cross. 
 
 21. St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. 
 
 29. St. Michael and All Angels. Michaelmas. 
 
 October. 
 
 4. St. Francis of Assisi. 
 
 9. St. Denis, or Dionysius of Paris. 
 
 17. St. Audry, or Etheldreda. 
 
 18. St. Luke the Evangelist. 
 
 21. St. Ursula, and 11,000 virgins. 
 
 25. St. Crispin. 
 
 28. St. Simon the Canaanite, Apostle. 
 
 November. 
 
 1. All Saints' Day. 
 
 2. All Souls' Day. 
 
 ii. St. Martin. Martinmas. 
 16. St. Edmund. 
 
 21. Presentation of the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 22. St. Cecilia. 
 25. St. Catherine. 
 
 30. St. Andrew, Apostle. 
 
 6 2
 
 84 Manor and Coiirt Rolls. 
 
 December. 
 
 6. St. Nicholas. 
 
 8. The Conception of the Blessed Virgin. 
 13. St. Lucy. 
 21. St. Thomas, Apostle. 
 
 25. The Nativity of our Blessed Lord. 
 
 Christmas. 
 
 26. St. Stephen. 
 
 27. St. John, Evangelist and Apostle. 
 
 28. The Holy Innocents. 
 
 29. St. Thomas a Beckett. 
 
 The saints' days were brought before the people 
 in many ways in the village feasts, or the dedi- 
 cation of churches, in the mural paintings which 
 covered the church walls, and in the Christian 
 names given at baptism. In the old rolls the 
 date of the month is never mentioned, the prin- 
 cipal feast day nearest to it being used instead.
 
 E 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MONASTIC CHARTERS. 
 
 VERY abbey of any importance kept a char- 
 tulary, in other words, a catalogue of its 
 possessions in the copies of grants of land all 
 
 *HJL er-ryKSKZ 
 
 / collected within a^smgte volume a carefully com- 
 piled work, giving all the benefactions and privi- 
 leges of the foundation, entered by the scribe or 
 secretary of the establishment, who must have 
 spent many hours of his life over the work, for these 
 books are rarely found to be the work of more than 
 one or, at most, two men one handwriting con- 
 tinuing on until replaced by another. Great care 
 and neatness was used in the formation of each 
 black letter even and perfect as the most exact 
 printing ever done by machinery. Each charter 
 was emphasized with an elaborate capital letter, 
 and the index or headings to them were filled in 
 after the writing was finished, as is proved by the
 
 86 Monastic Charters. 
 
 fact that these were sometimes never completed. 
 The probability is that they were the work of 
 another artist or illuminator, and appear to have 
 been sketched in with a brush or hair pencil, the 
 writing having been executed with a quill pen. 
 Colour is sometimes employed to embellish and 
 ornament the work, but in the oldest chartularies, 
 colour, usually red, is only used to mark special 
 passages, or, as in Domesday Book, to point out 
 names of persons or places. The largest work on 
 English monasteries was compiled by Sir William 
 Dugdale ; but in so extensive a work as the 
 ' Monasticon,' so much was undertaken, that it 
 was impossible to search deeply enough into exist- 
 ing records for information concerning every 
 religious house throughout England. Therefore, 
 although a valuable foundation to start with, much 
 more may still be ascertained from manuscripts, 
 public and private, particularly with regard to the 
 lesser religious houses or cells to foreign abbeys. 
 
 Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons was a 
 missionary undertaking, therefore it encouraged 
 the foundation of centres, but these seem to have 
 rather taken the form of bishoprics ; still, infor- 
 mation 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 
 working. 
 
 Later on the Saxon abbeys partook rather of
 
 Monastic Charters. 87 
 
 the nature of large training colleges, where learn- 
 ing was carried on. 
 
 The mission of St. Augustine extended the 
 monastic system, and spread Christianity to a 
 wider extent. It also encouraged the resort 
 hither of foreign monks. Great rivalry existed 
 between the English bishops and these foreign 
 missionary priests, a feud which never seems 
 entirely to have died out. The largest number of 
 English abbeys sprang up after the Norman Con- 
 quest. The invaders manifested their religion 
 by bestowing large grants of lands as votive offer- 
 ings and in token of gratitude, 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 territories. Church build- 
 ing was a religious work often undertaken for the 
 expiation of sins. This voluntary work was the 
 best of its kind. To this day the remains of 
 the old Norman abbeys surprise us with their 
 solidity of structure and elegance of design. 
 They must, indeed, have been beautiful when the 
 interiors were fitted up with corresponding 
 magnificence. At first the monks were poor 
 they were given land, not always of the best, often 
 in wild and unfrequented regions ; but by frugality, 
 skill and industry, they soon brought it into a 
 fertile state, and lived on its produce and the gifts
 
 88 Monastic Charters. 
 
 pf their patrons. The Cistercians were great 
 wool-dealers, and we know how much English 
 cloth was prized at home and abroad for its 
 goodness of quality. In course of time the 
 monks, by their labours, became rich. The need 
 for toil being over, they sank into indolent 
 affluence; instead of hard-working communities, 
 they became wealthy landowners. The abbots 
 were miniature kings, ruling over their vassals 
 and dependents, living in almost royal state, sur- 
 rounded by their court. The history of monastic 
 England extends over very many centuries, even 
 if its commencement is only placed at the arrival 
 of St. Augustine in A.D. 597, or later still, with the 
 Norman invasion. 
 
 Changes of all kinds had taken place in those 
 long centuries. Large abbeys had sunk into 
 poverty, and others arisen in their places. The 
 monks had been sub-divided into orders, each 
 having its own peculiar rules. The oldest of 
 these was the Benedictine, or Black Monks, who 
 held most of the largest monasteries as many as 
 156 in number. From this Order arose the 
 Cistercians, even more severe in their regulations 
 popular in England, probably from having had 
 an Englishman as their founder, Stephen Harding, 
 head of the Monastery of Citeaux (Cistercium) 
 about the year 1125. This order had been ap- 
 proved by the Pope twenty-five years previously.
 
 Monastic Charters. 89 
 
 Gasquet gives the names of 86 Cistercian houses 
 in England, the Cluniac as 26, and Carthusian 
 as g. These lesser orders had each its own 
 distinctive rules, but, as the above figures show, 
 were less popular than the older orders of monks. 
 The number of nunneries was also very large 
 (Gasquet gives 140). These were principally of 
 the Benedictine Order. There was only one house 
 of White Nuns in England, that of Grace Dieu, 
 in Leicestershire. 
 
 As the old Benedictine Order relaxed its severity, 
 the Cistercians came forward, and when these 
 were no longer conspicuous for piety and austerity, 
 there arose the wandering missionaries known as 
 Friars, who were also eloquent preachers, a 
 
 
 
 marked contrast to the half-educated clergy. .* 
 These friars were mendicant? CHASES, bound by ;? 
 oath neither to possess landnor money, nor tq \\, 
 enjoy luxury. They went about preaching 
 throughout the country ; it was the old story of 
 the ' house divided against itself being unable to 
 stand.' The friars preached against the monks, 
 and the monks opposed the clergy, ending in the y 
 downfall of the three rivals under Henry VIII. 
 
 The first order of friars was of Spanish origin, ^ \J 
 
 /to/t- \. 
 
 founded by Dominic, A.D. .EBK). They wore a ^ v 
 brown habit of coarse hair-cloth. A few years 
 later St. Francis of Assisi founded the Grey! 
 Friars, called after him Franciscans. These
 
 90 Monastic Charters. 
 
 came to England A.D. 1224, where they became 
 very popular. Like the monks, lesser orders 
 arose out of these. The Premonstratensians 
 gained little ground in England, but the Augus- 
 tinian or Austin Friars had many followers, both 
 men and women. 
 
 Henry VIII. 's first attack on religious houses 
 was made upon those whose yearly incomes did not 
 exceed 200. But the work thus begun did not 
 end here. It is said that 376 small monasteries 
 were doomed; of these 123 escaped immediate 
 dissolution. Throughout 1535 and the succeeding 
 five years, the work of suppression was carried 
 on. During that time the monks foresaw that 
 ultimately they were doomed, and had time to 
 sell or hide their choicest possessions before the 
 Commissioners appeared to claim them. Then 
 no doubt many valuable manuscripts and papers 
 were destroyed, or else either hidden or removed 
 out of the country. 
 
 In several places some of these buried treasures 
 have come to light after being concealed for a 
 long time. 
 
 In this way a beautiful copy of the Reading 
 Abbey Chartulary was preserved for two hundred 
 years, having been concealed in a secret chamber 
 adjoining a chimney-stack in an old manor-house 
 at Shinfield, only discovered by workmen during 
 some repairs in the last century.
 
 II!llfjni!ai!fll4ltHI!ll!lllll'Stsllj? 
 
 lyiMltmiiir"* "**'""'" 
 
 <, 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 A 
 
 ^
 
 92 Monastic Charters. 
 
 This book is a good example of its kind, being 
 perfect as the day when it was first hidden away. 
 In it are written the grants of lands from the 
 Abbey's second foundation by Henry I. Vast 
 possessions given bit by bit generally by those 
 families whose ancestors lay buried in the abbey 
 church, for whose souls prayers were desired. 
 The inventories of relics are very curious, and 
 the vestments also are described. There is a 
 long list of the books in the abbey libraries of 
 Reading and Leominster. All the books in this 
 long list disappeared, no one knows where or how. 
 Two volumes, a missal and a book of hours, said 
 once to have been part of the abbey library, were 
 sold by auction in 1889. Nor was Reading the 
 only instance of the total disappearance of valuable 
 monastic manuscripts. 
 
 Gasquet speaks of the wanton destruction of 
 manuscripts at this period, and says that they 
 were sold for all kinds of uses. 
 
 fL. &s 
 
 Mr. Maskell, ' Monument*- Ritualize. Ecclesiae 
 Anglicanae,' reckons there must have been more 
 than 250,000 volumes of Church service books in 
 use, and that they must have been destroyed to 
 prevent men from following the worship of their 
 forefathers. A most interesting article on Ancient 
 Prymers, the service books of the people, appeared 
 in the Antiquary of March, 1892, written by Mr. 
 Henry Littlehales.
 
 94 Monastic Charters. 
 
 -in-fche A 
 
 The original deeds or grants of land to abbeys 
 are seldom met with among private documents. 
 The wording differs little from that of an ordinary 
 grant, except that the donor gives for the good of 
 his soul and the souls of his ancestors. Sometimes 
 very interesting details may be gathered from the 
 foundation deeds of chantries, with the appoint- 
 ment of a priest to celebrate Mass and offer up 
 prayers for the dead, receiving in return a salary 
 derived from lands or else given at once in money. 
 
 Original grants from the Crown to abbeys are 
 seldom dated the day or year they were written ; 
 except that they conclude with the names of the 
 bishops attesting them and the witnesses who 
 were present, although sometimes the king's 
 reign is given, or the episcopal year of the 
 archbishop or diocesan bishop. 
 
 The witnesses were chosen from the king's chief 
 officers, with a few local magnates. This will 
 sometimes be a valuable guide to locality when 
 the county is not named. But as a rule the 
 name of the county is written on the margin, 
 and also the name of the place, together with 
 a brief index of the contents of the charter. 
 
 The names of the English archbishops and bishops 
 are important as supplying the date of undated 
 charters. Of the latter the contracted names of the
 
 Monastic Charters. 95 
 
 sees are all given in Wright's ' Court-hand Restored,' 
 but neither there nor in any other book is mention 
 made of the Norman bishops,* who frequently 
 appear as witnesses to monastic charters. 
 
 Bishoprics of Normandy, etc. 
 
 NAME OF SEE. MODERN NAME. 
 
 Archbishopric : Rothomagensis. Rouen. 
 Bishopric : Baiocensis. Bayeux. 
 
 ,, Abrincatensis. Avranches. 
 
 ,, Lexoviensis. Lisieux. 
 
 ,, Ebroicensis. Evreux. 
 
 ,, Cadomensis. Caen. 
 
 ,, Sylvanectensis. Senliz. 
 
 Bellovacensis. Beauvais. 
 
 ,, Atrebatensis. Arras. 
 
 ,, Constantiensis. Coutances. 
 
 ,, Sagiensis. Seez. 
 
 ,, Ambianensis or 
 
 Samarobrivensis. Amiens. 
 
 As likely to be a help towards affixing the date 
 of undated charters I append a list of the arch- 
 bishops and chancellors of England from the 
 Conquest ; also a few of the bishops of the same 
 period. 
 
 Archbishops of Canterbury. 
 Stigand ... ... ... 1052-1070 
 
 Lanfranc ... ... 1070-1089 
 
 Anselm ... ... ... 1093-1109 
 
 * A list of French Bishops will be found in ' Gallia Christiana,' 
 or in ' Neustria Pia."
 
 96 Monastic Charters. 
 
 Ralph of Escures ... 1114-1122 
 
 William of Corbeil ... 1123-1135 
 
 Theobald ... ... 1139-1161 
 
 Thomas a Beckett ... 1162-1170 
 
 Richard ... ... 1174-1184 
 
 Baldwin ... ... 1185-1190 
 
 Reginald Fitz Joscelin ... 1191 
 
 Hubert Walter ... ... 1193-1205 
 
 Stephen Langton ... 1205-1216-28 
 
 Richard de Grand ... 1229-1231 
 
 Edmund Rich ... ... 1234-1240 
 
 Boniface of Savoy ... 1245-1270 
 
 Robert Kilwardby ... 1273-1278 
 
 John Peckham ... ... 1279-1292 
 
 Robert Winchelsey ... 1294-1313 
 
 Next to Canterbury the second great southern 
 bishopric was Salisbury. The latter was a very 
 large and powerful diocese, commencing first at 
 Dorchester A.D. 634, dividing into two sees, Win- 
 chester and Sherborne, A.D. 705, which were 
 further subdivided, the latter into Sherborne, 
 Wells and Crediton, and the Winchester see into 
 Selsey and Ramsbury (Corvinensis) ; all reuniting 
 in 1075 into the powerful bishopric of Old Sarum, 
 eventually removed to Salisbury, 1218. Thus it 
 will be seen that Winchester and Sherborne were 
 the chief bishoprics, the others being offshoots of 
 later creation.
 
 Monastic Charters. 97 
 
 The Bishops of Salisbury commenced under 
 Herman (died 1077), previously known as Bishop 
 of Sherborne (Scirburniensis). 
 
 Osmund, died Dec. 3, 1099. 
 
 Roger, elected 1102, consecrated 1107, died 
 
 "39- 
 
 Jocelin de Bailul, died a Cistercian Monk at 
 
 Waverley Abbey, 1184. 
 
 Hubert Walter, 1189, translated to Canterbury, 
 
 Herbert Poore, 1194. 
 
 Richard Poore, 1217. The see then transferred 
 to New Sarum or Salisbury. 
 Robert Bingham, 1228. 
 William of York, 1246. 
 Giles de Bridport, 1256. 
 Walter de La Wyle, 1263. 
 Robert de Wykehampton, 1271. 
 Walter Scammel, 1284. 
 Henry de Braundeston, 1287. 
 William de La Corner, 1289. 
 Nicolas Longespee, 1293. 
 Simon of Ghent, 1297. 
 Roger de Mortival, 1315. 
 
 Chief Justices of England. 
 
 Odo of Bayeux and William Fitz 
 
 Osbern, Earl of Hereford ... 1067 
 
 7
 
 98 Monastic Charters. 
 
 William de Warren and Richard Fitz 
 
 Gilbert ... ... ... 1073 
 
 Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances, and 
 Robert, Count of Mortain ... 1078 
 
 Odo, Bishop of Bayeux ... ... 1087-1088 
 
 William de St. Carilepho, Bishop of 
 
 Durham ... ... ... 1088 
 
 Ralph Flambard, Bishop of Durham 1094-1100 
 Robert Bloett, Bishop of Lincoln ... 1100-1107 
 Roger Le Poor, Bishop of Salis- 
 bury ... ... ... ... 1107-1139 
 
 Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester 1154-1167 
 Richard de Luci ... ... ... 1154-1179 
 
 Ranulph Glanville ... ... 1180-1189 
 
 Hugh, Bishop of Durham, and 
 
 William, Earl of Essex ... ... 1189 
 
 Hugh, Bishop of Durham, and William 
 
 Longchamp, Bishop of Ely ... 1190 
 
 William Longchamp alone ... 1190 
 
 Walter of Coutances, Archbishop of 
 
 Rouen ... ... ... 1191-1193 
 
 Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury ... ... ... ... 1193-1198 
 
 Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Earl of Essex ... 1198-1213 
 Peter des Roches, Bishop of Win- 
 chester ... ... ... 1214-1215 
 
 Hubert de Burgh... ... ,.. 1215-1232 
 
 Stephan Segrave ... ... ... 1232-1234
 
 Monastic Charters. 99 
 
 Hugh Bigot ... ... ... 1258-1260 
 
 Hugh Le Despenser ... ... 1260 
 
 Philip Basset ... ... ... 1261 
 
 Ralph de Hengham ... ... 1273-1289 
 
 Gilbert de Thornton ... ... 1289-1295 
 
 Roger Brabazon ... ... ... 1295 
 
 Chancellors of England. 
 
 Herfast. afterwards Bishop of Elmham 1068 
 Osbern, afterwards Bishop of Exeter 1070-1074 
 Osmond, afterwards Bishop of Salis- 
 bury ... ... ... ... 1074-1078 
 
 Maurice, afterwards Bishop of London 1078-1083 
 William de Beaufoe, afterwards Bishop 
 
 ofThetford ... ... ... 1083-1085 
 
 William Giffard ... ... ... 1086-1090 
 
 Robert Bloett ... ... ... 1090 
 
 Walderic ... ... ... 1093 
 
 William Giffard ... ... ... 1094-1101 
 
 Roger Le Poor ... ... ... 1101-1103 
 
 William Giffard ... ... ... 1103-1104 
 
 Walderic ... ... ... 1104 
 
 Ranulph ... ... ... 1108-1123 
 
 Geoffrey Rufus ... ... ... 1124-1135 
 
 Roger Le Poor ... ... ... 1135-1139 
 
 Philip ... ... ... ... 1139 
 
 Thomas a Beckett ... ... 1154-1162 
 
 Ralph de \Varneville ... ... 1173-1181 
 
 72
 
 IOO 
 
 Monastic Charters. 
 
 Geoffrey ... ... ... 1181-1189 
 
 William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely 1189-1197 
 
 Eustace, Bishop of Ely ... ... 1198-1199 
 
 Hubert Walter ... ... ... 1199-1205 
 
 Walter Grey ... ... ... 1205-1213 
 
 Peter des Roches ... ... 1213-1214 
 
 Walter Grey ... ... ... 1214 
 
 Richard de Marisco ... ... 1214-1226 
 
 Ralph Neville ... ... ... 1226-1244 
 
 Walter de Merton ... ... 1261 
 
 Nicolas de Ely ... ... ... 1263 
 
 Thomas Cantelupe ... ... 1265 
 
 Walter Giffard ... ... ... 1265 
 
 Godfrey Giffard ... ... ... 1267 
 
 Richard Middleton ... ... 1269-1272 
 
 Walter de Merton ... ... 1272 
 
 Robert Burnell ... ... ... 1273-1292 
 
 John Langton ... ... ... 1292 
 
 William Greenfield ... ... 1302 
 
 William of Hamilton ... ... 1304 
 
 Ralph Baldock ... ... ... 1307
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PARISH REGISTERS. 
 
 ^HE study of parish registers is quite apart 
 JL from that of old deeds. The writing of the 
 former begins at the period where the latter usually 
 end, for deeds written in the seventeenth century 
 are regarded by the antiquary as modern; but then 
 comes the most difficult handwriting of all to 
 decipher, because the old race of scholarly clerks 
 had died out and been replaced by less educated 
 men. 
 
 Parish registers are unique in many ways. They 
 contain information nowhere else obtainable. 
 Sometimes, besides the mere repetition of names, 
 there are inserted scraps of original information, 
 for the clergyman had undisputed possession of the 
 volumes, which remained usually in the keeping 
 of his deputy, the parish clerk, and either of them 
 could enter in the books whatever he pleased. 
 Every now and then an outcry arises as to the
 
 IO2 Parish Registers. 
 
 condition and care of parish registers, and desire is 
 expressed that they should be deposited in a large 
 public office similar to the Public Record Office ; 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 involved ; 
 search fees soon mount up, nor can careful pre- 
 servation be ensured by any such an arrange- 
 ment. Many are the known instances where the 
 precious volumes have been purposely mutilated, 
 or by neglect suffered to fall into decay and illegi- 
 bility ; but, as a whole, it is wonderful to see the 
 excellent condition and preservation of these old 
 records, which, if once removed out of their own 
 parishes into a large public collection, would lose 
 all individuality, and become merged in the mass 
 of manuscripts which are more or less buried in 
 every large library. 
 
 It is a pity that some arrangement cannot be 
 made to ensure preservation by a few copies 
 being printed of each register ; the work is 
 gradually being undertaken privately, but ought 
 to be worked on a more systematic plan with 
 uniformity throughout England. 
 
 An order such as this would not in any way 
 affect the fees accruing to the clergy from re- 
 searches, but rather tend to increase them, for at 
 present much information is lost because its where- 
 abouts is unknown. It is this question of search-
 
 Parish Registers. 103 
 
 fees which causes such a steady resistance on the 
 part of the resident clergy to any such project. 
 But in spite of this, the work has been begun 
 already ; the registers of many parishes are 
 printed, or have MS. transcripts all ready for the 
 press, nor is the expense as great as might be 
 imagined ; a few copies unbound may be produced 
 at a cost of from 3 to 10, in proportion to the 
 amount of matter to be printed. 
 
 It is not unusual, when applying by letter for 
 extracts from an old register, to receive a reply of 
 apology from the clergyman recommending a 
 personal search on the part of the inquirer, as 
 the information could not be sent owing to 
 inability to read the unfamiliar old handwriting. 
 This would be avoided if a printed copy properly 
 indexed were at hand for reference, while on any 
 important matter, where an attested copy from 
 the original was necessary, it could be obtained 
 as heretofore. 
 
 The history of parish registers commences 
 from the Reformation year of 1536. What 
 previous system had existed we are unable to say, 
 for information on the subject is lacking. Here 
 and there fragments of registers are known earlier 
 than the above quoted date, but these are the 
 exception, not the rule. Deaths noted down by 
 the chantry priests or monks, are found on 
 the margins of old monastic breviaries, where
 
 IO4 Parish Registers. 
 
 prayers for the souls of the departed had been 
 desired. 
 
 The subject is one of vast importance, for 
 without proper registration, it is impossible to 
 decide the legality of a marriage, or prove legiti- 
 macy of offspring, both necessary points of law 
 where inheritance of landed property is con- 
 cerned. 
 
 The scheme of parochial registration, as devised 
 by Henry VII I. 's shrewd minister Cromwell, was 
 only copied from a like plan long in use abroad. 
 
 The idea at first, being new to the English 
 people, met with much opposition, being mistaken 
 for a new species of taxation ; but, nevertheless, 
 it was ordered to be carried out under penalty of 
 fines, and, being found a valuable institution, was 
 submitted to, until custom fully established it. 
 Thus the old parish registers cannot be older 
 than 1536, except in very exceptional cases. But 
 the order did not become general till two years 
 later, therefore 1538 may be reckoned as the year 
 when they may be said to have in reality begun. 
 
 At first the books were carefully written, the 
 entries being in Latin. After awhile less care 
 was taken. The notes were made on rough strips 
 of paper called ' clerk's notes,' and were supposed 
 to be entered at fixed intervals in the book ; but 
 often this was irregularly performed, and the 
 strips were mislaid and lost before they could be
 
 Parish Registers. 105 
 
 copied. In some parishes, both the clerk's notes' 
 as well as the old register book may still be seen 
 and compared. The religious uncertainty of the 
 succeeding reigns caused the question of registra- 
 tion to be ignored, but Queen Elizabeth issued 
 several commands on the subject, notably that by 
 which transcripts were yearly sent at Easter to 
 be preserved among the diocesan records. 
 
 Most of the old parish register books now 
 existing are transcripts made according to this 
 command, as can be seen at a glance, for the 
 handwriting is uniform throughout, which could 
 not have been the case if the notes made by the 
 clerk had been periodically copied into the book. 
 Another more stringent Act, to ensure yearly 
 copies being made, was passed upon James L's 
 accession to the throne, and the clergyman's 
 name was to be affixed to each page as witness 
 that the copy was faithfully exact. Had these 
 wise regulations been carried out to the letter 
 and in the spirit that was intended, we should 
 now possess an invaluable corroboration of the 
 accuracy of the parish registers ; but alas, the 
 transcripts to be found in the diocesan registries 
 are meagre and imperfect. Years and series of 
 years are missing, and the entries are so lacking 
 in detail as to be practically useless. 
 
 Personal search can of course be made among 
 the diocesan registers, and this is strongly to be
 
 io6 Parish Registers. 
 
 recommended, for any mistakes in a transcript 
 render it not only valueless, but mischievous, for 
 extracts from registers are the most dangerous 
 material a genealogist has to deal with. For 
 unless further authenticated by wills and old deeds 
 to confirm the relationship, it will be found no 
 easy job to piece together these broken links in 
 the chain of evidence, and without wilful misre- 
 presentation being intended, mistakes may and 
 will occur. 
 
 Take, for instance, any name, and try to trace 
 out the pedigree with the help of the parish 
 register only. At first it is easy enough, whether 
 worked backwards or forwards, but after the 
 first three or four generations have been worked 
 out, all certainty of relationship is lost, and be- 
 comes confused. 
 
 The handwriting of the parish registers is a com- 
 bination of the old set law-hand and the personal 
 handwritings mentioned in the second chapter. 
 Original entries (i.e., entries made at the time of 
 performing the religious ceremony) are seldom 
 met with before the middle of James I.'s reign, by 
 which time the Latin language had fallen into 
 disuse. 
 
 The Commonwealth Government passed an 
 Act of Parliament appointing paid registrars to 
 every village (1653). These were illiterate men, 
 whose only accomplishments consisted of being
 
 Parish Registers. 107 
 
 able to read and write, and whose zeal and dis- 
 cretion alone regulated the keeping of the register 
 books. This duty was often but ill-performed, 
 especially when age and infirmity overtook the 
 registrar, who continued in office until death 
 relieved him of his duties. No second registrar 
 seemed in any case to have been appointed, and 
 the work of keeping the registers devolved again 
 upon the clergyman and his assistant clerk. 
 
 For several years after the Restoration of 1660, 
 the registers were irregularly kept, and very 
 erratic. The old race of educated clerks was gone. 
 Formerly, when the registers first began, clerk- 
 ships may have been filled by men educated in the 
 monasteries, who, when turned adrift, were glad 
 to employ themselves as priests' chaplains or 
 private tutors as a means of livelihood. 
 
 Until this century no small schools of any kind 
 existed for the poorer classes, except those pro- 
 vided by charitable bequests. These were few and 
 far between, and could be of little benefit to the 
 masses of the people. No wonder, then, that 
 the ill-paid clergy were obliged to be content with 
 very uneducated men to serve in the capacity of 
 clerk. The registers of the latter part of the 
 seventeenth century are indited in every variety 
 of illegibly bad writing. 
 
 The chief difficulty of reading the old registers 
 lies in the immense variety of forms a name was
 
 io8 Parish Registers. 
 
 capable of passing through, owing to the laxity of 
 English spelling and pronunciation. The people 
 knew their own surnames only by oral tradition, 
 and were entirely dependent upon the parish 
 clerk, who wrote down the name as it sounded to 
 him, and as sounds have a different effect on 
 different persons, the commonest names often 
 appeared in very strange and unrecognisable dis- 
 guises before they finally crystallized into their 
 modern forms. 
 
 It is not unusual to find items of miscellaneous 
 information jotted down at random by the clergy- 
 man among the entries of births, marriages, and 
 deaths. Heavy falls of snow, disastrous floods, 
 periods of drought, storms of any kind, were all 
 events of great local importance in country places, 
 and would remain for a long time as traditional 
 landmarks in their annals. Alas, such items are 
 rare, and are now rendered impossible in the 
 printed pages of the modern register books. 
 
 The most useful and least troublesome way to 
 catalogue the contents of a parish register for 
 reference, is to write out the year, and below it 
 enter the births, marriages, and deaths, with the 
 names occurring under each heading, but without 
 taking the time or trouble to copy the dates of 
 day or month, these last being only required for 
 law investigations, and for which purpose the 
 originals only would be received as evidence.
 
 Parish Registers. 109 
 
 Parliamentary blue-books have been issued on 
 the subject of parochial registers, and a most 
 useful handbook is now in course of preparation, 
 giving as complete a catalogue as possible of all 
 registers of which printed copies or indexes have 
 been made up to the present day.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PARISH OFFICERS AND THEIR BOOKS. 
 
 AMONG the contents of the parish deed-chest 
 wherein registers are supposed to be safely 
 kept, are often found other books and papers, 
 seemingly of little interest or importance, but in 
 reality very likely to yield curious and original 
 scraps of information, with glimpses into the life 
 of the poorer classes during the past centuries. 
 Some day these old account-books, now flung 
 aside as worthless, will be of great importance in 
 an antiquary's eyes, for they give lists of all the 
 residents in the parish, from the squire to the 
 lowest and poorest, showing the social status of 
 each ; and further, are of value when compared 
 with the parish registers, as giving a clue to the 
 length of residence of inhabitants who, if of the 
 middle class, sooner or later served their turn as 
 parish officers ; and if paupers, were entered as 
 recipients of parochial charity.
 
 Parish Officers and their Books. 1 1 1 
 
 Previous to this century, the churchwardens, 
 overseers, road surveyors and parish constables 
 held office for one year only, being elected at the 
 annual Easter vestry ; now re-election is supposed 
 to take place, but the post is carried on from year 
 to year without opposition. 
 
 Apparently some rule of yearly income or rental 
 governed the election, or else certain tenements 
 were represented in rotation by their tenants, for 
 widows were liable to serve, in which case a son 
 or some near neighbour was deputed to act in the 
 woman's name. 
 
 Now the custom of yearly change has died out, 
 and a churchwarden once elected goes on from 
 year to year, until sickness, old age, or death 
 renders some fresh arrangement absolutely neces- 
 sary. Surely, if in those old days, when education 
 was so sparsely distributed, and even reading and 
 writing looked upon as sciences if then it was 
 possible to find men able and capable of directing 
 local affairs, it seems strange that now so few are 
 considered fit for the post, when every day- 
 labourer's son is taught drawing and essay-writing 
 in addition to his elementary studies. 
 
 The office of churchwarden is very old. Now 
 it has lost most of its prestige, and the church- 
 warden is almost forgotten except on the Sundays 
 when collections are made ; but formerly each 
 villager took a personal interest in affairs which
 
 ii2 Parish Officers and their Books. 
 
 some day he himself would probably be called 
 upon to manage. 
 
 The two churchwardens of a parish represented 
 the rival interests of its inhabitants ; the parson 
 versus the squire and his tenants. Each officer 
 had his clients' interests to uphold and consider. 
 The most onerous duty, however, fell upon the 
 overseer of the poor, in whose hands rested the 
 responsibility of the proper distribution of the 
 public funds in the shape of bequests and legacies; 
 to him came applications for relief, and with him 
 also were mooted all questions relating to the 
 disposal of paupers, both dead and alive. 
 Edward III. forbade the giving of alms to able- 
 bodied men, but no regular poor laws were 
 invented till Henry VIII. was king. 
 
 The first Acts of Parliament relating to poor 
 laws were passed towards the conclusion of Queen 
 Elizabeth's long reign. It was absolutely neces- 
 sary to make some fresh statutes applicable to the 
 new state of affairs consequent upon the Reforma- 
 tion. Previously all charity had been distributed 
 or directed by the monks, and after they were 
 dispersed and their lands seized by the Crown 
 and sold, their unfortunate dependents were 
 rendered still more dependent, and all the severe 
 laws against vagrancy and beggars made by the 
 Tudor sovereigns could not abate the nuisance 
 or solve the difficult question, while doles and gifts
 
 Parish Officers and their Books. 113 
 
 of bread or alms served only to increase the evil 
 through toleration. 
 
 Worse and worse the state of things became, 
 till towards the end of the last century the climax 
 was reached ; there were then whole families of 
 paupers who, generation after generation, made 
 no effort towards self-support either for them- 
 selves or their offspring. These last were brought 
 up entirely on charity, clothed, fed and appren- 
 ticed, till finally married by charity, the fees being 
 paid out of the charity money ; nor did the matter 
 end there, for, probably, after the lapse of years 
 the wedded couple with their children (if they 
 became chargeable to the parish) were returned 
 to their native village, again to become recipients 
 of its charity till death claimed them, and the 
 parish paid the funeral expenses. 
 
 The first commission upon the poor laws took 
 place in William IV.'s reign, and since then 
 reform has gradually been at work. In many 
 places public charity is still abused ; but no real 
 good can be effected at once, and every effort 
 must be proved by long and fair trial, under 
 which all unsuitable experiments will fail, and 
 only the practical and beneficial ones will survive 
 the test. Of course, all relief and outdoor assist- 
 ance was left very much to the discretion and 
 honesty of the overseer, whose accounts were 
 yearly scrutinized at the Easter vestry, when most 
 
 8
 
 H4 Parish Officers and their Books. 
 
 parochial accounts were discussed. Sometimes 
 these discussions were considered of sufficient 
 importance to be entered in the parish books. 
 Questions as to the ownership and distribution 
 of pews in the church, repairs to the edifice, by 
 whom they were to be done, boundaries, and 
 whose business it was to keep in order certain 
 roads lying between rival parishes all such 
 matters came forward for consideration, and, 
 finally, the officers for the ensuing year were 
 elected, and the books handed over to the new 
 churchwardens. 
 
 Perhaps a further check upon miscellaneous 
 entries being made in the books was that all 
 the accounts had ' to be passed ' at the nearest 
 Sessions and signed by the presiding magistrate, 
 who was some neighbouring squire. 
 
 The parish constable is now replaced by the 
 policeman supplied by the county, the visible 
 representative of the law in rural places. 
 
 One entry often found among the old accounts 
 was of repairs done to the village stocks, fre- 
 quently used to punish petty offences, especially 
 drunkenness. The pound, too, often needed 
 mending ; fines for allowing animals to stray and 
 become empounded are among the most frequent 
 entries in old manor court rolls. In many places 
 a hay ward was a regularly appointed officer for 
 this purpose, whose duty it was to capture the
 
 Parish Officers and their Books. 115 
 
 animals and attend to them until they were 
 reclaimed by their owner or sold to defray 
 expenses. In Berkshire the hayward, or pinder, 
 gave a tally to the person who brought the beast 
 found on his land, and he did not deliver the 
 beast until its owner produced the tally, proving 
 that compensation for damage had been properly 
 paid. 
 
 The offices of overseer of the poor and of 
 road surveyor, formerly called waywarden, are 
 not of any great antiquity ; nor are they of great 
 consequence so far as regards the old account 
 books, in which their elections are often not even 
 mentioned. As to the constable, werbnly\ge^ a 
 casual glimpse of his duties when we read a list 
 of his expenses incurred in conveying some delin- 
 quent parishioner to the county gaol, or of 
 journeys taken to distant places to inquire into 
 the antecedents of paupers or in taking them back 
 to their own villages. 
 
 It is the overseers' accounts which are really 
 curious, those long lists of garments bought to 
 clothe the paupers and their children, 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 
 keep ; cruel as it seemed to be to send out such 
 young children to work, it was, in reality, the 
 kindest thing that could be done for them, for it 
 
 82
 
 I { 6 Parish Officers and their Books. 
 
 gave them a chance of becoming independent and 
 working for themselves. 
 
 Maybe a bundle of old papers are rolled to- 
 gether among the account books. These may be 
 the orders for the removal of paupers back to the 
 village they called ' home,' a custom first originated 
 by some Acts of Parliament passed by Charles II. 
 At the same time the parish officers were com- 
 manded and forced by penalties to provide for 
 paupers removed back into their parish, and, to 
 prevent fraud, written proofs as to the proper 
 home or residence of the paupers had to be 
 obtained and produced; these papers are called 
 ' settlements.' 
 
 The officers did their best for the welfare of 
 their charges : they provided the old women with 
 spinning-wheels, so that they could earn a trifle 
 for themselves, while the men were set to work 
 on the road ; when failing in health they were 
 tended by a parish nurse, and if sick the doctor 
 saw them. Sometimes they were sent to Bath or 
 Cheltenham to be cured by the far-famed waters. 
 For many years these old annuitants lingered on, 
 till we read the last entry paid for burying Goody 
 or Goodman So-and-so. 
 
 Any public event which required to be cele- 
 brated by the ringing of the church bells is sure 
 to be mentioned among the ordinary expenses. 
 
 There are in the old books (those of that un-
 
 Parish Officers and their Books. 117 
 
 settled time when the religion of the State varied 
 according to the sovereign in power, during the 
 Tudor and Stuart dynasties) many notices of 
 the alterations wrought both in town and country 
 places. The church goods were first catalogued 
 by order of Edward VI. 's ministers; rich vest- 
 ments, altar hangings, and numerous vessels are 
 named in the first list, but later on, under Queen 
 Elizabeth, the parish churches were further 
 despoiled, till there was little left for the Puritans 
 to remove, and in the later lists only the old 
 service books and books of religious instruction 
 are left to the churchwardens to chronicle. 
 Although instances as early as 1287 are on 
 record, the erection of pews was an innovation 
 ^6nly\introduce^/ by degrees after the Reformation. 
 The destruction of screens and the removal of 
 altars caused altar rails and communion tables to 
 be used instead. Then came the terrors of civil 
 war. Upon the churchwardens devolved the duty 
 of providing burial for soldiers slain in battle. 
 Such burials were not often in the churchyard, 
 but on the boundaries of parishes, the expenses 
 being defrayed equally ; this was probably an old 
 custom in warfare, but it was carried out as late 
 as the Commonwealth. A battle was a public 
 calamity, and the responsibility of providing 
 interment for the slain was therefore a public 
 duty.
 
 1 1 8 Parish Officers and their Books. 
 
 After the Restoration the churches were re- 
 paired and the royal arms restored. Later on 
 we find some parsons resigning their work from 
 nonconforming scruples; at this time, too, are 
 notices of excommunicated persons. The Puritan 
 zeal was aroused by James II. 's injudicious at- 
 tempt to restore Catholicism ; and attendance at 
 church, first commanded by Queen Elizabeth, 
 was further enforced by an order that taking of 
 the Sacrament should be regarded as a test of 
 conformity ; for disobedience the punishment of 
 excommunication was inflicted upon the church- 
 wardens' application to the bishop. The Recus- 
 ants, as papists were called, were treated with 
 great severity and injustice. 
 
 Any fresh Act of Parliament with reference to 
 fees or taxes was soon noted in the parish books. 
 Fees varied in different places, according to 
 custom. Prior to the eighteenth century fees 
 for burial within the church were payable to 
 the churchwardens, but afterwards became the 
 parson's perquisite. These entries may lead to 
 the identification of vaults and interments other- 
 wise forgotten. The burial of strangers was 
 always charged for at a higher rate ; for paupers 
 the parish paid the expenses, and the tax of 3d. 
 on each burial was not enforced. Taxes were 
 levied on many things under the Georges, but 
 none were more obnoxious to the people than the
 
 Parish Officers and their Books. 1 1 9 
 
 birth, marriage, and death taxes, of which the 
 clergyman was made to act as a most unwilling 
 tax-gatherer. 
 
 The window-tax fell heavily on old manor houses 
 pierced with innumerable windows and skylights. 
 It was then that many windows were blocked up 
 to avoid payment. 
 
 In the last century are many entries of pay- 
 ment for the release of men seized for service in 
 the army or navy; for when the father of a family 
 went away, his wife and children were left to be 
 provided for by charity, and the first payment by 
 the churchwardens for his release was in the end 
 the cheapest. 
 
 A list of rails (spelt usually 'rayles') surrounding 
 the churchyard reminds one of another almost 
 obsolete custom, that of each person repairing 
 the rail in the fence next to his property or for 
 which he was liable. The liability was attached 
 to the land, though custom decided whether the 
 owner or the occupier was the person to do such 
 repairs. 
 
 Last, not least, in the parish chest were bundles 
 of old papers, technically known as ' briefs.' 
 In the account - books all Church collections 
 were duly entered. Originally these were more 
 of the nature of voluntary rates, for the name of 
 each donor is given and the sum he gave, varying 
 in accordance with his social position and means.
 
 I2O Parish Officers and their Books. 
 
 The origin of church collections is obscure ; no 
 doubt the offerings given at the sacrament were 
 always devoted to the relief of poverty and distress. 
 
 To regulate and restrict the right of levying 
 collections, Acts of Parliament were passed, and 
 no collection was allowed to be made without a 
 proper license called a ' brief ; but the issuing of 
 these grew to an alarming extent. Briefs were 
 issued for all sorts of emergencies and disasters, 
 principally for damage by fire, there being then 
 no insurance offices ; and the old buildings, once 
 set alight, were seldom rescued from total de- 
 molition. A complete list of early briefs would 
 be curious, but would be so extensive as to fill 
 a large volume. 
 
 The churchwardens probably kept few if any 
 accounts prior to the sixteenth century, therefore 
 any older church collections are unrecorded or 
 only mentioned by chance. 
 
 In an old parish book of Sulhamstead are 
 entries of the following collections : 
 
 1670. Collected towards the redemption of 
 English captives in Turkey ; and again, in 1680, 
 a similar collection took place. 
 
 It puzzled me much why such a small Berkshire 
 parish should subscribe so liberally for the release 
 of slaves ; but this was explained on discovering 
 that Turkish pirates infested the seas, and even 
 landed with impunity on the western coasts, and
 
 Parish Officers and their Books. 121 
 
 carried off prisoners, both men and women, to 
 become slaves. The main road to the West ran 
 through Berkshire ; travellers along it doubtless 
 brought tales of such wild deeds, which lost 
 nothing in the telling, and excited the sympathy 
 of the countryfolk. 
 
 In 1699 money was again collected ; this time 
 to redeem 300 captives detained by the King of 
 Morocco. 
 
 In 1678 funds were collected towards the re- 
 building of St. Paul's Cathedral, destroyed twelve 
 years previously in the great fire of London. 
 Many papists, all over England, added their con- 
 tributions to this collection. 
 
 1699. Collection was made for the French 
 refugees and Vaudois settled in Switzerland, 
 who had fled at the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes. To inhabitants of Sulhamstead village 
 this may have had a keener interest, in that 
 Samuel Morland, afterwards made a baronet, the 
 son of a former rector, Rev. Thomas Morland, 
 was sent out by Government in 1655 to inquire 
 into the condition of the Waldenses, and he wrote 
 thereon a book descriptive of the country and its 
 inhabitants. Martin Morland, another son of the 
 rector, had returned to his old home for awhile, 
 when, at the Restoration, he resigned his living 
 in 1665, for here two of his sons were born. 
 
 1687. Brief for loss by fire in Aylesford.
 
 122 Parish Officers and their Books. 
 
 1689. Loss by fire at Bishops Lavington, Wilts. 
 
 1690. Ditto, East Smithfield. 
 Town of Stafford. 
 
 Town of Bungay, Suffolk. 
 
 1690. In the parish of St. George's, in the 
 
 borough of Southwark. 
 In the Town of St. Ives, Huntingdon- 
 shire. 
 
 Five collections for fires in different counties, 
 made in one small parish within a year. 
 
 In 1703, brief for refugees in the Principality 
 of Orange. 
 
 After 1703 the givers' names are no longer 
 entered. 
 
 The parish doctor was regularly engaged by 
 the churchwardens. In 1774 the agreement for 
 Sulhamstead was made and signed by the doctor, 
 and witnessed that he ' should do the business of 
 surgery and apothecary, broken bones excepted, 
 for the yearly sum of five guineas ' ! No wonder 
 that these hard-worked physicians lacked skill, and 
 relied more upon practice than education for 
 what talent they did possess. 
 
 The perambulation of parish bounds was 
 another vestry question, upon which rested dis- 
 puted tithes. In entries of tithe, old field-names, 
 now forgotten, may often be recovered. The 
 commutation of tithe also was discussed, and 
 in some places the parson made agreements with
 
 Parish Officers and their Books. 123 
 
 his parishioners on the subject. Visitation fees 
 came before the vestry, and sending copies of the 
 register to the Diocesan Registry was, or ought 
 to have been, an annual occurrence. Any dis- 
 pute seems to have come within the vestry's 
 jurisdiction, and all dry subjects were washed 
 down with plenty of ale, an item regularly entered 
 among the expenses. 
 
 Perhaps it was at the vestry that the village 
 urchins came up to claim rewards offered for the 
 extermination of vermin, their instinctive love of 
 sport being further developed by their love of 
 gain. Foxes are among the animals named on 
 the list, together with stoats, sparrows, etc., and 
 the prices paid for this wholesale destruction 
 seem very high. 
 
 The spelling of many of the old account books 
 is decidedly phonetic and original, but as a whole 
 they are legible and neatly kept. They need 
 nothing to explain their meanings, except a guide 
 such as I have endeavoured to give, as to what 
 class of information their pages will yield, for the 
 books of one parish closely resemble all others.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BOOKS ON PALEOGRAPHY AND KINDRED SUBJECTS. 
 
 PART of a guide-book's business is to direct 
 people's attention to other similar works 
 likely to be of use to them. 
 
 Few accomplishments can be learnt with the 
 aid of only one book on the subject, and paleo- 
 graphy is a combination of many elements. Few 
 English writers have expended their genius in 
 books on handwriting ; it has not in this country 
 been looked upon as one of the sciences. Abroad 
 the subject has been more studied, especially by 
 the French, in whose language many valuable 
 books on it have been compiled. The type re- 
 quired for the abbreviations is expensive; small 
 editions only were issued, and many valuable 
 works are in consequence rare and little known, 
 being only met with in public libraries or among 
 collections of old books. Thus seventeen volumes 
 of ' La Bibliotheque de 1'Ecole des Chartres,'
 
 Books on Paleography, etc. 125 
 
 published in Paris between the years 1839 
 1886, will fetch as much as 30; 'Album de la 
 Paleographie ' (Quantin, 1887), 6; 'Elements de 
 la Paleographie,' par Natalis de Wailly, two 
 volumes, 1838, 3 35. ; ' Musee des Archives 
 Nationales,' 1872, i IDS. 
 
 A very useful book, less expensive than the 
 above, was written by Prou, published in Paris by 
 Alphonse Picard, editeur, 82, Rue Bonaparte ; 
 and cheaper still than this is the ' Paleographie 
 des Chartes et des Manuscrits du XI. au XVII. 
 Siecles,' par Alphonse Chassant, published by 
 Auguste Aubry, Rue Dauphine 16, Paris. The 
 best known cheap book on the subject, however, 
 is a small paper-bound volume, ' Dictionnaire des 
 Abbreviations Latines et Fran9aises,' par Alphonse 
 Chassant, published by Jules Martin, 19, Boule- 
 vard Haussmann, Paris, at the low price of 2 
 francs 50 centimes ; it has already reached a 
 fifth edition. 
 
 There are also books on paleography written in 
 German, Spanish and Italian, but these are seldom 
 met with in England. 
 
 Now let us see what our own countrymen have 
 done towards elucidating our national manuscripts. 
 The list will not be a long one. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that first of all four 
 separate languages are required, namely, Anglo- 
 Saxon, Norman-French, Latin and Old English.
 
 126 
 
 For the first of these, the standard work is Bos- 
 worth's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary; a second-hand 
 copy may be bought for 8s. 6d. It contains the 
 alphabet and grammatical peculiarities of the 
 Anglo-Saxon language, besides the dictionary of 
 words. 
 
 For Norman-French, all that is required at 
 first start is a familiarity with the modern 
 language. Any good, old-fashioned dictionary 
 will be of assistance, and later on Roquefort's 
 dictionary, Lacombe's Burguy, and the glossary 
 in the Supplement to Ducange, may be resorted 
 to, to solve difficulties. 
 
 Latin and English may be studied together, the 
 one being translated verbatim from the other. 
 
 The standard English work upon handwriting 
 as a whole is called ' The Origin and Progress of 
 Handwriting,' by Astle; it was published in the 
 beginning of this century. A good copy is now 
 worth two or three sovereigns. This book deals 
 with every kind of known writing from its earliest 
 existence. There are facsimiles of Hebrew, Sans- 
 crit, Greek, Latin, and other languages, besides 
 specimens of English charters of each century. 
 
 The Paleographic Society was started in 1873, 
 and their yearly volumes contain exact repre- 
 sentations of the old documents, but these cost 
 i is. each. They are valuable as having the 
 facsimile and its transcript side by side, but as
 
 Kindred Subjects. 127 
 
 yet they have only selected very old charters, not 
 considering mediaeval English deeds worthy of con- 
 sideration. Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon dictionary 
 is the standard work on this subject. 
 
 Some Anglo-Saxon manuscripts were published 
 in 1878 by command of the Queen, upon the 
 recommendation of the Master of the Rolls, the 
 work being undertaken by General Cameron, 
 director of the Ordnance Survey, with trans- 
 lations added by W. Basevi-Saunders. The 
 charters selected were those among the archives 
 of Canterbury Cathedral, as they give three 
 centuries of Anglo-Saxon history, A.D. 742 to 
 A.D. 1049. This work now fetches 2 2s. 
 
 A collection of early Anglo - Saxon charters, 
 those of Abingdon Abbey, has been issued in the 
 ' Rolls Series ' in two volumes.* Other Anglo- 
 Saxon documents have been printed and trans- 
 lated at various times. 
 
 Domesday Survey has been reproduced by a 
 photographic process, and is extremely clear and 
 well executed ; it is also published in four volumes 
 in a more readable type, but still abbreviated. 
 Each county can be obtained in a separate 
 volume. The translations are not given ; this for 
 the student is rather an advantage than otherwise. 
 
 No subject has been more studied than 
 Domesday Book. Translations, explanations 
 
 * This also contains a good glossary of Anglo-Saxon words.
 
 128 Books on Paleography and 
 
 and dictionaries have been written upon it. 
 These are very valuable as explaining the obscure 
 points and giving the modern acreage, as com- 
 pared with the carucate, bovate and hide. To 
 understand a county history these must be closely 
 compared. Many of the manors named in the 
 old Survey are now lost. It must be remembered 
 that waste lands and commons were not always 
 mentioned, nor were churches or any property 
 which was not taxable. For this reason Domes- 
 day often disappoints us by its meagreness of 
 detail, but it forms the beginning or basis from 
 which an inquiry may be started, and to pursue 
 it through the centuries which followed, the 
 public rolls and manuscripts are the only means 
 of information ; of these Domesday will prove 
 valuable as a key. The really practical book on 
 writing best known and most popular, because 
 neither complicated nor expensive, is Wright's 
 ' Court-hand Restored,' price i, compiled in 
 1846 to meet a long-felt want, for Latin having 
 ceased as the law language, lawyers no longer 
 were obliged to know old legal forms and words 
 as part of their profession, although they often 
 felt the need of understanding them where 
 any search through old deeds was requisite. 
 Since then, this book has passed through nine 
 editions, the last of which was brought out in 
 1879, edited and improved by Mr. C. T. Martin,
 
 Kindred Subjects. 129 
 
 of the Public Record Office. It contains alphabets 
 in all styles, facsimiles of all classes of English 
 writing, with translations, a glossary of obsolete 
 words and place-names, supplying a valuable text- 
 book to paleography, giving the reader all the 
 information necessary for studying old deeds. 
 Since then (1892) Mr. Martin has compiled a 
 fuller and more elaborate glossary, called 'The 
 Record Interpreter,' los. 6d. The amateur will 
 need no other books if he is provided with these 
 two volumes. A list of abbreviations taken from 
 the Pipe Rolls was issued among the yearly 
 volumes of the Pipe Rolls Society, price 125. 6d. 
 The fourth volume of 'The Registrum Palatinum 
 Dunelmense,' edited by the late Sir Thomas 
 Duffus Hardy, in the Rolls series of ' Chronicles 
 and Memorials,' also contains a list of contracted 
 words and their explanations. Its price is IDS. 6d. 
 
 The study of old deeds brings in its train a 
 multiplicity of other subjects bearing upon old 
 customs and legal formulae, some of which were 
 complicated. All the writers upon the law explain 
 these formalities ; ' though now antiquated so far 
 as the actual law work and procedure is con- 
 cerned,' they give the ancient methods ; of these 
 ' Blackstone's Commentaries ' is the best known. 
 
 Jacobs' 'Law Dictionary' is another similar 
 book; also 'A New Law Dictionary,' by J. 
 Nicholson. But these books are now out of date ; 
 
 9
 
 130 Books on Paleography and 
 
 they may by chance be met with at sales or 
 on bookstalls, where they may be bought for a 
 few shillings. Perhaps an advertisement in the 
 Exchange and Mart might be successful in obtain- 
 ing replies. Of guides to various branches of 
 archaeology there are plenty lately issued since 
 the subject became fashionable. 
 
 * Record Searching,' by W. Rye, gives a 
 glimpse into the various public collections, and 
 the class of information likely to be derived from 
 manuscripts. 
 
 ' How to write the History of a Family,' by 
 Phillimore, is a similar work, useful to genealo- 
 gists. 
 
 ' How to write the History of a Parish,' by J. 
 C. Cox, LL.D. 
 
 The information contained in all these three last 
 books might be with advantage remodelled and 
 extended. 
 
 Upon Parish Registers a charming little book, 
 full of information, has been written by Mr. 
 Chester Waters, price 33. gd. Every clergyman 
 should possess a copy of it. On Church History 
 there are recently published two very good is. 
 volumes, called ' Illustrated Notes on English 
 Church History/ by Rev. Arthur Lane; small 
 engravings of all the English cathedrals and many 
 handsome and celebrated churches are given, but 
 no descriptions of them. A very good series of
 
 Kindred Subjects. 131 
 
 Diocesan Histories has been brought out by 
 the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 
 These may now be bought second-hand at is. per 
 volume. 
 
 For derivation of words, there is no better guide 
 than Taylor's ' Words and Places,' and Edmunds' 
 ' Place-names ' ; both these are trustworthy, and 
 have become recognised authorities. 
 
 Quality rather than quantity should be the 
 antiquary's motto in his choice of a library, but 
 antiquarianism and archaeology require many 
 books of reference, 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 reading. Upon Manor Rolls there is a 
 very clever work lately issued by the Selden 
 Society (volume ii.). It gives much new informa- 
 tion on Manorial Customs. All the three volumes 
 issued by this society are very interesting. They 
 are edited by F. W. Maitland. Upon Monastic 
 History there are many very interesting books, 
 mostly published by Burns and Gates, London. 
 
 A list of useful books might be extended in- 
 definitely, especially if brought up to date. 
 Archaeology is a cumulative science gleaned from 
 varied sources. The antiquary usually is pos- 
 sessed of more brains than money, but if he is 
 fortunate enough to possess both, a large library 
 will be to him a never-ending sourceof amusement.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OLD LETTERS. 
 
 I ^HERE were always two divisions of hand- 
 JL writing; the formal hand, employed for 
 clerk's work, and a freer, less mechanical, less 
 careful style, used for private correspondence. 
 Writing was a profession, and, as late as the six- 
 teenth century, when it was necessary to com- 
 municate with persons at a distance, a professional 
 scribe was employed to write the letter. But letter- 
 writing was rare, and did not become general 
 till after the sixteenth century ; even then it was 
 restricted to the upper classes of society. I have 
 in Chapter IV. given a brief account of the paper 
 used in England. Letter or post paper was 
 made of a square, uniform sheet, folded ; it was 
 known as ' Pot paper,' from its water-mark. This 
 varied slightly, the jug or water-pot being much 
 more elaborate in some examples. It came prin- 
 cipally from abroad, either the Low Countries or 
 Germany ; each separate factory very likely
 
 Old Letters. 
 
 133 
 
 adopted a distinct shape ; the makers' initials 
 are to be found upon the band across the pot, 
 but are difficult to read. 
 
 The three following marks are taken from some 
 old letters, and are good types of their kind. 
 
 The writing of old letters I have placed after 
 
 (1561) (1563) (-623) 
 
 the chapter on registers, because the latter forms 
 a link between the clerical and personal hand- 
 writings. The letters have changed entirely 
 from the old black-letter style to a similar style, 
 like that still in use in Germany, and assuming 
 a distinct character, as may be seen in the 
 following alphabet. 
 
 Therefore, not only was the material for letter- 
 writing (i.e., paper) of foreign manufacture, but
 
 Set 
 
 EH 
 
 Court 
 
 Jtiuarf J\>rut3j 
 
 1 
 
 g 
 
 St. 
 
 c 
 
 <r 
 
 f 
 
 f- 
 
 L 
 
 r f 
 
 
 <r 
 
 d 
 
 (F 
 
 a 
 
 A 
 
 8 
 
 ow 
 
 ffl
 
 Old Letters. 135 
 
 also the handwriting bore close resemblance to 
 foreign styles. This may have resulted from the 
 original Anglo-Saxon element in the nationality 
 of the people, aided by the constant immigra- 
 tion of merchants from the Low Countries, who 
 came over to England during the fourteenth 
 and fifteenth centuries, and established various 
 branches of trade, chiefly in linen or woollen 
 goods. They naturally introduced also the 
 fashions and customs of their own nations. 
 Added to this was the marriage of the king, 
 Richard II. with the German Princess Anne of 
 Bohemia, followed closely by the religious zeal of 
 the Reformers, bringing Germans and German 
 ideas strongly to the fore in English politics. 
 The earliest printers were German, and about the 
 time of this invention the small letter e written 
 backwards first came into use. Unfortunately 
 very little private correspondence exists prior to 
 the reign of Queen Elizabeth, except that pre- 
 served among public manuscripts. In those days 
 lifelong imprisonment was often the result of a 
 thoughtless committal of ideas into tangible form. 
 Letters were dangerous witnesses, and as such 
 were destroyed as soon as read. The posts were 
 not safe from inspection ; spies were employed 
 freely on all sides, and men, not afraid to suffer 
 for their opinions, nevertheless did not care to 
 risk their necks by needless imprudence.
 
 136 Old Letters. 
 
 The earliest newspapers had a blank column 
 left to be filled by the sender with the latest 
 intelligence or local news. These were fitly 
 called ' News letters.' The phraseology of a 
 seventeenth century letter seems to us strange 
 on account of the conjugation of the verbs, the 
 use of ' hath ' in place of ' has,' and the absence 
 of all unnecessary adverbs: the sentences, too, are 
 longer. The commencing words and the final 
 winding up of letters have both changed in the 
 past two hundred years. 
 
 With the eighteenth century we see these 
 changes gradually settling down and altering into 
 the modern forms. The old English y e for ' the,' 
 and the abbreviated & for 'and,' and the b (d) 
 written in its antiquated shape, still remain, but 
 the German letters by degrees are given up. 
 
 The writing of each generation is most dis- 
 tinctly marked ; the dates from it may be ap- 
 proximately fixed without any difficulty, as well 
 as the age and character of the writer. 
 
 It has been said that the introduction of cheap 
 postage, and the immense increase of everyday 
 correspondence, has ruined handwriting, and 
 banished for ever the art of composition. True, 
 the short letters of to-day will not bear comparison 
 with the neat, voluminous diary-letters, full of 
 graphic scenic descriptions, which our grand- 
 parents were wont to compile for the benefit
 
 Old Letters. 137 
 
 of relations left at home; now, when similar 
 correspondence is undertaken, it is copied out 
 by the type- writer or printed, for few people 
 will take the trouble to read manuscript com- 
 positions. Looking beyond the opening years of 
 this century, we see a marked paucity of ideas 
 and carelessness of caligraphy in the correspon- 
 dence, getting worse the further back we go. In 
 the seventeenth century men were the chief cor- 
 respondents : they wrote on matters of business ; 
 few letters are preserved except on such topics, 
 which is a pity, for a letter must always be a 
 unique production, the best evidence procurable 
 of the writer and his times. 
 
 There is little to be said on the subject of old 
 letters. Practice in reading them makes the 
 lettering familiar, and gives facility which no 
 guide-book on them could explain, and letters, 
 both ancient and modern, will assume a new 
 interest when the little trifling, characteristic 
 peculiarities of the writer are examined by their 
 aid. 
 
 Old receipts, expense-books, and farm accounts 
 are found in plenty among old papers ; but what 
 we should prize now would be descriptions of 
 people and places as they existed some hundreds 
 of years ago.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS, ETC. 
 
 IN most books treating of ancient hand- 
 writing, the abbreviations and contractions 
 are put forward as the most important part; 
 certainly it is necessary to study them carefully, 
 but it was never intended by the old scribes that 
 they should be regarded as a language in them- 
 selves. At first they were used to save time and 
 space, then, by degrees, they increased in multi- 
 plicity as well as complexity, till banished alto- 
 gether by the invention of printing, upon the 
 advance of which the professional scribe dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 The contracted words most frequently used are 
 not always necessary to the sense of the sentence, 
 which may be arrived at without them. It is a 
 waste of time to puzzle over a word after its 
 meaning has been arrived at. Many persons 
 who require MS. extracts from public offices
 
 Abbreviations, Etc. 139 
 
 take rough notes with the letters of the con- 
 tracted word ; these can be extended afterwards 
 at home, when there is time to seek in diction- 
 aries for the abbreviation or its meaning ; with 
 practice the opening words of a sentence will very 
 often supply the context. The oldest forms of 
 contraction are a straight line over a word or a 
 curve, these indicate that a portion of the word 
 only is present, but no clue is given as to the 
 letters left out, or else the straight line may mean 
 m or 11. 
 
 Later on the straight line above a word came 
 to represent the letters m and n. In words 
 where these letters were duplicated the second 
 one was omitted and the line placed above to 
 indicate its absence. This continued in use 
 until late in the eighteenth century. Comon 
 meant ' common,' and comendation 'commenda- 
 tion.' If a curved line was over the end syllable 
 of a word, it meant one or more letters omitted at 
 the end of the word. 
 
 Verbs are the most troublesome class of con- 
 tracted words, for a contraction over a verb 
 may mean any syllable, according to the proper 
 grammatical conjugation. Here it is that know- 
 ledge of the Latin grammar is a necessity. The 
 meaning of the sentences may often be de- 
 ciphered, without extending the words, and the 
 correct conjugation of the verbs can be added
 
 140 Abbreviations, Etc. 
 
 afterwards by another person, if the student's 
 knowledge of Latin is too limited to accomplish 
 this with accuracy. Certain signs or contractions 
 are fairly constant in their meanings, always taking 
 the place of special syllables. Thus a bold apos- 
 trophe above the line will be found to indicate 
 *er,' 'ir,' 'or,' 're.' 
 = ur. 
 
 5 = et, us. In Domesday ' et ' is written X 
 
 = ram, ras, ris. 
 
 f>is. 
 
 9 =us, ous, os. 
 
 A small letter over a word shows that a syllable 
 is left out of which this letter formed part. 
 
 The letter ' p ' had a system of its own, frequently 
 used in old deeds and also in old letters : 
 
 p = per, par, por. 
 
 p ) = pre. 
 
 {> = pro. 
 
 In old court rolls ' and ' is written *"t,' and 'est ' 
 appears as ' -T-,' especially in court-hand law 
 deeds. 
 
 A line drawn through the head of the letter ' t ' 
 means also the addition of other letters, as is, e, 
 etc. This contraction in names is apt to be 
 confused with double ' tt.' 
 
 It is said that our alphabet did not formerly 
 contain as many letters as at present. The 
 letters ' i ' and ' j ' were identical until a recent
 
 Abbreviations, Etc. 141 
 
 period. ' W ' is said to have been derived from 
 two ' u's,' and is always so written in old deeds, 
 joined together, while 'u' and *v' were used 
 indiscriminately. In old manuscripts the short- 
 stroke letters were formed alike ; thus ' n,' ' u,' 
 ' w,' ' i,' are merely strokes or minims, difficult 
 to distinguish, more particularly where any of 
 these letters occur side by side in the formation 
 of words ; to count the strokes is the only guide. 
 Practice and a knowledge of likely words to be 
 employed solve the knotty point. 
 
 The chief difficulty of all lies in the correct 
 rendering of names, for these have perpetually 
 changed in their spelling. In a single deed 
 several different forms may be observed, the 
 result of clerical copying. Even with names the 
 system of abbreviation was carried on, especially 
 among court rolls ; this will be noticed in such 
 surnames as ' Couper ' written ' Coup,' ' Shep- 
 herd ' as ' Shep.' 
 
 In certain styles of mediaeval writing the 
 terminals of words are carried upwards with a 
 long sweep, and are confusing in their resem- 
 blance to abbreviation marks. Here, again, 
 practice alone accustoms the eye to decide 
 whether a word is complete or not. 
 
 Dots and other kinds of stops in writing have 
 r^nly\cpme, gradually into use in their present 
 significance.
 
 142 Abbreviations, Etc. 
 
 In the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, as in Roman 
 inscriptions, the dot is freely used to denote con- 
 tractions as well as to divide the words from each 
 other. In Domesday this is also noticed ; but with 
 later manuscripts the dot, or point, such as is used 
 in Norman times, fell into disuse in favour of lines 
 or curves for the abbreviated syllables. Upon the 
 introduction of printing our various kinds of stops 
 are first observed. It is said that the Elzevirs in- 
 vented some of them. The reversed semicolon is 
 commonly observed in some manuscripts. 
 
 Sooner or later, in any antiquarian search, the 
 printed sources of information will be exhausted, 
 and are not unfrequently found to be untrust- 
 worthy, especially county histories, which, being 
 compiled by men unacquainted with every minor 
 detail of the locality, are naturally liable to con- 
 fuse places of similar names. Nor is it possible 
 in so large a subject as a county history to enter 
 minutely into the separate parish histories of 
 places and people. Thus after awhile the untrust- 
 worthiness and insufficiency of book-knowledge 
 will be discovered, and some more original source 
 of information become desired. Manuscripts exist 
 in plenty, but are of little value unless studied 
 personally; for professional readers, although 
 able to read quickly and correctly, only give the 
 information desired ; whereas in a personal search 
 one subject opens out fresh clues to others of equal
 
 Abbreviations, Etc. 143 
 
 importance, and new light is continually being 
 thrown upon hitherto unnoticed points ; more- 
 over, only by a personal investigation can the 
 antiquary be certain that he has obtained exactly 
 what he required. There are now plenty of 
 opportunities open to the public of seeing the 
 old documents pertaining to various offices and 
 societies, besides private collections, but without 
 some previous knowledge of the old handwritings, 
 etc., this permission is practically valueless. 
 Therefore, * Persevere and practise ' is the best 
 motto I can give to those interested in the 
 matter, for proficiency comes quickly to those 
 who seek it ; and, as in all subjects, ' Nothing 
 ucceeds like success.' 
 
 JL^ 
 
 THE END. 
 
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