1914 BARONS OF KERRY ^AND LIXNAW 315 space (so it is reported) of twelve yeeres the Desmonds durst not put plow in ground in his owne Country' Thus by discarding unproved, or rather disproved, ancient pedigrees and traditions, and relying mainly on the evidence of records and, I venture to think, sound deductions therefrom, made in the light of ascertained historical and topographical facts, we find that the barons of Kerry and Lixnaw came of the same stock as the earls of Desmond—the common ancestor being Thomas of Shanid, youngest son of the first Maurice FitzGerald— and not from any supposed issue, legitimate or otherwise, of Downloaded from Raymond le Gros or of Raymond FitzGriffin. The foregoing, put in tabular form beside the Desmond line, is as follows: Maurice a. of Gerald of Windsor, ob. 1176. http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ Thomas younger s. of Maurice, held lands in co. Limerick (including Shanid ?); ob. 1213. I John s. and h. of Thomas, held Maurice s. of Thomas s. of Maurice, a Shanid in capite, and (in hostage released and sent to Ireland Kerry) Acmikery of Miles de in 1215 ; engaged in -building Courcy, and Moyhynwyr along the river Maine in and after

with suit of Court at Altry; 1215; held the manor of Altry at Sheffield University on September 9, 2015 founded convent of Tralee (Lixnaw?) in Clanmaurice; ob. before 1243 ; killed at Callan 1261. 1253. Maurice s. of John; killed at Thomas s. of Maurice; founded convent Callan 1261. of Ardfert 1253 ; ob. 1280 ? Thomas s. of Maurice and Maurice s. of Thomas, held the manor grandson and h. of John; of Altry; paid for service of Confey came of age 1282 ; ob. 1298. 1281; summoned repeatedly from 1295 to 1302 for Scotfash wars,

The Name of THE origin of the name Flint is a problem which has been variously solved by the local historians. The commonly accepted explana- tion is that when Edward I built Flint Castle it was at first known as ' Castrum apud Fluentum', and that this word Fluentwn ' in course of time became corrupted into Flint '.x The essential 1 H. Taylor, Hutoric Notice* of Flint, p. 2. 316 THE NAME OF FLINT CASTLE April weakness of this explanation is that no documentary authority is given for the alleged ' Castrum apud Fluentum '.* The actual facts seem to be these. When Edward began to erect the castle on 25 July 1277,3 he fixed his quarters ' near Basingwerk ' ; there are extant records, dated from 22 to 29 July ' in castris prope Basingwerk ',* and nearly a month later, from 20 to. 23 August ' in castris prope Basingwerk '.5 That this caatra was Flint is proved by a document dated 23 August ' in castris apud It FlyjU prope Basingwerk '.• These facts show that when the

castle began to be built on 25 July there was no distinct name Downloaded from attached to the site. Had any existed, the chancery clerks would be pretty sure to have discovered and used it;7 but on this occasion they had to take their bearings from the nearest available landmark—the Cistercian abbey of Basingwerk three miles

away. They had clearly heard nothing of any ' Castrum apud http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ Fluentum '. A month later they still wrote 'in castris prope Basingwerk ', but by that time, apparently, a definite name had begun to be attached to the place, for it has slipped into two documents ; 8 but it is obviously new, for the clerks have embedded it in the old formula—' in castris apud U Flynt prope Basingwerk '. Again there is no mention of ' Castrum apud Fluentum ' : ' le Flynt' is there full blown, and that within a month of the day

when the building of the castle first rescued the spot from inglo- at Sheffield University on September 9, 2015 rious anonymity.9 What then is the derivation of the word ? There is good evidence that the name is simply the TCngiiahwor d ' flint' used as a proper noun. In the Calendar of Welsh Rolls there are two entries (dated respectively 13 December 1277 and 18 January 1278) relating to the appointment of one Nicholas Bonel to be receiver of the issues of the king's cantreds of Tegeingl and Rhos, ' and also surveyor of the king's works in those parts, both at Le Chaylou and at Rothelan.'w I showed the entries to Professor Tout, who at once suggested that ' Le Chaylou' was almost certainly simply ' Le Caillou *—a French translation of ' Flint', 9 Mr. Taylor say* only that' this view of the etymology of the name was supported by the late Lord Hanmer ', who died in 1881. 1 Taylor, Historic Notices of Flint, pp. 16 seqq. 4 Exchequer Accounts, King's Remembrancer, 250/25; Googh's Itinerary of Edxari 1; CaL of Patent SoUs, 1277, pp. 224-5. I owe the first of these references to the fcfminffffi of Professor Tout, who has supplemented the facts which I had gathered from printed sources by his wide knowledge of unpublished records. * Gough's Itinerary ; CaL of Patent Boils, 1277, pp. 221-42. • Rymer, Foedera, ed. 1816, I. ii. 344. 7 They did not shrink from attempting the most difficult Welsh name*; see Gough's Itinerary. • Eymer, U; CaL of Patent Boils, 1277, pp. 225, 227. * Professor Tout informs me that the name Flint is used as a matter of coarse in the Wardrobe Account* of November 1277 (K. R. 250/25). 10 CaL of Chancery SoOs, Various, 1277-1326, pp. 160,164. 1914 THE NAME OF FLINT CASTLE 317 caiUou being then, as now, the French word for ' flint'. This form ' Le Chaylou ' does not seem to exist elsewhere in the printed records, but it is interesting that it should emerge within five months of the first appearance of the name as a simple literal translation of an ordinary English word into French. Now the men of Edward I's day were quite familiar with ' La Roche ' as the name of a castle. At that time the use of English was rapidly spreading among the upper classes.11 The word ' flint' was commonly used in medieval "English for ' rock ' in general." May not ' the Flint \ unconsciously as it were, be good Downloaded from English for ' La Roche ' ? It is true that the district is not rocky, but then the castle itself is built on ' a small rocky platform extending about fifty yards into the channel of the river Dee '.a The name appeared while the builders were still engaged upon the foundations, and ' the Flint ' is probably this ' small rocky http://ehr.oxfordjournals.org/ 14 platform ' on which the castle stands. J. G. EDWARDS.

The Taxes upon Movables of the Reign of Edward II

TAXES dpon movable goods were imposed upon the nation seven at Sheffield University on September 9, 2015 times during the reign of Edward n.1 For two of these, the grants of 1309 and 1319, the sums charged against the counties have been published in full by Sir James Ramsay in this Review.* Since for the sixteenth and fifteenth of the year 1316 only the figures for the sixteenth were printed, they have been repeated in the following table in order to make the subsidy of that year complete. The standard list of movables exempted from taxation, first made up in the year 1290, was used throughout the reign

u See Wright's introduction to Pierre de Langtoft'* Clironkle (Bolls Series). a See New English Dictionary, s.v. Flint. 11 See the Inventory of Monuments (issued bv the Royal Commission, 1912), p. 26. Ct X»ylor, p. 15. 14 When this note was put together I was not aware that Professor J. E. Lloyd of Bangor had, just about the same time, dealt with this question in the coarse of a paper on the Township of Coleshill, which will shortly be published in the Transactions of the Flintshire Historical Society. Mr. Lloyd has been good enough to inform me that my conclusions agree substantially with his own, and I am glad to be able to support my suggestions with the weight of his authority. 1 For an explanation of the terms here used see my paper on The Taxes *pon Movables of the Reign of Edward I {ante, xxviii. 517-18). I there stated that no movables were exempted in 1301. This is incorrect. A writ of privy seal, dated 23 November, 1301, was sent to the treasurer and barons commanding the exemption of the armour, riding-horses, jewels, and clothing of the knights, gentlemen, and their wives, and their vessels of gold, silver, and brass. The writ to the collectors of the tax, to this effect, is dated 9 December, 1301, King's Remembrancer, Memoranda Roll, no. 75 (30 Edward I), m. 11 d. » Ante, xxiv, p. 319.