THE LADY ELGIVA, ST AETHELWOLD AND THE LINSLADE CHARTEROF 966

ARNOLD H.J. BAINES

The evidence of land charters permits o reossessmentof the life of the Lody Elgivo @EASy.fu) of the royal house of 14essex,a greot landowner in Buckinghamshire, whose marriage to King Edwy wos dissolved in the course of the constitutional crisis of 957-8. Her will (c. 970) is translated ond is shown to reflect the influence of St AEthelwold. It illustrotes the use and the manumission of penal sloves in the Chiltern areo. A charter gronting Linslade to her in 966 is edited; a politically significont omission from it is restored; the bounds of Linslade are determined, and reasonsfor the gront suggested. The Lody Elgiva the English monarchy. The key to theseevents During the reign of Edgar the Peaceable, seemsto have been generally overlooked for Linslade became part of a great "honour" more than a century. It is that circumstances centred on Wing and including Princes Ris- had enabled her mother AEthelgyfu, who borough, Bledlow, Whaddon, Haversham, belonged to the dispossessedsenior branch of Marsworth, Chesham, Berkhamsted,Hatfield the royal house of Wessex, to arrange a and other more distant manors. Its lady was dynastic marriage which was fiercely opposed AElfgyfu, Latinized as Elgiva, whose memory by the adherentsof the reigning branch, the was preserved by the New Minster at Win- descendantsof Alfred, and in particular by St chester as an illustrious woman who had Dunstan. commendedherself to the prayersof the com- munity by the gift of almsl. Shewas concerned with the development of the hamlets of Ris- When King Edmund,Alfred's grandson,was borough by those condemnedto penal slavery, assassinatedon 26 May 9466at the age of 24, whom she manumitted by her will2, which after a highly successfulreign of six years, he exhibitsthe strong influenceof St AEthelwold. left two sons, Edwy, then aged about six, and A major restoration of the great 7th-century Edgar, who can hardly have been more than basilicaat Wing belongsto her time3 and may three. Their mother St Elgiva (AElfgyfu) had well have been undertaken by her at his in- died on l8 MayTin 944 or 945. Edmund lost no stance, though King Edgar, to whom she left time in remarrying; his second wife was Wing and Linslade,may havecompleted it. AEthelflred of Damerham, the daughter of EaldormanAElfgar8. Only two charters in Elgiva's favour have survived, Edgar's grants of Linsladea and As Edmund's two sons were so young, they Newnham Murrens in 966; this may suggest were passed over in favour of his brother 'the that much of her land was folkland, held under Eadred Chosen', "electione optimatum customary law, and that her legateeshad no subrogatus"e. There is evidencethat the child- documentsof title earlier than her will, made ren were not brought up by their stepmother with Edgar's consent. These two diplomas, and were in fact separated, a circumstance approved at the samewitenagemot, are suffici- likely to affect their future relationship. ent to identify her with the unfortunate wife of Edgar's foster-motherwas AElfwenl0, wife of 'Half-King', King Edwy (Eadwig). She had been at the Athelstan ealdorman of East centre of a crisis which temporarily disrupted Anglia. Their eldestson AEthelwold held the ll0 same office "one short only of royalty" from with Danish supportle but was killed at the 956 to c. 962; his death was falselyattributed to battle of the Holme. his foster-brother King Edgarll, who married his widow AElfthryth in 96412or 96513;she AEthelgyfu seemsnot to have given up all 'the becamethe mother of King Ethelred Un- dynastichopes for her family, the elder branch ready' and was strongly suspected of the of "the right kingly kin of England"2o. By the murder of her stepson St Edward, King and early 950s it must have been apparent that Martyr, in 978to securethe crown for her son. Eadred was quite likely to die childless;if so, her fosterling Edwy would probably succeed Edwy appearsto have been fostered by one him. She could not marry Edwy herself, but of the numerousAElfrics of the period, sincein she could induce him to marry her daughter one of his earliestchartersra he describesAElric Elgiva, who was of ripe age, and so reunite the (for AElfric) ashis adoptivus porens. Adoption two leading branchesof the house of Wessex. in the full Roman sense,involving reception The prospect was abhorrent to St Dunstan. into a new family, was unknown to Old English himself of that house, abbot of Glastonbury, law, and the English term would have been Eadred'sclosest adviser, who countedit among fostor-feder. E.W. Robertson suggestedin his chief cares "to dissolveby just separation 187215that Edwy's foster-rnotherduring the foolish or wrongful marriages"2l. Dunstan nine years of Eadred's reign was AEthelgyfu, may well havebeen responsible for an admonit- mother of our AElfgyfu (whose name would ion in Edmund's laws "Wel is eacto warnianne thus have taken its first element from her itret man wite dret hy (the bridegroom and father's name, its secondfrom her mother's). bride)purh megsibbe to gelrengene beon" (i.e. This suggestionwas endorsed by William Hunt are not within the prohibited (seven)degrees)22. 16 in the Dictionary of National Biography in Elgiva was third cousin to Edwy, but on this 1885,but hassince been ignored. It explainsa basis most marriages in an English village greatdeal. would have been dubious. The real if not the ostensibleobjections were surely political and social.The marriagecould be expectedto trans- AEthelgyfu was descended from Alfred's fer influence from Edwy's grandmother elder brother King Ethelred; her son AEthel- Eadgyfu, widow of Edward the Elder, patron weard recalledthe relationshipin the dedicatory of Dunstan and of the monasticrevival, to the epistleof his Chronicle "as our memory pro- new king's prospectivemother-in-law, who, on vides proof, and as our parents have taught the view taken here,was also his foster-'mother. us". In the prologue to the last book he so that the parties had been brought up as promised "origo prosapiae generis nostri in- brother and sister. It was not unreasonableto dicatur aperius", and the secondchapter deals regard this as a relationship that should with the subject after recording the death of precludetheir marriage. King Ethelred I "from whose root I spring". He emphasizedthat Alfred got the kingdom Edwy and Edgar both came to their uncle's ,,I after the death of all his brothers. have court during Eadred'slast year, 955, when they 'clito' 'tedeling'2r. given attention to the history of our race as far sign as and On 23 Novem- as these two kings from whom we derive our ber Eadred died after a long illness, during descent". Ironically,the eventsof 946had re- which he was frequently unable to attend the peatedthose of 871, when the son of Ethelred Witan and was preoccupiedwith the recovery had been too young to reign. ln 899 Alfred's of Northumbria2a. son Edward the Elder, already associatedwith him in the governmentl?,was chosenking by Edwy, who was now about 15, was elected the Witan ("a primatibus electis", as AEthel- king by the West Saxonsand by the Mercians weard alone recordsl8). Ethelred'sson AEthel- and Northumbrians. His immediate reception wold assertedhis claim as heir of Egbert and of was favourable. AEthelweard commented AEthelwulf, and raised the standard of revolt "For his great beauty he received from the llr 'All-fair' common people the by-name . . . He marriage"33. Edwy was anointed and crowned deservedto be loved"25. Larer writers confirm at Kingston by St Oda. All went well until the this. Henry of Huntingdon, or rather his King, still wearing his crown, jumped up and source,wrote "non illaudibiliter regni infulam left the coronation banquet to enjoy the tenuit"26. The kingdom was at peace,a peace company of his intended bride Elgiva and her which, as far as external enemieswere con- mother. The whole company felt insulted,and cerned, was to last for 25 years. Edwy's Oda suggestedthat a delegationbe sentto bring appointments to the provincial governorships him back. At first no one wished to incur the were irreproachable and proved lasting. He King's annoyanceand the noble ladies'enmity, named his kinsman AElfhere (ex porentela but finally they chose the two "most firm of regi9i) as ealdorman of Mercia, where spirit", Dunstan and Cynesige. After some autonomist feelings were still strong. AElf- altercation Edwy returned, but Dunstan soon here's position was semi-royal; the Evesham left England and took refuge in the recently chronicler called him "potentissimus huius reformed monasteryat Chent3a. Bishop Cyne- patriae dominator"28, the patria being Mercia. sigeleft the court and did not return until May AEthelwold, Edgar's foster-brother, soon 95735when the disruption of the kingdom was replaced Brihtferth as ealdorman of East imminent. Anglia, and Byrhtnoth took chargeof Essex,in defenceof which he was to die in 991. AElf- The story lost nothing in the telling. Edwy here's brother AElfheah becameealdorman of was said to have left the feastto amusehimself Hampshire a few months later. It is not certain with both ladies. Dunstan, it was rumoured. which ealdorman took chargeof Buckingham- had found him "repeatedlywallowing between shire which, though historically and linguistic- the two of them in evil fashion, as if in a vile ally Mercian, had been annexedto Wessexby sty" with the crown thrown down on the floor. Edward the Elder2e:but AElfheah'sinfluence in It was believedthat Dunstan had usedviolence. the proto-county must have been very great. and that AEthelgyfuinduced the King to banish His will30,which took effect in 971. showsthat him so that shecould seizehis property. Edwy he held Aylesbury and Wendover, which he left certainly married Elgiva and her mother to the King and which becameroyal manors in acquired some influence, but, as Sir Frank ancient demesne,and land in the Wycombes, Stenton pointed out, "churchmen of the which he left to his kinsman AEthelweard. highest merit were willing to come to court (Elgiva herself devisedland at Wichom, bur it is when both the ladies were present"36. The not quite certain that this is Wycombe, in view bishops of the older generation adhered to of the form et llicumun in AElfheah'swill.) Edwy, but the abbots ceased to attend the Witan, with a notable exception. St AEthel- Among King Edwy's first actswas to give his wold, whose friendship with Elgiva is amply adoptive father AElric an estatein Berkshire. evidenced,came and receivedfurther grantsfor The grant3l was attestedby Archbishop Oda, the abbey which he was restoring at Abing- the king's brother Edgar (who at first ranked don37.The major grant38of 100hides had been after the archbishops),the seven ealdormen, made before or at the time of the coronation in eight bishops, including Cynesigeof Lichfield, pursuance of undertakings given by King and Abbot Dunstan: the two last-namedwere Eadred, who had recently measured out the of the royal house, and were soon to incur the foundations of the new abbey church with his king'senmity. own hands.

The earliest Life of Dunstan clearly implies Apart from this debt of honour, Edwy's gifts that by the time of the coronation on 27 to the church were few. During the preceding January 95632AEthelgyfu was a widow "pur- reigns, the Queen Mother Eadgyfu had exer- suing [Edwy] and wickedly enticing him to cised increasing influence in favour of the intimacy, obviously in order to join and ally Church and especiallyof the new Benedictine herself or else her daughter to him in lawful monasticism. She now withdrew from court. n2 and her grandson appropriated her extensive Elevenmore royal diplomasof 956 are inter- estatesin Wessex3e,some of them Eadred's connectedby their witnesslists; one of these, recent gifts to her inter vivofl or by willal. dated 29 November, issuedat the royal palace Other counsellorsof Eadred were plunderedby of Cheddar56,probably givesthe time and place a king who "ruined with vain hatred the shrewd of the witenagemotwhich authorizedthe whole and wise"42. group. Among the king's thegns, AElfheah, who was probably already ealdorman- Edwy lost no time in enriching his young designatesT,moves to the head of the list, dis- West Saxon friends. Eight charters in their placing AElfsige. Of the other granteesof the favour, issuedabout the time of his coronation, coronation charters, AEthelgeard was still have survived43.The granteesare not described prominent, but losing standing,while Wulfric, as "faithful minister" as had beenusual, but as the "very famous huntsman" drops out. familiarissimus4, fomiliarissimus fidelis AEthelmrer, the praeses(king's reeve)who had 47, (twice)45,fidelis (thrice)a6,fidetis vassalus received Chetwode and Hillesden in 94958. dilectus fidelis and famosissimus venatora8.The attended the first, third and last of the five Witan met again a fortnight later on 13 Feb- sessionsduring this eventful year, his position ruary'e when Edgar was given precedence in the lists of thegns ranging from second to before Archbishop Oda and at least twenty fourteenth, averagingfifth but tending to de- more grantsof land were approved. The grant- cline5e.The order of precedencein witnesslists eesare variously describedas among the king's seems to provide a sensitive indication of principes, proceres optimates, chari propinqui changesin royal favour. S.D. Keynes' minute 'precious')50. or simply cori (carus At this comparisons have shown that nearly all the early stageof the reign one cannot agreewith sixty-oddcharters of 956 must havebeen drawn Plummer5l that theselavish grants suggestthe up by a centralsecretariat, no doubt augmented consciousnessof weaknessand an attempt to as occasionrequired. conciliatesupport. In fact Edwy was following a deliberatebut hazardouspolicy of replacing the existing thegnly establishmentby his own circle "admitting with loving zeal the ignorant Edwy's continuedimprovidence alienated the and those like himself"52. Among the most magnatesof Mercia and the North, and in some prominent in the Witan were AElfsige,Wulfric quarters anger was directed not only at the and AEthelgeard,who were among the Febru- king's West Saxon favourites, who were help- ary grantees. AEthelwold attended, but ing themselvesto the Crown lands, but also at attestedonly the two chartersin favour of his his marriage. In the following year Archbishop abbey53;one of these was supported also by Oda, who was of Danish birth, declaredit void. Abbot Dunstan, his last official act before his According to the D-text of the Chronicle, s.a. exile. Bishop Daniel of Cornwall, who had 958, he separatedthe partiesbecause they were attestedall the coronation charters. witnessed too nearly akin (Oda arcebiscopto twremde only two on this occasion, one of these an Eadwi cyning & Algyfe, forpem fe hi wrron Abingdon grant. The magnates were out- to gesybbe). Sir Frank Stenton regardedthis numberedby at least29 king's thegns. text as "too late to have authority on a subject which invited legendaryaccretions"o, but this seemsunduly sceptical.The manuscriptis post- Conquest and the text highly composite, but The Witan seemsto have met twice during this looks like one of the annalsrelating to the the spring and summer of 956, perhaps at period 900-959which were incorporatedin the Easter and Whitsun; four extant charters are ancestorof D at Ripon6l. ProfessorWhitelock assignableto the former session54.three to the acceptedthe substanceof the annal but not the latter55. The beneficiariesare describedmore date62;the event probably precededand may conventionally as minister or fidelis minister have precipitatedthe Mercian revolt during the (AElfheah isfidelis minister ac propinquus). summerof 957. 113 The chief men of the midland and northern of endearment,except that Wulfgar Leofa is his peoples, despising Edwy "because he acted koru{8 and Cenric his faithful propincernar- foolishly in the governmentcommitted to him" iu.t'e(qu. one who mixesdrinks?). Thesegrants agreedto chooseEdgar, then aged 14, as their ceasein 959, to which year only two or perhaps king; he had beenbrought up among them, and three of his diplomascan be assignedTo.One of is styled regulus, sub-king, in an anomalous theseis a grant of privilegesand confirmation charter of 95663.Thereafter Edwy was still rex of lands to AEthelwold's abbey of Abingdon, Anglorum, Edgar rex Merciorum et Northon- witnessed by Edwy's grandmother Eadgyfu, hymbrorum otque Brettonum64. This partition whose property he had seized;this has been or dyarchy seemsto have beeneffected without regarded as discrediting that charter, but it civil war; "in the witnessof the whole people seemsquite likely that Edwy showedsigns of the statewas divided betweenthe kings asdeter- repentancebefore he "breathed his last by a mined by wisemen [: by the Witan] so that the miserabledeath" on I October 959. He was famous River Thames separatedthe realms of barelytwenty. both"65. This impliesthat Middlesex,Bucking- hamshire and Oxfordshire were retrocededto The kingdom was reunited under Edgar, Mercia, but it leavesthe position of Gloucester- electedby both peoplesas true heir, at the age shireuncertain. Something violent happenedat of sixteenTl.He made considerablechanges in Gloucester. According to Osbern's life of St the secretariat,made restitution to his grand- Dunstan, written after the Conquest, Edwy motherT2 and to WulfricT3 and deposed encountered insurgents there and had to Brihthelm, who had not yet received the retreat; the "people of the North" caught pallium, replacing him at Canterbury by Elgiva and hamstrungher so that shedied. The Dunstan. This would not have strengthened story is elaborated in the Vits Odonis: the Elgiva's position, for they were not reconciled, Archbishop had her branded and sent to but in 963 her friend AEthelwold became Ireland; when she returned, the "men of the bishop of Winchester. There she was enrolled servant of God" seizedher at Gloucesterand without question in the register of the New put her to death in the way described. As Minster, where Edwy was buried, as Elgiva was alive in 966, theselegends must be "AElfgyfu, coniunx Eadwigi regis"74. In the rejected, but her name was readily confused Linslade and Newnham charters she has the with her mother's (AElf- and AEthel- were honourabletitle matrona, which was also given falling togther as AEI- or Al- by the late l0th by King Edgar to his stepmother, King century66)and the wrath of the northernersmay Edmund's widow75. The title 'queen' (cwEn, well have been directed against AEthelgyfu, regina) was not used in Wessexfor the king's who disappears from history at this point, wife76until Edgar revived it in favour of his exceptfor the requestin her daughter'swill that secondwife AElfthryth (Alftruda); as she was Bishop AEthelwold would constantly pray for his foster-brother's widow his own marriage them both. was open to criticism,and he would not wish to condemnElgiva's. Elgiva probably retired to her Buckingham- shire estates,which were now within Edgar's The words in the Linslade and Newnham kingdom. Edgar made no changesin the pro- charters "que mihi af(f)initate mundialis vincial governments,but he recalled Dunstan cruoris conjuncta est" were probably intended and soon made him bishop of Worcesterand to convey that Edgar recognisedthat he was then of London also67.Archbishop Oda died in linked to Elgiva by offinitas, relarionship the summer of 958; his successor,Bishop through marriage. "Affinity of earthly blood" AElfsigeof Winchester,died of cold in the Alps is reallya contradiction,since affinis is not used while travelling to Rome for his pallium, and of a blood-relation. He was of courseher fairly Edwy then nominated Brihthelm of Wells. remote kinsman, and possibly he meant to During 958 he made some further grants of indicatethat they had no spiritual relationship. land in Wessexto his thegns,but without terms Among the relativeswho were affinis was levir, r14 husband'sbrother (the converseterm isfratria, The will, made between966 and 975. mav be brother's wife)7?but this would not obtain if translatedas follows: Elgiva's marriage was regarded as void ab initio, as Oda appears to have held. In the This is AElfgyfu's entreaty (/ir. yearning)to almost contemporary life of St Oswald, who her royal lord. That is that shebeseeches him was Oda's nephew, Edwy's offence is said to for the love of God and for (the sakeof his) have been adultery, which would be a ground kingship that she may be worthy of her will for separationbut not for annulment. A recent (i.e. that shemay be given permissionto dis- Archbishop of Canterbury once remarked to pose of her estateby will). Then she tells the writer that "the whole thing was a shady thee, Sire (/it. belovedone), by thy permiss- business". Both grants to Elgiva were ion what she wishesto give to the church of expressedto be made pro obsequio ejus devot- God for thee and for thy soul. That is, first. issimo, for her most devoted obedience or that shegrants to the Old Minster (Winches- allegiance;this strongly suggeststhat she was ter Cathedral)where she gives thanks that her among those who had adheredto Edgar at the body is to rest, the land at (Princes) Ris- timeof thedisruption. boroughjust as it stands,save that shewishes by thy permission that they free in every proem The of the Linsladecharter, discussed hamlet every penally enslavedman who was below, seemsto have been skilfully drafted to enslavedunder her, and two hundred man- convey severe though indirect criticism of cusesof gold to that minster. and her shrine Edwy's improvidence. It will be suggestedthat with her halidom (collectionof relics). it was abbreviated,so as not to offend Elgiva, once an implied censureof her own conduct And shegrants to the New Minster (at Win- was noticed. chester)the land at Bledlow and a hundred mancuses of gold, and an offering-dish The Lady Elgiva's Will (paten)to the Nuns'Minster (at Winchester); Elgiva's will takes the form of a petition to and the land at Whaddon to Romsey(Abbey) Edgar as her liege lord. It was made after she for Christ and Saint Mary, and (the land) at had received Linslade and Newnham Murren Chesham to Abingdon (Abbey), and at but some time before Edgar's death, sincethe Wichom(Wycombe?) to Bath (Abbey). deviseto him of Marsworth took effect. and he gave that estateto Ely78. The English text of And I grant to my royal lord the land at the will, preservedin the Codex Wintoniensi{e Wing and at Linslade, and at Haversham, printed was by Kemble80and Thorpesl, who and at Hatfield (Herts.), and at Marsworth, dated it l0l2 and attributed it to the first wife and at Gussage(in Dorset) 'the and two bracelets of King Ethelred Unready'. Birch, whose eachof which is of 120mancuses, and a sop- collection ended in 975, tacitly accepted this cup (drinking-cup) and six horses, and as date by omitting the will, and the error was first many shieldsand spears;and to the Atheling corrected by Dorothy M. Jennings about (the king's son, but which son?) the land at 191482;but as the publication of the Victoria Newnham (Murren, Oxon.) and a braceletof County History was delayed by the war and 30 mancuses,and to the Lady (the king's other causesthe first publishedcorrection was wife) a necklace of 120 mancuses and a by F.G. Gurney83,who gave other reasons braceletof 30 mancusesand a sop-cup. why the date l0l2 was impossible. Unfortun- ately it was repeatedby Mawer and Stenton8a. And I grant to AEthelwoldthe bishop (of Win- The suggestion,tentatively made by Gurney, chester) the land at Teafersceat (Tiscott?) that the restatrix was Edwy's separatedwife, and ask him that he will always pray for my was supported by Professor Whitelock85and mother and for me. acceptedby A. Campbell86as explaining her brother'skindness to Edwv'smemorv. And I grant by my lord's permissionthe land I l5 at Mongewell (Oxon.) and at Berkhamsted free all his penal slaves:"And ic wullan lrt (Herts.) to AElfweard and AEthelweardand man gefreogan alcne wite leowne man on AElfwaru in common for their days, and relcum prera landr fre ic minon freondan bre after their days to the Old Minster for my cweddanhrebbre"88. This was probably at the royal lord and for me; and they are to supply instanceof St AEthelwold, who witnessedthe each year two days' farm (food-rent) to the will; it may explain why there were no servi at two minsterswhile they enjoy (the estates). Wendover in 1086, and only two at Ayles- bury8e; those in the two Wycombes were And I grant to AElfwaru my sisterall that I probably of British origin. AEthelflred, King have lent her; and to AEthelflrd my Edmund's widow, stepmother of Edwy and brother's wife the (head) band which I have Edgar, whoseestates included Hadham (Herts.) lent her. directed in her will "Ic wille p(rt) man frigr hrealue mine men on elcum tune for mine And to each abbot five pounds in (silver) sawlre"s. This would include those whose pennies for his minster's advantage. And, servitude was hereditary, as well as penal Sire, by thy permissionthat I may entrust to slaves. In l0l5 the atheling Athelstan, whose the bishop and the abbot the residue(of my estatesincluded Marlow, directed in his willel possessions)for the advantageof the holy that every penally enslavedman whom he had place (Winchester)and to shareamong poor acquiredin the courseof jurisdiction should be men, just as it seemsto them most beneficial freed;thus in 1086there was only one seryuson 'tharfliest'87) (/i/. for me beforeGod. the principal manor of Marlow, with l5 hides and 26 ploughlandsand ploughteams. And I beseechmy royal lord for God's love that (he will) not forsake my men who seek Hence there is evidencethat the exploitation him, and are worthy of him. of the Chilterns from the mid-tenth century onwardswas carried out with the help of penal And I grant to AElfweard a sop-cup and to slaves. When liberated they would probably AEthelweardan ornamentaldrinking-horn. remain where they were as freedmen (colibertD and their descendantswould be bordars or This will hasmany featuresof interest.Elgiva cottars. had made arrangementsto be buried at Win- Among the upland hamlets Risborough, chester,but in the Cathedral (the Old Minster) of Loosley Row (ft/ds-/Eclr,'pigsty-clearing') not in the adjoining New Minster with her late was probably settledby Elgiva's swineherds.Their husband. Her soul-scot,expressed to be for the activities would require a substantial fence benefit of the King's soul rather than her own, between their land comprisedPrinces Risborough with its hamlets and the woodlands of Monks Risborough, which (Longwick, Meadle, Alscot, Culverton, came into the possessionof Canterbury, Loosley Row, Lacey Creen, Speen). The in- and it happensthat the most likely for fluence of Bishop AEthelwold is shown in the date the southward extensionof the Black Hedge between liberation of penal slavesin every tun on this the two Risboroughsis in the late lOth estate (not elsewhere);this would require the centurye2.This doesnot mean that Elgiva (or AEthelwold)and King's consent to the remission of their Dunstan engagedin a joint undertaking; the sentence. Normally land was left, even to the position of the hedgebank implies that the Church. mid mete und mid mannum. and the initiativecame from her sideof the boundary. slaves would be gaining their liberty at the Church's expenserather than Elgiva's; but this Chesham was left to Abingdon, where was a proper useof the Church's influence.The AEthelwold had been abbot until 963; he precedent was followed; the manumission of brought some of the monks with him to Win- slaves,especially of penal slaves,was encour- chester. An enterprisewhich may be due either agedas an act of Christian charity. Ealdorman to Elgiva or to the Abbey was the diversionof AElfheah, who died in 971,directed his heirsto the Chessto the north sideof CheshamMoor to l16 provide a headof water at Lord's Mill, which is lishedby 968e7.Perhaps significantly, there are certainly pre-Conqueste3. Edgar's time of no gifts to Ely or to Peterborough,which he peaceand prosperityseems most propitious for refounded in 970-71. There are four more such a task, and a technical comparison with points in the will which indicate her great the comparable l0th-century works at esteemfor him. First, she bequeathedto his Abingdon would be of interest. AEthelwold cathedral her scrin with her collection of relics. was a great builder there and at Winchesterea. which would be dearer to him than earthly He may well have encouragedElgiva to restore riches. The custody of relics was strongly and enlarge the great basilican church of All associatedwith that of archives:the term scrini- Saints at Wing; the exterior of the chancel is arias covers both, and an early llth-century among the best work of the l0th century, and Abingdon glossariste8wrote "scrinium vel until recentlythe church itself was attributed to Cancellaria,idem sunt"ry. Second,Elgiva left this periode5. AEthelwold a small estateas a personal gift. Further, she implored him to pray continually During 966 St AEthelwold was engaged in for her mother and herself. Lastly, she reforming the community at the New Minster. entrusted to the bishop and abbot (for some to whom Elgiva left Bledlow; this is so near time after 963 he held both offices at rhe Old Princes Risborough that she may have envis- Minster) the residueof her property, with dis- aged continued joint administration for the cretion how much to spendon the building and benefit of both monasteries.The two parishes, how much to give to poor men; for the Saint so dissimilar today, were almost twins in her was "a comforter of widows and a restorerof time. Both were assessedat 30 hides,and each the pos1"lm. He broke up vesselsand turned had woodland for 1000swine in 1086.but the them into money to relievethose suffering from differencein policy as regardsmanumission is a grievousfamine, probably that in 976, when reflectedin the Domesdaystatistics: the harvest failed; and the dedication of the rebuilt Cathedralwas delayeduntil 980. Hides Plough- Plough- Villeins Bordars Servi lands teams Elgiva's gifts to the King included a heriot Princes which was the same as that expected from an Risborough 30 242430123 ealdorman,and the greaterpart of her estates, Bledlow 30 18183238 including Wing and Linslade. The gift of Newnham Murren to the Atheling (by title, not In the refoundation charter of the New by name) raisesa delicatequestion. The New Minster%,written in lettersof gold, AEthelwold Minster charterr0r,probably drafted by AEthel- as bishop of Winchestertook precedencenext wold, shows that in 966 Edgar's baby son after the Archbishops. In the Linslade and Edmund by his second wife AElfthryth was Newnham charters of the same year, he had "clito legitimus prefati regis filius"; he was ranked after AElfstan, bishop of London; this brought into the witenagemot to make a crucis confirms his biographer's statementsthat he signoculumwith his infant hand. Edgar's elder spreadhis wings and was in King Edgar's con- son Edward was ranked below him. and des- fidence. He made regular preachingtours and cribed as "eodem regeclito procreatus". This went round the monasteries establishing suggestseither that Edgar's first marriage with 'Eneda' Benedictineusages (soon to be embodiedin the AEthelfled was regardedas uncanon- Regularis Concordia) and displacing secular ical, or that Edward was not born in wedlock. clerics and their wives, even those of noble If so the title Atheling was more properly given birth; this enragedthe magnates, especiallyin to Edmund than to Edward. By 968 the eueen Mercia. The secularcanons of Winchesterhad had a secondson Ethelredlo2to whom the style attemptedin 964 to poison him. The religious of atheling was also appliedlOs. The position houses to which Elgiva made gifts were all was radically changed when Edmund the connectedwith St AEthelwold: most of them Atheling died c. 97lte'. Edward was now abour were in being in 966, and Romsiy was estab- twelve years old, if he was born before his r17 father's accession to the English throne gold and l0 poundsin silverto specificlegatees, (according to Eadmer of Canterbury he was and an uncertain residue for charitable pur- legitimatebut not "born in the purple") while poses. There is no direct evidenceon land his half-brother Ethelredwas not abovefive. It valuesin the Chilternsor the Vale of Aylesbury was fairly clear that if Edgar died within the in the lOth century, and it does not seem next few years, Edward would succeed;but possibleto compare the value of Elgiva's real Ethelred still held the title Atheling, and when estatewith her wealthin preciousmetals. Edward was in fact electedto the throne in 975 with Dunstan's support, Ethelred was granted The Text of the Linslode Charter the estatesset aside for the king's sonsl05.These The text of the grant of Linslade by King would have included Newnham Murren. Edgar to his kinswoman, the noble matron 'the Elgiva's bequeststo Lady' (the traditional AElfgyfu, is preserved in the l3th-century term in Wessexfor the king's wife) were also Abingdon cartulary, the Cottonian manuscript made without mentioning a name, but took Claudius B vi fo. 72-3 in the British Library effect in favour of AElfthryth, who survived (cited as A). It has beenprinted by Kembler@, her and was associatedwith Edgar's gift of J. Stevensonll0and Birchlll. whoseedition is Marsworth to Ely Abbey. cited as B. The grant of Newnham Murrenl12, made on the sameoccasion, survives in what is As AElfweard is twice mentioned before probably a contemporary copy; it is to be AEthelweard, he was probably Elgiva's elder hopedthat it is not an original, for it would give brother. It has generally been assumedthat us no favourableimpression of the standardsof AEthelflred. who was left the head-bandwhich Edgar's writing-office. It has a different shehad borrowed, was the wife of AEthelweard (though related) proem, but the dispositive the Chronicler, becausea manumissionin the section, the immunity and reservationclauses Bodmin Gospelsrffi(not earlier than 1002)was and the anathema correspond so closely that made by an AEthelfled who was the wife of an the Newnham text (editedby Birch, cited as N) ealdormanAEthelweard. The Chronicler, who supplies only a few variant readings. Both ceasedto attend the Witan in 998, was ealdor- these diplomas use formulae which were well man of the western provincesl0T,including precedented;their immediate sourcemay have Cornwall, and he may well have had a Cornish been a charter of 96lll3, granting land at secretarylo8,but it seemsmore likely that the Hqmstede(unidentified) to a thegn Eadric; this manumittor was the Chronicler's son's standsimmediately after the Linslade grant in daughter, perhaps named after her the Abingdon cartulary, and is cited as H. It is grandmother; though this leaves open the one of a group of texts dated between960 and possibility that the AEthelflred of the will was 963 which can be associatedwith the scribe AElfweard's wife. Elgiva's relations with her whom Drdgereitllanamed 'Edgar A'. Five of siblingsseem to have been cool; she left them his diplomassurvive as originalsll5,including Berkhamsted and Mongewell only for their King Edgar's restitutionto Wulfric of the land lives, subject to a charge in favour of the which he had forfeited "ob cuiusdemoffensac- minsters;the mention of feorm may imply that uli causa"l16, Edgar's grant to his step- theseestates at leastwere folkland which could motherllTand a grant to Abingdonl18.Droge- not be alienatedfrom the kindred without royal reit made the attractivesuggestion that 'Edgar authority. The specific legaciesof a sop-cup A'might be St AEthelwoldhimself; his activity and a fine drinking-horn respectivelyto her ceasesjust when AEthelwold becamebishop of brotherswere clearly an afterthought. Winchester.This, however, is speculative;but in 966 and for some yearsthereafter draftsmen The mancus was a unit of account, the con- trained under 'Edgar A' were using his ventional price of an ox in the London district diplomas as precedents. The Hamstede according to VI Athelstan c. 6.2, a horse or a charter,or perhapsthe Linsladegrant basedon slavebeing four times as valuable. Taking the it, was the sourceof correspondingsections of mancus at 30 pence, Elgiva left 90 pounds in the Aspley Guise charter of 969lle, which was I l8 accepted by Professor Whitelockl20 as an l8 gentiumincircuitupenistentiurn original, and is cited as Asp. A lost Warwick- l9 qrzoddamruris prediolum.x. scilicet shire charter printed by J. Smith in l722t2| has 20 cassatascui solicolehuiusce pro- the same grantee and is in almost identical 2l uincieantiquum indiderunt terms. All these texts strongly support one 22 uocabulurnat lhincgelade.cuidart another and strengthen confidence in the 23 matrone ingenueque miftl afinitate Abingdon cartularist. Dr. S.D. Keynescon- 24 mundialiscruoris coniuncta es/ que cludedr22that the compiler of Claudius B vi, 25 ab istiuspatrie gnosticis eleganti when revising and expanding the Abingdon 26 AELFGIFU appellaturuocamine pro chronicle-cartulary Claudius C ix, took the 27 obsequioeius deuotissimo perpetua trouble to turn back to the original documents. 28 largitus sum hereditateut ipsa ui- In two cases his excellent transcript of the 29 ta comitecum omnibus utensilibus Linslade grant may improve on the spelling 30 pratis uidelicetpascuis. siluis uo- (line l0) or grammar (line 28) of the original. 3l ti composhabeat el post uite sueter- His only mistakesare an interlineation in line 32 minum quibrzscumqaeuoluerit clero- 44 and a false start in line 65. where his 33 nomis inmunem derelinquat. Sit exemplarmay have had a blunderedabbreviat- 34 autempredictum rus omni tenene ser- ion. He is howeverresponsible for a misleading 35 uitutis iugo liberum tribus exceptis heading "Carta regrs edgari de licchelade"; 36 rata uidelicetexpeditione. pontis. probably he knew Lechladebut not Linslade. 37 arcisuerestauratione. Siquis rgilar 38 hanc nos/ramdonationem in aliud The order of sectionsin the Linslade charter 39 quam constituimustransferre uoluerit is conventional. In the parallel Newnham text 40 priuatus consortio sanctedei ecclesieeter- the dating clauseis misplaced,separating "His 4l nis baratri incendislugubrls iugiter metis rus hoc giratur" from the boundary 42 cum iuda christi proditore eiusqaecom- clause. Perhapsthe dating clauseand witness plicibrzs list were added after the Newnham document 42 puniatur,si non satisfaccioneemendauer- had been usedin a ceremonyof conveyancel23, 44 it congruaqaod contra no.r/rr{mdeliquic and the scribe then put the sectionstogether decretum. unintelligently. 45 his metishoc rus giratur. Mete The text of the Linsladecharter is as follows: 46 pis sind pa land gemeru to hlinc- 47 gelade. oflincgeladeondlangea Line 48 to yttinga forda. ofpam forde andlang I Regnantezabaoth in perpe- 49 strreteto tumbaldestreowe. of pane 2 tuum domino nosfro ihesu chrlslo uni- 50 treweondlang strete on fone midle- 3 versaseddiuitiarum facultase/ 5l stanhlaw. of pannehlawe andlang 4 temporalis gazepossessio que pre- 52 strreteto seofanhlawan. of seofan 5 decessorum anxie sollicitudo per inde- 53 hlawan to ban anum hlawe. of pan 6 fessalaborum emulamezta lucratur 54 anum hlaweto brerlicecrofte to pan 7 prolhl dolor incertis heredibrzsinterdum 55 up heafdan. of pan up heafdanon 8 optatissepe exossis derelinquitar. 56 mrer denemidde weardeto pan ripige 9 Quem admodurnpsalmigraphus 57 of pan ripie be prererecera heafdan l0 inprouidiamhumani generis socor- 58 to pan ealdandic. andlangdices I I diam conquirensincrepat thes- 59 eft innan pa ea. 12 aurizat e/ ignorat cui congregat l3 ea . necnonsagax diuine sermonis 60 Anno ab incarnationedomini l4 sophistacelestique bibliotece iani- 6l nosfri ihesuchrlsti. dcccc.lx. vi. Scrrpta l5 tor metrrcafacundia fretuscata- 62 esl huius donationissingrafa his l6 lecticocecinit uersu. Qua.propterego 63 testibasconsentientibusquorurn 17 EADGAR rex anglorurzceterarumqr/e 64 inferiusnomina caraxantur. ll9 65 + Ego eadgarrex tocius Variant Reodings 66 brittannieprefatamdonationern A: B.L. Cotton, ClaudiusB vi, fos. 72-73 67 cum sigillo sanctecrucis confirmavi. B: Birch, Cortularium Soxonicum.no. I 189 68 + Ego dunstando[ro]bornensis H: 5698,for lines26-44 (8.L. Cott. Claudius 69 ecclesrearchieplscopas eiusdem regis do- B vi, fo.73) 70 nationemcum trrumpho agie N: 5738,for lines18-21,23-44,65-83 (ed. 7 | crucisconsignaui. Birch,no. I176) 72 + Ego oscytel archieprscopastrlum- Asp: 5772, for lines 28-44 (ed. Birch. no. 73 phalemtrofeum agie crucis r229\ 74 impressi. 75 + Ego relfstanlundoniensis Line 76 ecclesieepiscopus consignaui. 3 .s.A; scilicetB 77 + Ego apeluuolduuintoni- l0- soccordiam A (first '18 c underdotted for ensisecclesie episcopuspredictum donum I I deletion) '19 consensi. l8 persistentiumA; persistenstium(sic) N 80 + Ego osulf eplscopu.rconfirmaui. 20 solicoleA; solicolaeN 8l + Ego alfuuold episcopusconsignaui. 2l antiquum A; antiqum (sic)N 82 + Ego osuuold episcopusroboraui. 23 afinitateA; affinitate N 83 + Ego uuinsigeepiscopus consolidavi. 26 AElfgifu A;AElgifu N 84 + Ego alfuuold episcopussubscripsi. appellaturA; apellaturN 85 + Ego aelfstan episcopuscorroboraui. 28 ipsaA; ipseH, N, Asp 86 + Ego alfric abbas 30 uidelicetA, H, Asp: on. N 87 + Ego rescuuig abbas 3l uitesue A, H; vitaesuae N, Asp 88 + Ego osgar abbas 34 terreneA, H, N; terrenaeAsp 89 + Ego ordbriht abbas 37 gt A; igitur B, N, Asp; autem H 90 + Ego rlf[h]ere dux. 40- sqnctedei ecclesieeternis baratrl A, H 9l + Ego elfheah dux. 4l sanctae Dei ecclesiaeaeternis barathi 92 + Ego ordgar dux. (sic)N 93 + Ego apelstan dux. sancteDei aecclesiaeaeternis barathri 94 + Ego apeluuine dux. Asp 95 + Ego byrhtnod dux. 44 contra interlined A 96 + Ego brihtferd minister deliquidA, N, Asp; deliquit H 97 + Ego rlfuuine minls/er 45 Mete rubricoted A (probably added by 98 + Ego aleluueard minister cartularist) 99 + Ego uulfstan minister 65 btt (at end of line) A l0O + Ego osulf minister 67 sigilloA; singillo(sic) N l0l + Ego osuueard minister 68 dobornensisA; cf. DoronensisN, 102 + Ego relfuueard minister [Do]rovernensisAsp 103 + Ego relfsige minls/er 69 eiusdemA; eusdem(sic) N 104 + Ego osferd minister 72 oscytelA; oscutelN 105 + Ego apeluueard minls/er 76 ecclesieA: aecclesiaeN 106 + Ego rlfric minrs/er 78 ecclesie.. . predictumdonum A 107 + Ego alfuuold minister aecclesiae. . . pre[sen?]temdomum (sic) 108 + Ego apelsige minrster N 109 + Ego apelferd minister I l0 + Ego alfuuold minister Tronslation of the Linslade Chorter lll +Egoeadric minister The following translationis offered: ll2 + Ego uulfsige minrs/er 113 + Ego uulfnod minister The [Lord of] Hosts reigningfor ever.To our ll4 + Ego relfsige minis/er Lord JesusChrist (belong) the worlds; but I 15 + Ego alfric minli/er the abundanceof richesand temporal poss- r20 essionof royal treasure,which the solicitude Bounds. (In English) These are the land- of predecessorsanxiously gained by un- boundariesof Linslade. wearied exertions of labour, is left behind, alas, to uncertainheirs, sometimesaccept- From Linslade (the river-crossing by the able, often spineless. For instance, the lynch) along (the) river to the ford of the psalmist,searching out the improvident care- Yttingas. From the ford along (the) streetto lessnessof human kind, (thus) inveighs: Tunbeald's tree. From that tree along (the) "[With what vain anxiety] he hoards up street on to the midmost hill (or mound). riches,when he cannot tell who will have the From that hill along (the) street to seven countingof them!" As also the wise philo- mounds. From seven mounds to the one sopher of the Divine Word and doorkeeper mound (or hill). From the one mound to the of the heavenlylibrary [the New Testament] barleycroft, to the upper end(of it) (or to the relying on metrical eloquence,has foretold upper headlands). From the upper end (of in (his) catalecticverse [an intended quotat- the croft) (or from the upper headlands)into ion from the Cotalecla ascribed to Virgil the middle of the boundary valley, to the appearsto be lost or deletedherel. riddy. From the riddy by the headland(s)of the acresto the old dyke. Along the dyke, back again into (and then in) the river (or Wherefore I Edgar, continuing king of the Along the dyke back again within the English and of the rest of the surrounding stream). peoples, have granted a certain small rural estate,to which the husbandmenof that pro- In the 966thyear from the incarnationof our vince have given the ancient name "at Lord JesusChrist, this charter of donation is Linslade" to a certain noble matron. con- written, those witnessesconsenting whose nectedwith me by affinity of earthly blood, namesare written below. who is calledby thosewho know (her) in this country by the graceful name of AElfgyfu + I Edgar, king of all Britain, have con- 'elf-grace'], firmed gift ['elf-gift' or on account of her the aforesaid with the sign of most devotedallegiance, in perpetualinherit- the holy cross ance, that during her life she may enjoy it + I Dunstan, archbishop of the church of with everythingwhich may be useful, namely Canterbury,have attested the gift by the said meadows, pastures, woodlands, having king with the triumph of the holy cross obtained her wish. and that after the end of + I Oscytel, archbishop [of York], have her life she may leaveit to whateverinherit- impressedthe triumphal signof the holy cross ors she pleases,exempt from public charges. + I AElfstan, bishop of the church of Let the aforesaidestate be free from the yoke London. haveattested of all earthly burdens except three, namely + I Athelwold, bishop of the church of approved military service and repair of Winchester,have agreed to the aforesaidgift bridgeand fortress. + I Oswulf, bishop, haveconfirmed (it) + I Alfwold, bishop, haveattested Thereforeif anyoneshall wish to transferthis + Oswold, bishop, havestrengthened (it) our gift to any other purpose than we have + Winsige,bishop, havemade (it) firm ordained, let him, deprivedof the fellowship + Alfwold, bishop, havesubscribed of the holy church of God, be punishedper- + AElfstan,bishop, havecorroborated (it) petually in the sorrowful flames of the ever- (Four abbots, six ealdormen and twenty lasting pit, togetherwith Judas, the betrayer king's thegnsalso witness the grant.) of Christ, and his accomplices,if he shall not have correctedby suitableamends whatever Notes on the Translation he hascommitted contrary to our decree. Zubaoth is for Sqbootft, properly an indeclin- 'the able plural heavenlyhosts' but here to be This estateis encompassedby thesebounds. takenas 'theLord of Hosts'. l2l The .s. in line 3 is taken by Birch as scilicet'it time of Christ. Benedictinemonks transcribed is evident' but sed seems more likelv. as a his poems,and regardedtheir study as not at all contrastis needed. antagonisticto that of the psalmsand prophets, with whose imagery his own had much in Fscultas is used in the transferred sense common. Sophista must here be taken in 'abundance, a plenty'. good sense;it is glossedwitu'one who knows, man of understanding'. The identity of the Gazois a Persianword for a royal treasureor missingquotation, and the reasonsfor exclud- public fund; "gaza, sic Persae aerarium ing it, are discussedbelow. vocant"l24, where aerqrium is the public treasury. In the first Life of Dunstan, gazq is Compos voli is an idiom for 'having obtained used of treasures acquired by the reigning one'swish';the implicationis eitherthat Elgiva monarch, thesourus of those inherited from had asked for these estates,or simply that predecessors;here the senses seem to be Edgar hopesthat shewill be pleasedwith them. reversed. The referencein lines4-8 must be to Linsladeadjoins Wing, and Newnham Murren property carefully accumulatedby earlierkings would go convenientlywith Mongewell. and then squandered;Edwy's profusion will havebeen in mind. Inmunem is for immunem 'exempt from public service,burden or charge'. The main 'boneless' .Exossrs is literally and hence purpose of the landbook is to create 'pliant, an supple'; probably'spineless'conveys immunity, qualified by the usual reservationof the meaninghere. the threeinvariable charges.

quotation The from'same the Psalms is from Ps. Rata is probably to be taken with expeditione xxxix.6l25. The thought occurs in the to denoteregular military service;Gurney takes 'an proem to the Newnham charter: "patrimonia it as approved expedition'. Ratum oliquid 'to incertis successoribus et ignotis heredibus facere is make anything valid; to confirm, relinquatur". Its relevanceis not too clear, ratify'. since almost all landbooks, including these, gave permissionto leave the land to whomso- Barqtri is the genitive of barqthrum 'the ever the grantee saw fit, whether known or abyss,the lower world'. The presentwriter has unknown to the grantor. previouslyregarded this as one of the recondite Greek words in which AEthelweard and his 'has Cecinit can here be translated foretold, circle delighted,but the borrowing from Greek prophesied'126.Virgil was regardednot only as is as old as Virgil; the word occursat leasttwice the first and noblest of poets, but also as in the Aeneidl28, and aeternis barat(h)ri prophet and oracle (vates has all these incendiis is common form in the 'Edear A' meanings),and his poems were consulted for group of charters. indicationsof the divine will. Jugiter is post-classical;in the context it may 'perpetually' Cstalectico . versu is a clear reference to be taken as rather than 'immedi- the Catalecla ascribed to Virgil, who is the ately' though the TheodosianCode has 'jugiter doorkeeper of the New Testament scriptures, atque perpetuo'12e.The accomplicesof Juoas since the Fourth Eclogue was taken as a are presumablythe chief priestsand magistrates prophecy of the Incarnation of the Divine of Luke xxii.4, though Scripture does not Word. "Now the Virgin returns, now the king- expresslysay that they are among the lost. dom of Saturn [the Golden Age] returns,now a new progenyis sentdown from high heaven. . . The Witnessesof the Linslade He shall govern the earth in peace, with the and Newnham Chqrters virtues of his father"l27. The Church claimed The Linsladeand Newnham witnesslists are Virgil as one of nature's Christians before the almost the same, and present no difficulties. 122 They are headedby Edgar, describedas king of Alfwold and a second AElfric. Two illegible all Britain, St Dunstan (d. 988), archbishopof names in the Newnham list may well be Canterbury (Dorobernia) since 961, and AElfwine and AEthelweard, who sign second Oscytel(d. 971)bishop of Dorchesterfrom 950, and third among the ministri who attested the translatedto York in 954-5,when he seemsto Linsladecharter. have exchangedsees with Archbishop Wulfstan (d. 956). The order of the eight bishops is the The Missing Quotation same in both lists. London and Winchester The lineswith which the draftsman intended proem taking precedenceas they still do, and the verbs to conclude his were certainly from Virgil, rather denoting subscriptionor assentare also exactly or from the Virgilian appendix; the reference the same. The somewhat fuller form of sub- to catalecticverse points to the poems scription by Bishop AEthelwold may perhaps collection of short called Cotalecta or Catalepton, suggesta specialinterest in thesegrants. The and the one appropriate quotation concerning Linsladecharter is attestedby four abbots,that a spendthrift heir occurs in the savageiambics for Newnham by seven;the additional names of Cota. xiii, probably attacking Mark Antony; are AElfstan, AEthelgar (abbot of the New they are not by Virgil, but could be by Horace Minster since964, when AEthelwold undertook or evenOvid: . . . et helluato patrimonio the removal of its secular canons) and Cyne- sera parsimonial3l weard (similarly appointed to Milton). These in fratre "and thy thrift three abbotswere undoubtedly present at the in late hour at a brother's cost. when thy patrimony Witan, and the absenceof their namesfrom the was squandered". This hints, not Linslade list is probably attributable not to too obscurely, at Edwy's belated change policy dissent but to lack of space on the original of during his last months, when he had granted membrane, the name of the junior abbot, already so many of the heredit- ary lands Ordbriht (of Chertseysince 964) being retained of the crown of Wessexto his favour- ites,thereby impoverishing to close the list. The six ealdormenwho con- his brother Edgar. firmed the Linslade grant appear in the same Before the order in the Newnham charter. AElfhere of charter was engrossed,someone (AEthelwold, Mercia taking precedence,but the Newnham or even Dunstan?) must surely have list addsanother dux who doesnot signwith the advised Edgar that the context of these lineswould be deeplyoffensive others,whose name is illegiblebut beginswith p to Elgiva, if she looked them up. The preceding and includes an o; he was probably the referencel32to "prostitutae turpe 'sororis" northern earl Thorod or Thored Gunnarsson, contubernium could be taken who harried Westmorlandthat yearl30,whether as relating to Edwy's uncanon- ical marriage to his with the approval of Edgar and his councillors foster-sister. Contubern- ianr is concubinage, is not clear. Cumbria was a convenientrendez- or at best the marriage of slaves. Further, vous for Scandinavian forces; Edmund had if the manuscript read slola 'woman's robe' ravagedit in 945 and Ethelreddid so in 1000for in xiii.2l, there would be an that reason. innuendo that Edwy was effeminate. Tne offending quotation was taken out, but the sur- viving words The lists of king's thegns are not quite "catalectico versu" enableus to retrieveit. identicalin Elgiva'stwo chartersand are differ- ently arranged, though this may be due to the There is, however, reason to conclude that respectivetranscribers. Oslac appearsnear the the offending draftsman retainedhis post, and head of the Newnham list but not at all in the that three years later he used this Linslade Linsladecharter; his appointmentto the North- charter as the precedentfor the Aspley Guise umbrian ealdormanry (displacing Thored?) grantl33, which has already been mentioned. must have been imminent. He rose to high The original still exists,and its writer has been favour, but was banished during the anti- identified by T.A.M. Bishop as having been monastic reaction after Edgar's death. Tne responsiblefor a manuscriptof Virgilt:+. It is Linslade list includes Wulfnoth. a second submittedthat the connectionis complete. 123 The Identification of the Bounds of Linslade hamshire,and in the Aspley Guiseboundslal lo The name Linslade occurs three times in the occurs only on the western(Bucks) side of the text, with three different spellings. The name estate,being replaced inside Bedfordshire by on 'at of the estateis said to be lhincgelade',the or inon. In the bounds of Radenoret4zto form being describedas ancient, and expressly occurs only twice, the connectivesbeing in, attributed to the local rusticsl35. The practice innan and on, and in the detached and of prefixing Et (+ dative) to a place-name, "edited" version of the bounds lo is replaced. forming a compound expressiontreated almost The medievaltexts of the St Frideswidechar- as a singleword, was obsolescentby 966 and is terla3giving the bounds of Over Winchendon not paralleled in the Homstede, Newnham or and severalOxfordshire estates seem to go back Aspley Guise chartersl36.The boundary clause to two distinct Old English versions,one (pro- is introduced by "pis sind pa land gemreruto bably the earlier) preferring on, the other to or hlincgelade" but the bounds themselvesbegin into. ln the numerous Berkshire and Oxford- "of lincgeladeandlang ea .". There is a shire chartersof the period on is generallypre- distinction between the name of the feature ferred to to. It would appear that a definite defining the starting-pointof the boundary and preference for to in lOth-century boundary that of the vill or estate named from that surveysis a North Bucks usage.A nationwide feature. In this diploma, the latter retains the survey of the prepositions used in charter archaicaspirated form; in the surveythe initial bounds might reveal other local predilections; aspiratehas disappeared,because the surveyor this is not a featurewhich a centralscriptorium did not hear it, or did not note it down. It would feelobliged to standardize. would not be unusual for the bounds to be added after the rest of the charter had been engrossed, and it is to the credit of the The boundsof Linsladeare as follows: Abingdon cartularistthat he did not harmonize the spellings. (l) Of lincgelode (From the river-crossingby the lynch) The survey describesa sunwiseperambulat- The first element hlinc 'lynch, lince' is ion of Linslade, the bounds being defined in applied in Buckinghamshireto a single-faced terms of landmarks (a river-crossing,a ford, a bank, whether natural or formed on a slope at hilltop, mounds, the corner of a croft) and the downward limit of ploughing. Lynchetsor linear featuresconnecting them (the river, three balks formed artificially are often to be seenon roads, acre-headlands,a boundary valley, an hillsides, but the great hlinc at Linslade is old dyke). Thus the survey indicates the natural; it is the steep left bank of the river characterof distinct stretchesof the boundary Ouselor Lovat. and definesthe points whereit makesa distinct turn or changesits nature. In part of the north- The second element is geldd (neut.); the westernsection of the boundary there seemsto dictionaries do not distinguish it from ldd have been no linear feature distinctiveenough (fem.) but it would appear that while both 'watercourse' to mention. The landmarks are given in the words can mean the former is 'from'for 'passage repetitive form, governed by olf more likely to mean over a riverrl4 . departure and to for arrival, except for "on The modern word lode has three topographical pone midlestanhlaw" where on means "on to meaningsin lowland England. In the Fensit is (the top of;rt137and "on mrr dene" where on a watercourse,channel or open drain, and this means "into". The Newnham bounds are is the usualmeaning of its continentalcognates. describedin much the same way, but lo does In Cheshire it is a lane, particularly a way not occur (in the senseof the end reachedby acrossa mossor bog. In the Severnvalley it has 'ferry'; motion). In the Monks Risborough charter of the specialisedmeaning of a deed of 'the 903138lo is not used:in the Chetwode-Hillesden 1494mentions fery other whylescalled the 6oun6rl3e/o is usedin preferenceto on; in the loode of Apley with the were to the said fery or Olney charterl{ /o is usedonly within Bucking- lode belongyng"l45. t24 OV+Yz Chelmscote l-:

Brood Ook

- '- Chortrr bond: I ...' ' ' Porish-bondory qO//l ++1ar f;ns of rcilwov J\JuL_t)ut\tAIIPY / Linstode-"'Hili + i TZBuilt-up orco' lm,ar I ;denu t') Old Linslode

uP heafod'.. ./ . ^. LoVol .\Jtn" x,.rg"luef Anlowes ? .J ooft

N \. t/PP"., LoomDes - \ segton \\ /rlawas \ t\ ffi 1\ ! I MilebushHtll i + I I i i LEIGHTON Vo[9y-_ororri -.,./ ( su2'z'd{6 s'Y LTNSLADE ,o/ 3/ s; Ot. tt =/ Sotrthcott odlarg ea 1../ {r

", midLesLa hlaw r. (Top o'the Porishes)

\ \r+ ,.4 \*c 'v-a Tido""*r=r:_W denfoot Totlgote.Vo Ftouse \6 iq SoEcrsHill Al I At /^ .-o (Tiddenroot(TiddenfootHill) Wvv tI lYN Gt) \9\" -..o.rgr \. '\ Iioilwes (S"ftsj?> 'irrrnba.ldes treow'w (Tomestrow) '. Whitefields As-cottl '. r-qrm..L/nUVL/^ n | / t- B.J.E

Fig l. The boundsof Linslade,as given in the charter of 966

125 The three possible meanings (watercourse; ferry, is explainedas "de plaats, war de over- path; river-passage)have all been suggestedfor vaart der melkerswas"l50. Linslade. Gurney took the geldd as a water- course, the westernmostcourse of the Ousel Forsbergconsidered that in this bound "the under the lynch to the south-eastof St Mary's geldd itself or the village may be meant"; but Church. This channel formed the county the old village site, though above the river, boundary until 1965. Mawer and Stentonr46 stands back from the hlinc, and a village as suggested that "gelad refers to the footpath suchcan hardly be one of its own bounds. The which skirtsthe linceand makesits way pastthe same question arises in (to) Leahtforda in the church to Broadoak Farm. The path is pro- bounds of Leckford on the 1951151.where the bably much older than the present road to the referenceis to a ford acrossthe *leaht'(irrigat- west and represents the original means of ion) channel'which gaveits nameto the village. progressup the valley of the Ousel. If so, the At Evenlode the river-passa1eEt eowlan gelade name means'linch-path' ". (The path referred where the bounds begin and end, has given its to is now abovethe bank, but before the Grand name first to the village and then to the river Junction Canal was constructed it is said to itself, displacingits old name Bladenr52. haverun betweenthe bank and the river.) On the assumption that the geldd is a passage over the Ousel,Forsberg pointed out that north Either suggestionwould seemacceptable for of the church that river is crossedby the road the original settlementwhich gave its name to from Woburn, continuing to Wing "as a the estate, parish and former urban district footpath, which forms the S. part of the 'path' (1897-1965),though the meaning is not Linslade-Soulburyboundary and may well be found with any certainty in Old English place- (andlang)strete third instance"(i.e. (8) below). names; the most convincing case is to Wing was clearlythe centreof the district in the brydelodesfordat4T , which can be taken as "to settlement period, and several old highways the ford on the bride's path". The difficulty convergethere. The road from Woburn crosses with both explanationsis that a stream and a the flood-plain of the Ousel, called the Moors, path are both linear features, and give no and when the streamwas high a boat may well definite starting-pointfor the bounds. Yet "of have been needed, though at other times it lincgeladeandlang ea" implies a known point might be fordable. Thus at Cricklade we have on the Ousel. A river-crossing,whether on foot "usque ad Criceford quod est Crikelade" in a or by boat, would define such a point. Fors- passageof the Liber de Hyda r53corresponding bergt+t has shown that "every one of the to the Chronicle entry dated 905 (for 903) in localitiesdenoted by the place-namescertainly which the Danes "hergodon ofer Mercna land containing geldd is situated on a stream, always od hie comon to Crecca gelade, & foron !rer of some sizeand in most casesa large one . . . ofer Temese." Some referencesin boundaries seem to show that the geldd was looked upon as a point on Forsberg,writing in 1940in Sweden,did not the stream". If a ford or a bridge had been know that F.G. Gurney had noted in August meant, our texts would probably have said so, 1938that a causewayor carriageroad over the 'ferry' and this supportsthe meaning for which Moors formerly crossedthe river at an almost there is no other word in Old English; though forgotten cow-ford "near the point where it no doubt a passagewhich would require a boat divides into two channels(a Y)". This would in winter could often be effected on foot in be at grid referenceSP 913 272. His informat- summer. A geldd might have an owner; thus we ion came at second-handfrom an old man have et eanflede gelade on the Thames at namedTurney (d. about 1908)who lived in one Wythamlae. This specialisedsense seems to of the cottages,long destroyed,close to the site have developedin England, though there is one of the Holy Well near the bridge. Further, the casein Holland wherethe relatedword has this path up to Milebush Hill which continuesas the meaning: Melkleen (Melcledenin 1355),with a way to Wing is not aligned on the bridge but t26 much more nearly on this ford. Gurney noted the name (h)lincgelad would be more apt for tracesof the path on this alignment acrossThe the former. In the absenceof any tradition of Patch down to the railway; he thought it perambulation, the exact position of the approachedthe Manor House so as to link with starting-point of the bounds cannot be deter- the causewayto the cow-ford. Hence Fors- mined with certainty. berg's suggestedsite for the starting-point of the bounds could with advantage be moved (2) ondlang eo about a furlong upstream; only one river- (along (the) river) crossingis then involvedinstead of two. Ea is the most general word for running water; it is often treated as indeclinable in the There are two objections to Forsberg's singular, so that it might here be taken as 'beside' attractive suggestion,even as thus modified. genitive with andlang meaning or as First, room has to be found downstream for accusative with andlang 'along, within'; what are prima facie three sections of the probably the latter, as the modern boundary boundary: the riddy, the "old dyke" and "in runs up the middle of the stream as it wanders the river". The old dyke appearsto be along from side to side of the flood-plain. The area the old course of the Ousel, supersededwhen called the Hooket, lying between the two Grange Mill was constructed. Forsberg'sview branches of the Ousel which converge at would requireus to construe"andlang diceseft 915 269, is in Leighton Buzzard,so that in 1086 innan pa ea" as one section rather than two: Linslade had meadow (on the Moors) sufficient "along (beside) the (old) dyke back (to the for only two of the ploughteams on its 16 starting-point)within the stream". This would ploughlandsl56. Upstream, ridge-and-furrow seem possible,but a crossingat or just above came right down to the stream on both sides. the point wherethe streamdivides would still be South of Leighton Bridge the river has been half a mile downstream from the lynch. A straightened, but the former county boundary rivercrossing in the immediate neighbourhood still followed the old course between the weirs of the lynch would be at about 9ll267 . Not far at 917 250 and 916 246, the land between the upstream are fords across both the easternand old and ne\'/ coursesbeing Bolsworth Meadow the westernbranches of the Ousel,on the track in Leighton. The boundary continuesupstream connectingCorbettshill Farm with the Globe by Great Kings Mead in Leighton, under public-houseand then with the south end of the Rackley Hill and through Long Meadow until it lynch-path; this would provide travellers reaches the triple boundary of Linslade, coming from the east across Leighton Heath Leighton and Grove at9l3 233. with a crossingto Linslade, though not a very direct one. They would have been better served (3) to yttinga fordo by a passagenearer the church, at the north end (tothe ford of the Yttingas(Ytta's people)) of the lynch. Our Lady's Well at Linslade, a The triple boundary point, where the chalybeatespring at 908 270, now absorbedby Linsladeboundary leavesthe river, is identified the canal, was a pilgrimagecentre until Bishop with the ford where the treaty of Tiddingford Sutton suppressedthe observancein 1299ts4. was concluded in 906 between Edward the whereupon no further miracles were claimed, Elder and the Danish armiesof EastAnglia and offerings to the vicar ceasedand the market and Northumbria. The event is somewhat differ- eight days' fair collapsedl55. A tradition ently recordedin the two principal manuscripts preserved by Turney indicates that pilgrims of the Anglo-SaxonChronicle: cameespecially to seeka cure for diseasesof the A (for this period a Winchester chronicle): 'em eyes, but, he said sturdily, "it did no And on prem ilcan gere mon frestnode lone good". frid ret Yttinga forda, swa swa Eadweard cyng gerredde, agper wid East Engle ge wid The existenceof a river-crossingby the lynch, Nordhymbre. coming from the east, does not of course E (for this period a northern recension):Her exclude another crossing from the north, but gefestnode Eadward cyng for neode frid 127 egder ge wid East Engla here, ge wid against a Scandinavian coalition; hence the Nordhymbre. necessityfor peace. This, however, seems The B, C and D texts agreewith A (D has "at inconsistentwith the strict separationimposed Ytinga forda"). The original date in A was by the Alfred-Guthrum treaty; more probably 905, alteredto 906; the other texts all give 906, the treaty of Tiddingford enabled Edward to except that Wheloc's edition, based on a lost initiate the new policy. It was not likely to be Cottonian manuscript, has 907. Simeon of popular, and would not have operatedduring Durhaml5Twho dates the battle of the Holme the war of the Englishreconquest. 902, says that Edward, forced by necessity, made peacein 906, and this is the most likely The identification of Yttingaford with a site date, though the Victoria County History of near Linslade appears to be due to W.H. Bedfordshirel58thought it might be as early as Stevensonin the New Oxford Historical Atlas, 903, soon after the battle. The Mercian followed by Plummerl63. F.G. Gurneyls says 'Annals Register (the of AEthelfled' or that Stenton noticed the coincidenceof the 'Elfledes Boc') doesnot mention the treaty. ford-namesin the Chronicleand in the charter. but that he placed it "much too far north and Whether the peacenegotiated at Tiddingford too near Leighton Buzzard". Stenton con- was made "just as King Edward decreed" or tinued to describeit as "a sitein the river Ousel "from need" is still uncertain. Clearly it near Leighton Buzzard" in successiveeditions replacedthe arbitrary line drawn by Alfred and of Anglo-Saxon Englond t6s. In fact the ford Guthrum (from the source of the Lea straight was located by Gurney about 100 yards (on gerihte) to Bedford)lse by a more natural upstream from the triple boundary; he river-boundary. The Alfred-Guthrum line, describedit in 1920as "an artificial gravelmade shown on many modern maps as the Danelaw ford still used by hunting men, although the limit, has had no effect on later administrative canalon the Linsladeside has made it otherwise arrangementsin Bedfordshire,while the Ousel disusedand useless". The road calledpiodweg continued to separatethe countiesnorth of the in the Chalgravecharter makes directly for this ford until 1965,and still doesso south of it. ford; it passesGrovebury Farm, and although the line is lost at Little Clapping Gate (921 235) The treaty must have relaxed the provisions Gurney found indicationsof a bank and ditch of the earlier agreement of 886-7 by allowing acrossHill Ground down to the ford. "After Englishmen to acquire estates in Danish many vain enquiries" he learnedfrom Thomas territory; the Chalgrave charter of 926t$ Hopkins of Grovebury that the hill on the indicatesthat this was happening in Bedford- Linslade side was called Tiddingford; he after- shire at the command of King Edward and wards found many who knew the namel66, Ealdorman Ethelred before the death of the usually pronounced Tidd'nfoot or even latter in 9l l, and a relatedgtrs11s1l6l refers to a Tinfoot. It has since become well known similar purchasein Derbyshire. In return, the through the name Tiddenfoot Quarry, in Danes were probably allowed to settle Linsladeparish north of the ford; this is in fact peacefully in English Mercia, and this would the current form, though Anglo-Saxon histor- have facilitated their exploitation of vacant ians continueto speakof Tiddingford. Gurney land in the Chilterns. Indeedthe Danesgained later found Tyttyngford hyllin a deed of l5ll such influencein the Buckingham shire-moots and Tidenford in the draft Tithe Award of that Bucks came to be regarded in the llth 1836r67. Subsequently Alderman Robert century asa Danelawcounty. Richmond168noted a referenceto Tuttyngford in a Windsor deedof 1324. Old Englishy often Richard Hamble 162has arguedthat the land- gave a-forms locally in the l3th and l4th purchasepolicy under which Edward ordered centuries,but not usually thereafter;examples some of his thegnsto buy land in the Danelaw include Biddlesden, Cranwell, Hughenden antedatedthe treaty, and led to suchopposition (Hitchenden), Kimble, Lillingstone, Linford, that Edward could no longer take the field Missenden and Tittershall. The subsequent 128 replacement of a by i is quite regular in and north-west where the Wing and Linslade Buckinghamshire. In the recorded forms for boundariesfirst coincide"; that is, at 901 232 Tiddingford initial I has been caught up from on the 400 ft. contour, the triple boundary of the prefixedct. Linslade, Grove and Wing. He had found six personsin Wing who "said that they had heard The name Yttinga ford must be taken as the the name, or something like it" but he could ford of the Yttingas, acceptedby Mawer and not locate it definitely for another fourteen Stenton as a folk-name; elsewhere they years. Amongst his papers in the Muniment regarded Tiddingford as from the personal Room at the Bucks County Museum, in a box *Yttal6e. name A Berkshire charter of 942 marked "Miscellaneous" is a bundle entitled giving the bounds of AErmundes /ea (Appleton "Saxon Charters" including an annotatedcopy with Eaton)r70says with great precisionthat the of his Linslade paper. Concerning Tumbsldes boundary runs "vi. gyrda be westan yttinges treowhe added: hlawe", the patronymic being in the singular. I found this name and placein 1934. It was The tribal name may be very old. named from a post-enclosure Survey and Rentalof Wing made for the Earl of Chester- (4) of pam forde ondlang strete field in 1798 and was then the name of a (from the ford along the street) furlong converted into a close, and called This ancient road, the hiodweg, the first TomestrawFurlong, l9 ac. 3 rds. l5 poles, stret of the bounds, is still traceableas it runs togetherwith a private road in it containing uphill towards Wing, except in the first field I rd.26 poles. It belongedto StonehillsFarm adjoining Grove Hospital where it has been in Ascott then held by Thomas Srockly. Its severedby the railway. The road, branching number on the estatemap (missing)is No. 33 from the Icknield Way at Dray's Ditcheswhere and it was evidently a furlong (or several the old Luton-Bedford road crossesit. is a furlongs named from one of them, as was greenlane on the greensandridge. It has many customary,when severalwere enclosedas a names: Salt Lane or Salt Way, Bound Way, single close) belonging to the south-eastern Featherbed Lane, the Ede Way at Egginton, open field of the parish, called Barton Field. Thedeway at Billington, Tiddingford Hill or It is at the point where the three boundaries Salter'sHill in Linslade. There is no indication of Little Broughton in Grove, Linslade and that this stret was ever a paved road; it is Wing (Ascott) meet, and the tree no doubt SaltstreteWay in the deedof l5l I cited above, was the actual corner-mark in the year 966. and by the l0th century the word could be used It is actually upon Salt Way or Theed Way of any ancient road, Roman or not. which was (Theodweg)where it leavesLinslade parish or had beenof importance. ln Exodus xiv.22 it and entersWing. is even used of the Israelites'path through the Treesin lOth-centurycharter bounds are often Red Sea: "and dret wreter stod on twa healfa named after those who adopted them as drerestrrete". boundary marks. PresumablyTunbeald's land in principal The boundary runs on the south side of the Elgiva's manor of Wing is now represented old road, which is therefore in Linslade. The by Ascott Farm. The three parcels fields on either side are in ridge-and-furrow, of land which meet at this prominent and significant thoughNew Plow'd Piece,so namedin 1780171, site are Tomestrawin Wing, Ascott seemsa significantexception. The field-names Hill in Linsladeand Whitefields(White Pitts in 1780, later a wood) on the Linslade side include Goose Green in Grove. The present Close. writer was informed by the late Mr A. Vere Woodman that the first-named was locally (5) to tumbsldes treowe called Home Straw, with lossof the initial / (in (to Tunbeald'stree) contrastto Tiddingford, which gained a t) and Gurney suggestedin 1920that this tree was with folk-etymologizing. Treow or trew (as in "at the first sharp turn in the line to the north (6) below) could have developed to trow, pro- 129 vided that the element was no longer identified Gurney was almost certainly right in locating with Standard English lree. this bound at the next triple junction (Linslade, Wing and Soulbury) at 893 242, now known as ln The Early Charters of the Thames Valley Top o' the Parishes. His own comment was hereafter ECT\ this triple boundary is taken "Now that Tomestraw is identified, it is to be the midlests hlaw.withTumbaldes treow obvious that the midmost hlaw is where the placed further east, but this is untenable in view Southcott-Ascott footpath crossesthe Linslade of the recoveryof the field-namein the parish boundary, i.e. where the bounds of Wing, of Wing. There is indeed a Middle Hill to the Soulbury and Linslade meet". Even in this north-east of this point, but it is well inside areaof low relief, the summit fiust over 450 ft) Linsladeand is so named as the secondof three commandsa wide view. Five paths meet here, swellings of Salter's Hill, called respectively coming from Soulbury along the ridge (Long Ascott Hill, Middle Hill and Sun Hill (to the Weald Way), Southcott,Ascott Farm (Tollgate east). These names are from the copy of the Lane), Wing (Littleworth) and Burcott, and estatemap of 1780in Gurney's file. The hedges there wasprobably a sixth from the north-west betweenthem havebeen removed. along the Wing-Soulbury boundary. The description "midmost hill" is eminently (6) of hane trewe andlsng strete suitable, and the name Lord's Hill applied to (from that tree along (the) street) land to the north-east may support the view The spellings trewe and strete have not been that the site had some manorial significance. normalized to treowe and strete, and probably The turning-point is now marked by the reproduce the local vernacular. The slrel is coveringof a disusedreservoir provided by the Tollgate Lane, an old track, now the approach former Wing Rural District Council, but no road to Ascott Farm, which crossesthe road archaeologicalfinds appear to have been made from Wing to (New) Linslade at Tollgate at the time of its constructionlT2.The surveyor House, and is now the county boundary. ECTV of the bounds probably had in mind the top of 'seven would place the mounds' at Tollgate the hill rather than a mound; he wrote on . House, but this is unacceptablein view of (5) hlqwe "on to the hill" insteadof to . . . hlawe above and there is no reason for a landmark at "to the mound" (regardedas a point; cf. (10)). this point. The stret continues north- eastwards,its right-hand hedgebankbelonging (8) of bunne hlawe andlong strete to Linslade. It is not claimedby any authority (from the hill (or mound) along (the) street) as Roman, though it is straight enough and The track which follows the ridge N.N.E. seems to have slight traces of a raised ogger. from Top o' the Parishesis called Long Weald The line continues as a parish boundary after Way. Weald is properly 'a large tract of wood- Linslade is left behind; it is not clear where it land' but with the clearing of the forest belt to went or what purpose it served, but it is the north of the Vale of Aylesbury it would noteworthy that it ignores Wing and that it was come to mean "elevated stretch of open adoptedas the Wing-Soulburyboundary. country' and the name Long Weald for this ridge may not go back to the time when weald means 'woodland'. The intermediate sense 'forest (7) on pone midlestan hlawe pasture, glade or passagethrough a (on to the midmost hill (or mound)) forest' is evidenced by on wuduwaldum Hlaw (for hlew) is a 'low', a rising ground or glossingin soltibust13,where saltusiswoodland a mound. artificial or natural. Midlest is the pasturelT4. regular superlative of middel as midmest is of midd. Thesesuperlatives were used more freely The hedgeto the left of the stret, containing than in modern English; thus the middle finger many oaks, belongs to Soulbury. At 897 248 was se midlesta finger, and midlestan monnum the route crossesRock Lane from Southcottto was applied to men of the middle or intermed- Liscombe; this is closeto the head of a valley iate class. which runs off northwards. and ECTV would 130 take the charter boundary down this, and Thus it seemslikely that the sevenlowes were across the stream which rises at Valley Farm hillocks along the boundary betweenMilebush (Presswell'sFarm), but such a departure from Hill and the next right-hand turn at 900 263. the parish boundary following the ridge seems Gurney himself did not draw this inference;he most unlikely, and in the Great Ground north thought that the sevenhluwas were barrows of the farm ridge-and-furrow runs straight of which several,I am told by the old men, acrossthe postulated line. existed here in their fathers' times between LinsladeWood and the boundsof the parish. One was very large, and was destroyed for (9) to seofon hlawan ballast by the railway [in 1838]. It can, (to sevenmounds) however, still be made out in the ploughed This bound has been found difficult, as the field as a large circle. sevenmounds are gone, and they neednot have This would be the Knoll at 902 264, in the beenclosely grouped. One view is that they are corner of Lower Combes. There was a large to be sought where the line of the boundary solitary beechtree on it; but it is well insidethe leaves the s/rcl. On Forsberg's assumption parishboundary. that the latter is heading for Old Linslade and Woburn, the divergence begins at 900 255, The number seven occurs so frequently in where Gurney noted that the stret was seenat place-nameswith words for mounds, trees, last to wear for a hundred yardsor so the aspect stones and springs that it may be doubted of an old road. Two of the many oaks in the whether it always denotesthe exact number of adjoining hedgehave given names,Greensward objects; there may be elements of folk-lore Oak and Broad Oak, to closeson the Soulbury involved. side. An alternative view is that the slrrBl is not the track to Old Linslade, discussedin (l) (10) of seofon hlawsn to pan onum hlawe above, but rather the ridgeway, which (from sevenmounds to the one mound) continuesto bear the name of Long Weald Way As anum is the strong form of the dative, it 'one' 'solitary, (it is High Way in a Soulbury estatemap of means rather than alone'. 1769). The boundary, which follows this old track, crosses the present road 84032 to The boundary turns sharp right at 900 263and Soulbury at the summit of Milebush Hill, and leavesthe line of Long Weald Way, which is on this view the sevenmounds are to be sought shown on Jeffreys' map of 1776and Cory's of north of this road, where Long Weald Way 1809as continuing to Rislip Farm in Soulbury. turns north-westwardsat9Ol 260. At this point This, rather than the way to Old Linslade,is the a reservoirwas constructedby the late Linslade third stret mentioned in the charter. The three Urban District Council (cf. (7) above). Again a are quite different roads crossingeach other at ms. note by F.G. Gurney may settlethe point. triple boundaries. This part of the ridgeway Most of this land [the Combes in Linslade] servedas the headlandof PacksHill Furlong in before being put under cultivation by D. Soulbury; the selions or "lands", which run Hayter was common, overgrown by furze, uphill to the ridge. are no longer visibleon the and with a very rough surfacelike that found ground, but can be traced on air-photographs inside LinsladeWood, which is of coursethe and are shown on an estatemap of Soulbury natural surface of the drift-covered sand. dated 1769175.The Linslade side was furze- This was especiallytrue of the neighbour- grown wasteuntil the l9th century. hood of the south-west boundary [of the Upper Combesl near Mile Bush Hill (Soul- Gurney wrote somewhatdespondently "The bury road). An ancientlabourer told me that boundary zig-zagsinto an arable field ["Big there were many rough hillocks upon it, all Field"l with nothing whateveron the ground to levelled in 1837 and brought under the in4i.ur. i1tt176. On closer examination he plough for the first time. He said that he had changed his mind, and found that the line often been told of this old "fuzzy ground". running north-eastfrom 900 263 could be seen. l3l "It has once had a double ditch. now filled in eventhe meaningof up-headlandsis not clear". by ploughing, and the mound nearly ploughed The dative plural of heofod 'head' (heafdan in out" ('Mound' in Buckinghamshire often late West Saxon) is sometimes used with meansa boundary banklTT).This double ditch, singular sensefor the headland of an arable 'headland' thus visiblesixty years ago, is clearevidence of field. Strictly, in this sense(the a boundary marked out by agreementbetween unploughedground at the end of the furrows the lords of Linslade and of Soulbury; but if it where the plough was turned) should be had existedin 966 it would probably have been ondheafdu (dat. pl. andheafdan). This is mentioned. The selions in Soulbury abut on alwaysplural, and the snd is sometimesomitted this boundary. giving a plural form of heafod; for example, a Wiltshire charter of 968181has " . on prre An estatemap of 1827in the Bucks County receraandheafda, andlang prera heafda. . . ". Record Office showsthe Big Field divided into five closes, two of them in Linslade. The On the whole, it would seemlikely that the 'to southernmost of these. with its west corner words brerlice crofte to pan up heafdan" point at 900263and its north corner at90l 265, were intendedto denotea specificpoint on the is marked on a sketch map by Gurney as boundary, the second phrase having 'Anlowes' singular but he cites no authority and this meaningand being addedbecause a croft is not might be a hypothetical form. The most pro- a point but an area,a small enclosureof arable bable site for the one mound seems to be or pasture,usually near a houseor farm build- 901 265, where an old balk comesin from the ings. If this croft is identified with the second north-westand the parish boundary has a tiny close in the Big Field on the Linslade side, its V-shaped re-entrant. The 1827 map and upper end would be at the next right-angled Lipscomb's map of the hundred of CottesloelT8 turn in the parish boundary at 902 266. From both show buildingsat this point. the Chelmscoteroad Gurney could seethat the northern boundary of this small field of three Gurney's view was that the one hlaw was acres"just under the crestof the hill, formerly originally the Knoll in Lower Combes,isolated had a low lince, now ploughed away." This and now ploughed down, and then a furlong croft must havebeen taken in from the wasteof named after it which extendedto the boundarv: Linslade before 966, and the estateboundary but this view is unsupported. then surveyedwas settled so as to include it. Ecga's croft in an angle of the bounds of (ll) of pan anum hlawe to berlice uofte to Olneyl82provides a parallel. pan up heafdon (from the one mound to (the) barley If open-field cultivation in Soulbury croft, to the upper end (of it); or to the extendedto the boundary at this point, as it upper headland(s)) certainlydid further north (see(14) below) ,,to There is here a curious differenceof opinion pan up heafdan" might be taken to refer to a betweenthe lexicographersand the topograph- headlandadjoining this lince. There is however ers, BosworthlTgtranslated "to . . crofte to some doubt as to the former course of the 'upper pan up heafdan" as "to the croft, to the top parish boundary between the end' end of it." Clark Halll8o took up-heofod as a (902 266) and the point where it reaches the 'upper common noun, end'. This is the only Chelmscote road (903 267). The 1827 map example of the noun found in Old English shows it as running straight to this point, the texts,and thereis no Middle or Modern English Ordnance Survey as following the former lince equivalent ('up-headed' in northern dialects for about 90 yards and then turning down 'having to means upright horns'). Gurney, on the the road, its course being undefined on the other hand, regardedthe barley croft and the ground. This part of the boundary was con- up-headlandsas two distinct bounds, as did sideredso inconvenientthat when Linsladewas ECTV: "neither the barley croft nor the up- transferredto Bedfordshireit was not adopted headlandscan be identified with certaintv. and as the new county boundary; the Ordnance t32 Survey were directed to mere the new line - line along the Long Weald ridge is a very perhaps the last surviving use of the verb natural one. It is only the stepped course 'to gemcBran fix bounds'. between this ridge and the descent into the boundary valley which presentsany difficulty, 'of In 966 berlic would be an adjective and here alone the surveyor fails to mention barley (bere),pertaining to barley' not a noun. linear featuresbetween his landmarks, perhaps The next appearanceof the word seemsto be in becausethey did not yet exist, or were no more the Anglo-SaxonChronicle (E) s.a. I124, where than fences. Bosworth regardedit as being a noun, Tollerl83 as still an adjective. The word bere still occurs in the Scottishagricultural returns. When the (13) to pan ripige writer visited the area in preparation for a per- (to the riddy (streamlet)) 'riddy' ambulation by the Bucks Archaeological The term is applied locally to a small Societyit was still under barley. or intermittent rill; the dof ridig had become d by the l3th century in Bedfordshireand Buck- (12) of pan up heofdan on mcpr dene midde inghamshirels4.The streamletmust have risen wearde in the valley below the point where the bound- (from the upper end (of the croft) (or ary meets it, probably about 904 272, south- from the upper headland(s)) into the east of Broad Oak Farm, where the footpath middle of the boundary valley) from Chelmscoteto the Holy Well and Old 'midward' 'the Middeweard often means Linslade crossesthe valley bottom. Gurney 'rithig' middle of' (the noun with which the word commented that "the exists and is agrees). It is curious that the dictionariesdo readily found, rising in a little round patch of not recognisemerdenu as a common noun, like bog", presumably that at 905 274, but later, merbroc, merdic, merhlinc and the like. probably in a wetter season,he concludedthat especially as they accept the synonymous the sourcewas south of the railway. The Grand mearcdenu. Junction Canal has alteredthe drainage,and a thousand years ago the stream was perhaps The parish boundary turns left in the more copiousthan at present. Chelmscoteroad for about 100 yards, leaving LinsladeHill (natural, but with a curiouslylevel ECTV would take the ripig as the stream circular summit) on the right, and then runs which rises at Valley Farm ((8) abpve); the obliquely downhill into the valley, reachingthe boundary would leave it at Clay Hill Slade bottom at903269 and then proceedingdown it. (896 259) and run uphill by the Flax Butts and The hedgebankis on the Linslade side. The VarnhedgeFurlong, acrossthe Wing-Soulbury charter bounds rather suggesta straight course road (here Middle Moor Slade) and through from the upper end of the croft to this point, Hasel Furlong and PacksHill Furlong to rejoin and in 1827there were hedges all along this line. the presentparish boundary at9O0263(point A 'up-headlands' Unless the supply an inter- in ECTV fie. 2). The steppedboundary which mediatebound, a slight diversionof the bound- follows is then taken asstill being "by the acre ary seems likely here, especially as the headlands" ((14) below) and the stream rising Chelmscoteroad doesnot seemancient. in the valleyis thentaken as the'old ditch' (15). The objection is that by no meansall this mile Gurney thought that "the merdenu of suggestedboundary runs by the headland, mentioned is probably not the wide boundary i.e. transverselyto the acre-stripsabutting on it; valley itself but one of the furlongs on its slope, someof it runs parallelto them, along a balk or named after it". This seemsunnecessary, and furrow betweenfurlongs. Thus the description midde wearde points to a topographical would be quite inadequate, even misleading. feature. ECTVtook the valleyas that by Valley Applied to the existingparish boundary, it is as Farm (see(8) above)but this postulatesa major preciseas the topographypermits. Further, it is departure from the parish boundary, and the an error in method to postulatea major depart- 133 ure from the historic parish boundary unless course was retained as the administrative the text compelsthis. boundary.

(14) of pan ripie be pero ecera heafdan The last section of the perambulation takes (from the riddy by the acre-headland(s) us back agaln (eft) within the stream (innan pa (the head(s)of the acres)) ea) to the starting-point (this is implied). On Ripie is what the surveyorheard, rather than Forsberg'sview (see(l)) that the river-crossing ripige. ,4Ecerhas its customary meaning of the was on the Woburn road, the words innonpa eo pre-enclosurestrip in the common field which would be taken as explaining that the course 'land', 'beside could be ploughedin a day; the resulting andlong dices the dyke' was in selion or ridge was the unit of occupation, the midstreamrather than along the bank. On the furlong being the unit of cultivation. To the view which is here preferred, the dic reachesthe north-west of the riddy, ridge-and-furrow is main stream at9l3 272 and the boundary then detectableon the rising ground in Soulbury. follows the river upstream to a point defined by Here, at least, that estate was cultivated up to the existenceof a crossing-place,whence the 'up- its boundary in 966; whether the start was made. This would mean that this last headland(s)' of (l l) above carry this bound refers, very concisely, to two distinct implication is less clear. The dative plural sections of the boundary, with innon meaning 'within heofdan is quite usual for a single headland both'into'and (alongin)'. Both senses serving many acre-strips. The usual medieval involve local motion and would naturally term is hevedland, but in Old English governthe accusative,as here; where no motion heafodland is so rare that it was asterisked in or changeis involved one would expect innan to English Plsce-Nsme Elementstssas a hypothet- takethe dative or genitive. ical or reconstructed form; however, AElfric has hafudland as well as hafudecerts6. The survey ought to have ended with the words to lincgelade; this was the usual (15) to pam ealdan dic convention,sometimes with the addition of the (to the old dyke) words drer hit er onfeng or the like; but there 'dyke' Dic is translated as it is here mas- are a few charters of the period where the culine. It must relateto a feature which was circuit is not quite completed,as it is assumed 'old' (obsolete,superseded or in decay)at the that the stretch of boundary last mentioned is time of the charter. Gurney identified it as followed back to the starting-psip1l87. referring to the old (natural) courseof the river Ousel which servesas a by-pass for the mill- The Stste of Linslade in 966 water of Grange Mill. The riddy entersthis at The charter shows that classicalopen-field 907 274. cultivation had reachedthe Linslade boundary of Soulbury by the mid-tenth century, but it is (16) And lang diceseft innan po eo not clear that the same was true within (along (beside)the dyke, back again into Linslade;the barley croft looks like an individ- (and then in) the river; or along (beside) ual undertakingwhich was still distinctivein an the dyke back againwithin the stream) areaof rough grazingor survivingwoodland. The parish boundary follows the old course of the Ouselupstream. Gurney consideredthat The grant mentionswoodland and pastureas the mill-pool "though widened and steeply among the usefulfeatures of the estate. In 1086 banked on the side towards Linslade, perhaps theseare not mentioned,the meadow was quite representsone of the original branchesof the insufficientand the assessmenthad beenraised stream". If so it was not the main branch, or it from 10 hides to 15t88' this would have would have been adopted as the treaty bound- happenedby 105l, when King Edward the Con- ary in 906. It may be suggestedthat Grange fessor ceased to levy the geldl8e. All this Mill was constructedon the Danelaw side after strongly suggests that the poorer soils in that date but before 966. and that the old Linslade were not cultivated until after 966; t34 indeed the Lady Elgiva may well have sought worth and 300 in Haversham. with 8 and 5 the grant of Linslade,with exemptionfrom the slavesrespectively. Linslade, with 5 slaves,had king's feorm and other burdens, so that she woodland in 966; it has Linslade Wood today, could treat it as an "enterprise zone" and and must surelyhave had it in 1086,but the vill attract cultivators to its heavier clay or to its was in Cottesloehundred where, through some sand interspersedwith quicksands and bogs misunderstanding,woodland was not returned. (locally "gogs"). Possibly she used her penal The writer knows from experiencehow difficult slaveshere as well as in her Chiltern manors: it is to secure the inclusion of woodland in there were still five seryi here in 1086. In agricultural returns, and its treatment in Elgiva's will Linsladeis groupedwith Wing and Domesday is far from uniform. is left to King Edgar along with Marsworth and Haversham; these constituted the central It is hazardous to draw inferences from the portion of her "honour" and were probably Domesday returns to the position a century administeredtogether. Domesdaystatistics for earlier, but they seem to support the view that thesefour manorsare as follows: the Lady Elgiva, formerly Queen Consort of England, spent Wing LinsladeMarsworth Haversham an honourable and active retire- ment at Wing, which privileged Hides 5 15 20 l0 was specially by Ploughlands 40 16 9 l0 the Crown, and that she actively encouraged Ploughteams 25 13 9 8V, developmentof her manors elsewhere. Edgar Villeins 51 22 22 16 rewarded her loyalty to him by adding to her Bordars206-8 estates; of his grants, Linslade was on the Slaves(servll - 5 8 J frontier of cultivation and needed some fiscal Servrper plough- 0.38 0.89 0.59 encouragement. On Elgiva's death she left most of her land either to the royal houseor to Wing was clearly a highly favoured manor, reformed Benedictinecommunities, though her undertaxed through beneficial hidation (even if pious intentions must have been largely it was not bookland) and with no slaves. The frustratedby the anti-monasticmeasures taken surplus pasture of Wing rendered shares Qferro) by her kinsman Ealdorman AElfhere after for five ploughs. Of the five manors in Buck- Edgar's death. She remained grateful to St inghamshire where Domesday Book mentions AEthelwold, whose zeal may have outrun his ploughshares as rent in kind, three (Wing, discretion,but who had stood by her after her Chesham, Bledlow) had belonged to Elgiva, but marriage in 956, and who probably had much except at Wing the ploughshares were rendered influenceon her decisions. Their friendship is from the surplus woodland. fully recognised in her will; he was to administerher charitablebequests, and her last It has been suggested that servi, of whatever requestto him was for his continuing prayers origin, were often used as swineherds. In 1086 for herselfand her mother. whoseambition had there was woodland to feed 800 swine in Mars- precipitatedthe crisis.

REFERENCES

l. Liber Vitae,ed.W. de G. Birch (1892)57. 6. St Augustine's day, ,4.S. Chron. (D) s.a. 946; Engl. 2. P.H. Sawyer, Anglo-SaxonChorters(1968\ no. 1484 Hist. Docs. I (1955)203 n. 4. (cited as S 1484). 7, Liber Vitae,93,2'70. 3. E.D.C. Jackson and Sir Eric Fletcher, J. Br. Archaeot. 8. A.S. Chron. (D) s.a. 946. AEthelflred,s sisterAElfled .4ssn xxv (1962) l-20; H. Mayr-Hartin g, The Coming married Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex from 956, of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon Englond (1972) 158-9 champion of the monks against AElfhere, dux prae- suggestedthat Wing belonged to Wilfrid's monastlc c/aras becauseof his heroic 'empire'. death at Maldon on I I August 991, the subject of the greatestbattle-poem rn 4. S 737. English, probably commissioned or preserved by hrs 5. S 738. widow. 135 9. S 520. A1 s 666. 10. Historia RamesiensrsI l. 48. s 637. I l. Freeman, Historical Essays(1st ser.) 15. 49. S 607,the one dated charter of thisgroup. 12. S 725, which is not free from doubt. 50. Particularsin Keynes,op. cit.,54. Eighteenof the 13. A.S. Chron. (D) s.a.965. twentycharters relate to landsouth of theThames. 14. s 597. 51. Plummer,op. cit., ii. I50; Eric John,Orbis Britannioe 15. E.W.Robertson, Historical Essays, 180, 201. (1966)157-8, takes a similarvrew. 16. Dict. Nat. Biog. i.149. 52. VitaDunstani. c.24. l'1. S 350 of 898; in C. Plummer, Two of the Saxon )J. s 607.s 663. Chronicles Parallel (1899) ii.ll5, the references to 54. s 584,S 617, S 618, S 623. Kemble, Cod. Dipl. no. 324 and Birch, Cart. Sax. )). s 585.S 634. S 638. no. 576 seem to have been interchanged. 56. s6ll. 18. Chron. AEthelweard 51. ) /. Probablyimplied by S619. 19. Chronicon Fani Sancti Neoti s.a. 9O4, in W.H. 58. s 544. Stevenson,Asser's Life of King Alfred (1904) 144. 59. Keynes,op. cit., Figs.3-6. 20. "of lan rihtan AEngla landes kynekynne", ,4.S. 60. Stenton,op. cit.,36l n. 3. Chron. (E) s.a. 1100. 61. Plummer,op. cit., ii. lxxiii-lxxiv. 21. Vita Dunstani'auctore B' in W. Stubbs, Memoriols of 62. Engl.Hist. Docsl.205 n. 6. St Dunstan 3-52, trans. D. Whitelock in Engl. Hist. 63. s 633. Docs.I (1955)no.234 (c. 37 at p. 831). @. S 677dated 958 "in the first indiction,the second year 22. Plummer, op. cil., ii. l5l citing Thorpe, Ancient of my reign [in Mercia]". The Caesareanindiction Lawsi.256. beganon 24September 957. 23. Plummer, op. cit., ii. 149; S 573, dated 956 (if indict- 65. VitaDunstani c.24. ional dating was used, this would mean on or after 24 66. Keynes,op. cit.,235 n. 15. September955). 6'7. The Englishtexts of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle could 24. Cf. S.D. Keynes, The Diplomas of King ,4Ethelred meanthat Dunstanheld thesesees successively, but 't he Unready' (1980)48. the Latin text (F) says"insuper et pontificatuLon- 25. Chron. .4Ethelweord 55 (bk. iv, c.8). doniaecumulavit". 26. Henry of Huntingdon, ed. T. Arnold (Rolls Ser.) 163. 68. s 655. 27. S 582. 69. s 651. 28. Chronicon Abbatiae Eveshamiensis (Rolls Ser.) 78. 70. S 658(to Abingdon),S 660;S 652is dated958 for 959. '7 29. Implied by A.S. Chron. (A, D) s.a.912. t. A.S. Chron.(B, C) s.a. 959; "& he was pa .xvi. 30. s 1485. wintre". 31. s 597. 72. Sl2ll-2;S8ll. 'Inauguration 32. J.L. Nelson, Rituals' in Early Medieval tt. s 687. Kingship, ed. P.H. Sawyer and I.N. Wood (1977) 66 1A Liber Vitae,57. n. 99. 75. s 703. '76. 33. Vito Dunstani c. 2. lf the author was writing before For the reasons,see Asser, De RebusGestis ,AElfredi 998, while AEthelweard was still senior ealdorman, it c. 13; W.H. Stevensoned., Asser's Life of King was natural that he should avoid mentioning the name Alfred (l9M) 2O0-2. The title regina was freely used of either lady. The Life had been copied and revised in theother kingdoms. before 1004:Engl. Hist. Docs.l.826. 77. Modestinusin Digest38.10.4. 34. In King Edmund's time, when Dunstan was temporar- 78. LiberEliensisi.4T (ed. D.J. Steward).St Erheldreda's ily out of favour, the Eastern Frankish envoys to the Abbey at Ely had been refoundedby Edgar and court of Cheddar had invited him to return with them. AEthelwoldin 970;S 776,5779. 35. s 636. 79. B.L. Add. Ms. 15350fo. 73rv. 36. S 1292; F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon Englond (2nd 80. J.M. Kemble,Cod. Dipl. no.72l. edn.,1947)361. 81. B. Thorpe,Dipl. Anglic.AEvi Sax.(1865) 552-5. )t. s 607,s 663. 82. V.C.H.Bucks(1925) iii. 392. 38. S 605(S 567,dated 955, attributed to King Eadred,is 83. F.G. Curney, "Yttingaford and the Tenth-Century probably spurious). Boundsof Chalgraveand Linslade",Beds. Rec. Soc. 39. Evidencedby S l2ll, a grant by Eadgyfu to Christ (1920)v. 163-180,atl74n.2l. Church, Canterbury, after she had recovered her 84. The Place-Namesof Buckinghamshire(1925) 8, 86, estatesin 959. 98, 167, 223. 40. s 562. 85. D. Whitelock.,Anglo-Saxon Wills, ll9. 4t. s 1515. 86. A. Campbelled., Chron. AEthelweard xv n. 6, xxxvi. 42. Vita Dunstoni c. 24. 87. pearf (ME thaA had a wide rangeof meanings,in- 43. The chronological sequence of the diplomas of 956 cludingneed, necessity, benefit, profit, advantageand has been settledby Keynes,op. cit., 5l-62. utility. 44. S 594. 88. s 1485. 45. S589.S627. 89. D.B.i. fo. 143,143b. 46. S608.S614.S631. 90. S 1494;Birch datesthis 972,Sawyer "probably after r36 975", but the gift "for AEadgarescinges sawle" could 125. Ps. xxxviii.Tin Vulgate,trans. R.A. Knox. have been made in Edgar's lifetime. 126. Cf. Quintilian 3.7.11:.-- futurum cecinissedicuntur 91. s 1503. oracula. 92. A.H.J. Baines, "The Boundaries of Monks Ris- t27. Yirgil, Eclogo iv. 6-7, 17; trans. AlexanderPope. borough", Recs.Bucks xxiii (1981)76-101, at 83, 96. 128. Yirgil, Aeneid iii. 421,viii. 245. AEthelwearduses 93. It is Bricthrices mulle in a grant of c. I166 to Missen- severalphrases from,4en. ii, iii. den Abbey (J.G. Jenkins ed., The Missenden Cartul- t29. Cod. Theod.16.7 .1. ary (1955)ii. 26 (no. 306)). Brictric or Brihtric, a man l 30. A.S. Chron.(E) s.a.966. of Queen Edith, held the principal manor of Chesham l3l. Cataleptonxiii. ll-12 (Virgil,ed. H. RushtonFair- in the Confessor'stime: D.B. i. fo. 150b. clough(1934) 505). 94. AElfric, Life of St.4Ethelwold,ss.8,9, ll, 23. 132. Cata. xlii. 7-8, which some editors would place 95. See note 3. The Royal Commission on Historical immediately before line 11. Monuments (Inventory for North Bucks (1913) 331) 133. 5772. cautiously describedthe chancel, nave and north aisle 134. T.A.M. Bishop, English Caroline Minuscule (1971) as "probably not later than the lOth century". 17. 96. S 745. 135. At for et occurs elsewhere vulgare dictione; in the 97. S 765, dated 968; the confirmation of privileges rn literary languagethis occurs only in composition. S 812 was dated 966 by Birch, but it as mentions 136. Cf.,4.S. Chron. (A) s.a. 552; "in lere srowe be is pare "Edmond eleling !e on ministre ligp" it cannot genemned et Searobyrig". The et has been erased be earlier than 97I . in (A) and is omitted in (E). The l2th-century (F) 98. B.L. Add. Ms.32246 fo. 2lv (studied by L. Kindschi updates the text to "an bare stowe be ys geclyped in a Ph. D. dissertation,Stanford Univ.. 1955, not Srlesberi ". available here). 137. Cf. "se deofol ladde hine on swide heahne munt". 99. Keynes,op. cit., 146;line omittedin Juniustranscript. Matthew iv.8 (. . . into an exceedinghigh mountain, 100. AElfric,op. cit.,s.19. A.V.; unto, R.V.; to, R.S.V.and N.E.B.; to the top 101. s 745. of. Knox). 102. William of Malmesbury, De GestisRegum Anglorum 138. S 367. (ed.Stubbs) i. l8l. 139. S 54. dated949. 103. Implied by S 1485; Sawyer, A.S. Charters p. 415, 140. 'the S 834, dated 979. identifies elder Atheling'with Ethelred,but this 141. S 772.dated 969. seemsclearly mistaken. 142. S 104 (bounds lOth century); detached bounds in 104. ,4.S. Chron. s.a. 970 (D, E), 971 (A, erased),972 s 1568. (Wheloc's copy of A). 143. S 969; cf. E. Tengstrand, A Contribution to the 105. s 937. Study of Genitival Composition in Old English 106. J.M. Kemble, Cod. Dipl. Aevi Soxonici no. 981. Place-Names (1946) 106. lo7. s 891. 144. A.H. Smith, English Place-Name Elements II (1956) 108. Cf. K. Sisam, Proc. Brit. Acad. xxxix. 320-l; 8-9. A. Campbell ed., Chron. ,4Ethelweard xxxvii, lx. 145. Descriptive Cotalogue oJ Ancient Deeds in the Public 109. Kemble, Cod. Dipl., no. 1257. Record OfficeY.86. I10. J. Stevensoned., Chron. Abingdon i. 294-7. 146. The Place-Names of Buckinghomshire (1925) 80. ll1. W de G. Birch, Cartulorium Saxonicum no. 1189. 147. S 382; Forsberg suggests that brydelad may be tt2. S 738; B.L., Harley Ch. 43 C5 (8.M. Facs.iii,27). related to Swedish brudled. The 'brideleader' I 13. s 698. brought the bride to the bridegroom. I 14. R. Dr0gereit, "Gab es eine angelsiichsischeKdnigs- 148. R. Forsberg, Nomina Germanica 9: A Contribution kanslei ? ", A rc h i v fti r U r k u n d enfo rsc h u ng xiii {1935) to o Dictionory of Old English Ploce-Names 335436,ar p. 416. (Uppsala,1950)21. l15. S 687, 7O3,706,717; 690, P. Chaplais,"/. Soc. 149 S 663, Edwy's grant to Abbot AEthelwold and A rchiv ( istsiii I 965)59-60. Abingdon Abbey in February 956, attested by I16. S 687; B.L. Cotton Aug. ii. 40 (8.M. Facs.ili. 22\. Dunstan. l17. S 703;B.L., (8.M. HarleyCh. 43 C3 Focs.lii.25). 150. Nomino Geogrophica Neerlondica lll 187, 346, cited I18. S 690;B.L., CottonAug. li. 39(8.M. Focs.iii. 23). by Forsberg,op. cit.,23 n.l . I19. S 772;8.L., Add. Ch. t9'193(8.M. Facs.iii.29). l5l. S 526, dated 947|the form (o/, to) Leahtfordointhe 120. D. Whitelocked., Engl. Hist. Docs.l,p.519; Keynes, bounds differs from Leghford in the Latin text and op. cit.,78 n. 156"apparent original". the rubric. Here again the boundary survey may t2l S 773; J. Smith ed., Bede.I/rs/. Eccl.,775-7; trans. have been added after the charter was drafted. D. Whitelock, Engl. Hist. Docs. I no. l13 (pp. 152. S 1325,dated 969. F.G. Gurney suggestedin a ms. 5I 9-21). note that Evenlode was a very curious form for 122. Keynes,op. cit.,234. Eowlangelad to take; is not the first / superfluous? 123. This certainly happened with S 690, the grant of I53. E.Edwards ed., Liber (1866) 'Edgar Monasterii de Hyda 78. Ringwood to Abingdon Abbey, an A' ori- t54. Linc. Episc.Reg. Memo. Sutton,223. ginal which was completed by a secondscribe. l 55. V.C.H. Bucks(1925) iii. 387,389 n. 95. 124. PomponiusMela, l.l l, 3. r 56. D.B. i. fo. 150b. 137 l)/. Simeon of Durham, Historia Regum (ed. T. Arnold, shire belonging to Jonathan Lovett Esqr, Survey'd Rolls Ser.)s.a. 906. and Plan'd in the year 1769 by Wm Woodward": l 58. V.C.H. Beds. lii.4Al. W.R. Mead, "Ridge and Furrow in Buckingham- I 59. Birch, Carl. Sax., no. 856. shire", Geog. Journalcxx pt. I (1954)35-42. 160. s 396. 176. Gurney, op. cit., 178. 161.s 397. l'77. Or indeed any form of boundary fence other than a t62. R.Hamble,The Saxon Kings (1980) 70-71. hedge;C. Eland, ln Bucks(1923\ 126. I63. C. Plummer, Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel 178. G. Lipscomb, Hist. and Antiq. of the County of (1899)ii.463. Buckingham (1847) iii. 305. This map shows the 164. Gurney, op. cit.,163. London and Birmingham railway on a line to the 165. Stenton,op. cit.,3l8 n.3. west of that actually adopted, with stations at lving- 166. Gurney,op. cit.,176n.26. hoe and at Mentmore. The new township of 167. The Place-Names of Buckinghamshire 8l n. 2: the Linslade is called Chelsea. Tithe Award was not completed and there is no map. 179. J. Bosworth, Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) 1140. 168. R. Richmond, Leighton Buzzord and its Hamlets 180. J.R. Clark Hall, Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1928) 4. (4th edn., 1960)389. 169. The Place-Namesof BuckinghamshireSl,256. 181. S 763. 170. S 480. 182. A.H.J. Baines, "The Olney Charrer of 979", 1'll. F.G. Gurney'scopy of part of an estatemap of 1780, Recordsof Bucksxxi(1979) 154-184, at pp. 172,l8l. in the Muniment Room, County Museum, Ayles- 183. Bosworth, op. cit.,66; T. Northcote Toller, ,4.S. bury (location of original not known). The map Dict. Supplement (1921) 61. includes Great Broughton Farm in Grove and Salters 184. Gurney, op. cit., 168 n. l2; V.C.H. Bucks (19O8) Grounds in'Lincelade'. ii. 132 (Suthwellredyin the bounds of Bernwood 172. M. Gelling, The Early Charters of the Thames Forest,1298). Valley (1979) l7 5 . 185. English Place-NameElementsi. 237. l'73. T.Wright and R.P. Wiilcker, Anglo-Saxon and Old 186. AElfric, Glossary(Codex Junii 7l) 57. English Vocabularies (1884\ 426. 35. 187. e.g. S 578(c. 950),S 654 (dated958). 174. Cf. Virgil, Georgics iii. 143, saltibus in vacuis 188. D.B. i. fo. 150b. pascant, "let them feed at large in glades". 189. A.S. Chron. (D) s.a. 1052. 175. "A Plan of the Manor of Soulbury in Buckingham-

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