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Mr. DENNY, in the absence of the writer, JOHN JAMES, Esq., of , read the following Paper on—

THE LITTLE BKITISn KINGDOM OF ELMET. When the Roman legions had been withdrawn from our shores, and nearly the whole country lay at the mercy of the Anglo-Saxons, there existed in the heart of the West- Riding of a little state called Elmet, which main­ tained for nearly two hundred years its independence. It was probably enclosed on all sides by the kingdom of , which included the whole of the other parts of Yorkshire. This Regiuncula of Elmet, as it has been called, possesses for many reasons great interest both to the antiquary and general inquirer. 1st. Recause it probably remained, in regard to inhabitants, religion, and manners, much the same from the time when the Romans quitted this country until the year 616. 2nd. Because in this interval it stood like an oasis hemmed in by the desert of Saxon paganism. From the time that Christianity was introduced into Yorkshire, probably in the latter part of the second century, its pure light, it may be believed, never afterwards became extinguished, nor the literature, arts, and civilization of Rome quite lost in this territory of Elmet, though the gross darkness of heathenism pervaded for a long period the Saxon rule in England. 3rd. Because , now the capital of the West-Riding, was most likely also the capital of the kingdom of Elmet. The history of this interesting little state is involved in deep obscurity, for very few ancient notices have descended to us respecting it. Lappenberg, in his History of England under the 8axon Kings (translated by Mr. Thorpe), states that Herevic, grand­ son of ^Ua, King of , w^as poisoned in Elmet Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021

453 some time before the year 616, and that about the same year his uncle Edwin, also King of Northumbria (which included the province of Deira), as one of his earliest deeds on ascending the throne, conquered about the year 616 the little British territory of Elmet, which had existed as an independent state. We are also informed that at this time Cereticus held the sovereignty of Elmet. Within a few years after this conquest, Edwin was converted to the Chris­ tian faith by Paulinus, who afterwards preached at Dewsbury and throughout these parts. The country of Loidis, which by Thoresby was assumed to be the same as the district of Elmet, is mentioned by the venerable , and also the "Wood of Elmet," as here­ after more fully stated. But the most curious notice of Elraet is contained in the fragment of an ancient MS. inserted in Camden^s Britannia, and containing a list of the Saxon divisions of England during the time of the , when England was not divided into counties, but only into several partitions with their number of hides. In this list the number of hides possessed in Elmet is set down, but it is far from certain whether these were all that were included in the former district of Elmet, or merely represented a later "partition" carved out of it. At this point the inquiry naturally arises —What, then, were the extent and bounds of the ancient kingdom of Elmet? The subjoined remarks are offered as aids in answering this inquiry:—As to its extent, from the ancient MS. inserted in Camden's Britannia, we find that Elmed Setna (that is, the inhabitants of Elmet) possessed or occupied 600 hides of land, and Wight-Gora (which it is presumed stands for the Isle of Wight) is also set down in the same MS. as consisting of the like number of hides; so that, taking the hides to contain the same measure of land in both places, we obtained from the known area of the Isle of Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021

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Wight 86,800 acres, or about 136 square miles. But it is very probable that the district of Elmet contained much more. Bishop Kennet, in his Parochial Antiquitiefi, observes that the word "hide" was originally taken for a house, and what Bede calls faniilias—that is, as much land as would maintain a family; for his Saxon interpreter, King Alfred, calls the owner a Ilydelander. The quantity of a hide was never expressly determined—sometimes it contained 100 acres, sometimes eight virgates (192 acres). The truth seems to be, hide, knights' fee, and yardland differed in different places. Now it is quite certain that in the Saxon times the hide contained more land in the sterile or uncultivated lands of the north of England than in the more fruitful districts of the south. For instance, it appears from Domesday Survey for some parts of Lancashire, six carucates or 600 acres made a hide of land, but in other counties the hide and carucate were mostly the same. The district of Elmet, it is supposed, took its name from abounding in elm trees. As will hereafter appear, it is conjectured that it included within its boimds at least the valleys of the Wharfe and Aire, and probably also that of the Calder. Every one traversing these valleys cannot but be struck with the large remnants of the forests which completely covered their slopes in the days of our Saxon forefathers. In manor, there were at the time of the Domesday Survey—Coppice Wood, nine miles in length and nine miles in breadth; the Great Wood of Farnley, near Leeds; the Bishop's Wood, near Sherburn, and numerous others, are vestiges of the immense forests which spread over the face of Elmet, and gave security and independence to its inhabitants. It is evident, therefore, from, the existence of these immense forests, and the vast tracts of moorland between the valleys, that a very extensive Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021

455 tract of country would be required to support 600 families, supposed to constitute the population of Elmet: for a family in Saxon times had often a large number of dependents. From all these considerations it will perhaps be a moderate estimate to allot to the kingdom of Elmet about 400 square miles, or say 25 miles long and 16 miles broad. In corro­ boration of this surmise Bede states that the island of Ely (which is 24 miles in length and 14 miles in breadth) contained in his time 600 families, hides or households, and it was unquestionably then a more fertile spot than the country around Leeds. As to its boimds, Thoresby, in his Ducatus^ observes: " The territory about Leeds called Elmet, or the Regio Loidis, which seems in those ages [Saxon] to have been of equal extent." Undoubtedly, the Sylva Mmetice of Bede, and adds that he durst not venture upon defining the boundaries of this JRegiuncula of Elmet. What Thoresby durst not venture upon it may appear rash to attempt. The following hints are, however, with all diffidence, offered towards solving this difficulty. Thoresby himself, in the Ducatus (page 245, second edition), remarks:—"I take Shireburn to be the utmost limits, at least in this topo­ graphy, of the ancient Ehfned Setna, or the inhabitants of Elmet, as I take the word to signify." Here, then, we have the authority of Thoresby for assuming Sherbum to be on the eastern boundary of Ehnet; but there are also other reasons for this opinion. In many ancient writings Sherburn is described as " Sher­ bum in Elmet;" and Old Lambarde, in his Dictionary, published in 1577, saje the " Territory or Hundredth about Shyrbume, in York, is called Elmete." Again, the very title—" Shirebum"—denotes the boundary of a shire or district. Towards the north it is not unlikely that the formed the boundary. Nowhere can the monastery p p Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021

456 of the most Reverend Abbot and Priest, Thrydwulf, men­ tioned by Bede to stand in the " Wood of Elmet," be placed more appropriately than at Tadcaater, for there or there­ abouts a monastery existed in the Saxon times, the only one in that part of the country which can be considered as included in the territory of Elmet. That this territory could not extend to the north further at the most than Tadcaster, may be concluded from the circumstance of York being the capital of Deira from the time of its subjugation by the Saxons, and that the district between the Whai'fe and the city incontestably belonged to it. It is clear that the country contiguous to Tadcaster on the south belonged to Elmet, because Berwick-in-Elmet lies in that quarter. And here, most likely, from the remains still seen, stood the royal villa or residence of the later Kings of Northumbria, men­ tioned by Bede as lying in " the country of Loidis." As to the boundaries of Elmet on the west, there seems but little material to form even a probable opinion. Lappenberg thinks that the district called Cunibria extended into the later kingdom of Northumbria, and that " the little state of Elmet" belonged to it. This conjecture, for it is only one, does not seem very plausible, for the voice of history is plain that Elmct was an independent state under its own king. Besides, Lappenberg's theory woidd require to have been included in Cumbria, and the evidence is strong that it belonged to Deira. It is, however, not improbable that the state of Elmet extended on the west to the confines of the Deanery of Craven (about 25 miles from Sherbum), where there seems to have existed from a remote period a strong line of demarcation. On the south there are no means of forming a judgment as to the situa­ tion of the boundary line. Dr. Whitaker, by including the parish of Halifax under the title of his great work, apparently thought that it formed Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021

457 part of the southern hoimdary of the district, to which he gave the name of Loidis et Elmete. Indeed, his work includes very much the same country as that ascribed in this Paper to Elmet. Taking Sherbum as the cast point, Bingley as the west, the breadth required (16 miles) would include the lower portions of the valleys of the TSHiarfe, Aire, and Calder. The town of Leeds either gave the name to the counti'y of Loidis, mentioned by Bede, or took its name from it as its capital. Let us now consider for a few moments the question of the state of Leeds prior to the Conquest. Thoresby believes that Caer Loid Coit, one of the twenty-eight British cities enumerated by Nennius, was Leeds, not Lincoln, as many have supposed, and adduced, among other good reasons, the great authority of Dean Gale for this opinion. Dr. Wliitaker, that prince of topographers, in a note to the passage in Thoresby, says:—" On a cooler consideration than our author's partiality to the subject would allow him to bestow on it, I cannot but think that Leeds has a fairer claim to be the Caer Loid Colt of Nennius than any other place." That Leeds was a very important place in the Saxon times is satisfactorily proved by Domesday Survey; for seven Thanes held it of King Edward the Confessor for seven manors, valued at the large sum of £6. Besides, there wei-e there a church, a priest, and a mill, several classes of occupiers representing a considerable population for the age, and many other indications of a place of importance; in fact, the chief town of the district. Singiilarly enough, the Conqueror, though he devastated the neighbourhood, spared Leeds, and hence its rapid growth soon after, whereby it eventually obtained a great charter from the Paganels, its lords, and became large and prosperous.