THE LADY THE ELGIVA, ST AETHELWOLD LINSLADE CHARTER

THE LADY ELGIVA, ST AETHELWOLD AND
THE LINSLADE CHARTER OF 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
During the reign of Edgar the Peaceable,
Linslade became part of a great "honour"
centred on Wing and including Princes Risborough, Bledlow, Whaddon, Haversham,
Marsworth, Chesham, Berkhamsted, Hatfield
and other more distant manors. Its lady was
AElfgyfu, Latinized as Elgiva, whose memory
was preserved by the New Minster at Winchester as an illustrious woman who had
commended herself to the prayers of the comm u n i t y b y t h e g i f t o f a l m s l . S h ew a s c o n c e r n e d
with the development of the hamlets of Risborough by those condemnedto penal slavery,
whom she manumitted by her will2, which
exhibits the strong influence of St AEthelwold.
A major restoration of the great 7th-century
basilica at Wing belongs to her time3 and may
well have been undertaken by her at his instance, though King Edgar, to whom she left
Wing and Linslade,may have completedit.
Only two charters in Elgiva's favour have
survived, Edgar's grants of Linsladeaand
Newnham Murrens in 966; this may suggest
that much of her land was folkland, held under
customary law, and that her legateeshad no
documents of title earlier than her will, made
with Edgar's consent. These two diplomas,
approved at the same witenagemot,are sufficient to identify her with the unfortunate wife of
King Edwy (Eadwig). She had been at the
centre of a crisis which temporarily disrupted
the English monarchy. The key to theseevents
seemsto have been generally overlooked for
more than a century. It is that circumstances
had enabled her mother AEthelgyfu, who
belonged to the dispossessed
senior branch of
the royal house of Wessex, to arrange a
dynastic marriage which was fiercely opposed
by the adherentsof the reigning branch, the
descendantsof Alfred, and in particular by St
Dunstan.
W h e n K i n g E d m u n d , A l f r e d ' s g r a n d s o n ,w a s
assassinated
on 26 May 9466at the age of 24,
after a highly successfulreign of six years, he
left two sons, Edwy, then aged about six, and
Edgar, who can hardly have been more than
three. Their mother St Elgiva (AElfgyfu) had
died on l8 MayT in 944 or 945. Edmund lost no
time in remarrying; his second wife was
AEthelflred of Damerham, the daughter of
Ealdorman AElfgar8.
As Edmund's two sons were so young, they
were passed over in favour of his brother
Eadred 'the Chosen', "electione optimatum
subrogatus"e. There is evidencethat the children were not brought up by their stepmother
and were in fact separated, a circumstance
likely to affect their future relationship.
Edgar's foster-mother was AElfwenl0, wife of
Athelstan 'Half-King', ealdorman of East
Anglia. Their eldest son AEthelwold held the
ll0
same office "one short only of royalty" from
956 to c. 962; his death was falselyattributed to
his foster-brother King Edgarll, who married
his widow AElfthryth in 96412or 96513;she
b e c a m et h e m o t h e r o f K i n g E t h e l r e d ' t h e U n ready' and was strongly suspected of the
murder of her stepson St Edward, King and
Martyr, in 978 to securethe crown for her son.
Edwy appearsto have been fostered by one
of the numerousAElfrics of the period, sincein
one of his earliestchartersrahe describesAElric
(for AElfric) ashis adoptivus porens. Adoption
in the full Roman sense, involving reception
into a new family, was unknown to Old English
law, and the English term would have been
E.W. Robertson suggestedin
fostor-feder.
1 8 7 2 1 5t h a t E d w y ' s f o s t e r - r n o t h e rd u r i n g t h e
nine years of Eadred's reign was AEthelgyfu,
mother of our AElfgyfu (whose name would
thus have taken its first element from her
f a t h e r ' s n a m e , i t s s e c o n df r o m h e r m o t h e r ' s ) .
T h i s s u g g e s t i o nw a s e n d o r s e db y W i l l i a m H u n t
in the Dictionary of National Biography 16in
1 8 8 5 ,b u t h a s s i n c eb e e ni g n o r e d . I t e x p l a i n sa
g r e a td e a l .
AEthelgyfu was descended from Alfred's
elder brother King Ethelred; her son AEthelweard recalledthe relationshipin the dedicatory
e p i s t l eo f h i s C h r o n i c l e " a s o u r m e m o r y p r o vides proof, and as our parents have taught
us".
In the prologue to the last book he
promised "origo prosapiae generis nostri indicatur aperius", and the secondchapter deals
with the subject after recording the death of
King Ethelred I "from whose root I spring".
He emphasizedthat Alfred got the kingdom
after the death of all his brothers. ,,I have
given attention to the history of our race as far
as these two kings from whom we derive our
d e s c e n t " . I r o n i c a l l y ,t h e e v e n t so f 9 4 6 h a d r e p e a t e dt h o s e o f 8 7 1 , w h e n t h e s o n o f E t h e l r e d
had been too young to reign. ln 899 Alfred's
son Edward the Elder, already associatedwith
, a s c h o s e nk i n g b y
h i m i n t h e g o v e r n m e n t l ?w
the Witan ("a primatibus electis", as AEthelweard alone recordsl8). Ethelred's son AEthelwold assertedhis claim as heir of Egbert and of
AEthelwulf, and raised the standard of revolt
llr
with Danish supportle but was killed at the
battle of the Holme.
AEthelgyfu seemsnot to have given up all
dynastichopes for her family, the elder branch
of "the right kingly kin of England"2o. By the
early 950s it must have been apparent that
Eadred was quite likely to die childless;if so,
her fosterling Edwy would probably succeed
him. She could not marry Edwy herself, but
she could induce him to marry her daughter
Elgiva, who was of ripe age, and so reunite the
two leading branchesof the house of Wessex.
The prospect was abhorrent to St Dunstan.
himself of that house, abbot of Glastonbury,
Eadred's closestadviser,who counted it among
his chief cares "to dissolveby just separation
foolish or wrongful marriages"2l. Dunstan
may well have beenresponsiblefor an admonition in Edmund's laws "Wel is eac to warnianne
itret man wite dret hy (the bridegroom and
bride) purh megsibbe to gelrengene beon" (i.e.
are not within the prohibited (seven)degrees)22.
Elgiva was third cousin to Edwy, but on this
basis most marriages in an English village
would have been dubious. The real if not the
ostensibleobjections were surely political and
social.The marriagecould be expectedto transfer influence from Edwy's grandmother
Eadgyfu, widow of Edward the Elder, patron
of Dunstan and of the monastic revival, to the
new king's prospectivemother-in-law, who, on
the view taken here, was also his foster-'mother.
so that the parties had been brought up as
brother and sister. It was not unreasonableto
regard this as a relationship that should
precludetheir marriage.
Edwy and Edgar both came to their uncle's
court during Eadred's last year, 955, when they
sign as 'clito' and 'tedeling'2r. On 23 November Eadred died after a long illness, during
which he was frequently unable to attend the
Witan and was preoccupiedwith the recovery
of Northumbria2a.
Edwy, who was now about 15, was elected
king by the West Saxonsand by the Mercians
and Northumbrians. His immediate reception
was favourable.
AEthelweard commented
"For his great beauty he received from the
common people the by-name 'All-fair' . . . He
deservedto be loved"25. Larer writers confirm
this. Henry of Huntingdon, or rather his
source, wrote "non illaudibiliter regni infulam
tenuit"26. The kingdom was at peace,a peace
which, as far as external enemies were concerned, was to last for 25 years. Edwy's
appointments to the provincial governorships
were irreproachable and proved lasting. He
named his kinsman AElfhere (ex porentela
regi9i) as ealdorman of Mercia, where
autonomist feelings were still strong. AElfhere's position was semi-royal; the Evesham
chronicler called him "potentissimus huius
patriae dominator"28, the patria being Mercia.
AEthelwold, Edgar's foster-brother, soon
replaced Brihtferth as ealdorman of East
Anglia, and Byrhtnoth took chargeof Essex,in
defence of which he was to die in 991. AElfhere's brother AElfheah becameealdorman of
Hampshire a few months later. It is not certain
which ealdorman took charge of Buckinghamshire which, though historically and linguistically Mercian, had been annexed to Wessexby
Edward the Elder2e:but AElfheah'sinfluencein
the proto-county must have been very great.
His will30,which took effect in 971. shows that
he held Aylesbury and Wendover, which he left
to the King and which becameroyal manors in
ancient demesne,and land in the Wycombes,
which he left to his kinsman AEthelweard.
(Elgiva herself devisedland at Wichom, bur it is
not quite certain that this is Wycombe, in view
of the form et llicumun in AElfheah'swill.)
marriage"33. Edwy was anointed and crowned
at Kingston by St Oda. All went well until the
King, still wearing his crown, jumped up and
left the coronation banquet to enjoy the
company of his intended bride Elgiva and her
mother. The whole company felt insulted, and
Oda suggested
that a delegationbe sentto bring
him back. At first no one wished to incur the
King's annoyanceand the noble ladies' enmity,
but finally they chose the two "most firm of
spirit", Dunstan and Cynesige. After some
altercation Edwy returned, but Dunstan soon
left England and took refuge in the recently
reformed monasteryat Chent3a. Bishop Cynesigeleft the court and did not return until May
95735when the disruption of the kingdom was
imminent.
The story lost nothing in the telling. Edwy
was said to have left the feast to amusehimself
with both ladies. Dunstan, it was rumoured.
had found him "repeatedly wallowing between
the two of them in evil fashion, as if in a vile
sty" with the crown thrown down on the floor.
It was believedthat Dunstan had usedviolence.
and that AEthelgyfuinducedthe King to banish
him so that she could seizehis property. Edwy
certainly married Elgiva and her mother
acquired some influence, but, as Sir Frank
Stenton pointed out, "churchmen of the
highest merit were willing to come to court
when both the ladies were present"36. The
bishops of the older generation adhered to
Edwy, but the abbots ceased to attend the
Witan, with a notable exception. St AEthelAmong King Edwy's first acts was to give his wold, whose friendship with Elgiva is amply
adoptive father AElric an estate in Berkshire. evidenced,came and receivedfurther grants for
The grant3l was attested by Archbishop Oda, the abbey which he was restoring at Abingthe king's brother Edgar (who at first ranked don37.The major grant38of 100 hides 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
k i n g ' se n m i t y .
own hands.
The earliest Life of Dunstan clearly implies
that by the time of the coronation on 27
January 95632AEthelgyfu was a widow "pursuing [Edwy] and wickedly enticing him to
intimacy, obviously in order to join and ally
herself or else her daughter to him in lawful
Apart from this debt of honour, Edwy's gifts
to the church were few. During the preceding
reigns, the Queen Mother Eadgyfu had exercised increasing influence in favour of the
Church and especiallyof the new Benedictine
monasticism. She now withdrew from court.
n2
and her grandson appropriated her extensive
estates in Wessex3e,some of them Eadred's
recent gifts to her inter vivofl or by willal.
Other counsellorsof Eadred were plunderedby
a king who "ruined with vain hatred the shrewd
and wise"42.
Elevenmore royal diplomas of 956 are interconnectedby their witness lists; one of these,
dated 29 November, issuedat the royal palace
probably givesthe time and place
of Cheddar56,
of the witenagemotwhich authorizedthe whole
group. Among the king's thegns, AElfheah,
who was probably already ealdormanEdwy lost no time in enriching his young designatesT,
moves to the head of the list, disWest 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,
AEthelmrer, the praeses(king's reeve) who had
fomiliarissimus
fidelis
(twice)45,fidelis (thrice)a6,fidetis vassalus47, 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 demore grants of 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
or simply cori (carus 'precious')50. At this comparisons have shown that nearly all the
early stage of the reign one cannot agree with sixty-oddchartersof 956 must have beendrawn
Plummer5l that these lavish 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 continuedimprovidencealienatedthe
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 helpary 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 partiesbecausethey were
attested all 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 postConquest and the text highly composite, but
The Witan seemsto have met twice during this looks like one of the annals relating to the
the spring and summer of 956, perhaps at period 900-959which were incorporated in 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 is fidelis minister ac propinquus).
s u m m e ro f 9 5 7 .
113
The chief men of the midland and northern
peoples, despising Edwy "because he acted
foolishly in the governmentcommitted to him"
agreedto chooseEdgar, then aged 14, as their
king; he had beenbrought up among them, and
is styled regulus, sub-king, in an anomalous
charter of 95663.ThereafterEdwy was still rex
Anglorum, Edgar rex Merciorum et Northonhymbrorum otque Brettonum64. This partition
or dyarchy seemsto have been effectedwithout
civil war; "in the witness of the whole people
the statewas divided betweenthe kings as determined by wisemen [: by the Witan] so that the
famous River Thames separatedthe realms of
both"65. This implies that Middlesex,Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire were retrocededto
Mercia, but it leavesthe position of Gloucestershire uncertain. Somethingviolent happenedat
Gloucester. According to Osbern's life of St
Dunstan, written after the Conquest, Edwy
encountered insurgents there and had to
retreat; the "people of the North" caught
Elgiva and hamstrungher so that she died. The
story is elaborated in the Vits Odonis: the
Archbishop had her branded and sent to
Ireland; when she returned, the "men of the
servant of God" seizedher at Gloucesterand
put her to death in the way described. As
Elgiva was alive in 966, theselegendsmust be
rejected, but her name was readily confused
with her mother's (AElf- and AEthel- were
falling togther as AEI- or Al- by the late l0th
century66)
and the wrath of the northernersmay
well have been directed against AEthelgyfu,
who disappears from history at this point,
exceptfor the requestin her daughter'swill that
Bishop AEthelwold would constantly pray for
themboth.
Elgiva probably retired to her Buckinghamshire estates,which were now within Edgar's
kingdom. Edgar made no changesin the provincial governments,but he recalled Dunstan
and soon made him bishop of Worcester and
then of London also67.Archbishop Oda died in
t h e s u m m e r o f 9 5 8 ; h i s s u c c e s s o r ,B i s h o p
AElfsigeof Winchester,died of cold in the Alps
while travelling to Rome for his pallium, and
Edwy then nominated Brihthelm of Wells.
During 958 he made some further grants of
land in Wessexto his thegns,but without terms
of endearment,exceptthat Wulfgar Leofa is his
koru{8 and Cenric his faithful propincernariu.t'e(qu. one who mixesdrinks?). Thesegrants
ceasein 959, to which year only two or perhaps
three of his diplomas can be assignedTo.
One of
these is a grant of privilegesand confirmation
of lands to AEthelwold's abbey of Abingdon,
witnessed by Edwy's grandmother Eadgyfu,
whose property he had seized; this has been
regarded as discrediting that charter, but it
seems quite likely that Edwy showedsigns of
repentancebefore he "breathed his last by a
miserabledeath" on I October 959. He was
barely twenty.
The kingdom was reunited under Edgar,
electedby both peoplesas true heir, at the age
of sixteenTl. He made considerablechangesin
the secretariat,made restitution to his grandmotherT2 and to WulfricT3 and deposed
Brihthelm, who had not yet received the
pallium, replacing him at Canterbury by
Dunstan. This would not have strengthened
Elgiva's position, for they were not reconciled,
but in 963 her friend AEthelwold became
bishop of Winchester. There she was enrolled
without question in the register of the New
Minster, where Edwy was buried, as
"AElfgyfu, coniunx Eadwigi regis"74. In the
Linslade and Newnham charters she has the
honourable title matrona, which was also given
by King Edgar to his stepmother, King
Edmund's widow75. The title 'queen' (cwEn,
regina) was not used in Wessexfor the king's
wife76until Edgar revived it in favour of his
secondwife AElfthryth (Alftruda); as she was
his foster-brother's widow his own marriage
was open to criticism, and he would not wish to
c o n d e m nE l g i v a ' s .
The words in the Linslade and Newnham
charters "que mihi af(f)initate mundialis
cruoris conjuncta est" were probably intended
to convey that Edgar recognisedthat he was
linked to Elgiva by offinitas, relarionship
through marriage. "Affinity of earthly blood"
is really a contradiction,sinceaffinis is not used
of a blood-relation. He was of courseher fairly
remote kinsman, and possibly he meant to
indicatethat they had no spiritual relationship.
Among the relativeswho were affinis was levir,
r14
husband'sbrother (the converseterm is fratria,
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 sake of 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 she may be given permissionto disArchbishop of Canterbury once remarked to
pose of her estate by will). Then she tells
the writer that "the whole thing was a shady
thee, Sire (/it. beloved one), by thy permissbusiness".
Both grants to Elgiva were
ion what she wishesto give to the church of
expressedto be made pro obsequio ejus devotGod for thee and for thy soul. That is, first.
issimo, for her most devoted obedience or
that she grants to the Old Minster (Winchesallegiance;this strongly suggeststhat she was
ter Cathedral)whereshegivesthanks that her
among those who had adhered to Edgar at the
body is to rest, the land at (Princes) Rist i m eo f t h e d i s r u p t i o n .
borough just as it stands,savethat shewishes
by thy permission that they free in every
The proem of the Linslade charter, discussed
hamlet every penally enslavedman who was
below, seemsto have been skilfully drafted to
enslavedunder her, and two hundred manconvey 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 censure of her own conduct
And she grants to the New Minster (at Winwas 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, since the
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,
was printed 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) and two bracelets
of King Ethelred 'the Unready'. Birch, whose
eachof which is of 120mancuses,and a sopcollection 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 published correction 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. Unfortunately it was repeatedby Mawer and Stenton8a. And I grant to AEthelwoldthe bishop (of WinThe 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.
accepted by A. Campbell86as explaining her
b r o t h e r ' sk i n d n e s st o E d w v ' s m e m o r v .
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 Aylesbury8e; those in the two Wycombes were
probably of British origin. AEthelflred, King
And I grant to AElfwaru my sisterall that I
have lent her; and to AEthelflrd my
Edmund's widow, stepmother of Edwy and
brother's wife the (head) band which I have Edgar, whoseestatesincludedHadham (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 advantage of the holy that every penally enslavedman whom he had
place (Winchester)and to share among poor acquiredin the courseof jurisdiction should be
men, just as it seemsto them most beneficial freed; thus in 1086there was only one seryuson
(/i/. 'tharfliest'87)for me before God.
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
onwards was 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 has many featuresof interest.Elgiva cottars.
had made arrangementsto be buried at WinAmong the upland hamlets of Risborough,
chester,but in the Cathedral (the Old Minster)
Loosley
Row (ft/ds-/Eclr,'pigsty-clearing')
was
not in the adjoining New Minster with her late
probably settledby Elgiva's swineherds. Their
husband. Her soul-scot,expressedto be for the
activities would require a substantial fence
benefit of the King's soul rather than her own,
comprisedPrincesRisboroughwith its hamlets between their land and the woodlands of
(Longwick, Meadle, Alscot, Culverton, Monks Risborough, which came into the
possessionof Canterbury, and it happensthat
Loosley Row, Lacey Creen, Speen). The influence of Bishop AEthelwold is shown in the the most likely date for the southward
liberation of penal slavesin every tun on this extensionof the Black Hedge betweenthe two
Risboroughsis in the late lOth centurye2.This
estate (not elsewhere);this would require the
does not 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
initiative camefrom 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 Winslaves,especiallyof penal slaves,was encour- chester. An enterprisewhich may be due either
aged as an act of Christian charity. Ealdorman to Elgiva or to the Abbey was the diversion of
AElfheah, who died in 971,directedhis heirs to the Chessto the north sideof CheshamMoor to
l16
provide a head of water at Lord's Mill, which is lishedby 968e7.Perhapssignificantly,there are
certainly pre-Conqueste3. Edgar's time of no gifts to Ely or to Peterborough, which he
peaceand prosperity seemsmost 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 scriniSaints 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 estate as 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 disaged 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 restorer of
time. Both were assessed
at 30 hides, and each the pos1"lm. He broke up vesselsand turned
had woodland for 1000 swine in 1086. but the them into money to relievethosesuffering from
difference in policy as regardsmanumission is a grievous famine, 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
Princes
Risborough
30
Bledlow
30
242430123
18183238
In the refoundation charter of the New
Minster%,written in lettersof gold, AEthelwold
as bishop of Winchestertook precedencenext
after the Archbishops. In the Linslade and
Newnham charters of the same year, he had
ranked after AElfstan, bishop of London; this
confirms his biographer's statementsthat he
spread his wings and was in King Edgar's confidence. He made regular preachingtours and
went round the monasteries establishing
Benedictineusages(soon to be embodiedin the
Regularis Concordia) and displacing secular
clerics and their wives, even those of noble
birth; this enragedthe magnates,especiallyin
Mercia. The secularcanonsof Winchesterhad
attempted in 964 to poison him. The religious
houses to which Elgiva made gifts were all
connected with St AEthelwold: most of them
were in being in 966, and Romsiy was estab-
Elgiva's gifts to the King included a heriot
which was the same as that expected from an
ealdorman, and the greater part of her estates,
including Wing and Linslade. The gift of
Newnham Murren to the Atheling (by title, not
by name) raisesa delicatequestion. The New
Minster charterr0r,probably drafted by AEthelwold, shows that in 966 Edgar's baby son
Edmund by his second wife AElfthryth was
"clito legitimus prefati regis filius"; he was
brought into the witenagemot to make a crucis
signoculumwith his infant hand. Edgar's elder
son Edward was ranked below him. and described as "eodem rege clito procreatus". This
suggestseither that Edgar's first marriage with
AEthelfled 'Eneda' was regardedas uncanonical, or that Edward was not born in wedlock.
If so the title Atheling was more properly given
to Edmund than to Edward. By 968 the eueen
had a secondson Ethelredlo2to whom the style
of atheling was also appliedlOs. The position
was radically changed when Edmund the
Atheling died c. 97lte'. Edward was now abour
twelve years old, if he was born before his
r17
father's accession to the English throne
(according to Eadmer of Canterbury he was
legitimate but not "born in the purple") while
his half-brother Ethelred was not above five. It
was fairly clear that if Edgar died within the
next few years, Edward would succeed; but
Ethelred still held the title Atheling, and when
Edward was in fact electedto the throne in 975
with Dunstan's support, Ethelred was granted
the estatessetasidefor the king's sonsl05.These
would have included Newnham Murren.
Elgiva's bequeststo 'the Lady' (the traditional
term in Wessexfor the king's wife) were also
made without mentioning a name, but took
effect in favour of AElfthryth, who survived
her and was associatedwith Edgar's gift of
Marsworth to Ely Abbey.
As AElfweard is twice mentioned before
AEthelweard, he was probably Elgiva's elder
brother. It has generally been assumed that
AEthelflred. who was left the head-bandwhich
she had borrowed, was the wife of AEthelweard
the Chronicler, becausea manumission in the
Bodmin Gospelsrffi(not earlier than 1002)was
made by an AEthelfled who was the wife of an
ealdorman AEthelweard. The Chronicler, who
ceasedto attend the Witan in 998, was ealdorman of the western provincesl0T,including
Cornwall, and he may well have had a Cornish
secretarylo8,but it seemsmore likely that the
manumittor was the Chronicler's son's
perhaps named
daughter,
her
after
grandmother; though this leaves open the
possibility that the AEthelflred of the will was
AElfweard's wife. Elgiva's relations with her
siblings seem to have been cool; she left them
Berkhamsted and Mongewell only for their
lives, subject to a charge in favour of the
minsters;the mention of feorm may imply that
theseestatesat leastwere folkland which could
not be alienatedfrom the kindred without royal
authority. The specific legaciesof a sop-cup
and a fine drinking-horn respectivelyto her
brotherswere clearlyan afterthought.
The mancus was a unit of account, the conventional price of an ox in the London district
according to VI Athelstan c. 6.2, a horse or a
slavebeing four times as valuable. Taking the
mancus at 30 pence, Elgiva left 90 pounds in
gold and l0 pounds in silverto specificlegatees,
and an uncertain residue for charitable purposes. There is no direct evidence on land
valuesin the Chilternsor the Vale of Aylesbury
in the lOth century, and it does not seem
possibleto compare the value of Elgiva's real
estatewith her wealth in preciousmetals.
The Text of the Linslode Charter
The text of the grant of Linslade by King
Edgar to his kinswoman, the noble matron
AElfgyfu, is preserved in the l3th-century
Abingdon cartulary, the Cottonian manuscript
Claudius B vi fo. 72-3 in the British Library
(cited as A). It has been printed by Kembler@,
J. Stevensonll0
and Birchlll. whoseedition is
cited as B. The grant of Newnham Murrenl12,
made on the sameoccasion,survivesin what is
probably a contemporary copy; it is to be
hoped that it is not an original, for it would give
us no favourableimpressionof the standardsof
Edgar's writing-office. It has a different
(though related) proem, but the dispositive
section, the immunity and reservationclauses
and the anathema correspond so closely that
the Newnham text (editedby Birch, cited as N)
supplies only a few variant readings. Both
these diplomas use formulae which were well
precedented;their immediate source may have
been a charter of 96lll3, granting land at
Hqmstede(unidentified)to a thegn Eadric; this
stands immediately after the Linslade grant in
the Abingdon cartulary, and is cited as H. It is
one of a group of texts dated between960 and
963 which can be associatedwith the scribe
w h o m D r d g e r e i t l l an a m e d ' E d g a r A ' . F i v e o f
h i s d i p l o m a s s u r v i v e a s o r i g i n a l s l l 5 ,i n c l u d i n g
King Edgar's restitution to Wulfric of the land
which he had forfeited "ob cuiusdemoffensaculi causa"l16, Edgar's grant to his stepm o t h e r l l Ta n d a g r a n t t o A b i n g d o n l 1 8 D
. rogereit made the attractive suggestionthat 'Edgar
A ' m i g h t b e S t A E t h e l w o l dh i m s e l f ;h i s a c t i v i t y
ceasesjust when AEthelwold becamebishop of
Winchester.This, however, is speculative;but
in 966 and for some yearsthereafterdraftsmen
trained under 'Edgar A' were using his
diplomas as precedents. The Hamstede
charter, or perhapsthe Linsladegrant basedon
it, was the sourceof correspondingsectionsof
the Aspley Guise charter of 969lle, which was
I l8
accepted by Professor Whitelockl20 as an
original, and is cited as Asp. A lost Warwickshire charter printed by J. Smith in l722t2| has
the same grantee and is in almost identical
terms. All these texts strongly support one
another and strengthen confidence in the
A b i n g d o n c a r t u l a r i s t . D r . S . D . K e y n e sc o n cludedr22that the compiler of Claudius B vi,
when revising and expanding the Abingdon
chronicle-cartulary Claudius C ix, took the
trouble to turn back to the original documents.
In two cases his excellent transcript of the
Linslade grant may improve on the spelling
(line l0) or grammar (line 28) of the original.
His only mistakes are an interlineation in line
44 and a false start in line 65. where his
exemplar may have had a blundered abbreviation. He is howeverresponsiblefor a misleading
heading "Carta regrs edgari de licchelade";
probably he knew Lechladebut not Linslade.
The order of sectionsin the Linslade charter
is conventional. In the parallel Newnham text
the dating clauseis misplaced,separating"His
metis rus hoc giratur" from the boundary
clause. Perhaps the dating clauseand witness
list were added after the Newnham document
had been used in a ceremonyof conveyancel23,
and the scribe then put the sectionstogether
unintelligently.
l8
l9
20
2l
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
3l
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
4l
42
42
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
5l
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
The text of the Linsladecharter is as follows:
Line
I Regnantezabaoth in perpe2 tuum domino nosfro ihesu chrlslo uni3 versaseddiuitiarum facultase/
4 temporalis gazepossessioque pre5 decessorum anxie sollicitudo per inde6 fessalaborum emulamezta lucratur
7 prolhl dolor incertis heredibrzsinterdum
8 optatis sepeexossisderelinquitar.
9 Quem admodurn psalmigraphus
l 0 i n p r o u i d i a mh u m a n i g e n e r i ss o c o r I I diam conquirensincrepatthes12 aurizat e/ ignorat cui congregat
l3 ea . necnonsagaxdiuine sermonis
l4 sophistacelestiquebiblioteceianil5 tor metrrcafacundia fretus catal6 lecticocecinituersu. Qua.propter ego
17 EADGAR rex anglorurzceterarumqr/e
gentiumincircuitupenistentiurn
qrzoddamruris prediolum.x. scilicet
cassatas
cui solicolehuiusceprouincieantiquum indiderunt
uocabulurnat lhincgelade.cuidart
matrone ingenue que miftl afinitate
mundialis cruoris coniunctaes/que
ab istiuspatrie gnosticiseleganti
AELFGIFU appellaturuocaminepro
obsequioeiusdeuotissimoperpetua
largitus sum hereditateut ipsa uita comite cum omnibus utensilibus
pratis uidelicetpascuis.siluisuoti composhabeatel post uite sueterminum quibrzscumqae
uoluerit cleronomis inmunem derelinquat. Sit
autem predictum rus omni tenene seruitutis iugo liberum tribus exceptis
rata uidelicetexpeditione. pontis.
arcisuerestauratione.Siquisrgilar
hanc nos/ram donationemin aliud
quam constituimustransferreuoluerit
priuatus consortio sanctedei ecclesieeternis baratri incendislugubrls iugiter
cum iuda christi proditore eiusqaecomplicibrzs
puniatur, si non satisfaccione
emendauerit congruaqaod contra no.r/rr{mdeliquic
decretum.
his metis hoc rus giratur. Mete
pis sind pa land gemeru to hlincgelade. oflincgeladeondlangea
to yttinga forda. ofpam forde andlang
strreteto tumbaldestreowe.of pane
treweondlangstreteon fone midlestan hlaw. of panne hlaweandlang
strreteto seofanhlawan. of seofan
hlawan to ban anum hlawe. of pan
anum hlawe to brerlicecrofte to pan
up heafdan. of pan up heafdanon
mrer denemidde weardeto pan ripige
of pan ripie be prerereceraheafdan
to pan ealdandic. andlangdices
eft innan pa ea.
60 Anno ab incarnationedomini
6l nosfri ihesuchrlsti. dcccc.lx. vi. Scrrpta
62 esl huius donationissingrafahis
63 testibasconsentientibusquorurn
64 inferius nomina caraxantur.
ll9
65
66
67
68
69
70
7|
72
73
74
75
76
77
'18
'19
80
8l
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
9l
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
l0O
l0l
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
I l0
lll
ll2
113
ll4
I 15
+ Ego eadgarrex tocius
brittannieprefatamdonationern
cum sigillo sanctecrucisconfirmavi.
+ Ego dunstan do[ro]bornensis
ecclesrearchieplscopaseiusdem regis donationem cum trrumpho agie
c r u c i sc o n s i g n a u i .
+ Ego oscytel archieprscopastrlump h a l e mt r o f e u m a g i ec r u c i s
impressi.
+ Ego relfstanlundoniensis
ecclesieepiscopusconsignaui.
+ Ego apeluuolduuintoniensisecclesieepiscopuspredictumdonum
consensi.
+ Ego osulf eplscopu.rconfirmaui.
+ Ego alfuuold episcopusconsignaui.
+ Ego osuuold episcopusroboraui.
+ Ego uuinsigeepiscopusconsolidavi.
+ Ego alfuuold episcopussubscripsi.
+ Ego aelfstan episcopuscorroboraui.
+ Ego alfric
abbas
+ Ego rescuuig
abbas
+ Ego osgar
abbas
+ Ego ordbriht
abbas
+ Ego rlf[h]ere
dux.
+ Ego elfheah
dux.
+ Ego ordgar
dux.
+ Ego apelstan
dux.
+ Ego apeluuine
dux.
+ Ego byrhtnod
dux.
+ Ego brihtferd
minister
+ Ego rlfuuine
minls/er
+ Ego aleluueard
minister
+ Ego uulfstan
minister
+ Ego osulf
minister
+ Ego osuueard
minister
+ Ego relfuueard
minister
+ Ego relfsige
minls/er
+ Ego osferd
minister
+ Ego apeluueard
minls/er
+ Ego rlfric
minrs/er
+ Ego alfuuold
minister
+ Ego apelsige
minrster
+ Ego apelferd
minister
+ Ego alfuuold
minister
+Egoeadric
minister
+ Ego uulfsige
minrs/er
+ Ego uulfnod
minister
+ Ego relfsige
minis/er
+ Ego alfric
minli/er
r20
Variant Reodings
A : B . L . C o t t o n , C l a u d i u sB v i , f o s . 7 2 - 7 3
B: Birch, Cortularium Soxonicum.no. I 189
H: 5698, for lines 26-44(8.L. Cott. Claudius
B vi, fo.73)
N : 5 7 3 8 , f o r l i n e s 1 8 - 2 1 , 2 3 - 4 4 , 6 5 - 8 (3e d .
Birch,no. I176)
Asp: 5772, for lines 28-44 (ed. Birch. no.
r229\
Line
3 .s.A; scilicetB
l0- soccordiam A (first c underdotted for
I I deletion)
l8 persistentiumA; persistenstium(sic)N
20 solicoleA; solicolaeN
2l antiquum A; antiqum (sic)N
23 afinitate A; affinitate N
26 AElfgifu A;AElgifu N
appellaturA; apellaturN
2 8 i p s aA ; i p s eH , N , A s p
30 uidelicetA, H, Asp: on. N
3 l u i t e s u eA , H ; v i t a es u a eN , A s p
34 terreneA, H, N; terrenaeAsp
37 gt A; igitur B, N, Asp; autem H
40- sqnctedei ecclesieeternis baratrl A, H
4l sanctae Dei ecclesiaeaeternis barathi
(sic)N
sancteDei aecclesiae
aeternisbarathri
Asp
44 contra interlined A
deliquid A, N, Asp; deliquit H
45 Mete rubricoted A (probably added by
cartularist)
65 btt (at end of line) A
67 sigilloA; singillo (sic)N
68 dobornensisA; cf. DoronensisN,
[Do]rovernensisAsp
69 eiusdemA; eusdem(sic)N
72 oscytelA; oscutelN
76 ecclesieA: aecclesiae
N
7 8 ecclesie.. . predictumdonum A
aecclesiae
. . . pre[sen?]temdomum (sic)
N
Tronslation of the Linslade Chorter
The following translationis offered:
The [Lord of] Hosts reigningfor ever.To our
Lord Jesus Christ (belong) the worlds; but
the abundanceof riches and temporal poss-
essionof royal treasure,which the solicitude
of predecessorsanxiously gained by unwearied exertions of labour, is left behind,
a l a s , t o u n c e r t a i n h e i r s , s o m e t i m e sa c c e p t able, often spineless. For instance, the
psalmist,searchingout the improvident carelessnessof human kind, (thus) inveighs:
"[With what vain anxiety] he hoards up
riches,when he cannot tell who will have the
c o u n t i n go f t h e m ! " A s a l s o t h e w i s e p h i l o sopher of the Divine Word and doorkeeper
of the heavenlylibrary [the New Testament]
relying on metrical eloquence,has foretold
in (his) catalecticverse [an intended quotation from the Cotalecla ascribed to Virgil
appearsto be lost or deletedherel.
Wherefore I Edgar, continuing king of the
English and of the rest of the surrounding
peoples, have granted a certain small rural
estate,to which the husbandmenof that province have given the ancient name "at
Linslade" to a certain noble matron. connected with me by affinity of earthly blood,
who is called by those who know (her) in this
country by the graceful name of AElfgyfu
'elf-grace'],
on account of her
['elf-gift' or
most devotedallegiance,in perpetualinheritance, that during her life she may enjoy it
with everythingwhich may be useful, namely
meadows, pastures, woodlands, having
obtained her wish. and that after the end of
her life she may leave it to whatever inheritors she pleases,exempt from public charges.
Let the aforesaidestatebe free from the yoke
of all earthly burdens except three, namely
approved military service and repair of
bridge and fortress.
Thereforeif anyoneshall wish to transferthis
our gift to any other purpose than we have
ordained, let him, deprived of the fellowship
of the holy church of God, be punishedperpetually in the sorrowful flames of the everlasting pit, together with Judas, the betrayer
of Christ, and his accomplices,if he shall not
have correctedby suitable amends whatever
he has committed contrary to our decree.
This estateis encompassed
by thesebounds.
l2l
Bounds. (In English) These are the landboundariesof Linslade.
From Linslade (the river-crossing by the
lynch) along (the) river to the ford of the
Yttingas. From the ford along (the) streetto
Tunbeald's tree. From that tree along (the)
street on to the midmost hill (or mound).
From that hill along (the) street to seven
mounds. From seven mounds to the one
mound (or hill). From the one mound to the
barley croft, to the upper end(of it) (or to the
upper headlands). From the upper end (of
the croft) (or from the upper headlands)into
the middle of the boundary valley, to the
riddy. From the riddy by the headland(s)of
the acres to the old dyke. Along the dyke,
back again into (and then in) the river (or
Along the dyke back again within the
stream).
In the 966th year from the incarnationof our
Lord JesusChrist, this charter of donation is
written, those witnessesconsenting whose
namesare written below.
+ I Edgar, king of all Britain, have confirmed the aforesaid gift with the sign of
the holy cross
+ I Dunstan, archbishop of the church of
Canterbury,have attestedthe gift by the said
king with the triumph of the holy cross
+ I Oscytel, archbishop [of York], have
impressedthe triumphal signof the holy cross
+ I AElfstan, bishop of the church of
London. haveattested
+ I Athelwold, bishop of the church of
Winchester,have agreedto the aforesaidgift
+ I Oswulf, bishop, haveconfirmed (it)
+ I Alfwold, bishop, haveattested
+ Oswold, bishop, have strengthened(it)
+ Winsige,bishop, havemade (it) firm
+ Alfwold, bishop, have subscribed
+ AElfstan, bishop, havecorroborated(it)
(Four abbots, six ealdormen and twenty
king's thegnsalso witnessthe grant.)
Notes on the Translation
Zubaoth is for Sqbootft, properly an indeclinable plural 'the heavenlyhosts' but here to be
t a k e na s ' t h e L o r d o f H o s t s ' .
The .s. in line 3 is taken by Birch as scilicet'it
is evident' but sed seems more likelv. as a
contrastis needed.
time of Christ. Benedictinemonks transcribed
his poems,and regardedtheir study as not at all
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 a
' a b u n d a n c ep, l e n t y ' .
g o o d s e n s e i;t i s g l o s s e dw i t u ' o n e w h o k n o w s ,
man of understanding'. The identity of the
Gazo is a Persianword for a royal treasureor missingquotation, and the reasonsfor excludpublic 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 o n e ' sw i s h ' ; t h e i m p l i c a t i o ni s e i t h e rt h a t E l g i v a
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 lines 4-8 must be to Linslade adjoins Wing, and Newnham Murren
property carefully accumulatedby earlier kings would go convenientlywith Mongewell.
and then squandered; Edwy's profusion will
have beenin mind.
Inmunem is for immunem 'exempt from
public service,burden or charge'. The main
.Exossrs is literally 'boneless' and hence purpose of the landbook is to create an
'pliant, supple'; probably'spineless'
c o n v e y s immunity, qualified by the usual reservationof
the meaning here.
the threeinvariablecharges.
The quotation from
'samethe Psalms is from Ps.
xxxix.6l25. The
thought occurs in the
proem to the Newnham charter: "patrimonia
incertis successoribus et ignotis heredibus
relinquatur". Its relevanceis not too clear,
since almost all landbooks, including these,
gave permission to leave the land to whomsoever the grantee saw fit, whether known or
unknown to the grantor.
Cecinit can here be translated 'has foretold,
prophesied'126.Virgil was regardednot only as
the first and noblest of poets, but also as
prophet and oracle (vates has all these
meanings), and his poems were consulted for
indicationsof the divine will.
Cstalectico .
versu is a clear reference to
the Catalecla ascribed to Virgil, who is the
doorkeeper of the New Testament scriptures,
since the Fourth Eclogue was taken as a
prophecy of the Incarnation of the Divine
Word. "Now the Virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn [the Golden Age] returns, now a
new progeny is sentdown from high heaven. . .
He shall govern the earth in peace, with the
virtues of his father"l27. The Church claimed
Virgil as one of nature's Christians before the
Rata is probably to be taken with expeditione
to denoteregular military service;Gurney takes
it as 'an approved expedition'. Ratum oliquid
'to make anything valid;
to confirm,
facere is
ratify'.
Barqtri is the genitive of barqthrum 'the
abyss,the lower world'. The presentwriter has
previouslyregardedthis as one of the recondite
Greek words in which AEthelweard and his
circle delighted,but the borrowing from Greek
is as old as Virgil; the word occursat leasttwice
in the Aeneidl28, and aeternis barat(h)ri
incendiis is common form in the 'Edear A'
groupof charters.
Jugiter is post-classical;in the context it may
be taken as 'perpetually' rather than 'immediately' though the TheodosianCode has 'jugiter
atque perpetuo'12e.The accomplicesof Juoas
are presumablythe chief priestsand magistrates
of Luke xxii.4, though Scripture does not
expresslysay that they are among the lost.
The Witnessesof the Linslade
and Newnham Chqrters
The Linslade and Newnham witnesslists are
almost the same, and present no difficulties.
122
They are headedby Edgar, describedas king of
all Britain, St Dunstan (d. 988), archbishop of
Canterbury (Dorobernia) since 961, and
Oscytel(d. 971) bishop of Dorchesterfrom 950,
translatedto York in 954-5, when he seemsto
have exchangedseeswith Archbishop Wulfstan
(d. 956). The order of the eight bishops is the
same in both lists. London and Winchester
taking precedenceas they still do, and the verbs
denoting subscriptionor assentare also exactly
the same. The somewhat fuller form of subscription by Bishop AEthelwold may perhaps
suggesta specialinterest in these grants. The
Linslade charter is attestedby four abbots, that
for Newnham by seven; the additional names
are AElfstan, AEthelgar (abbot of the New
Minster since964, when AEthelwold undertook
the removal of its secular canons) and Cyneweard (similarly appointed to Milton). These
three abbotswere undoubtedly present at the
Witan, and the absenceof their namesfrom the
Linslade list is probably attributable not to
dissent but to lack of space on the original
membrane, the name of the junior abbot,
Ordbriht (of Chertseysince964) being retained
to close the list. The six ealdormen who confirmed the Linslade grant appear in the same
order in the Newnham charter. AElfhere of
Mercia taking precedence,but the Newnham
list adds another dux who doesnot sign with the
others,whosename is illegiblebut beginswith p
and includes an o; he was probably the
northern earl Thorod or Thored Gunnarsson,
who harried Westmorland that yearl30,whether
with the approval of Edgar and his councillors
is not clear. Cumbria was a convenientrendezvous for Scandinavian forces; Edmund had
ravagedit in 945 and Ethelreddid so in 1000for
that reason.
The lists of king's thegns are not quite
identicalin Elgiva's two chartersand are differently arranged, though this may be due to the
respectivetranscribers. Oslac appearsnear the
head of the Newnham list but not at all in the
Linsladecharter; his appointment to the Northumbrian ealdormanry (displacing Thored?)
must have been imminent. He rose to high
favour, but was banished during the antimonastic reaction after Edgar's death. Tne
Linslade list includes Wulfnoth. a second
Alfwold and a second AElfric. Two illegible
names in the Newnham list may well be
AElfwine and AEthelweard, who sign second
and third among the ministri who attested the
Linsladecharter.
The Missing Quotation
The lines with which the draftsman intended
to conclude his proem were certainly from
Virgil, or rather from the Virgilian appendix;
the referenceto catalecticverse points to the
collection of short poems called Cotalecta or
Catalepton, and the one appropriate quotation
concerning a spendthrift heir occurs in the
savageiambicsof Cota. xiii, probably attacking
Mark Antony; they are not by Virgil, but could
be by Horace or evenOvid:
. . . et helluatoserapatrimonio
in fratre parsimonial3l
"and thy thrift in late hour at a brother's cost.
when thy patrimony was squandered". This
hints, not too obscurely, at Edwy's belated
changeof policy during his last months, when
he had alreadygranted so many of the hereditary lands of the crown of Wessexto his favourites, therebyimpoverishinghis brother Edgar.
Before the charter was engrossed,someone
(AEthelwold, or even Dunstan?) must surely
have advised Edgar that the context of these
lineswould be deeplyoffensiveto Elgiva, if she
looked them up. The precedingreferencel32
to
"prostitutae turpe contubernium 'sororis"
could be taken as relating to Edwy's uncanonical marriage to his foster-sister. Contubernianr is concubinage,or at best the marriage of
slaves. Further, if the manuscript read slola
'woman's robe'
in xiii.2l, there would be an
innuendo that Edwy was effeminate. Tne
offending quotation was taken out, but the surviving words "catalectico
versu" enableus
to retrieveit.
There is, however, reason to conclude that
the offending draftsman retained his post, and
that three years later he used this Linslade
charter as the precedentfor the Aspley Guise
grantl33, which has already been mentioned.
The original still exists,and its writer has been
identified by T.A.M. Bishop as having been
responsiblefor a manuscript of Virgilt:+. It is
submittedthat the connectionis complete.
123
The Identification of the Bounds of Linslade
The name Linslade occurs three times in the
text, with three different spellings. The name
of the estateis said to be 'at lhincgelade',the
form being describedas ancient, and expressly
attributed to the local rusticsl35. The practice
of prefixing Et (+ dative) to a place-name,
forming a compound expressiontreatedalmost
as a singleword, was obsolescentby 966 and is
not paralleled in the Homstede, Newnham or
Aspley Guise chartersl36.The boundary clause
is introduced by "pis sind pa land gemreru to
hlincgelade" but the bounds themselvesbegin
"of lincgeladeandlang ea
.". There is a
distinction between the name of the feature
defining the starting-pointof the boundary and
that of the vill or estate named from that
feature. In this diploma, the latter retains the
archaic aspiratedform; in the survey the initial
aspiratehas disappeared,becausethe surveyor
did not hear it, or did not note it down. It
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
Abingdon cartularistthat he did not harmonize
the spellings.
hamshire,and in the Aspley Guise boundslal lo
occurs only on the western(Bucks) side of the
estate,being replacedinsideBedfordshireby on
or inon. In the bounds of Radenoret4zto
occurs only twice, the connectivesbeing in,
innan and on, and in the detached and
"edited" version of the bounds lo is replaced.
The medieval texts of the St Frideswidecharterla3giving the bounds of Over Winchendon
and severalOxfordshireestatesseemto go back
to two distinct Old English versions,one (probably the earlier) preferring on, the other to or
into. ln the numerous Berkshire and Oxfordshire chartersof the period on is generallypreferred to to. It would appear that a definite
preference for to in lOth-century boundary
surveysis a North Bucks usage.A nationwide
survey of the prepositions used in charter
bounds might reveal other local predilections;
this is not a feature which a central scriptorium
would feel obligedto standardize.
The bounds of Linsladeare as follows:
(l) Of lincgelode
(From the river-crossingby the lynch)
The survey describesa sunwiseperambulatThe 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. Lynchets or
linear featuresconnectingthem (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 where it makes a distinct
turn or changesits nature. In part of the northThe second element is geldd (neut.); the
westernsectionof the boundary there seemsto dictionaries do not distinguish it from ldd
have been no linear feature distinctive enough (fem.) but it would appear that while both
to mention. The landmarks are given in the words can mean 'watercourse' the former is
repetitiveform, governed by olf 'from'for
more likely to mean 'passageover a riverrl4 .
departure and to for arrival, except for "on
The modern word lode has three topographical
pone midlestan hlaw" where on means "on to meaningsin lowland England. In the Fens it 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 usual meaningof 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
motion). In the Monks Risborough charter of the specialisedmeaning of 'ferry'; a deed of
903138
lo is not used: in the Chetwode-Hillesden 1494mentions 'the fery other whyles called the
6oun6rl3e/o is used in 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:
...' ' ' Porish-bondory
I
qO//l
J \ J u L _ t ) u t \ tA I I P Y
/
-L" i' H
n isl it o d e
i
lm,ar
;denu
t')
uP heafod'..
++1ar f;ns of rcilwov
TZBuilt-up
orco'
+
I
Old Linslode
.
./
.\Jtn"
\.
+
ffi
t/PP".,
LoomDes
\
segton
/rlawas \
!
I
LoVol
x,.rg"luef
Anlowes ? .J ooft
N
^.
\\
t\
1\
M i l e b u s hH t l l
i
I
I
i
i
Vo[9y-_o
LEIGHTON
-.,./
rorri
su2'z'd{6
(
LTNSLADE
s'Y
,o/
3/
s;
Ot.
tt
=/
Sotrthcott
odlarg
1../
ea
{r
",r . midLesLa hlaw
(Topo'the Porishes)
\ ,\r+
.4
\*c
'v-a
o""*r=r:_W
Tid denfoot
Totlgote .Vo
Ftouse
Al
I
At
/^
v v tI lNY tG)
W
\6
iq
.-o
\"
\9
\. ' \
SoEcrs
Hill
((Tiddenroot
T i d d e n f o o tHill)
Iioilwes
-..o.rgr
(S"ftsj?>
'irrrnba.ldes treow'w
'. Whitefields
(Tomestrow)
As-cottl
'.
/^
r-qrm..L/nUVL
n
| /
t-
B . J .E
Fig l.
The bounds of Linslade, as given in the charter of 966
125
The three possible meanings (watercourse;
path; river-passage)have all been suggestedfor
Linslade. Gurney took the geldd as a watercourse, the westernmost course of the Ousel
under the lynch to the south-eastof St Mary's
Church. This channel formed the county
boundary until 1965. Mawer and Stentonr46
suggested that "gelad refers to the footpath
which skirts the lince and makesits way past the
church to Broadoak Farm. The path is probably much older than the present road to the
west and represents the original means of
progressup the valley of the Ousel. If so, the
name means'linch-path' ". (The path referred
to is now above the bank, but before the Grand
Junction Canal was constructed it is said to
have run betweenthe bank and the river.)
ferry, is explainedas "de plaats, war de overvaart der melkerswas"l50.
Forsbergconsideredthat in this bound "the
geldd itself or the village may be meant"; but
the old village site, though above the river,
stands back from the hlinc, and a village as
such can hardly be one of its own bounds. The
same question arises in (to) Leahtforda in the
bounds of Leckford on the 1951151.
where the
referenceis to a ford acrossthe *leaht'(irrigation) channel'which gaveits name to the village.
At Evenlode the river-passa1eEt eowlan gelade
where the bounds begin and end, has given its
name first to the village and then to the river
itself, displacingits old name Bladenr52.
On the assumption that the geldd is a passage
over the Ousel,Forsbergpointed out that north
of the church that river is crossedby the road
from Woburn, continuing to Wing "as a
footpath, which forms the S. part of the
Linslade-Soulburyboundary and may well be
(andlang)strete third instance" (i.e. (8) below).
Wing was clearlythe centreof the district in the
settlement period, and several old highways
convergethere. The road from Woburn crosses
the flood-plain of the Ousel, called the Moors,
and when the stream was high a boat may well
have been needed, though at other times it
might be fordable. Thus at Cricklade we have
"usque ad Criceford quod est Crikelade" in a
passageof the Liber de Hyda r53corresponding
to the Chronicle entry dated 905 (for 903) in
which the Danes "hergodon ofer Mercna land
od hie comon to Crecca gelade, & foron !rer
ofer Temese."
Either suggestionwould seemacceptablefor
the original settlementwhich gave its name to
the estate, parish and former urban district
(1897-1965),though the meaning 'path' is not
found with any certainty in Old English placenames; the most convincing case is to
brydelodesfordat4T , which can be taken as "to
the ford on the bride's path". The difficulty
with both explanationsis that a stream and a
path are both linear features, and give no
definite starting-point for the bounds. Yet "of
lincgeladeandlang ea" implies a known point
on the Ousel. A river-crossing,whetheron foot
or by boat, would define such a point. Forsbergt+t has shown that "every one of the
localitiesdenoted by the place-namescertainly
containing geldd is situated on a stream, always
of some size and in most casesa large one . . .
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
and this supportsthe meaning 'ferry' 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 informatsummer. A geldd might have an owner; thus we ion came at second-hand from an old man
have et eanflede gelade on the Thames at named Turney (d. about 1908)who lived in one
Wythamlae. This specialisedsense seems to of the cottages,long destroyed,closeto the site
have developedin England, though there is one of the Holy Well near the bridge. Further, the
casein Holland where the 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
tracesof the path on this alignment acrossThe
Patch down to the railway; he thought it
approachedthe Manor House so as to link with
the causeway to the cow-ford. Hence Forsberg's suggestedsite for the starting-point of
the bounds could with advantage be moved
about a furlong upstream; only one rivercrossingis then involved insteadof two.
the name (h)lincgelad would be more apt for
the former. In the absenceof any tradition of
perambulation, the exact position of the
starting-point of the bounds cannot be determined with certainty.
(2) ondlang eo
(along (the) river)
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
attractive suggestion,even as thus modified. genitive with andlang meaning 'beside' 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 require us 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 streamdivideswould 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 eastern and old and ne\'/ courses being Bolsworth Meadow
the westernbranchesof the Ousel, on the track in Leighton. The boundary continuesupstream
connecting Corbettshill 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 passagenearerthe 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 East Anglia and
offerings to the vicar ceasedand the market and Northumbria. The event is somewhat differeight days' fair collapsedl55. A tradition ently recordedin the two principal manuscripts
preserved by Turney indicates that pilgrims of the Anglo-SaxonChronicle:
cameespeciallyto seeka cure for diseases
of the
A (for this period a Winchester chronicle):
eyes, but, he said sturdily, "it did 'em 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
Nordhymbre.
The B, C and D texts agreewith A (D has "at
Ytinga forda"). The original date in A was
905, altered to 906; the other texts all give 906,
except that Wheloc's edition, based on a lost
Cottonian manuscript, has 907. Simeon of
Durhaml5Twho dates the battle of the Holme
902, says that Edward, forced by necessity,
made peacein 906, and this is the most likely
date, though the Victoria County History of
Bedfordshirel58thought it might be as early as
903, soon after the battle. The Mercian
Register (the 'Annals of AEthelfled' or
'ElfledesBoc') doesnot mention
the treaty.
Whether the peacenegotiated at Tiddingford
was made "just as King Edward decreed" or
"from need" is still uncertain. Clearly it
replacedthe arbitrary line drawn by Alfred and
Guthrum (from the source of the Lea straight
(on gerihte) to Bedford)lse by a more natural
river-boundary. The Alfred-Guthrum line,
shown on many modern maps as the Danelaw
limit, has had no effect on later administrative
arrangementsin Bedfordshire,while the Ousel
continued to separatethe countiesnorth of the
ford until 1965,and still doesso south of it.
The treaty must have relaxed the provisions
of the earlier agreement of 886-7 by allowing
Englishmen to acquire estates in Danish
territory; the Chalgrave charter of 926t$
indicates that this was happening in Bedfordshire at the command of King Edward and
Ealdorman Ethelred before the death of the
latter in 9l l, and a relatedgtrs11s1l6l
refers to a
similar purchasein Derbyshire. In return, the
Danes were probably allowed to settle
peacefully in English Mercia, and this would
have facilitated their exploitation of vacant
land in the Chilterns. Indeed the Danesgained
such influence in the Buckingham shire-moots
that Bucks came to be regarded in the llth
century as a Danelaw county.
Richard Hamble 162has argued that the landpurchase policy under which Edward ordered
some of his thegnsto buy land in the Danelaw
antedatedthe treaty, and led to such opposition
that Edward could no longer take the field
against a Scandinavian coalition; hence the
necessity for peace. This, however, seems
inconsistentwith the strict separationimposed
by the Alfred-Guthrum treaty; more probably
the treaty of Tiddingford enabled Edward to
initiate the new policy. It was not likely to be
popular, and would not have operated during
the war of the English reconquest.
The identification of Yttingaford with a site
near Linslade appears to be due to W.H.
Stevensonin the New Oxford Historical Atlas,
followed by Plummerl63. F.G. Gurneyls says
that Stenton noticed the coincidence of the
ford-namesin the Chronicle and in the charter.
but that he placed it "much too far north and
too near Leighton Buzzard".
Stenton continued to describeit as "a site in the river Ousel
near Leighton Buzzard" in successiveeditions
of Anglo-Saxon Englond t6s. In fact the ford
was located by Gurney about 100 yards
upstream from the triple boundary; he
describedit in 1920as "an artificial gravelmade
ford still used by hunting men, although the
canal on the Linsladesidehas made it otherwise
disusedand useless". The road calledpiodweg
in the Chalgravecharter makes directly for this
ford; it passesGrovebury Farm, and although
the line is lost at Little Clapping Gate (921 235)
Gurney found indications of a bank and ditch
acrossHill Ground down to the ford. "After
many vain enquiries" he learnedfrom Thomas
Hopkins of Grovebury that the hill on the
Linslade side was called Tiddingford; he afterwards found many who knew the namel66,
usually pronounced Tidd'nfoot or even
Tinfoot.
It has since become well known
through the name Tiddenfoot Quarry, in
Linslade parish north of the ford; this is in fact
the current form, though Anglo-Saxon historians continue to speakof Tiddingford. Gurney
later found Tyttyngford hyllin a deed of l5ll
and Tidenford in the draft Tithe Award of
1836r67. Subsequently Alderman Robert
Richmond168noted a reference to Tuttyngford
in a Windsor deedof 1324. Old Englishy often
gave a-forms locally in the l3th and l4th
centuries,but not usually thereafter; examples
include Biddlesden, Cranwell, Hughenden
(Hitchenden), Kimble, Lillingstone, Linford,
Missenden and Tittershall. The subsequent
128
replacement of a by i is quite regular in
Buckinghamshire. In the recorded forms for
Tiddingford initial I has been caught up from
the prefixed ct.
and north-west where the Wing and Linslade
boundaries first coincide"; that is, at 901 232
on the 400 ft. contour, the triple boundary of
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
name *Yttal6e. 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)r70sayswith 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 place in 1934. It was
The tribal name may be very old.
named from a post-enclosure Survey and
Rental of 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
together with 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 deed of 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 Trees in 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
Elgiva's principal manor of Wing is now
The boundary runs on the south side of the
old road, which is therefore in Linslade. The representedby Ascott Farm. The three parcels
fields on either side are in ridge-and-furrow, of land which meet at this prominent and
t h o u g h N e w P l o w ' d P i e c e ,s o n a m e di n 1 7 8 0 1 7 1 ,significant site are Tomestraw in Wing, Ascott
seemsa significant exception. The field-names Hill in Linsladeand Whitefields (White Pitts in
on the Linslade side include Goose Green 1780, later a wood) in Grove. The present
writer was informed by the late Mr A. Vere
Close.
Woodman that the first-named was locally
(5) to tumbsldes treowe
called Home Straw, with loss of the initial / (in
(to Tunbeald'stree)
contrast to Tiddingford, which gained a t) and
Gurney suggestedin 1920 that 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
with Standard English lree.
Gurney was almost certainly right in locating
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 recovery of the field-name in 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 area of low relief, the summit fiust over 450 ft)
Linslade and is so named as the secondof three commands a 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 was probably a sixth from the north-west
betweenthem have beenremoved.
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 covering of a disusedreservoirprovided by the
Tollgate Lane, an old track, now the approach former Wing Rural District Council, but no
road to Ascott Farm, which crossesthe road archaeological finds 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
would place the 'seven 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(8) of bunne hlawe andlong strete
eastwards,its right-hand hedgebankbelonging
(from the hill (or mound) along (the) street)
to Linslade. It is not claimed by any authority
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 woodLinslade 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
adopted as 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 pasture, glade or passagethrough a
pone
(7) on
midlestan hlawe
(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. Thesesuperlativeswere 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 Southcott to
was applied to men of the middle or intermed- Liscombe; this is close to the head of a valley
which runs off northwards. and ECTV would
iate class.
130
take the charter boundary down this, and
across the stream which rises at Valley Farm
(Presswell'sFarm), but such a departure from
the parish boundary following the ridge seems
most unlikely, and in the Great Ground north
of the farm ridge-and-furrow runs straight
a c r o s st h e p o s t u l a t e dl i n e .
Thus it seemslikely that the sevenlowes were
hillocks along the boundary betweenMilebush
Hill and the next right-hand turn at 900 263.
Gurney himself did not draw this inference;he
thought that the sevenhluwas were barrows
of which several,I am told by the old men,
existed here in their fathers' times between
LinsladeWood and the bounds of 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 need not have This would be the Knoll at 902 264, in the
been closelygrouped. 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 inside the
leaves the s/rcl.
On Forsberg's assumption parish boundary.
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 seen at place-nameswith words for mounds, trees,
last to wear for a hundred yards or 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
(it is High Way in a Soulbury estate map of means'one' rather than 'solitary, alone'.
1769). The boundary, which follows this old
track, crosses the present road 84032 to
The boundary turns sharp right at 900 263 and
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 1776 and 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 Packs Hill 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 visible on the
and with a very rough surfacelike that found ground, but can be traced on air-photographs
inside Linslade Wood, 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 furzeThis was especiallytrue of the neighbour- grown wasteuntil the l9th century.
hood of the south-west boundary [of the
Upper Combesl near Mile Bush Hill (SoulGurney 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
by ploughing, and the mound nearly ploughed
out" ('Mound' in Buckinghamshire often
meansa boundary banklTT).This double ditch,
thus visible sixty years ago, is clear evidenceof
a boundary marked out by agreementbetween
the lords of Linslade and of Soulbury; but if it
had existedin 966 it would probably have been
mentioned. The selions in Soulbury abut on
this boundary.
An estatemap of 1827in the Bucks County
Record Office shows the Big Field divided into
five closes, two of them in Linslade. The
southernmost of these. with its west corner
point at 900263 and its north corner at90l 265,
is marked on a sketch map by Gurney as
'Anlowes' but he
cites no authority and this
might be a hypothetical form. The most probable site for the one mound seems to be
901 265, where an old balk comes in from the
north-west and the parish boundary has a tiny
V-shaped re-entrant. The 1827 map and
Lipscomb's map of the hundred of CottesloelT8
both show buildingsat this point.
eventhe meaningof up-headlandsis not clear".
The dative plural of heofod 'head' (heafdan in
late West Saxon) is sometimes used with
singular sensefor the headland of an arable
field. Strictly, 'headland' in this sense (the
unploughed ground at the end of the furrows
where the plough was turned) should be
ondheafdu (dat. pl. andheafdan). This is
alwaysplural, and the snd is sometimesomitted
giving a plural form of heafod; for example, a
Wiltshire charter of 968181
has "
. on prre
receraandheafda,andlangprera heafda. . . ".
On the whole, it would seem likely that the
words 'to brerlice crofte to pan up heafdan"
were intendedto denote a specificpoint on the
boundary, the second phrase having singular
meaningand being added becausea croft is not
a point but an area, a small enclosureof arable
or pasture,usually near a house or farm buildings. If this croft is identified with the second
close in the Big Field on the Linslade side, its
upper end would be at the next right-angled
turn in the parish boundary at 902 266. From
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 crest of 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 havebeentaken in from the wasteof
named after it which extendedto the boundarv: Linslade before 966, and the estate boundary
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 Olneyl82providesa 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 extended to the boundary at this point, as it
upper headland(s))
certainly did further north (see(14) below) ,,to
There is here a curious difference of 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
pan up heafdan" as "to the croft, to the top parish boundary between the 'upper end'
end of it." Clark Halll8o took up-heofod as a (902 266) and the point where it reaches the
common noun, 'upper 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 there is 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 to
means 'having 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 conup-headlandsas two distinct bounds, as did sideredso inconvenientthat when Linslade was
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 perhaps the last surviving use of the verb
gemcBran'to fix bounds'.
In 966 berlic would be an adjective 'of
barley (bere),pertaining to barley' not a noun.
The next appearanceof the word seemsto be in
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (E) s.a. I124, where
Bosworth regardedit as being a noun, Tollerl83
as still an adjective. The word bere still occurs
in the Scottish agricultural returns. When the
writer visited the area in preparation for a perambulation by the Bucks Archaeological
Societyit was still under barley.
(12) of pan up heofdan on mcpr dene midde
wearde
(from the upper end (of the croft) (or
from the upper headland(s)) into the
middle of the boundary valley)
Middeweard 'midward' often means 'the
middle of' (the noun with which the word
agrees). It is curious that the dictionaries do
not recognisemerdenu as a common noun, like
merbroc, merdic, merhlinc and the like.
especially as they accept the synonymous
mearcdenu.
The parish boundary turns left in the
Chelmscoteroad for about 100 yards, leaving
Linslade Hill (natural, but with a curiouslylevel
circular summit) on the right, and then runs
obliquely downhill into the valley, reachingthe
bottom at903269 and then proceedingdown it.
The hedgebank is on the Linslade side. The
charter bounds rather suggesta straight course
from the upper end of the croft to this point,
and in 1827there were hedgesall along this line.
Unless the 'up-headlands' supply an intermediatebound, a slight diversionof the boundary seems likely here, especially as the
Chelmscoteroad doesnot seemancient.
Gurney thought that "the
merdenu
mentioned is probably not the wide boundary
valley itself but one of the furlongs on its slope,
named after it". This seemsunnecessary,and
midde wearde points to a topographical
feature. ECTVtook the valley as that by Valley
Farm (see(8) above)but this postulatesa major
departure from the parish boundary, and the
line along the Long Weald ridge is a very
natural one. It is only the stepped course
between this ridge and the descent into the
boundary valley which presents any difficulty,
and here alone the surveyor fails to mention
linear featuresbetweenhis landmarks, perhaps
becausethey did not yet exist, or were no more
than fences.
(13) to pan ripige
(to the riddy (streamlet))
The term 'riddy' is applied locally to a small
or intermittent rill; the dof ridig had become d
by the l3th century in Bedfordshireand Buckinghamshirels4.The streamletmust have risen
in the valley below the point where the boundary meets it, probably about 904 272, southeast of Broad Oak Farm, where the footpath
from Chelmscote to the Holy Well and Old
Linslade crossesthe valley bottom. Gurney
commented that "the 'rithig' exists and is
readily found, rising in a little round patch of
bog", presumably that at 905 274, but later,
probably in a wetter season,he concludedthat
the sourcewas south of the railway. The Grand
Junction Canal has altered the drainage,and a
thousand years ago the stream was perhaps
more copiousthan at present.
ECTV would take the ripig as the stream
which rises at Valley Farm ((8) abpve); the
boundary would leave it at Clay Hill Slade
(896 259) and run uphill by the Flax Butts and
VarnhedgeFurlong, acrossthe Wing-Soulbury
road (here Middle Moor Slade) and through
Hasel Furlong and Packs Hill Furlong to rejoin
the presentparish boundary at9O0263(point A
in ECTV fie. 2). The steppedboundary which
follows is then taken as still being "by the acre
headlands" ((14) below) and the stream rising
i n t h e v a l l e yi s t h e n t a k e na s t h e ' o l d d i t c h ' ( 1 5 ) .
The objection is that by no means all this mile
of suggestedboundary runs by the headland,
i.e. transverselyto the acre-stripsabutting on it;
some of it runs parallel to them, along a balk or
furrow betweenfurlongs. Thus the description
would be quite inadequate, even misleading.
Applied to the existingparish boundary, it is as
preciseas the topography permits. Further, it is
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
(from the riddy by the acre-headland(s)
(the head(s)of the acres))
Ripie is what the surveyor heard, rather than
ripige. ,4Ecerhas its customary meaning of the
pre-enclosurestrip in the common field which
could be ploughedin a day; the resulting'land',
selion or ridge was the unit of occupation, the
furlong being the unit of cultivation. To the
north-west of the riddy, ridge-and-furrow is
detectableon the rising ground in Soulbury.
Here, at least, that estate was cultivated up to
its boundary in 966; whether the 'upheadland(s)' of (l l)
above carry this
implication is less clear. The dative plural
heofdan is quite usual for a single headland
serving many acre-strips. The usual medieval
term is hevedland, but in Old English
heafodland is so rare that it was asterisked in
English Plsce-Nsme Elementstssas a hypothetical or reconstructed form; however, AElfric
has hafudland as well as hafudecerts6.
(15) to pam ealdan dic
(to the old dyke)
Dic is translated 'dyke' as it is here masculine. It must relateto a feature which was
'old' (obsolete,supersededor in
decay) at the
time of the charter. Gurney identified it as
referring to the old (natural) courseof the river
Ousel which servesas a by-pass for the millwater of Grange Mill. The riddy entersthis at
907 274.
The last section of the perambulation takes
us back agaln (eft) within the stream (innan pa
ea) to the starting-point (this is implied). On
Forsberg'sview (see(l)) that the river-crossing
was on the Woburn road, the words innon pa eo
would be taken as explaining that the course
andlong dices 'beside the dyke' was in
midstreamrather than along the bank. On the
view which is here preferred, the dic reachesthe
main stream at9l3 272 and the boundary then
follows the river upstream to a point defined by
the existenceof a crossing-place,whence the
start was made. This would mean that this last
bound refers, very concisely, to two distinct
sections of the boundary, with innon meaning
b o t h ' i n t o ' a n d ' w i t h i n ( a l o n gi n ) ' . B o t h s e n s e s
involve local motion and would naturally
govern the accusative,as here; whereno motion
or changeis involved one would expect innan to
t a k e t h e d a t i v eo r g e n i t i v e .
The survey ought to have ended with the
words to lincgelade; this was the usual
convention,sometimeswith the addition of the
words drer hit er onfeng or the like; but there
are a few charters of the period where the
circuit is not quite completed, as it is assumed
that the stretch of boundary last mentioned is
followed back to the starting-psip1l87.
The Stste of Linslade in 966
The charter shows that classicalopen-field
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 again within the stream)
areaof rough grazingor survivingwoodland.
The parish boundary follows the old course
of the Ousel upstream. Gurney consideredthat
The grant mentionswoodland and pastureas
the mill-pool "though widened and steeply among the useful featuresof the estate. In 1086
banked on the side towards Linslade, perhaps theseare not mentioned,the meadow was quite
representsone of the original branchesof the insufficient and the assessment
had been raised
stream". If so it was not the main branch, or it f r o m 1 0 h i d e s t o 1 5 t 8 8 ' t h i s w o u l d h a v e
would have been adopted as the treaty bound- happenedby 105l, when King Edward the Conary 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
the grant of Linslade, with exemptionfrom the
king's feorm and other burdens, so that she
could treat it as an "enterprise zone" and
attract cultivators to its heavier clay or to its
sand interspersedwith quicksands and bogs
(locally "gogs"). Possibly she used her penal
slaveshere as well as in her Chiltern manors:
there were still five seryi here in 1086. In
Elgiva's will Linsladeis grouped with Wing and
is left to King Edgar along with Marsworth and
Haversham; these constituted the central
portion of her "honour" and were probably
administeredtogether. Domesdaystatisticsfor
thesefour manors are as follows:
Wing LinsladeMarsworth Haversham
Hides
5
15
20
l0
Ploughlands
40
16
9
l0
Ploughteams
25
13
9
8V,
Villeins
51
22
22
16
Bordars206-8
Slaves(servll
5
8
J
Servrperplough0.38
0.89
0.59
Wing was clearly a highly favoured manor,
undertaxed through beneficial hidation (even if
it was not bookland) and with no slaves. The
surplus pasture of Wing rendered shares Qferro)
for five ploughs. Of the five manors in Buckinghamshire where Domesday Book mentions
ploughshares as rent in kind, three (Wing,
Chesham, Bledlow) had belonged to Elgiva, but
except at Wing the ploughshares were rendered
from the surplus woodland.
It has been suggested that servi, of whatever
origin, were often used as swineherds. In 1086
there was woodland to feed 800 swine in Mars-
worth and 300 in Haversham. with 8 and 5
slavesrespectively.Linslade,with 5 slaves,had
woodland in 966; it has Linslade Wood today,
and must surelyhave had it in 1086,but the vill
was in Cottesloehundred where, through some
misunderstanding,woodland was not returned.
The writer knows from experiencehow difficult
it is to secure the inclusion of woodland in
agricultural returns, and its treatment in
Domesday is far from uniform.
It is hazardous to draw inferences from the
Domesday returns to the position a century
earlier, but they seem to support the view that
the Lady Elgiva, formerly Queen Consort of
England, spent an honourable and active retirement at Wing, which was speciallyprivilegedby
the Crown, and that she actively encouraged
developmentof her manors elsewhere. Edgar
rewarded her loyalty to him by adding to her
estates; of his grants, Linslade was on the
frontier of cultivation and needed some fiscal
encouragement. On Elgiva's death she left
most of her land either to the royal house or to
reformed Benedictinecommunities,though her
pious intentions must have been largely
frustrated by the anti-monasticmeasurestaken
by her kinsman Ealdorman AElfhere after
Edgar's death. She remained grateful to St
AEthelwold, whose zeal may have outrun his
discretion,but who had stood by her after her
marriage in 956, and who probably had much
influence on her decisions. Their friendship is
fully recognised in her will; he was to
administerher charitablebequests,and her last
requestto him was for his continuing prayers
for herselfand her mother. whoseambition had
precipitatedthe crisis.
REFERENCES
l.
2.
3.
L i b e r V i t a e , e d . W . d e G . B i r c h ( 1 8 9 2 )5 7 .
P.H. Sawyer, Anglo-SaxonChorters(1968\ no. 1484
(cited as S 1484).
E.D.C. Jackson and Sir Eric Fletcher, J. Br. Archaeot.
.4ssn xxv (1962) l-20; H. Mayr-Hartin g, The Coming
of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon Englond (1972) 158-9
suggestedthat Wing belonged to Wilfrid's monastlc
'empire'.
4.
5.
S 737.
S 738.
6.
7,
8.
135
St Augustine's day, ,4.S. Chron. (D) s.a. 946; Engl.
Hist. Docs. I (1955)203 n. 4.
Liber Vitae,93,2'70.
A.S. Chron. (D) s.a. 946. AEthelflred,s sister AElfled
married Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex from 956,
champion of the monks against AElfhere, dux praec/aras becauseof his heroic death at Maldon on I I
August 991, the subject of the greatestbattle-poem rn
English, probably commissioned or preserved by hrs
widow.
9.
10.
I l.
12.
13.
A1
S 520.
Historia RamesiensrsI l.
Freeman, Historical Essays(1st ser.) 15.
S 725, which is not free from doubt.
A.S. Chron. (D) s.a.965.
14. s 597.
15. E.W.Robertson,
Historical
Essays,
180,201.
16. Dict. Nat. Biog. i.149.
l'1. S 350 of 898; in C. Plummer, Two of the Saxon
Chronicles Parallel (1899) ii.ll5, the references to
Kemble, Cod. Dipl. no. 324 and Birch, Cart. Sax.
no. 576 seem to have been interchanged.
18. Chron. AEthelweard 51.
19. Chronicon Fani Sancti Neoti s.a. 9O4, in W.H.
Stevenson,Asser's Life of King Alfred (1904) 144.
20. "of lan rihtan AEngla landes kynekynne", ,4.S.
Chron. (E) s.a. 1100.
21. Vita Dunstani'auctore B' in W. Stubbs, Memoriols of
St Dunstan 3-52, trans. D. Whitelock in Engl. Hist.
D o c s . I ( 1 9 5 5 )n o . 2 3 4 ( c . 3 7 a t p . 8 3 1 ) .
22. Plummer, op. cil., ii. l5l citing Thorpe, Ancient
L a w si . 2 5 6 .
23. Plummer, op. cit., ii. 149; S 573, dated 956 (if indictional dating was used, this would mean on or after 24
September955).
24. Cf. S.D. Keynes, The Diplomas of King ,4Ethelred
't he
Unready' (1980)48.
25. Chron. .4Ethelweord 55 (bk. iv, c.8).
26. Henry of Huntingdon, ed. T. Arnold (RollsSer.)163.
27. S 582.
28. Chronicon Abbatiae Eveshamiensis (Rolls Ser.) 78.
29. Implied by A.S. Chron. (A, D) s.a.912.
30. s 1485.
31. s 597.
32.
33.
34.
J.L. Nelson, 'Inauguration Rituals' in Early Medieval
Kingship, ed. P.H. Sawyer and I.N. Wood (1977) 66
n. 99.
Vito Dunstani c. 2. lf the author was writing before
998, while AEthelweard was still senior ealdorman, it
was natural that he should avoid mentioning the name
of either lady. The Life had been copied and revised
before 1004:Engl. Hist. Docs.l.826.
In King Edmund's time, when Dunstan was temporarily out of favour, the Eastern Frankish envoys to the
court of Cheddar had invited him to return with them.
35. s 636.
3 6 . S 1292; F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon Englond (2nd
edn.,1947)361.
)t.
s 607,s 663.
3 8 . S 605(S 567,dated955,attributedto King Eadred,is
39.
probably spurious).
E v i d e n c e db y S l 2 l l , a g r a n t b y E a d g y f u t o C h r i s t
Church, Canterbury, after she had recovered her
estatesin 959.
40. s 562.
4t. s 1515.
42.
43.
Vita Dunstoni c. 24.
The chronological sequence of the diplomas of 956
has been settled by Keynes,op. cit., 5l-62.
44. S 594.
45. S589.S627.
46. S608.S614.S631.
s 666.
48. s 637.
49. S 607,theonedatedcharterof thisgroup.
50. Particularsin Keynes,op. cit.,54. Eighteenof the
twentychartersrelateto land southof theThames.
5 1 . Plummer,op. cit., ii. I50; Eric John,OrbisBritannioe
(1966)157-8,
takesa similarvrew.
52. VitaDunstani.c.24.
)J.
s 607.s 663.
54. s 584S
, 6 1 7 ,S 6 1 8 ,S 6 2 3 .
) ) . s 585.S 634.S 638.
56. s 6 l l .
) / . Probablyimpliedby S 619.
5 8 . s 544.
5 9 . Keynes,
op. cit.,Figs.3-6.
60. Stenton,op. cit.,36l n. 3.
6 1 . Plummer,op. cit., ii. lxxiii-lxxiv.
62. Engl.Hist. Docsl.205 n. 6.
63. s 633.
@.
S 677dated958"in the first indiction,the secondyear
of my reign [in Mercia]". The Caesarean
indiction
beganon 24September
957.
6 5 . VitaDunstanic.24.
66. Keynes,
op. cit.,235n. 15.
6'7. The Englishtextsof the Anglo-SaxonChroniclecould
meanthat Dunstanheld theseseessuccessively,
but
the Latin text (F) says"insuper et pontificatuLondoniaecumulavit".
68. s 655.
69. s 6 5 1 .
7 0 . S 658(to Abingdon),S 660;S 652is dated958for 959.
'7
t . A.S. Chron. (B, C) s.a. 959; "& he was pa .xvi.
wintre".
72. S l 2 l l - 2 ; S 8 l l .
tt.
s 687.
1A
Liber Vitae,57.
7 5 . s 703.
'76.
For the reasons,seeAsser,De RebusGestis,AElfredi
c. 13; W.H. Stevensoned., Asser's Life of King
Alfred (l9M) 2O0-2. The title regina was freely used
in theotherkingdoms.
7 7 . Modestinusin Digest38.10.4.
7 8 . Liber Eliensisi.4T(ed.D.J. Steward).St Erheldreda's
Abbey at Ely had been refoundedby Edgar and
AEthelwold
in 970;S 776,5779.
7 9 . B.L. Add. Ms. 15350fo. 73rv.
80. J.M. Kemble,Cod.Dipl. no.72l.
8 1 . B. Thorpe,Dipl. Anglic.AEvi Sax.(1865)552-5.
82. V.C.H.Bucks(1925)
iii. 392.
83. F.G. Curney, "Yttingaford and the Tenth-Century
Boundsof Chalgraveand Linslade",Beds.Rec. Soc.
( 1 9 2 0v). 1 6 3 - 1 8 0
a ,t l 7 4 n . 2 l .
84. The Place-Namesof Buckinghamshire(1925) 8, 86,
98, 167, 223.
8 5 . D. Whitelock.,Anglo-SaxonWills, ll9.
86. A. Campbelled., Chron.AEthelweardxv n. 6, xxxvi.
8 7 . pearf (ME thaA had a wide rangeof meanings,includingneed,necessity,
benefit,profit, advantage
and
utility.
8 8 . s 1485.
8 9 . D . B .i . f o . 1 4 3 ,1 4 3 b .
90. S 1494;Birch datesthis 972, Sawyer"probably after
r36
975", but the gift "for AEadgarescingessawle" could
have been made in Edgar's lifetime.
91. s 1503.
92.
A.H.J. Baines, "The Boundaries of Monks Risb o r o u g h " , R e c s .B u c k s x x i i i ( 1 9 8 1 )7 6 - 1 0 1 ,a t 8 3 , 9 6 .
93. It is Bricthrices mulle in a grant of c. I166 to Missenden Abbey (J.G. Jenkins ed., The Missenden Cartulary (1955) ii. 26 (no. 306)). Brictric or Brihtric, a man
of Queen Edith, held the principal manor of Chesham
i n t h e C o n f e s s o r ' st i m e : D . B . i . f o . 1 5 0 b .
9 4 . A E l f r i c , L i f e o f S t . 4 E t h e l w o l d , s s . 8 ,9 , l l , 2 3 .
95. See note 3. The Royal Commission on Historical
Monuments (Inventory for North Bucks (1913) 331)
cautiously describedthe chancel, nave and north aisle
as "probably not later than the lOth century".
96. S 745.
97. S 765, dated 968; the confirmation of privileges rn
S 812 was dated 966 by Birch, but as it mentions
"Edmond eleling !e on pare ministre ligp" it cannot
be earlier than 97 I .
9 8 . B . L . A d d . M s . 3 2 2 4 6 f o . 2 l v ( s t u d i e db y L . K i n d s c h i
i n a P h . D . d i s s e r t a t i o n ,S t a n f o r d U n i v . . 1 9 5 5 , n o t
available here).
9 9 . K e y n e s ,o p . c i t . , 1 4 6 ;l i n e o m i t t e d i n J u n i u s t r a n s c r i p t .
1 0 0 . A E l f r i c ,o p . c i t . , s . 1 9 .
101. s 745.
102. William of Malmesbury, De GestisRegum Anglorum
( e d .S t u b b s )i . l 8 l .
103. Implied by S 1485; Sawyer, A.S. Charters p. 415,
i d e n t i f i e s ' t h e e l d e r A t h e l i n g ' w i t h E t h e l r e d ,b u t t h i s
seemsclearly mistaken.
1 0 4 . , 4 . S . C h r o n . s . a . 9 7 0 ( D , E ) , 9 7 1 ( A , e r a s e d ) ,9 7 2
( W h e l o c ' sc o p y o f A ) .
105.
106.
lo7.
108.
s 937.
J.M. Kemble, Cod. Dipl. Aevi Soxonici no. 981.
s 891.
Cf. K. Sisam, Proc. Brit. Acad. xxxix. 320-l;
A. Campbell ed., Chron. ,4Ethelweard xxxvii, lx.
109. Kemble, Cod. Dipl., no. 1257.
I 1 0 . J. Stevensoned., Chron. Abingdon i. 294-7.
l l 1 . W de G. Birch, Cartulorium Saxonicum no. 1189.
t t 2 . S 7 3 8 ; B . L . , H a r l e y C h . 4 3 C 5 ( 8 . M . F a c s .i i i , 2 7 ) .
I 1 3 . s 698.
I 1 4 . R. Dr0gereit, "Gab es eine angelsiichsischeKdnigsl15.
I16.
l17.
I18.
I19.
120.
t2l
122.
123.
124.
1 2 5 . P s . x x x v i i i . Ti n V u l g a t e ,t r a n s . R . A . K n o x .
126. Cf. Quintilian 3.7.11:.-- futurum cecinissedicuntur
oracula.
t 2 7 . Yirgil, Eclogo iv. 6-7, 17; trans. AlexanderPope.
1 2 8 . Yirgil, Aeneid iii. 421,viii. 245. AEthelwearduses
phrases
several
from,4en.ii, iii.
t29. Cod. Theod.16.7.1.
l 30. A.S. Chron.(E) s.a.966.
l 3 l . Cataleptonxiii. ll-12 (Virgil,ed. H. RushtonFairclough(1934)505).
132. Cata. xlii. 7-8, which some editors would place
immediately before line 11.
133. 5772.
134. T.A.M. Bishop, English Caroline Minuscule (1971)
17.
135. At for et occurs elsewhere vulgare dictione; in the
literary languagethis occurs only in composition.
136. Cf.,4.S. Chron. (A) s.a. 552; "in lere srowebe is
genemned et Searobyrig". The et has been erased
in (A) and is omitted in (E). The l2th-century (F)
updates the text to "an bare stowe be ys geclyped
Srlesberi ".
137. Cf. "se deofol ladde hine on swide heahne munt".
M a t t h e w i v . 8 ( . . . i n t o a n e x c e e d i n gh i g h m o u n t a i n ,
A . V . ; u n t o , R . V . ; t o , R . S . V .a n d N . E . B . ; t o t h e t o p
of. Knox).
138. S 367.
1 3 9 . S 5 4 . d a t e d9 4 9 .
140. S 834, dated 979.
1 4 1 . S 7 7 2 . d a t e d9 6 9 .
142. S 104 (bounds lOth century); detached bounds in
s 1568.
143. S 969; cf. E. Tengstrand, A Contribution to the
Study of Genitival Composition in Old English
Place-Names (1946) 106.
144. A.H. Smith, English Place-Name Elements II (1956)
8-9.
145. Descriptive Cotalogue oJ Ancient Deeds in the Public
Record OfficeY.86.
146. The Place-Names of Buckinghomshire (1925) 80.
147. S 382; Forsberg suggests that brydelad may be
related to Swedish brudled. The 'brideleader'
brought the bride to the bridegroom.
148. R. Forsberg, Nomina Germanica 9: A Contribution
kanslei ? ", A rc h i v fti r U r k u n d enfo rsch u ng xiii {1935)
to o Dictionory
of Old English Ploce-Names
335436,ar p. 416.
(Uppsala,1950)21.
S 6 8 7 , 6 9 0 , 7 O 3 , 7 0 6 , 7 1 7 ;P . C h a p l a i s",/ . S o c . 149 S 663, Edwy's grant to Abbot AEthelwold and
A rchiv istsiii ( I 965)59-60.
Abingdon Abbey in February 956, attested by
S 687; B.L. Cotton Aug. ii. 40 (8.M. Facs.ili. 22\.
Dunstan.
S 703;B.L., HarleyCh. 43 C3 (8.M. Focs.lii.25). 150. Nomino Geogrophica Neerlondica lll 187, 346, cited
S 690;B.L., CottonAug. li. 39 (8.M. Focs.iii. 23).
b y F o r s b e r g ,o p . c i t . , 2 3 n . l .
(8.M. Facs.iii.29).
S 772;8.L., Add. Ch. t9'193
l5l. S 526, dated 947|the form (o/, to) Leahtfordointhe
D. Whitelocked.,Engl. Hist. Docs.l,p.519;Keynes,
bounds differs from Leghford in the Latin text and
o p . c i t . , 7 8 n . 1 5 6" a p p a r e n t o r i g i n a l " .
the rubric. Here again the boundary survey may
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 1 3 2 5 ,d a t e d 9 6 9 . F . G . G u r n e y s u g g e s t e di n a m s .
5I 9 - 2 1 ) .
note that Evenlode was a very curious form for
K e y n e s ,o p . c i t . , 2 3 4 .
Eowlangelad to take; is not the first / superfluous?
This certainly happened with S 690, the grant of
I 5 3 . E.Edwards ed., Liber Monasterii de Hyda (1866) 78.
Ringwood to Abingdon Abbey, an 'Edgar A' orit54. L i n c . E p i s c . R e g . M e m o . S u t t o n , 2 2 3 .
ginal which was completed by a second scribe.
l 5 5 . V . C . H . B u c k s ( 1 9 2 5 )i i i . 3 8 7 , 3 8 9 n . 9 5 .
P o m p o n i u sM e l a , l . l l , 3 .
r56. D . B . i . f o . 1 5 0 b .
137
Simeon of Durham, Historia Regum (ed. T. Arnold,
R o l l s S e r . )s . a . 9 0 6 .
l 5 8 . V.C.H. Beds. lii.4Al.
I 59. Birch, Carl. Sax., no. 856.
l)/.
160. s 396.
1 6 1 . s 397.
t 6 2 . R.Hamble,
TheSaxon
Kings(1980)
70-71.
I 6 3 . C. Plummer, Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel
164.
165.
166.
167.
168.
169.
170.
1'll.
172.
l'73.
174.
175.
( 1 8 9 9 )i i . 4 6 3 .
Gurney, op. cit.,163.
S t e n t o n ,o p . c i t . , 3 l 8 n . 3 .
G u r n e y ,o p . c i t . , 1 7 6 n . 2 6 .
The Place-Names of Buckinghamshire 8l n. 2: the
Tithe Award was not completed and there is no map.
R. Richmond, Leighton Buzzord and its Hamlets
(1928) 4.
The Place-Namesof BuckinghamshireSl,256.
S 480.
F . G . G u r n e y ' s c o p y o f p a r t o f a n e s t a t em a p o f 1 7 8 0 ,
in the Muniment Room, County Museum, Aylesbury (location of original not known). The map
includes Great Broughton Farm in Grove and Salters
Groundsin'Lincelade'.
M. Gelling, The Early Charters of the Thames
Valley (1979) l7 5 .
T.Wright and R.P. Wiilcker, Anglo-Saxon and Old
English Vocabularies (1884\ 426. 35.
Cf. Virgil, Georgics iii. 143, saltibus in vacuis
pascant, "let them feed at large in glades".
"A Plan of the Manor of Soulbury in Buckingham-
176.
l'77.
178.
179.
180.
181.
182.
183.
184.
185.
186.
187.
188.
189.
138
shire belonging to Jonathan Lovett Esqr, Survey'd
and Plan'd in the year 1769 by Wm Woodward":
W.R. Mead, "Ridge and Furrow in Buckinghamshire", Geog. Journalcxx pt. I (1954) 35-42.
Gurney, op. cit., 178.
Or indeed any form of boundary fence other than a
hedge;C. Eland, ln Bucks(1923\ 126.
G. Lipscomb, Hist. and Antiq. of the County of
Buckingham (1847) iii. 305. This map shows the
London and Birmingham railway on a line to the
west of that actually adopted, with stations at lvinghoe and at Mentmore.
The new township of
Linslade is called Chelsea.
J. Bosworth, Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) 1140.
J.R. Clark Hall, Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
( 4 t h e d n . , 1 9 6 0 )3 8 9 .
S763.
A.H.J. Baines, "The Olney Charrer of 979",
R e c o r d so f B u c k s x x i ( 1 9 7 9 )1 5 4 - 1 8 4 a, t p p . 1 7 2 , l 8 l .
Bosworth, op. cit.,66; T. Northcote Toller, ,4.S.
Dict. Supplement (1921) 61.
Gurney, op. cit., 168 n. l2; V.C.H. Bucks (19O8)
i i . 1 3 2 ( S u t h w e l l r e d yi n t h e b o u n d s o f B e r n w o o d
Forest,1298).
English Place-NameElementsi. 237.
A E l f r i c , G l o s s a r y( C o d e x J u n i i 7 l ) 5 7 .
e . g . S 5 7 8 ( c . 9 5 0 ) ,S 6 5 4 ( d a t e d9 5 8 ) .
D.B. i. fo. 150b.
A.S. Chron. (D) s.a. 1052.