w ^ ^ ^ w yié w w w ^ w
NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
EVANSTON
ILLINOIS
wn Wn wn
iXïiîS^ S^sscrrbtioit.
1884.
.J) .Pititínan,
AN
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCEIPT LIST
OF SOME
EARLY TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND.
By WALTEE DE GEAY BIECH, Esq., F.S.A., Hon. Sec.
B6I7
28
AN
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT LIST
OP SOME
EAELY TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND.
BY WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, ESQ., F.S.A., HON. SEC.
(Read Augitst 1883.)
The division of England into counties, as we know tkem
to-day, has been by many arcbseologists attributed to
King Alfred ; but it is, and long bas been, well known
that, previous to the erection of counties, there were terri¬
torial divisions, of large or small area, neither well known
by name, nor well defined by boundaries, and probably
for the most part isolated from each other by neutral
forest lands—oases, so to speak, in the great primaeval
forest with which prebistorical England was clad. How
these territories first sprung into being it is difficult at
this distant period to decide. No doubt various causes
operated in their several ways towards the aggregation
of individual families ; intermarriages of members of con¬
tiguous homesteads, the attractive glamour of a brave
man's name, the clustering of dependent families around
the chieftain's domicile, the subjugation of the weak by
the strong, and many other ways, readily suggest them¬
selves as primarily operative in this way. Then comes
the secondary period, when the cluster of contiguous
villages, thus united to each other by friendship or neces¬
sity, made itself feared and recognised abroad, and for
convenience sake received a designation by which it Avas
known to all who had need of its amity and intercourse,
to all who had reason to fear its opposition and aggression.
It will be my endeavour in this paper to show that we
may, in some cases at least, trace in present names some
of the early names of these areas. The exact date of
this secondary period of British colonization is very
remote, perhaps an antiquity of several thousand years
may be safely attributed to it.
Few records indeed exist which afibrcl any clue to the
EARLY TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND. 29
names and extent of these territories ; but I have very
recently discovered in the British Museum important
evidence contained in a manuscript which does not
appear to have been seen by those who have hitherto
worked upon this point in the history of England. The
MS. is of the late tenth or early eleventh century,
written on a flyleaf in a copy of JElfric's Latin Grammar
for the use of Anglo-Saxon, i.e., Early English, students.
Kemhle, Gale, Pearson, and others, have printed lists of
territorial names from late and faulty copies of this text;
but of all the MSS. which I have been able to trace, the
present, here brought for the first time before the notice
of archaeologists, is the oldest and the best text.^ From
certain indications of a technical and diacritical nature,
such as, for example, the division of words at the wrong
place, there can be little doubt that this MS. is a copy of
an older one now lost, and my object is to lay before the
Association some short notes, conjectural and tentative as
they are for the most part, upon the names of some of the
territories and peoples mentioned in the MS. It does not
appear that the list is by any means exhaustive, for those
who are familiar with the history of England from the
seventh to the eleventh centuries, will easily remark the
omission of some well-known historical tribes and dis¬
tricts, as, for example, the Magessetse, the Meonwaras, and
so forth. The MS. appears to represent in the first place
a memorandum jotted down in the seventh century, from
memory by an early topographer, of those tribes and
their territorial or political area with which he was per¬
sonally acquainted. As it stands (and as a copy of an
older document), it is a most valuable record of Saxon
history ; and, looked at in the light which I shall endea¬
vour to throw upon it, I venture to say it claims consider¬
able attention at our hands.
A.
British Museum, Harley MS. 3271,/. 6b.
10th to lltli Century.
1. Myrcna . landes is . ]?rittig ]7usend . hyda )?8er mon seiest.
myrcna haet. 2. focen ssetna is syfan ))usend hida. 3. Pesterna . eac
^ It will be noticed that of five copies extant, this is the only Saxon
copy,, the other four being in Latin.
30
MANUSCRIPT LIST OF EARLY
I
spa. 4. PecscTtna tpelf hund liyda. 5. Elined sœtna syx hund
hyda. 6. Lindes farona syfan J?usend hyda mid ha'^feldlande.
7. Su"^ Syrpa syx hund hyda. 8. syx hund liyda.
9. East pixna ]?ryu hund hyda. 10. Pest pixna syx hund hyda.
11. Spalda syx hund hyda. 12. pigesta nygan hund hyda. 13.
Herefinna tpelfhund'hyda. 14. Speord ora |?ryu hund hyda. 15.
Gifla |?ryu hund hyda. 16. Hicca }>ry hund hyda.. 17. piht gara
syx hund hyda. 18. Noxgaga fif ]?usend hyda. 19. Oht gaga tpa
lausend hyda. pad is syx y syxtig jausend hyda y an hund hyda.
20. Hwinca syfan jausend hyda. 21. Gütern sastna feoper )?usend
hyda. 22. Hendrica ]>rjn pusend hyda y fifhund hyda. 23. Une-
oung ga tpelf hund hyda. 24. Aro saetna syx hund hyda. 25. Fœr-
pinga J?reo hund hyda is in middelenglù Eserpinga. 26. Bil-
miga (or perhaps Bilunga) syx hund hyda. 27. piderigga eacspa.
28. Eastpilla syx hund hyda. 29. Pestpilla syx hund hyda. 30.
East angle ]>rittig ]?usend hida. 31. East sexena syofon |?usend
hyda. 32. Cantparena fiftene ]?usend hyda. 33. Su^ sexena syu-
fan ]7usend hyda. 34, pest sexena hund ]?usend hida.
Dis ealles tj^a hund Jausend y tpa y feopertig )7usend hyda y syuan
hund hyda.
I give the following texts gathered from later sources ;
B.
SpelmaUy Glossarium, p. 292.
1. Myrcna continet 30,000 Hidas. 2. Woken setna, 7,000 hid.
3. Westerna, 7,000 hid. 4. Pec-setna, 1,200 hid. 5. Elmed-setna,
600 hid. 6. Lindes-farona, 7,000 hid. 7. Suth-Gyrwa, 600 hid,
8. North-Gj^rwa, 600 hid. 9. East Wixna, 300 hid. 10. West
Wixna, 600 hid. 11. Spalda, 600 hid. 12. Wigesta, 900 hid.
13. Herefinna, 1,200 hid. 14. Sweordora, 300 hid. 15. Eyfla, 300
hid. 16. Wicea, 300 hid. 17. Wight-gora, 600 hid. 18. Nox gaga,
5,000 hid. 19. Oht gaga, 2,000 hid. 20. Hwyuca, 7,000 hid. 21.
Gütern saiitna, 4,000 hid. 22. Hendrica, 3,000 hid. 23. Unecung-
ga, 1,200 hid. 24. Aroseatna, 600 hid. 25. Eearfinga, 300 hid.
26. Behniga,600 hid. 27. Witherigga, 600 hid. 28. East-willa, 600
hid. 29. West-willa, 600 hid. 30. East-Engle, 30,000 hid. 31.
East-Sexena, 7,000 hid. 32. Gant-warena, 15,000 hid. 33. Suth-
sexena, 7,000 hid. 34. West-sexena, 100,000 hid.
c.
Brit. Mus., Claudius, D. II, f. 1, 12th Century.
De numero hidarum Anglie in Britannia :
1. Mircheneland est de triginta[M] hidis ab eo loco ubi primum
Mircheneland noininatur. 2. Porcensetene est de septem [M] hidis.
3. Pesterne eac septejii [M] hidis. 4. Petsetene sex centum hides.
5. Elmet setena sex-centum hides. 6. Lindisferna septem hides.
Midhej^felda. 7. Sudergipa sex hidas. 8. Nordergipa sex hidas.
TERRITOKIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND
31
9. Yeastpixna tres centum hidas. 10. Omitted. 11. Spalda sex /
centum hidas. 12. pitgesta octoginta hidas. 13. Herfuina sex cen¬
tum et duas hid'. 14. Speodora tres centum hidas. 15. Gyfla tres
centum hidas. 16. Hicca tres centum hidas. 17. Ffitgara sex cen¬
tum hidas. 18. Hexgaga quinqué [M] hidas. 19. Ochtgata duas
hidas. 20. Hynica septem [M] hidas. 21. Ciltena seztena quatuor
[M] hid. 22. Hendrica tres [M] hidas. 23. Ynetunga mille du-
cent' hid. 24. Aero tone hides. 25. Fferpinga .iii. hunt hyd.
26. Siliuiliga .vj®. hid. 27. Omitted. 28,29. pestpell et acsi eastpele
sex centum hidas. 30. Eastlega triginta hidas. 31. Eastsexe sep¬
tem [M] hidas. 32. Cantparana quindecim hidas. 33. Suthsexe
c' hid. 34. Omitted.
]jeat is ealles cc. hidas et octinginta hidas.
D.
Gale, Her. Angl. Scrip,, iii, 748.
Numerus Hidarum regionum quorundara Gis-Humbranarum ex
Codice rubro Scaccarii, p. 29, collato cum MS. Gott., Claud.
D. ii:
1. Myrcna continet 30,000 Hidas. Woken-Setna 7,000 hidas.
Westerna 7,000 hidas. Pecsetna 1,200 hidas. 2. Elmed-setna 600
hidas. 3. Ijindes-farona 7,000 hidas. Midlethfelda 4. Suth-
Gyxwa 600 hidas. 5. North-Gyrwa 600 hidas. f East-Wixna 300
hidas. t West-Wixna 600 hidas. Spalda 600 hidas. 6. Wigesta
900 hidas. 7. Heresinna 1,200 hidas. 8. Sweordora 300 hidas.
9. Eyfla 300 hidas. 10. Wicca 300 hidas. 11. Wight-gora 600
hidas. 12. Nox-gaga 5,000 hidas. 13. Othgaga 2,000 hidas. 14.
Hwyiica 7,000 hidas. 15. Ciltern-setna 300 hidas. Hendrica 3,000
hidas. 16. Unecung-ga 1,200 hidas. Aroseatna 600 hidas. 17.
Fearfinga SOO hidas. 18. Belmiga 600 hidas. Witherigga 600
hidas. 19. East-Willa 600 hidas. West-Willa 600 hidas. 20. East-
Engle 30,000 hidas. East-Sexena 7,000 hidas. Cant-Warena 15,000
hidas. Suth-Sexena 100,000 hidas.
E.
miey, Liber Albus, ii, 2, 626.
De numero Hidarum Angliae in Britannia :
1. Mircheneland est de triginta [mille] hidas ab eo loco ubi pri-
mum Mircheneland nominatur. 2. Porcensetene est de septem
[mille] hidis. 3. Westerne eac septem [mille] hidis. 4. Petsetene
sex centum hidas. 5. Elmetsetena sex centum hidas. 6. Lindis-
ferna septem [mille] hidas. Midhethfelda 7. Sudergipa sex
[centum] hidas. 8. Nordergipa sex [centum] hidas. 9. Yeastpixna
tres centum hidas. 10, Omitted. 11. Spalda sex centum hidas.
12. Witgesta octingenta hidas. 13. Herfuina sex centum et duas
hidas. 14. Sprodora tres centum hidas. 15. Gyfla tres centum
hidas. 16. Hicca tres centum hidas. 17. Fitgara sex centum hidas.
32
MANUSCKIPT LIST OF EARLY
18. Hexgaga quinqué [luille] hidas. 19. Ochtgata duas [mille]
hidas. 20. Hynita septem [mille] hidas. 21. Ciltenaseztena qua¬
tuor [mille] hidas. 22. Hendrica tres [mille] hidas. 23. Ynetunga
mille ducentas hidas. 24. Aerotone vj centum hidas, 25. Fer-
pinga iii hunt hidas. 26. Silimliga vi centum hidas. 27. Omitted.
28, 29. Westpell et acsi eastpele sex centum hidas. 30. Eastlega
triginta [mille] hidas. 31. Eastsexe septem [mille] hidas. 32.
Cantparana quindecim [mille] hidas. 33. Suthsexe Chid. 34.
Omitted.
Theat is ealles, cc hidas et octingenta hidas.
F.
Brit Mas,, Hargrave MS, 313,/. 156. 13th Cent
1.
M]yrcheneland . est. de . xxx. hidis . ah eo loco ubi primum
[rn]ydenehald nominatur. 2. Portensetene est de . vij . hidis. 3.
pesterne . eat. vij . hid'. 4. Pech'setena dc hid'. 5. Elmethsetena.
vi. hid' hund' hid'. 6. Lindesfarere . vii. hid'. Midhe^felda. 7.
Sud^gytya . vi. hid'. 8. Nor^gyrya. vi . hid'. 9. Estpyxna. ccc .
hid'. 10.Herstina.de. 11. Spalda . dc . hid'. 12. pygesta . dccc .
hid'. 13. Hersinna . dcv. hid'. 14. Speodora. ccc . hid'. 15. Gyfla
. ccc. hid'. 16. Huta . ccc . hid'. 17. pythgora. dc. hid'. 18. Hex¬
gaga.v.hid'. 19. Gohrgaga. ii.h'. 20. Hinta . vii. hid'. 21. Cylcar-
nesetene . iiii. h'. 22. Hendrita. iij . h'. 23. pnetunga. M .et. cc. h'.
24. Arotena . dc . h'. 25. Ferpinga . iii. h'. 26. Birminga [? Bilmi-
liga] .dc. h'. 27. Pydenicga eat spa. 28. Eastpela. dc. h'. 29. pest-
pela eac spa. 30. Eastengla. xxx . hid'. 31. East-sexa. vii. hid'.
32. Cantanglaparana . xv . hid'. 33. Sudesexa . c . h'.
h' is ealles. cc. hid' . dec. h'.
Before commencing my remarks upon these names, it
will be well to point out the proper signification which
we should attribute to the word hida—one of the most
constantly recurring names in charters and documents
relating to land, from the earliest period down to the
Domesday Book at the close of the eleventh century.
Spelman's dicturni} cannot be gainsaid, that the " Division
of England by hides is very ancient, and must not be
attributed to Alfred, although he marked out the island
into a variety of sub-divisions, for the mention of hides
occurs in the laws of Ina, who preceded Alfred by up¬
wards of a hundred years."
Beda,^ in the ninth century, uses the term familiœ,
i
^ "Anglise per hydas distributio perantiqua est: non Aluredo, licet
insulara mulfcifaria insignivit divisione tribuenda. Occurrit enim hyda-
,rum mentio in legibus Inae, qui supra centum annos Aluredum praeces-
sit." ^ Hist, Eccl.y iv, p. 16.
TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND
33
families, or homesteads, when other authors use hydœ,
in stating numerical strength of territories and districts.
William of Malmesbury, in the early part of the twelfth
century, uses hyda as equivalent to mamio, a home
or family,^ and the same sense appears to attach to
the word in a charter of Ethelwulph, dated about A.D.
845. Ilolinshed^ contains the following passage, which
is borne out by the above list (No. 31) :—" Regnum Aus-
tralium Saxonum dicitur continere septem mille familias,"
' ' The kingdom of the South Saxons is reported to con¬
sist of 7,000 families," where the word coincides with the
hides of this ancient MS. Fanciful philology has taken
pleasure in seeing in the word hyd, or hide, a hull's shin
or hide, and deducing from this that a hide represented
that quantity of land which could be enclosed by a bull's
. hide cut into strips, in accordance with the Virgilian
theory {JEn., lib. i) of the origin of Carthage by the
ingenuity of Dido, who secured for her city and her
followers :—
Taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo.^^
We shall, however, be wiser to derive the word from
the old English word hyden, to hide or cover (tegere),
and then the term hydelandes will represent the lands
appertaining to the tectum, or covered dwelling place, of
the cultivator, whose entire holding, varying of course in
proportion to the numerical strength of his family and
dependants, and to their power of cultivating a greater
or less amount of circumjacent land, and also to the
nature of the land occupied, constituted one hide?
Looked at in this light, the hide cannot be taken as a
constant and invariable quantity of so many acres,
although undoubtedly an average might be taken where
large tracts of land of uniform arability and fertility
existed.
1. Myrcna, is in all probability the Mercia of the later
chronicles. Eight counties were subject to the Merchene-
lagha, or Mercian rule, viz. :—*
^ Gesta Begum, lib. i. ^ Part I, p. 123, col. A, 1. 16.
^ See Kemble*s lengthy remarks on the extent of the hide, in his
Saxons in England, ed. Birch, vol. i, pp. 88, 487; and Rev. R. Eyton,
Domesday Studies,—Dorsetshire and Somersetshire. Hida=trihutàrius,
in Gartularium Saxonicnm, No. 144- ^ Gale, iii, 560.
1884 3
34
MANUSCRIPT LIST OF EARLY
Gloucestershire, with
- 2,300 hides.
or 2,400
Worcestershire
- 8,200
1,200
Hertfordshire, i.e., Herefordshire ■
• 1,000
1,005
Warwickshire
- 1,200 „
1,200
Oxfordshire - . . ■
- 2,400 „
2,400
Cheshire - - .
1,200
Staffordshire
500
Shropshire ■
2,400
The totals would be far short of thirty thousand hides
given in the list for Mercia, but we should have to ascer¬
tain the number of hides attributed to " Boroughs"
within these shires before getting the full number.
2. Wokensaetna, which C, E, F, misread by placing p
for the similarly written Saxon w, p, is said by Gale, iii,
792, to have been a people situated about Wirkworth,
now Wirksworth in Derbyshire, and he adds that Beda
calls them Mercians of the North, " Hercios Aquilonares."
But Wirksworth was anciently written Werchesworde
and Wircesworth, and is generally supposed to have
derived its name from extensive mines of lead and
barytes in the vicinity, which appear to have been
woi'ked so early as the second century by the Romans,
from the discovery of a pig of lead in 1777 with the
name of the Emperor Adrian inscribed upon it, and
subsequently by the Saxons who carried on mining opera¬
tions here on an extensive scale. I am more inclined to
place the Woken settlers in the modern hundred of
Woking, now divided into two divisions ; the first con¬
taining the parishes of Pii-bright, Stoke-next-Guildford,
Wanborough, Windlesham, Woking, Worplesdon, and
pai't of Ash ; the second. East and West Clandon, East
and West Horsley, Narrow, Oakham, Send, and Wisley.
The area of this hundred is 52,560 acres. The parish of
Woking, the principal and eponymic place, was in Saxon
times part of the royal demesne. The Uuoccingas of
Surrey are found in the Codex Diplom., No. 168, at the
early date of A.D. 796.
3. Westerna, called by the C text Pesterna, has not
been even conjecturally identified by any writer. Is it
possible to find it in Ermington Hundred, an area of
about 51,000 acres in the southern part of Devonshire ?
Erne, according to Gibson, is the Anglo-Saxon earn, or
ern [casa, or locus secretior).
TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND
35
4. The Pec-sœtna, or Pec setters, and therefore settlers,
according to Pearson,^ are to be sought for in the Peak-
land of Derbyshire. The hundred of High Peak in the
N.W. part of the county is of large extent, but I am
unable to find the exact dimensions.
5. JElmet-sœtna, the setters and settlers of Elmet, are
placed by Gale in a " regiuncula" in the western part of
Yorkshire near Leeds. Elmet is mentioned by Nennius
and Beda, and there is still a village of Barwick-in-
Elmett, seven miles to the east of Leeds in the West
Biding, which marks the locality of the Elmet settlers.
6. The people here designated XÎHdes/arona,called Lin-
disferna by C and E, and still further corrupted by F into
Lindesfarere, must not be confounded with the inhabit¬
ants of the small and remote island of Lindisfarne,
twelve miles from Berwick, and one mile and a half from
the Northumbrian coast, formerly in Durham County,
but now in the county of Northumberland. The race
here mentioned are the farers or dwellers, in the space
included between the Humber, and its continuation, the
Don, on the one side, and the Lindis, or Lindum River,
now called the Witham, on the other. The name of
their territory is still extant in the " Northern Division"
and greater half of Lincolnshire, an area of 962,000
acres, called " Lindsey" or the " Parts of Lindsey".
William of Malmesbury,^ writing in A.D. 1125, speaks of
" Episcopatus Lindisfarorum, qui nunc dicitur Lincoli-
ensis", and from his language we gather that this term
was in use in the time of Edgar, A.D. 959-975. The
Lindo of the Antonine Itinerary, Lindon of Ptolomey,
mark the site of a British town which existed at Lincoln
previously to the conquest of Britain by the Romans,
whose station naturally received the name of Lindum.
We now come to two important words, " Mid hse'pfeld-
lande". This expression has been turned into one un¬
meaning word " Midlethfelda" by Gale, who writes
(p. 792) " Scriptum reperi Midhethfelda et amplius nihil."
He evidently considers that Midhethfelda or Midlethfelda
was the name of a territory, and that the number of
hides it contained had been accidentally omitted by the
^ 0. H. Pearson's Historical Maps of England, p. 25, col. 1.
^ FA. Hamilton, Gesta Regum, p. 311.
36
MANUSCRIPT LIST OF EARLY
person who wrote the sheet, '• scheda", which he prints.
Spelman omits the word. Kemble passes the expression
over in silence. Pearson adopts " Midlethfelda", but
ventures no explanation. The MSS. C, E, F, read Mid-
hethfelda. My own suggestion is that the expression is,
as written in the Harley MS., good Saxon for with Ilœth -
feld-land, i.e., together with the territory of Hatfield, and
I shall proceed to show reason for accepting this reading.
Hatfield is a parish, township, and large village in the
S. Division of Strafibrth wapentake, in the West Riding
of Yorkshire, three miles S.W. of Thorne, and seven
N.E. of Doncaster. It is contiguous to Lindsey, on the
N. bank of the Don. A battle took place here between
Cadwalla and Penda, King of Mercia, on the one side,
and Eadwine of Northumbria on the other, A.D. 633, in
which the latter with his son Osfrid were slain, and
Northumbria ravaged. This took place on the 14th
October, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. On
Hatfield Heath or Moor, lying on the very edge of the
county towards Lincolnshire, numerous relics of this im¬
portant encounter have been found ; and they are now
preserved in the parish church. The parish itself formed
part of Hatfield chase ; and in John Tomlinson's work
entitled The Level of Hatfield Chase, pp. 29-34, a detailed
account of this incident is given from a MS. Tomlin¬
son's map shows that Hethfeld and Hethfeld Moor
are enclosed by the Don, Idille, and Torne Rivers, so as
almost to form an island. In the middle of the Heath
or Moor is Lyndholme, curiously recalling the Lindls
of the " Lindisfarena", with whom the MS. before us
has associated Hsethfeld or Hatfield. I think we may
therefore take the meaning of the MS. to be that the
parts of Lindsey, together with Hatfield and Hatfield
Moor, are reckoned at 7,000 hides. After the battle
above referred to, Hatfield ceased to be one of the king's
courts, where they usually resided. There is another
territory called Hatfield which forms a division of the
wapentake of Bassetlaw, co. Nottingham, near Hatfield
Chase, and measures about 118,320 acres in extent.
This land, probably at the time of the MS. under notice,
was included in the designation Hathfelda lande. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle speaks of the Lindisware under
A.D. 678.
TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND
37
7, 8. The South and North Gyrwa, each credited with
600 hides, are, according to Pearson, located in the
great fen districts of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and
Huntingdonshire. Gale calls the former " Australes Pa-
ludicolse"; the latter "Boreales Fennicolse"; and seats
them in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire.
There is no difficulty in assigning the probable limits of
these peoples.
9, 10. East Wixna, called Yeastpixna by C, E, and
Eastwyxna by F, and West Wixna, omitted by C, E,
and called Herstina by F, on the analogy of previous
formations may, I think, be taken as a plural form,
pointing to a people of the name of Wix, already at the
time of the MS. under process of division or separation.
I am inclined to suggest that the site of this territory,
at least in part, may lie at Wickwar, the well-known
parish, market town, and borough by prescription, in
Gloucestershire, four miles N. of Chipping Sodbury, fif¬
teen miles N.E. of Bristol, and twenty miles S.W. of
Gloucester. If the Wixna are now represented by the
Weeks, which are found in several counties, we shall
have to accept one of Kemble's theories of the primaeval
colonisation of England, so lucidly expressed in his
Saxons in England, vol. i, p. 70, that of families clus¬
tering round scions of a noble warrior, or attracted by
the leader possessing family relationship with a noted
warrior. Thus I find, inter alia, Week hamlet, in Bin-
sted, and Week tithing, in Bourne St. Mary, co. Hants ;
Week tithing, in Godshill, I. Wight ; Weeke, or Wyke
Parish, co. Hants ; Week hamlet, in Glastonbury ; Week
hamlet, in Stogursey ; Week tithing, in Wells ; Week
tithing, in Curry Rivell and Drayton ; Week hamlet, in
Brent; Week, or Wyke-Champflower; Week St. Lau¬
rence, or Wick, all in the co. of Somerset. Four places
of that name are therefore in the co. of Hants, and
seven in that of Somerset. There is also Wix or Weeks
in Tendring Hundred, co. Essex, the site of a Bene¬
dictine priory founded in the time of Henry I. But it
has been suggested to me by Mr. J. Davidson that the
sites mentioned in the MS. may be Week St. Germans,
and Week St. Paneras, otherwise known as German's-
Week and Pancrasweek, in Devonshire. Gale suggests
38
MANUSCRIPT LIST OF EARLY
Exney, near Newmarket, for East Wixna, and Oxney,
near Peterborough, for West Wixna, and Pearson appears
to accept them. I presume he means Exning, near New¬
market, CO. Suffolk, on the Roman Icknield Street, for
Exney. Of Oxney, near Peterborough, I find no note ;
but there are two Oxneys in Kent.
11. Spalda, the reading of all the texts, seems to point
clearly to Spalding in Southern Lincolnshme, a place of
considerable importance in Saxon times, being the capital
of the extensive district called " Parts of Holland".
Gale passes the word in silence ; hut Kemble and Pear¬
son recognise the Spalding district as being indicated by
this word.
12. Wigesta, or Wygesta of F, and Witgesta of C, E,
presents considerable dilficulty. Gale suggests that this
territory lay around Wigisthorp or Wigsthorpe, near
Oundle in Northamptonshire, and Pearson admits the
identification. I see difficulties in accepting this identifi¬
cation, but I am unable to propose any more satisfactory
solution of the question.
18. Herefinna, A, B; Herfuina, C, E; Heresinna, D;
Hersinna, F, has also many difficulties in the way. Gale
records Herswinna and Herewinna as variorum readings,
and suggests Hereburrow. I am unable to find that
place ; the name, too, seems unlikely to be derived from
Herefinna. May not this word be allied to the Heoiffingas,
mentioned by Kemble, vol. i, p. 466, and there referred
to Harvington in Worcestershire. The Rev. Canon Win-
nington Ingram, M.A., Rector of that place, has recently
made, in the vicinity, several finds of Celtic and Anglo-
Saxon remains. They were exhibited at the recent Wor¬
cestershire Exhibition, and described in the Report.^
14. Sweord ora, a name sadly blundered in most of
the MSS., but rightly, as I think, divided into two words
in the text, which I have the pleasure of bringing to the
notice of archaeologists for the first time now, presents an
opportunity of successful solution. The word ora, gene¬
rally said to be of Latin origin, a shove, is found in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under circumstances that prove it
to have been synonymous with ford, for we find in A.D.
495 and 514, " Certices ora", and in A.D. 508 and 519,
^ Catal.^ 2od edit , p. 189.
TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND
39
" Certices ford". This place of historical renown, for
reasons not needed to be discussed here, has been identi¬
fied by Gibson in the Oxford quarto edition of the Anglo-
Saxon CAronícíe, 1692,and by Thorpe in his edition of the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for the Master of the Rolls, as
Charford, three miles and a half north of Fordingbridge
in Hampshire. Ore, near Hastings ; Hedsor, co. Berks.,on
the Thames ; and Pershore in Worcestershire, a ford of the
Avon, seem to be analogous in form.^ For S weordora, there¬
fore, to be found in Swerford, in the hundred of Chadling-
ton, Oxfordshire, five miles N.E. of Chipping Norton is, I
think, only too conclusive. This village is on the River
Snere, and on its " Castle Hill" are traces of ancient
earthworks, the presence of which in the centre, as well
as on the limits of ancient territories, is well known.
Their presence at Swerford would appear to corroborate
my suggestion that Sweord ora refers to the territory
around Swerford. Gale suggests Swersdelf in Hunting¬
donshire, and Pearson reiterates this suggestion. I am,
however, unable to find this place.
15. Gifla, in this MS., corresponds with Eyfla of B and
D ; Gyfla of C, E, and F ; and Eysla, Cifla, Gyfla, of Gale,
who significantly and candidly adds the letters N. L. (non
liquet) to his note, p. 792. Kemble and Pearson, follow¬
ing him, read Eysla; but there is abundant proof that
the MS. before us is correct in its form of the word.
Parenthetically, it is curious to note that Kemble, who
had printed two charters relating to Gifle (Cod. Dipl.,
No. 314) or Gyfle (Cod. Dipl., No. 1290), should have
been led away to this blundering reading of Eysla. It is
also remarkable to note that that great author proposes
^ Gibson considers Certices ora to be Yarmouth, co. Norf. ; but
by comparing the statements in the Anglo-Saxon Chronide, anno
495, "Her cuomon ... Cerdic y Cynric .. mid fif scipum in j^one
stede ]>e is gecpeden Cerdices ora, y \j ilcan dœge piS pealum
gefuhtan", with that in 519, "Her Cerdic Cynric ... fuhton pi-S
Bryttas J^œr mon nu nemne Cerdicesford", there can be no doubt
that the same place is intended by the writer of the Chronide,
although he has varied the termination. The word ora may be
connected with over or ofre, margo or ri-pa, an affix or prefix found
in place-names like Brownsover, co. Warw. ; Over on the Severn ;
Oyer-Darwen, etc. Analogous to this change of termination is
TEgeles/orrf or iEgelesthrop, for Aylesford, co. Kent. [A.-S. Chr.)
40 MANUSCRIPT LIST OF EARLY
to identify, in his index, Gidley in Devonshire with this
territory. I find Gifle in the well known testament of
King JElfred,' under circumstances which point to Yeovil,
the supposed Roman station Velox, co. Somerset. The
Saxon name was Gevele, and Domesday Book calls the
place Givele and Ivle. It is situated on the left hank of
the river Yeo or Ivel, which here separates the counties
of Somerset and Dorset.
16. Hicca of the MS. becomes Wicca in B and D. Gale
passes this territory or people over in silence. Pearson
sees in the name of Hwiccas a connection with the Wych
or Saltpan district of Worcestershire. The name would
thus still be extant in Droitwich, Saltwich, Lootwich,
Up wich, Nantwich, Brom wich, and some other places.
For notes on a charter of Uhtred, "Regulus Huuicciorum",
dated A.D. 770, see Transactions of Royal Society of Lite¬
rature, vol. xi. Part III, New Series ; and an exhaustive
article on the Hwiccas, by Mr. T. Morgan, F.S.A., in the
Journal of the British Archœological Association, \o\. xxxii,
p. 145. .¿Ethelmund, the "Ealdorman of Hwiccum",occurs
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the year 800. Thorpe
calls the Hwiccas "people of Worcestershire and Here¬
fordshire, or the shires themselves" (i, p. 403).
17. Wihtgara becomes Wight-gora in B, D; Ffitgara,
C, E; and Wythgora, F. 'The "men on Wihtgaras byrg"
occur in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under A.D. 530, and
subsequently. They are generally acknowledged to he
located in the Island of Wight. Their fortunes appear to
have been somewhat hard. Peopled by Jutes in 449, sub¬
jugated by Cerdic and Cynric in 530, ravaged in 661 by
Wulfhere of Mercia, they were converted to Christianity
at the same time, and ravaged again in 686 by Ceadwalla
of Wessex; by the Danes in 897, 1001, 1009; visited by
Canute's fleet in 1022; and finally harried in 1048. Gale
says " non liquet" to this territory, and records the vari¬
orum reading of " Firgora".
18. Noxgaga, A,is rendered as two words, Nox gaga, B,
D; it becomesHexgaga,erroneously,inC,E,F. Kembleand
Pearson divide the word thus, Noxga ga. Gale renounces
the attempt to identify this district, Kemhle and Pearson
1 See the fine copy in the Hyde Abbey Book, Stowe Collection (Ash-
burnham), in the British Museum.
territorial names in england. 41
also are unable to solve the difficulty. Now I find Nox,
a township in the parish of Pontesbury, co. Salop, five
mUes west by south of Shrewsbury ; but there is nothing
to connect the place with Noxgaga. But far greater pro¬
bability may be ascribed to Knook, a parish in the Hun¬
dred of Heytesbury, co. Wilts, one mile south-east of
Heytesbury, and five south-east of Warminster. About
two miles north of Heytesbury is " Knook Castle", an
ancient and very extensive earthwork of great military
importance, and near to it the "Old Ditch", extending
from Westbury-Leigh to Durnford, on the river Avon.
On Knook Down are the sites of two villages formerly
connected with the Old Ditch.
19. Oht gaga of the MSS. A, B, becomes erroneously
Ochtgata in C, E, and Othgaga in D. F reads Gohrgaga.
Kemble and Pearson unaccountably read Ohta-ga, and
renounce the attempt to fix the locality. Gale finds a
variorum reading of Ochtgaga ; but adds that it is not
clear where the district was situate. I am inclined to
place the territory in Ot Moor, a marshy tract, now of
4,000 acres, but probably larger at the time this list was
compiled, in Oxfordshire, about nine miles north-east of
Oxford, on the bank of the river Ray, and bordered on
the east by Buckinghamshire. It is bisected by a Roman
road, and in close proximity to "Akeman Street", with
the ancient Alcester and Bicester on the north. Near
Merton, a village on the Moor, are traces of a Saxon camp.
This may, perhaps, be the site of the "oht" fortress, or
capital city of the tribe who possessed the territory. On
the east of Ot Moor is Noke, which recalls in some way
the appellation of the previous district ; and close by is
Oddington, a parish intersected by the Ray. With re¬
spect to the word gaga, forming the final part of the two
words, Nox-gaga, Oht-gaga, some interesting questions
arise. It may be that the word gaga is an integral part
of the name, or that it is connected with the root of ga,
gang, etc., in Teutonic languages, and points to the high
or main Roman road which traversed Ot Moor, and also
to the "Old Ditch", which is manifestly a road or way
that connects the two ancient sites of villages on the
Avon referred to in the previous paragraph. I am not
sure that gaga may signify a moor in the language of the
42
MANUSCRIPT LIST OF EARLY
people who used it. Perhaps it is connected with the
Welsh gag, a cleft or ravine. Gagingwell is not very far
off, in Enstone parish, near Woodstock ; and in the
absence of any better explanation, the form of this word
would seem to corroborate the suggestion that the terri¬
tory of Oht-gaga is to be sought in the neighbourhood of
Ot Moor.
The MS. here casts up the total of hides as amounting
to 66,100; but the following table shows that this is an
error for 65,800 :
I. Mercia
30,000
11. Spalding
600
2. Woking
7,000
12. Wigesta
9003
3. Westerna
7,000
13. Harvington
- 1,200^
4. Peak
1,2001
14. Swerford
300
5. Elmet
600
1Ö. Yeovil
300
6. Lindsey and Hatfield
7,000
16. Hwiccas
300
7. S. Girvii
600
17. Wight
600
8. N. Girvii -
. 600
18. Knook
- 5,000
9. E. Weeks
300
19. Otmoor
- 2,000
10. W. Weeks -
3002
65,800
No other MS. gives this paragraph.
20. Hwinca, A ; Hwynca, B, D ; Hynica, C ; Hynita,
E ; Hinta, F. Of this. Gale writes another form, Hinica,
and suggests Wieda ; but that has been already disposed
of under Hicca, No. 16. I think that this territory may
he reasonably identified with Wincanton, a parish in
Somersetshire. It has, however, been stated that the
Saxons called this place Wyndcaleton, from its situation
among the "windings of the Cale" river, by which the
parish is hounded on the west. The town is on a slope
rising gently from the river. Many Roman coins have
been found here, and in a wood near the ruins of Stavor-
dale Priory are the remains of a British fort called "Ken-
newilkins Castle." The latter part of this word is evi¬
dently connected with the territorial designation. Kenne,
perhaps, is equivalent to Cuno- in British names.
To those who would reject this identification. Winch-
combe in Gloucestershire, the site of a Saxon palace, will
probably suggest itself. It was known as Winchelcomhe,
and is probably another abiding place of this tribe, ori-
1 C, E, F, read 600. ^ Omitted, C, E. 3 ^ead 600
^ C, E, 602 ; E, 609.
TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND
43
ginating under conditions similar to those referred to in
a previous paragraph.
That the Hwincas were a large family in west and
south-west England is abundantly clear from Wince-
burne, co. Dors., K., Cod. Dipl., 656; Winchenduh, co.
Oxf., K., 709; Winecaleá, K., 123; Wincawel, co. Dors.,
K., 455; Wincelcumb or Wincescumb, co. Glouc., K., 199,
220, 265, 823, 509, 738, 1028; Wincelfeld, co. Berks, K.,
696; Wincesburug, co. Somers., K., 502, 516; Winche-
feld, CO. Hants., K., 988; Wincrondel, co. Wilts., K.,460.
21. The Chiltern settlers, "Ciltern seetna" of the MS.,
accredited with 4,000 hides, do not, in my opinion, include
the whole of the inhabitants of the Chiltern range of
chalk hills extending across England fromWilts., through
Berks., Oxford, and Bucks., to Suffolk. These hills were
anciently covered with dense beech-woods, aflbrding a
covert for wild beasts and robbers. I think the parishes
of Chiltern or Chittern, All Saints, and Chiltern St. Mary,
in the Hundred of Heytesbury, co. Wilts, or Chilton, co.
Bucks, indicate the locality. The village of the former is
situated near the river Wiley, and in the vicinity is the
prehistoric fortress or earthwork of Knook Camp, already
referred to. Cale's note here is, " Incolebant Buckinga-
miensem et Oxoniensem pagum."
22. Of the Hendrica little can be said. Cale places
this territory "circa Henley ad Tamesin". The word Hen-
dre appears to enter into combination with many places
in the west, as, for example, Hendre in Denbigh ; another
in Glamorgan ; Hendrebiffa and Hendrefigilt in Flint¬
shire ; Hendred Draw, co. Pembroke ; East or Great Hen-
dred, and West or Little Hendred, parishes in Wantage
Hundred, co. Berks., near the White Horse Vale; Hen-
dredenny, co. Glamorgan ; Hendre-gyder Isaf and Uchaf,
CO. Denbigh, etc. But none of these places afford any
archaeological corroboration of their ancient importance.
On the other hand, Henbury, five miles north-west of
Bristol, appears to satisfy the. questions which revolve
around the Hendricas. The place itself derives its name
from Hean-byrig (the old fortified place). It is bounded
by the Severn on the west, and on the south-west by the
Avon, which joins the former at the Swash. The Severn
is passable at two places in this parish ; the one at Aust,
44
MANUSCRIPT LIST OF EARLY
nearly two miles wide, is identified with the Roman Tra-
jectus Sabrinse. The line of the ancient Fosse-way passed
near the village ; and on a hill called Blaise Castle are
the remains of an ancient encampment, with triple ram¬
parts and two deep ditches, where Roman coins have been
found. The union of the British hen or hean with the
Saxon hm^g or hyrig is analogous to that found in other
examples, as Glastonbury, etc.
23. To the Unecung-ga it would be equally rash to
give any definite locality; unless, indeed, this ga or gau
be situated on the banks of the river Onny, a small stream
in Shropshire, which runs into the Teme. The name of
the Hundred of Ongar, in Essex, with an area of 58,060
acres, is attractively like the ancient name here before us.
24. The Aro-Ssetna may, I think, without dispute be
accepted to be the settlers on the banks of the river
Arrow, CO. Warwick. Kemble {Cod. Dipl., No. 62), a
charter dated A.D. 710, Arue or Arrow, co. Warwick.
25. Faerpinga is, in this MS. only, glossed as being in
Middle Angle territory. The variant form, Faerfinga, is
equally obscure ; but the form of the word is manifestly
very ancient. I cannot suggest any explanation.
26. Bilmiga, Belmega, or Silimliga. Gale, p. 792, writes
two other forms, Belunlige and Silimlega, and adds the
letters N. L., for nan liquet. The MS. F reads Birminga.
If this be the correct reading, the locality of this ancient
clan may be identical with the great modern town of
Birmingham, a town of undoubtedly very great antiquity;
for although unconnected with events "usually called
historical", says Virtue, "there is enough of definite state¬
ment, coupled with fair inference, to show that a town
has existed here from a very remote period, and that its
inhabitants were even then engaged, on a small scale, in
the same branch of manufacturing industry as that still
carried on on so vast a scale—the oldest seat of iron
manufacture in England." Those who derive the name
of this town from the great British tribes of Brummings
and Bermings, who inhabited the vicinity, will be glad to
recognise a notice of their local territory in Birminga.
Birmingham appears to have been a place of importance
before the Roman invasion, and to have been a seat of a
small Roman station on the Icknield Street, from the
TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND.
45
occurrence of Roman antiquities in the neighbourhood ;
but there are no historical notices of this place before the
latter end of the sixth century, a date quite sufficiently
remote for the purposes of identification here.
If, however, Bilminga or Bilunga (for the writing is
somewhat uncertain), be inapplicable to Birmingham, it is
not unreasonable to suppose it to point to a clan which
has now been dispersed, as far as place-name goes, among
many of the midland towns and villages. Thus we find
Bellingdon, CO. Chesh.; Bellingham, co. Northumberland;
Belmisthorpe (Kemble, Cocí. Dipl., Nos. 927, 984),co. Rut¬
land ; Billesdon, co. Leicester, with its extensive, ancient
camp covering eighteen acres, and defended by a rampart
and ditch,—a Roman temple is said to have stood on the
site ; Billinghorough and Billinghay, co. Lincoln ; Billinge
and Billington Langho, co. Lane.; Billingford, co. Norf;
Great and Little Billing, co. Northampton ; Billingham
and Billingside, CO. Durham ; Billingly, co. York; Billing-
hurst on the Roman Stane Street, near Horsham, Sussex;
Billingsley, co. Salop; Billington, co. Bedford; Billington,
CO. Stafford ; Billancumb or Billingcumb, Wilts. (Kemble,
Cod. Dipl., Nos. 489, 572); Billincghroc, co. Wore. {C.D.,
No. 570); Billincgden, co. Kent {C. D., No. 114); Billan-
den, Wilts. [C. D., No. 379); and Billingabyrig, co. Sussex
(C. D., No. 1000).
Among all these, Bellingham, co. Northumberland,
although far to the north, appears worthy of chief consi¬
deration. The parish is of the enormous extent of 20,211
acres, chiefly moorland, on the Tyne river, with Saxon
church, and in the vicinity numerous remains of ancient
circular earthworks and fortiflcations.
27. Witherigga. This looks very like the hundred of
Witheridge in Devonshire, containing 34,630 acres ; hut
I am unable to say if there are any remains of ancient
camps on the site. One of the many parishes contained
in this hundred bears the suggestive name of Woolfardes-
worthy, on the Greedy, in which is Berry Castle, an
ancient Roman encampment, on the way to Holland.
This was visited by the British Archaeological Association
last year.
28, 29. Eastwilla and Westwilla. I find a hundred of
Willey in Bedfordshire, containing 40,460 acres ; hut I
46
TERRITORIAL NAMES IN ENGLAND
should hesitate to ascribe to it any connection with this
site. Far more likely is Wylye or Wily, a parish in the
hundred of Branch and Dole, co. Wilts., seven miles
north-west of Wilton, on the Great Western Road, watered
by the river Wylye or Wily, an affluent of the Avon.
About a mile from the village is a British encampment
called Badbury Rings, seventeen acres in superficial area.
Yarriborough Castle, a large encampment, called Roman,
but perhaps on an older site, is close by. These two
ancient military sites are opposite each other, on the
heights, with the river Wylye between them, and may be
the East Willa and West Willa of this old list. Yarn-
borough Castle is on the north bank of the river, with
Codford Circle, or Oldbury, an ancient entrenchment, to
the west, and an extensive moor and plain to the north.
Badbury or Belbury Ring is on the south bank, with the
Roman road below it, to the south, leading westward to
the site of a British town at Stockton Wood. The whole
district glitters with evidences of early inhabitation.
The remaining territories of East Angles, East Saxons,
Cantwares,^ South Saxons, and West Saxons, do not offer
any difficulty ; but it is difficult to say if their extent
tallies with the sites ascribed in later Saxon times to the
districts which bear their respective names.
' I.e., " men of Kent", or Kent-men=men of the corner [land] ; of.
Portuguese canto, a corner.
^ III
5556 008 908 907