south-east sheltered and protected by high hills, from whence rapid descents could be made in the event of molestation; on the west, north, and northwest, defended by and commanding the river Ouse, which separated it from the kingdom of Mercia; in addition to which, it here formed a key to the East Angles, this division of which was at that time almost a continued forest." Though Guthrum has been accused of corresponding with and sheltering his barbaric countrymen, and receiving them in his harbours from the German Ocean, to the annoyance of Alfred, yet the integrity of his conduct appears never to have been questioned by that

d" Huntingdonshire," says Leland, "in old time, was much more woody than it is now, and the dere resortid to the fennes : it is full long sins it was deforestid.”—Itin. vol. iv. p. 48. Sir Robert Cotton refers the period of disforesting this county to the reign of Edward 1st, who, in his 29th year, confirmed the great charter granted by Henry 3d, when no more was left forest than the demesnes still retained in the king's hands.-Camden observes of this county, "the inhabitants say it was once covered with woods; and it appears to have been a forest till Henry 2d, in the beginning of his reign, disforested the whole, as set forth by an old perambulation, except Waybridge, Sapple, and Herthei, which were the lord's woods and remain forest.'"-Gough's Camden, vol. ii. p. 155.

e

Malmsbury quaintly observes of Guthrum-"Verum quoniam non mutabit æthiops pellem suam, datas ille terras tyrannico fastu undecim annis proterans duodecimo vitam finiuit: posteris quoq: perfidiæ successionem transmittens, donec a nepote istius Elfredi Athelstano subiugati, regem unum Angliæ fieri vel inuiti concesserint sicut hic dies invenit."-De Gestis Reg. Ang. lib. 2. p. 24.

monarch, as he kept quiet possession of the EastAngles until his death, which, according to Florence of Worcester, occurred in 890, and the Saxon Chronicles, 891, after a reign of twelve years. He was buried at Hadley in Suffolk, and succeeded in his sovereignty by Eohric," who revolted and leagued with Hastings on his re-invasion of the kingdom, A. D. 893, but who was soon repulsed, and his turbulent coadjutors subdued. In consequence of this rebellion, Eohric, with the East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes, was required, in 894, to renew their oaths of fealty, and deliver hostages to Edward. The Danish occupation of the East-Angles,' after the death of Guthrum, led to continual skirmishes and irruptions between them and the Mercians, whose kingdom they ultimately subdued, when doubtless Godmanchester, a frontier town, was a place of considerable importance in strength and extent; but from the time of the revolt of the East-Anglian

f Flor. Wor. p. 328.

Ingulph says the same-" Anno Regni Ælfredi 18 quæ est Christo 890 enim obiisse dicit."

8 So also Brompton in Chronico-"Hoc anno 891, obiisse dicit;" and Hen. Hunt. " Alfredi Regis Anno 19 (i. e. 891) Godrun Rex Dacus qui fuit filiolus Alfredi Regis, et regnavit in EstAngle, luce demptu sest." lib. v.

h" Postea in Orientali Saxonia, Guthrum Rex Danus regnavit annis duodecim tempore Regis Alfredi; Guthrum habuit successorem æque Dauma nomine Eohric."-Wm. Malms. lib. 1. fol. 14. Hume, vol. i. p. 61, 4to. 1762.

and Mercian Danes in favor of Ethelwald, and their subjection to Edward in 917, no local incidents are on record requiring our consideration, until the compilation of Domesday-book, in the reign of William the Conqueror.

57

CHAPTER IV.

RECORD OF DOMESDAY A.D. 1086.

a

N our fac-simile and illustration of the following extract from the Rowle of Winchester, we commence our series of ancient documents relative to Godmanchester.

A survey of the kingdom was taken by Alfred

about the year 900, which, though now lost, was extant at Winchester when William the Conqueror assumed the government of the empire, and that

Anciently so called from being kept in the church at Westminster; sometimes from the same cause-Liber domus-dei: abbreviated Domesday-book: Liber Judiciarius: Rotulus Wintoniæ: Scriptura Thesauri Regis: Liber de Wintonia: Liber Regis Censualis Angliæ: Angliæ Notitia et Lustratio, &c.

Iste Rotulus vocatus est ROTULUS WINTONIE, et ab Anglicis pro sua generalitate Domesday cognominatur. Talem Rotulum .. ediderat quondam Alfredus qui quidem Rotulus Wintoniæ vocatus est quia deponebatur apud Wintoniam conservandus que civitas caput West Saxonici regni sibi hereditarii.

survey probably suggested to the Norman the design of accurately ascertaining the extent of his manorial and other rights. The inestimable compilation, called Domesday Book, deposited in the Chapter House, Westminster, was completed in 1086, and is one of the most ancient records in the kingdom. It was begun, with the advice of Parliament, in the year 1080, when Commissioners were sent through the kingdom, who summoned and empannelled juries in the several hundreds of every county, with some few exceptions," out of all orders of freemen, from barons to the smallest farmers; who returned upon oath, by verdict or presentment, the value, tenure, and services of the land: their inquests were sent to Winchester, and subsequently methodised and formed into the record we call Domesday Book. The name is of Saxon origin, and signifies the Book of Judicial Verdict. Notwithstanding the assertion of Milner, on the autho

In illo vero Wintoniæ sic maxime vocato........ descripti sunt, non tantum, totius terræ commitatus, &c. sed quot carucatæ, terre," &c.-Ingulph's Hist. of Croyland.

Ingulph was abbot of Croyland, and wrote the history of that abbey, from its foundation in 664 to 1091. He was born in London A. D. 1030, educated at Westminster School and at Oxford, and died A. D. 1109.

b The chief omissions are from the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, which are supposed to have been in a state too turbulent to have allowed the inquisitions to have been accurately made.

C

c History of Winchester, by the Rev. John Milner, 2 vols. 4to.