EASTER ROLL FOR THE PARISH OF HOPE. 17 



The contractions mat. and pat., which each occur once, are not 

 to be assigned to any possible agricultural or pastoral term, but 

 stand for matre and patre, referring to payments for aged father 

 and mother living with the son, who was himself the household. 



The letters mis, after various names in each township, offer 

 the most difficulty in the way of explanation, but we believe 

 that it means that the man was serving as a soldier, miles. 



The arrangement of the accounts is rather peculiar, and con- 

 trary to our modern use, for the three columns are ruled for 

 shillings, pence, and farthings. With regard to the names, it is 

 interesting to find so many representatives of the good old North 

 Derbyshire names, such as Eyre, Fuljambe, and Balguy ; nor are 

 the Christian names without interest, especially when we compare 

 the frequency of certain ones with modern preponderance ; 

 Anthony, Ellis, and Ralph are but seldom met with in these 

 days ; Gerundine is, we suppose, a corruption of Geraldine. 

 The alphabetical arrangement by the clerk, according to Christian 

 and not family names, is noteworthy. It was not a mere Common- 

 wealth eccentricity, but was a custom with the Church in its lists 

 in the Peak jurisdiction for at least three centuries earlier. It could 

 not be near so convenient an arrangement as one based on the 

 family name, but it was adopted, we suppose, on the principle that 

 the Church only recognises the Christian or baptismal name, the 

 other being merely an adjunct for the sake of worldly convenience. 



The entry with regard to the young people, that is those under 

 the age of i6, making offerings at the chancel gates is of interest 

 in proving that even then the old rood screen, with its gates, was 

 still standing in the parish church of Hope. 



As a rule, Easter dues would be paid to the Vicar, but through- 

 out the Peak jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter it was the 

 custom, from the time of King John when they became possessed 

 of this property, for them to be collected by an official for the 

 common fund of the Cathedral. The present roll is a proof that 

 all these ecclesiastical dues were rigidly enforced during the Com- 

 monwealth, though used for other purposes. 



The sum total of this roll amounts to ;^35 3s. 



