96 



soldiers and sailors for the defence of the country, each hide of land being 

 under ordinary circumstances liable for its quota. For oiu^elves the survey 

 has an interest on several accounts. It furnished us with much stati.«tical in- 

 formation of the highest value ; it enables us to trace the progress of each 

 county in wealth, population, and I might also say, civilization ; it provides 

 the historian, the antiquary, and the philologist with materials f.>r their respec- 

 tive studies, and even the "general reader," whose tasts is supposed to be as 

 undisoriminating as his appetite is insatiate, has been known to express his 

 approval of itsxontents. We mu<t however add that the record is not an easy 

 one to handle. It is written in medieval Latin, and abound-s in contraction-! 

 and obscure words. Even the names of places — valuable as t'leir early forms 

 are to the etymologist— are extremely puzzling and reqiure for theii- identifica- 

 tion minute local knowledge as well as some ac<|uaintance with the languages 

 of the successive invaders of oiir countiy.f The Woolhope Club, which draws 

 its members from every district in Herefordshire, seems especially fitted to 

 to t.ake in hand the careful examination of that part of the survey, which 

 relates to this county, and if my paper to day, which must be regarded as a 

 very brief one in indication of the contents of this record, stimulates others to 

 its fuller investigation, some practical pur^Dose which have been accomplished 

 by it. Herefordshire at the time of the Domesday Survey comprehended 

 within its limits certain tracts of land which are now attached to Worcester - 

 shire, Gloucestershire, and Eadnor ; J and on the other hand did not include the 

 the district of Leintwardine, which was separated from Shropshire as late as 

 the 14th century. Our county was divided into 22 hundreds,!! the exact 

 boundaries of which are extremely difficult to ascertain as they were liable to con - 

 stant fluctuation and often have no correspondence whatever with the modern 

 divisions. The Hundred took its name from the mote or meeting-place where 

 twelve times in the year a court was held— the spot chosen for the assembly 

 being often (as in the case with the Woolhope Club) the shelter of some conspi cu - 

 ous tree or a familiar hill-side. Thus there were in Herefordshire the Hun - 

 dreds of Grey trees (possibly great trees) ; Dodiftree, the tree of Dodda, Earl 

 of Mercia ; Hezetree, the hazel tree and Cuthorne — perhaps Crat's thorn. And 

 again Wormelow, the mound of the river Worm ; Radlow, the Red-hill ; 

 Thomelow, the Thorny-hill : and Elsedune, Ella's-hiU. A few of these name s 

 still survive, and it has been thought that Wormelow— the mote of the largest 

 di^Tsion— was employed not merely as a court of justice, but also for the war- 

 like muster of the Thanes and their armed retainers. The hundreds were sub - 

 divided into manors and these again into demesne lands (which were held by 

 the lord himself in severalty and distinct from the tenants) and bondlands, 



t This difficulty is increased by the obvious fact that the scribe— probably a Norman- 

 wrote the names as they sounded to his foreign ear and mthout any fixed law of spelling. 

 t e.g., Euuirdin (Euardean) ; Hanlei (Hanley) ; Discote (Discoed). 



II Further investigation may probably reduce this number, as the names of several of 

 these hundreds very closely resemble each other. 



