272 Broughton Gifford. 
much blamed or much lauded state of society, of which you hear 
on the one hand that it has been the detestation and unmitigated 
abhorrence of the people in all ages, as being their ruthless op- 
pressor and the barrier to their advancement; and on the other, 
that, being itself the daughter of barbarism, it was the parent of 
order and religion, the hearth of domestic virtues, honor, and de- 
votion to engagements, and that from it issued chivalry, the ideal of 
elevated, generous, and loyal sentiments. The perfect elementary 
feudal society consisted of the lord in his castle, the people on his 
domains, and the priest in his church. But things have never 
been exactly perfect at Broughton, any more than elsewhere. 
Humphrey de I’Isle was an absentee. Though Broughton stands 
first on the list of his twenty-seven Wiltshire manors, and though 
he had 44 hides of land, or about 540 acres, in his own occupation 
here, yet he had no castle or residence. Probably at that time the 
barony had no head, for the Castle at Combe was not then built. 
When it is said that Humphrey was one of the Norman followers 
of the Conqueror, that he is probably the same person as Lisle 
mentioned in the Battle Abbey Roll,! and that he had a daughter 
and heir Adeliza (Alicia), I have given all that is, or probably will 
ever be known about him. His name sounds to us aristocratic 
enough. To his own generation he was a mere adventurer of no 
distinguished birth. The roll of the Norman Conquerors contains 
“names singularly low. Men were knights and gentlemen in 
England, who in Normandy were cattlemen or like cattle, carters, 
tailors, drummers, and farriers. Thus we find Mil de beuf, 
Front de beuf, Guillaume le charretier, Hugh le tailleur, Guil- 
laume le tambour, and Henry de ferrariis. Others were designated 
simply by the places from which they came, St. Quentin, St. Maur, 
&e. So our Humphrey from some island on the Norman Coast. 
As to Saward and Rainburgis, the names look Saxon rather 
than Norman. Nor is this improbable. William at first affected 
1 There are different lists of the Norman Conquerors. In the Battle Abbey 
Charter there is De Liele, Lisley or Liele. In Brompton’s chronicle there is Yle, 
which may be our Humphrey, In one of the two lists published by Leland 
De V’Isle occurs, 
