414/ E^iplatiatian efihe I ford Digit rtquejttd. — The Antiquary. [Dec. \y 



To the Editor qf the Montblj Magazine. 



SIR, 



SEVERAL of your readers will think 

 themielves much obliged to any of 

 your allicnomical friends who will have 

 the goodiiei's to explain to us the meaning 

 of tiie word digit, as a^iplied to tne Sun 

 and Men. On ccnfuhing our cuftomary 

 Iritnd the Diclionary, we find it to be, 

 •' The i2ih part of the diameier of the 

 Sun or Moon, and ufed to explain the 

 quantity of an ecllpfe." 



Now, blr, I find by an AlmaTiack (for 

 the ftaie cf ihe weather prevsntcd its be- 

 ing feen here) thit there was an eclipfe of 

 the Mcon on Vhurfday the nth of July, 

 thst it was total, -^nd that tlitre were 

 eclipfed dig. is 16.26' o". Alio, that 

 there was aii tclij'lt of the Uine pi net on 

 the 15 h of J.nu<^ry l;jit, not total, viz., 

 digits 10. fz'o". How i6i«ths, or lo- 

 iiihs, can be eclipfed, or how it happens 

 that a total e^lipfe eclitU'es fewer digits 

 than a partial ...e, rc: p-.timy penetration. 

 Not being a gr^dt adept \\\ aliionomy my- 

 felf, I lei abvut to make inquirie* iiuun 

 the iubje£l amopgft my lritn> s, and h. ve 

 even put ilKqvi=ltion 10 one whj has writ- 

 ten a Treatlle u; an A ironomy, but in 

 vain ! and unit Is lome of your more able 

 readers will afiill us, we muli lenuin in 

 our ignorai.ce. Your conftant reader, 



Ae Initio. 

 Leeds, Augufi iz, 1S05. 



For the Monthly Magazine. 

 THE ANTIQUARY. 



NO. VII. 



On the STATE e/"MiDDLESEX, as record- 

 ed in the DOMEfrDAV SURVEY. 



THE hirtcry of the domefday furvey 

 has been I'j frequtmiy repeated, that 

 any general ar.tcdjtes lelating to it, if re- 

 corded here, would be mil'placcd. Let it 

 fuffice then to Lofeive, that the compila- 

 tion of it was a meal'ine nectffary to the 

 letttetnent of the military conliitution cf 

 (he Normar.s ; that it was executed by 

 Kornian ci-mmiliioiiers, empoviercd to in- 

 (;uire upun vew, and upon the oaths of 

 j'ur.>rs ; that it was begun in 1080, and 

 tini(htd in icS6 j ard that it coniained a 

 general furvey of every county, and its i"e- 

 veral divisions, cities, to»ns, boroughs, 

 nianc rs, viDs, and ca;ths; how many men, 

 and of what condition, every town con- 

 tained j the quantity and value of the land 

 in each manor, and the tenures and I'er- 

 vices by w.iich the feveial tenant* held it. 

 Chauncey fajs (liitt. of Hertlerdfti-re, p. 



9), *' That for a long while after it wag 

 made, none were permitted to make any 

 claim or title to l.nds beyond the Con- 

 queft. The Conqueror himfc'f, we aie 

 affured, fubmitted to its authority in cafes 

 wherein he was concerned j and even at 

 the prefent day, when a quefrun a.-ifcs 

 whether any manor, parifti, or lands, be 

 ancient demsfne, the iffue mall be tried by 

 this book, whet ce there is no appeal, or 

 any averment to be made againtt it. ]f 

 the land in queftion is found under the 

 tiiie of " Terra Regis," it is and ought 

 to he judged ancient demefne j and it it 

 is fet down under the name of a private 

 lord or fuhjcfl, it is dttermined not to 

 have been th<. king's." 



Till a few >eaisag • no complcat tran- 

 fciipt of this curious itcord exil'ei!. Co- 

 pies of parts only, and even thofe imper- 

 fei5l, were to be found f atte-ed up and 

 dov.'n in the manufcript libraries of collec. 

 tors ; while a few faulty tranfcripis re- 

 lating to detached counties were all that 

 had been printed by our pr vincial hiifo- 

 rians, and cf Middlefex not even one ex- 

 iiled. To the munificence of Puliament 

 the public were at laft indebied for the 

 compleat publication of the whole j and 

 though m>ny paits of the record may (fill 

 reni.i.n ooi'cure, the condition even of the 

 meuneft village wiiich exifted at its com- 

 pilation may oe afcenained with the com- 

 ple^telt accuracy. 



In the generality of the counties the ci- 

 ties and capital boroughs are t^ken notice 

 of before thelilf ;<f the great landhoHers is 

 entered 5 though in fome they are promif- 

 cuaufly Icattered. The pai ticular laws or 

 cuiloms loo which prevailed in each of 

 thefe, the number and condiiion of their 

 inhabitants, the tenures by which their 

 fortifications were upheld, and even in 

 fome cafes the uninhabited houl'es, are 

 carefully enumerated. But we have to 

 lament that among thefe the two prin- 

 cipal cities of the kingdom, London 

 and W;ncneftcr, are omit:cd. Dr. Ptgg? 

 has obftr. cd, in the Preface to his publi- 

 cation of Fitz-S;ephen's London, "That, 

 after Domclday-Bcok, this traA affords 

 us by far the incft early defciiption we 

 have of the metropolis ;" but the truth is, 

 it only men-ions a vineyard at Holborne 

 beh'nging to tie crown, and ten acres of 

 land nigh Bilhoplgate (now the mnaor of 

 Norton Faigate) belonging to the dean 

 and chatter o; St. Paul's. No mutilatioa 

 of the manufcript has certain y taken 

 place i and we can only conjiiture that_ 

 the omifiion in the prefent inftance was 

 in fome degree conne£<eJ with the favour, 



which 



