MUCHELNEY ABBET. 111 



APPENDIX. 



I reserve for an Appendix those of Dr. Hutton's Extracts 

 from the Wells Registers which have reference to the Abbey 

 of Muchelney. They were made from the Originals by their 

 learned transcriber in and about the year 1686, and are 

 contained in five closely-written volumes, numbered 6964 

 — 6968 inclusive, of the Harleian Manuscripts in the Bri- 

 tish Museum. I have constantly referred to them and 

 several times quoted them in the foregoing pages, and 

 hardly need add that their importance and value cannot 

 be over-rated. 



The first four of these volumes furnish us with a series 

 of extracts from the Registers of various Bishops from the 

 year 1309 to 1645. They are occasionally defective in 

 chronological arrangement, a few leaves of the Originals 

 having been misplaced through the ignorance or careless- 

 ness of the binders of subsequent times. These inaccu- 

 racies, however, admit of easy rectification. The fifth 

 volume, No. 6968, contains extracts " e registro cartarum 

 penes Dec. & Capl'm Well.", " ex magno libro Cartarum 

 penes Decan. & Capit'lm Well.", "nomina Ep'orum in 

 Somers." &c., " ex alio Registro penes Dec. &.Capl. Well, 

 vocat. the Red booke," and " ex alio registro penes Dec. 

 & Caplm. Well." 



It is greatly to be regretted that these most interesting 

 collections are, for the most part, unprovided with in- 



