THE CERNE CARTULARY. 223 



Theobald and not to Thomas; it cannot be earlier than 1139. 

 As A also contains entries of i4th century events, there is (apart 

 from evidence of handwriting, which I must leave to others) 

 nothing to show that any part of the cartulary, as we have it, was 

 written before the i4th century, and the Elizabethan entry must 

 be late i6th, at the earliest. 



There is a fairly accurate summary of the cartulary in Hutchins : 

 and in the last edition, the perambulations of the forests of 

 Gillingham and Blackmore in Latin are added in a note to 

 Gillingham. These are of considerable interest, as they are 

 earlier in date than any others. With regard to these I should 

 observe that I have translated the expressions " cuntremunt " 

 and " cuntreval " into " along the hill " and " along the valley " 

 as the most neutral expression. Without following the per- 

 ambulation over the ground it is not possible to say whether in 

 any particular spot the direction is "up" or "down" or 

 " across " the hill or valley. 



Perhaps the most important document here is the record of 

 the lawsuit in the Exchequer, 2 1 Ed. III., in B : for the reason 

 that the original record in the P.R.O. is or was missing or 

 mislaid. I arranged for a collation of the copy with the original, 

 but it could not be found. 



The proceedings in the County Court in E are also of 

 exceptional interest : records of these are comparatively rare and 

 have not yet been systematically dealt with. The dilatoriness 

 and technicality of the proceedings as here revealed are a 

 sufficient reason for the neglect and disappearance of the old 

 County Courts before the reform of the last century. 



B. FOSSETT LOCK. 



