( ?Eiii ) 



only from the last years of the 13th century.^ To these two classes of 

 manorial records may perhaps be added most of the subsidiary accounts 

 of the " Compotus " itself, namely, the inventories of grain and stock which 

 reappear as schedules to the latter document, and the statement of rents 

 and services which was in turn derived from inquests and surveys of im- 

 memorial antiquity.^ 



In the present account many incidental notices occur, as might be Historical 

 expected, of the Bishop's establishment as well as his public and private 

 life, and these are supplemented by several historical allusions of more 

 general interest. 



In addition to the fiscal references cited above, we have others to the 

 Bishop's wardrobe (peripatetic like the King's), to his household and kitchen, 

 and to his princely hospitality. The cost of a dinner at Farnham, where 

 the Bishop entertained the justiciary,* William Brewer, and the Chancellor, 

 is charged as 4s. 8d. 



There are also many payments and allowances in connection with hunt- 

 ing and falconry, some of which are connected with royal visits, and the 

 forester, verderer, and warrener are familiar figures in the manorial 

 economy. On one occasion the Bishop buys hawks,* and on another he 

 buys or sells dogs at St. Giles' fair,^ whilst, as a result of the royal hunting, 

 he incurs the cost of salting the King's venison," for which he perhaps 

 recoups himself by selUng 71 foxskins from Waltham to a Winchester 

 tradesman.^ That wolves were still in evidence in Hampshire is clear 

 from the entry under forest ponies devoured by these marauders.* 



In connection with hunting occurs one of the few direct contributions 

 of our Roll to the history of the period. This is found in the references to 

 the severe drought of the summer of 1209, in the shape of payments for 

 deepening weUs and the substitution of cows' milk for that of the ewes in 

 certain manors, " propter nimiam siccitatem."* Apart from its economic 

 importance, the incidental record of the occurrence of this drought is of 

 considerable interest, owing to the fact that it does not seem to be 

 mentioned by any mediaeval historian. It is also possible that this 

 phenomenon may explain an obscure passage in the chronicle of John of 

 Oxnead,*" where we read that in this year the king ordered the hedges to 

 be burnt down and the fences to be levelled in aU the forest districts in 

 England, leaving the forest beasts free to feed on the crops. 



Now this transaction is taken by the Rolls editor to refer to an edict 



1 The reference is of course to the Purchasia or issues of the manor courts estreated into the 

 bailiff's accounts (cf. Manorial Pleas, Selden See., p. xv.), and the inquisition of 1170 above 

 referred to (Red Book, p. cclxxvii.). It is scarcely too much to say that the Compotus Roll of 

 1209 enables us to reconstruct the contemporary Court Roll with the help of existing local forms 

 of a later date. 



* These may be traced back in the case of the bishopric of Winchester to the beginning of the 

 10th century (Cart. Sax. 612, 618, 622), and through continental examples to the 6th century. 



3 p. 39, 1. 4. 

 . ( « p. 38, 1. 64. 



» p. 35, 1. 51. 



« p. 71, 1. 45. 



' p. 5, 1. 16. In the Year Roll of 1210-11 we find that the King sent deer from Hereford to 

 replenish the Bishop's depleted herd at Taunton. 



* p. 36, 1. 31. At Rimpton, the whole hen-roost was cleared by foxes (p. 73). 



' pp. 37, 50, 82. Similar notices occur in the Prior's " Compotus " Roll for the year 1248 

 (Crondal Manor Rolls, p. 54, sq.). i 

 »• Rolls Ed., p. 112. 



