( vi ) 



each membrane appears to have been shaped to a broad point, on which 

 bands were laced for the purpose of securing the membranes in the form 

 of a roll.^ To the lower extremity of the last membrane a flap of stiff 

 parchment was formerly attached, which served as an outer cover, and the 

 greater part of this cover has still been preserved, and bears traces of 

 the title of the Roll in a contemporary hand.^ 



At one time the consecutive numbers of the membranes were written 

 in Roman figures at the apex of each membrane. Above them and 

 along the whole width of the lower margin, the names of the manors 

 are engrossed in Gothic capitals, with some minuscule letters inter- 

 mixed. These, like the titles of the counties engrossed on the Exchequer 

 Pipe Rolls, were evidently intended to serve as a means of ascertaining 

 the position of a particular manor before unrolling the membranes ; but, 

 unlike the Exchequer Rolls, the titles are written on the front and not on 

 the back of the membrane. Moreover, the entries are continued from 

 membrane to membrane, so that the Roll has not the appearance of being 

 composed of a number of rolulets, each consisting in the case of the 

 Exchequer Records of two consecutive membranes. Thus the transition to 

 book form in the middle of the 15th century was easily accomplished, the 

 series of " Rent Rolls " being continued from the year 1458 as a new 

 series of "Rentals" in vellum covers, still termed "Pipae," and agreeing 

 in all respects with the ancient enrolments." 



The penmanship of these episcopal accounts bears a marked resemblance 

 to the stately hand of the Exchequer Pipe Rolls for the same period, though 

 the characters are distinctly smaller and the writing is more compressed. 

 The spacing of the entries, however, shows the same arrangement in both 

 cases. As in many MSS. of the period, capital and uncial letters are still 

 occasionally introduced in the middle of a word. 



The fact that these inrolments were merely copies of original accounts 

 will perhaps explain the numerous erasures and the sometimes unintelligent 

 forms noticed in the following pages. Again, the addition of the individual 

 sums is even more careless than that which is usually found in mediaeval 

 accounts, and in some cases the inconsistencies found almost excite a 

 suspicion of fraudulent intent. 



The system of contraction employed by the scribe resembles that observed 

 in the contemporary Exchequer Rolls. In the official orthography of 

 the Episcopal RoU provincialisms and Gallicisms are of rare occurrence, 

 and phonetic forms are confined to a few vowel sounds, suggesting, with 

 other indications, that the original Rolls were visually transcribed and 

 were not dictated to the copyist. Few archaisms of any interest occur. 

 The Old English character "d" has a distinct value. "W" has the value 

 of "uu," as in " wipes " and " Wlveseia " ; but it also stands for "v,"as 

 in " wellera." Variants in spelling, especially of proper names, are excep- 

 tionally rare, though some prouounced forms are to be seen in the 

 Index. Not a few grammatical errors may be found, and certain irregular 

 forms of syntax appear to be used without much regard for consistency. 



1 These elongated extremities with their patterned holes have been almost entirely cut away 

 in the Roll before us. 



2 " Annus quartos Episcopi Petri." 



* This series is, however, separately classified in the official arrangemsnt. There is a gap of 

 three years between the two series. 



