NOTES ON A DORCHESTER MINUTE BOOK. 75 



and thereupon went to the window to look for him as this ext 

 believeth . . ." Again, on July 28th, 1634, a woman says that 

 Margaret Adyn had given a cake to her daughter, who was never 

 well after. The woman "had a jelosy that Margerie had 

 bewitched her daughter." So " she fetched thatch of Margerie's 

 husband's howse and was burning it .... and the said 

 Margerie's husband came in the whiles and scolded at her for it." 

 This partly resembles a Koman spell. Another offence noted is 

 sleepiness among the watchmen. One bit irresistibly recalls the 

 immortal charge to the watch in " Much Ado about Nothing," Act 

 III., " I cannot see how sleeping should offend ; only have a care 

 that your bills be not stolen . . . ." says Dogberry. Now, on 

 August 21st, 1629, this very mishap came to pass. A watchman 

 dropped off to sleep, some graceless varlet stole his bill, and 

 actually pawned it for drink "had drunk threepence upo the 

 bill." A crime not heard of now, I think, was common here in the 

 17th century stealing corn from the fields. On August 30th, 

 1630, a girl is charged with taking " loading of a tithing pook of 

 barley" at Frome. "YV. Butler seems to have stolen wheat wholesale 

 at Waterston. He " caried xii. sheaves at each burden." This 

 seems to show, by-the-bye, that sheaves must have been then much 

 smaller than now. On August 16th, 1636, Renaldo Knapton, 

 gentleman, deposes to seeing a man steal a sheaf " out of a wheate 

 rike in Fordington Field." I note this partly in order to observe 

 that this uncommon Christian name re-appeared in the family 100 

 years after. St. Peter's treble was cast in the presence of Renaldo 

 Knapton in 1734. 



I now touch on another class of crime not now exactly actionable. 

 Scolding was an unpleasantly risky habit in the 17th Century. On 

 January 29th, 1632-3, four women having "spent the most pt of 

 [two] daies in scolding .... It is ordered they shall be 

 plounced." And it was no make believe ducking. On May 23rd 

 1634, three scolds are ordered " to be plounced thrise apeice under 

 water this present afternoone which wasdone accordingly." Consider- 

 ing the January plouucing above the thoughtfulness of the following 



