DOMESDAY SURVEY 



from his lord.' 1 It is very unusual, however, to find as here both these pre- 

 positions used with reference to the tenure of the same land at the same time. 



In general the consideration of difficult identifications is reserved for 

 the notes, but a few words on the subject may be in place here. The 

 number of Derbyshire place names which have resisted all attempts 

 at theij: identification is rather considerable, but we have to remember, 

 first, taat most of these names refer to places which even at the date 

 of the Survey must have been very unimportant, and, secondly, that no 

 reliance can be placed upon the forms of proper names in the Survey. 

 Thus Alfreton appears as ' Elstretune,' 3 Trusley as 'Toxenai,' Duffield as 

 ' Duvelle,' Bubnell as ' Bubenenli,' and Sinfin as ' Sedenefeld.' Dalbury 

 is represented in one entry by ' Delbebi,' in another by ' Dellingeberie ' ; 

 ' Bredelawe ' and ' Braidelei ' both stand for Bradley, as do ' Hoogen ' and 

 ' Hoge ' for Hoon. Mere carelessness as to exact spelling on the part of 

 the compilers of Domesday is not the only cause of our perplexities, 

 we have also to be on our guard against scribal errors. Thus ' Dulvestune ' 

 undoubtedly represents Edlaston, the initial E having probably dropped off 

 in the process of transcription, while the latter part of one name, 

 ' Ravenes . . .,' is quite illegible in the manuscript. Ilkeston appears 

 with an initial T ; this however is possibly not a mistake, but represents 

 the final letter of the Anglo-Saxon preposition 'ast' (at), which was 

 frequently compounded with place names in the period before the 

 Conquest. 3 In one case in the county we are supplied with alternative 

 spellings of a place name. The scribe had rendered the modern Osleston as 

 ' Oswardestune,' and then without deleting his mistake * added the letters 

 c laves ' above the line. 



When all these considerations are taken into account it will not seem 

 surprising that a number of place names in the county refuse to be 

 resolved into their modern equivalents. One of the most extraordinary 

 names in the county is ' Muchedeswelle,' which occurs twice over, once 

 on the king's land as a berewick of the manor of Hope, and once on the 

 fief of Henry de Ferrers in association with Wormhill. It is therefore 

 evident that it must have lain in the north-west of the county in the 

 neighbourhood of the Upper Wye and Dove, and with this clue to 

 its general position and having regard also to its double ownership in 

 Domesday the problem might appear to be simplified, for we should 

 expect to find the place divided in later times between William Peverel, 

 representing the king in these parts, and the Earls of Derby, the heirs of 

 Henry de Ferrers. King Sterndale and Earl Sterndale in fact lying on 

 the Dove south of Buxton might seem reasonably to represent ' Muche- 

 deswelle ' were it not that William Peverel's portion of Sterndale already 

 within fifteen years of Domesday appears in his charter to Lenton 

 Priory as Stauredal. 6 We cannot reasonably accept so quick a name 



1 Dom. Bk. and Beyond, 154, with reference to land in Cambridgeshire. 



1 The uncorrupted form of this name, ' -iElfredingtune,' is preserved in the will of Wulfric Spot. 

 8 On this point see Mr. Plummer's edition of Bede, ii. pp. 103-104. 



* Deletion in Domesday is to be understood by the scribe drawing a line underneath the words to 

 be considered erased. 5 Dugdale, Mm. v. ill. 



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