158 THE ORIGIN OF THE SHIRLEYS AND OF THE GRESLEYS. 



as "Main."* "And here," we shall find him writing (p. 124), 

 " it is imperative to notice another and most astounding 

 instance of Mr. Round's mode of writing history." I find it 

 equally imperative to notice another and most astounding 

 instance of Mr. Yeatman's mode of reading records. That 

 instance is taken from the carta which follows the great return 

 of Earl Ferrers, namely, that of Ralf Hanselin. Mr. Yeatman 

 gives us as an entry contained in that return : — 



25. — Ulfus de Seccobiton held half a fee. 

 And to this entry he devotes nearly a page of comment, alleging 

 that — 



This is a very interesting and purely English family. This knight is, 

 in all probability, the progenitor of the well-known Derbyshire family of 

 de Hathersage. 



The history of this family is a remarkably clear instance of the stability 

 of the English race under Norman dominance, etc., etc. 



Mr. Yeatman is here on what he would doubtless consider 

 his special ground — the origin and feudal history of a Derbyshire 

 family. But what do we find ? In the first place, the words 

 " held half a fee " are not to be found in the return after 

 this man's name; he is entered as one of a group of seven 

 who only held half a fee between them all !t 



This, however, is as nothing compared with reading as 

 " Seccobiton " a name which is " Stobbetone " in the Red 

 Book text and " Stubbeton[e] " in that of the Black Book! + 



The right reading is most important, for it enables us to 

 find the place from whi<?h Ulf was named. On examining the 



* The word " illam " is perfectly clear in the MS. 



f Although Mr. Yeatman has failed so strangely to understand this arrange- 

 ment, there is nothing at all surprising in it to those conversant with 

 these returns. For instance, of the six fees of St. Albans, one was 

 held by four men and another by five [Liber Rubeus, p. 360), while on the 

 fief of William de Percy a single knight's fee was held by six men- — 

 " omnes isti de 1 milite," and a third of a fee by four men — " omnes isti 

 de tertia parte militis," the sum total which is given {Ibid., p. 426) con- 

 firming the statement. 



% Liber Rubeus, p. 341. Compare Hearne's Liber Niger, p. 224, where 

 the reading is " Stubbeton." The Liber Niger text proves clearly that in 

 the Red Book we should read " Stobbeton[e]. >: Its scribe, I find, actually 

 wrote " Setobbetone," but sub-punctuated the "e" for deletion. The 

 "t" of the Red Book is easily misread (as by Mr. Yeatman) as "c." 



