32 



Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academj/. 



formed. The whole church, then, was transformed into one consisting 

 of two aisles, the south aisle consisting of the two chapels. 



Very few of the more ancient deeds are dated, save that, in 

 accordance with the usage of former times, those dealing with 

 property in the city have appended as witnesses the names of mayors 

 and bailiffs of Dublin in office at the date of their execution. A dated 

 catalogue of those civic officials from the reign of Edward II., 

 taken from an ancient list that hung in the great room of the 

 Tholsel, forms an appendix to Harris' Dublin ; but as it has proved in 

 many instances inaccurate, any original contemporary documents which 

 serve to correct the table are important. In this respect certain of 

 the Haliday deeds are useful, as they supplement the information 

 regarding mayors and bailiffs of Dublin afforded by the Christ 

 Church collection, and those in the Library of Trinity College. 



A few of the documents are of a class quite distinct from the 

 ordinary mediaeval charter. Among the more noteworthy is ISTo. 37, 

 dated in 1326, which is an agreement as to the erection of a wall 

 between two tenements, with a provision for carrying off rain-water by 

 means of gutters. JN'o. 1 contains some quaint clauses in reference to 

 the profitable investment of money by trustees; and as early as 1478, 

 they are found to have been given a discretionary power of purchasing 

 lands and fields " in a good part of the country." 



Two of the wills in the collection are of great interest, as they 

 throw additional light on the social condition, the manners and 

 customs of Dublin citizens in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries — 

 a period for which few testamentary documents are now extant. They 

 enumerate a number of articles in daily use, including plate, house- 

 hold furniture, apparel, weapons, &c. In 1381 (^N'o. 20) the prisoners 

 in the castle, in the town prison, and in the Tholsel become objects of 

 charitable bequests. Another prison — that of the archbishop of Dublin 

 as lord of the manor of S. Sepulchre — is mentioned; but in this 

 instance the priest attached to it is the legatee. The cripple who lay 

 opposite the inn of Mcholas Seriaunt (mayor of Dublin in 1374) was 

 also remembered. 



In the schedule of debts due to Richard Codde, baker, 1438 

 (IS'o. 21), the then archbishop of Dublin (Richard Talbot) is returned 

 as owing the testator £10 for bread, and the prior of Holy Trinity, 

 Dublin, was also his debtor. In the former case he forgave the prelate 

 £2, so that he might be favourable to testator's wdfe. One of the 

 items in this list of debts is the sum of 1 1*. due by Thomas iN'ewbery, 

 for " bread delivered to the Spaniards." The will and inventory were 



