Page:VCH Herefordshire 1.djvu/362

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A HISTORY OF HEREFORDSHIRE It has been shown, however, that the unit of i6d. was still in use,^" and I therefore hold that the i8 orae denariorum to which the wife of Earl Morcar was entitled from the reeve of Kingsland were of bd. each. The wife of his brother. Earl Eadwine, was entitled to a similar gift in Shrop- shire, and the two entries ought to be compared : — Herefordshire Shropshire Prepositus hujus manerii consuetudinem habe- Per consuetudinem veniente comitissa in bat T.R.E. ut veniente domina sua in manerium manerium afFerebantur ei xviii orae denariorum presentaret ei xviii oras denariorum ut esset ipsa (fol. 253^1). laeta animo. Et dapifer et alii ministri habebant de eo X solidos (fol. 179^). So also the ' v oras ' which the Leominster lands of Osbern Fitz Richard rendered (fol. i8oi^) were probably 6j. %d. Entries of fisheries or of water-meadows connote a stream of some kind, and often afford a clue to the situation of a manor. But the produce of Domesday ' fisheries ' was eels. At Fownhope were three fisheries producing 300 eels, and on two of Leominster's dependent manors were others which produced 500 and 600 eels respectively. On the royal manors of Marden and Cleeve were ' fisheries ' producing nothing,"' but on the other hand Roger de Laci is entered as having a fishery on the Wye worth £t. At Dinedor there is a noteworthy statement that no one could fish without leave."' The water-meadows were of value as producing hay for the oxen,'"" and sometimes money was received for the hay in excess of their requirements, as at Monk- land ^" and Stretford.'""' The Herefordshire woodlands are of more interest than either the fisheries or the water-mills. Apart from their usual value for fencing, repairs, and fuel, and, above all, for pannage, they were closely associated in this county with hunting for profit, with the spread or decay of cultivation, and, strange as it may seem, with the salt industry of Worcestershire. Their description varies. Sometimes the wood is vaguely entered as smalP"' or large ; ^"^ sometimes its value is given in money ,*°^ or described as «i/,"" which must mean no value in cash ; often an attempt is made to indicate its size by measurements, which must have been very loose. Careful study suggests that the king had added to his forest, at least to the south of Hereford. A BuUingham entry asserts the fact,""' and at the adjoining Dinedor the wood was in the king's demesne.*"*' Lower down the Wye valley, at Ross ^™ and Cleeve,' 210 '" See my paper on 'The Domesday Ora,^ in Engl. Hist. Rev. April, 1908. "' ' Sine censu' (fol. 179^) ; 'nil reddens' (fol. 1/93). The former term suggests that the eels represent a fixed rent. "' ' In aqua vero nemo piscatur sine licentia.' '™ ' Pratum est bobus tant[um] ' (Bodcnham).

  • " 'De prato v sol. preter pastum boum ' (fol. 183). '" Pratum reddit iii sol.' (fol. 186).

S03 < Parvula silva ' ; ' paululum silvae.' '" ' Silva est ibi magna, sed quantitas non fuit dicta ' (fol. 187). ™' At Marden the wood rendered zos., at Leominster (T.R.E.) 24J. besides pannage, at Burghill s., at Norton 2/., at Kingsland 3/. 4</. on one manor, while on the other 8;. was received from the wood and the pasture jointly. ™° ' Nil reddens ' is a frequent entry. ^°' 'Silva est ibi sed posita in foresta regis' (fol. 186). And so in another BuUingham entry : 'Silva est in foresta regis ' (fol. 1 84). This was probably the forest of Acornbury. "^ ' Silvam hujus manerii habet rex in dominio.' So also at Barton by Hereford : ' Silvam hujus manerii habet rex in dominio.' '"' ' Silva est in defensu regis.' The Forest of Dean extended to Ross. "" ' De hoc manerio est in foresta regis W. tantum terrae quae T.R.E. reddebat vi sextar' mellis et vi oves cum agnis.' This clearly indicates extension. 294