HERFORDSCIRE borough of Hertforde was assessed at 10 hides T.R.E. and now it is not assessed (modo non facit). There were 146 burgesses in the soke of king Edward. Of the (houses of) these count Alan now has 3 which rendered dues then and do so still. Eudo ' Dapifer ' has 2 houses which were Algar's (of Cochenac) and then rendered dues and do so now ; and the same Eudo has a third house which was Ulmar's (of Etone) : this renders no dues. Geoffrey de Bech has 3 houses all rendering dues. Humfrey de Anslevile holds under Eudo 2 houses and i garden. Of these one was lent to one of the King's reeves (cuidam prefecto regis] ; the other, together with the garden, belonged to one of the burgesses, and now the burgesses claim them back as having been taken from them by injustice. King William has there 1 8 other burgesses who were earl Harold's men and earl Leuuin's. All these render dues. Peter de Valongies has 2 churches and a house with them, which he bought of Ulwi of Hatfelde [Hatfield], rendering all dues. Ulwi could assign (dare) or sell them. Geoffrey de Magnevile has a certain holding which was Esgar the staller's and 7 houses which rendered no due except the King's geld when that was collected. Ralf Baniard has 2 houses which then rendered dues and do so now. Harduin de Sealers has 14 houses which Achi had T.R.E. They rendered no dues except the King's geld. For these Harduin claims the King as warrantor (advocat regem ad protectoreni) . Up to the present Harduin has i house as the King's gift which be- longed to one of the burgesses, and he renders every due. This township (hoc suburbiuni) pays 20 pounds assayed and weighed out, and 3 mills pay 10 pounds by tale. When Peter the sheriff received it it paid 15 pounds by tale ; T.R.E. it used to pay 7 pounds and 10 shillings by tale. NOTE The reader should bear in mind throughout that the date of the Domesday Survey is 1086, and that King Edward, to whose time it refers as ' T.R.E.,' died January 5, 1066. In Hertfordshire the value of an estate at the inter- mediate date when it passed into possession of the new holder is sometimes prefaced by the words ' when he received (if) ,' and sometimes only by the vague statement that it ' was worth ' ; when the word ' always ' is added, the meaning is that the value was the same at this intermediate date as at King Edward 's death. The l hide* was the unit of assessment on which the (Dane}geld was paid, and the ' virgate ' was its quarter and was itself divided into 30 ' acres.' The essential plough ( ' caruca ') was its team of oxen, reckoned as eight in number ; thus ' half a plough ' meant four oxen. The ' demesne ' was the lord's portion of the manor, the peasantry holding the rest of it under him ; and a l berewick' was an outlying estate dependent on the chief manor. 'Sokemen' and similar terms are discussed in the Introduction. 300
