A HISTORY OF NORFOLK hard to find, though we know^ that the hundred of South Greenhoe con- sisted of fourteen leets, whereas that of Clackclose had ten/ while Mr. Round gives a perfect specimen of a hundred in leets from Suffolk. We may, perhaps, assume that the vills were so distributed among the leets that a fair proportion of taxation fell upon each vill at the time when the assessment was made. Thus, out of every pound levied on the hundred,* each leet would have to find a certain number of pence, and the leet being a small group, the number of pence for which each vill within it was to be held liable would be easily reckoned. Owing to the plan on which Little Domesday is drawn up we cannot see how this assessment was made. We have only the statement that such a vill measures so many furlongs by so many, and pays so many pence of geld towards every pound paid by the hundred, or rather ' out of every pound paid by the hundred.' The measurement is always stated with the assessment, but it does not appear that any proportion exists between them even in the same hundred. If we could reconstruct the leets in the several hundreds, we might chance upon the solution of the puzzle, but such reconstructions are conjectural at best, and owing to the imperfections of the record they are almost impossible, since the geld assessed upon the hundreds can hardly ever be made to add up to even pounds. The occasional coincidences, however, in the sums assessed on separate town- ships do seem to imply some such method of distribution of taxation as has been suggested. Thus the neighbouring vills of East Harling and Quiden- ham are both assessed at is. ^Id., while Garboldisham, with Wykes, seems to be balanced against the two Lophams at a rate of zs. 91^. Riddlesworth, Rushford, and the two lost villages of Snarehill are each taxed at i ijd'., or 2J. loj^. in all, just balancing East Harling and Quidenham, and the recurrence of this sum seems to suggest that Guiltcross hundred may have consisted of seven leets. Turning to the north-east corner of the county, in the Domesday hundred of Docking, we find the adjacent vills of Fring and Bircham each rated at 2s. 3d'., as is also Shernborne, while Brancaster is assessed at 2s. ^d. This suggests a hundred of eight leets, of which Docking, with its assessment of 5J-. zVd., would constitute two. In the same way half the hundred of West Flegg can be arranged in four leets, each paying 2j. 6d., and grouped about the towns of Hemsby, Somerton, and Winterton, Ashby and Repps together making up the fourth. South Greenhoe can be conjecturally distri- buted into its fourteen leets, paying sums varying from is. ^d. to is. Sd. But when we attempt to discover how the vills in the hundred were set off against each other for purposes of taxation even conjecture fails us. If we com- pare taxation and measurement, we find for instance that Docking measuring I league by half a league pays 5J. zhd., while Brancaster with the same measurements pays 2s. ^d., and Fring measuring half a league by half a league pays 2s. 2d. It is true that we might throw Southmere into Docking, and Titchwell into Brancaster, on the ground that no measurements are given for either of them ; but then we find that the whole taxation of the hundred is 2J. 5^. short of 20 shillings. If we take South Greenhoe, which adds up nearly right, we find Pickenham measuring half a league by 5 furlongs ' Dom. Bk. f. 119^. Mbid. f. 212^. ' At the standard rate of two shillings on the hide the Danegeld of a theoretical standard hundred would amount to j^io. 6
