Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/163

 IN CHARTERS, RENTALS, ACCOUNTS, &C. 121 enclosure or place put "en defence," and is said to be equi- valent to the Vrcwdi p/eS'Si.s or ple.ssetifm. Baticia ; Baticium. — In examininor an carlv reeve's or bailiff's account of a manor west of the Exe, which included witliin its demesnes any considerable tract of moor, heath, or waste land, the chances are in favour of finding this word in some shape under the head of the " Exitus manerii." The following may be taken as examples of its use : " Reddit compotum pro una acra assessa ad baticium ad terininuin tiinin annoruin.'' Coinp. Liskerret, 25 Ed. I. (Cornub.) "Baticise in eodem vasto valent per aimuiii 18^." Comp. Tywariiayl- tyes. 15 Ed. 2. " De 20' de 40 acris terra? assessjE ad baticium in landa de Dunsoda anno 6'°. seminat' hoc anno cum avenis, per acram 6^; et de 3*. 3*^. de 6 acris diinid. ternB traditse ad batic' anno septimo, pro acra G*'." Comp. Tiwar- nail 8, 9 Ed. I. " De 56 acris vasli batant' et seminant' siligine. . . 66 acris ad baticiand' et sabiland', et seminatis hoc anno imo." Comp. Liskyret, 21 Ed. 3. In a deed of the thirteenth century the abbot of Torre granted to Galfridus de Albamarla " quod possit colere et appruare 10 acras infra pasturam de Wodebiry sive in bati- cio sive in alio wanagio." Abstract of Torre Cartulary. Oliver's Monasticon Exon., p. 180. In 1356 Bishop Grandisson fixed the endowment of Bick- Icigh vicarage, Devon, assigning to the vicar common of pas- ture on the waste of the manor, " salva religiosis (i. e. the monks of Buckland, lords of the manor) potestate libere assi- (lendi, claudendi, zabulonandi, et baticium faciendi in dicto vasto." Oliver's Mon. Exon., p. 387. The same endowment exempts from tithe lands " ad baticium faciendum traditas." In a compotus 15 Ed. IV. land in Clymesland (Stoke Climsland) is granted for twenty-one years on condition of enclosure, " et totam terram fossatam, adustatam, ac zabu- latam, voc' defe^." It would be idle to multiply instances of the various forms of entry, of which the most common is a short one of "terra de novo batit'," or " de ])atic' nil." The only unvarying parts of the word are the three first letters ; all the rest seem to be left to the discretion or fancy of the entering clerk. In one or two cases I meet with it in the shape of " baticinium." ' The latinity of reeves and stewards, as we advance towards its disuse; and cases, capricious enough at all times, gets worse gciulcrs, and declensions, defy correction.