Page:History of Norfolk 1.djvu/542

 Besthorp, to the last of which it was soon after joined, and, I suppose, hath continued so ever since.

In 1619, Robert Earl of Sussex was lord of the manors of Bridgham's and Corie's in Atleburgh, which in 1547, belonged to Peter Moulde and Thomas Pooley, and were now united to Mortimer's; and this is all I meet with, in relation to those manors.

Atleburgh Mortimer's
Contained the third part of Atleburgh, or all the Other Atleburc, or the whole of that part where the present church and town stands; and accordingly a third part of the advowson always belonged to it, and continues to this day a separate institution. In the time of the Confessor, Turkill the Dane had possession of this Atleburc, which was valued at 40s. but was risen to 3l. in the Conqueror's time, who gave it as a manor of that value, to Roger Fitz-Renard; the whole of both the Atleburghs, or of the present town, which includes both, was then about 4 miles long and 2 miles broad, and paid to the Danegeld, 34d. ob.; it came to the Mortimer's very early, if not in the time of the Conqueror, with whom that family came into England; there are two towns in France of this name, one in Normandy, the other in Poictu, both written Mortimer, but neither of them being by the sea side, Monsieur de Valois imagines them to be called Mortimars, and so should be rendered in Latin, De Mortuo Marisco, and not De Mortuo Mari; and indeed it might be anciently written, by abbreviation, (which was usual in those times,) De Mortuo Mar. which answers either to Mari or Marisco, though I think it is much the same, for I suppose that mare signifies not only the sea, but any large stagnation of waters, and that hence is derived our English word mere, meer, or mare for a large water, and thus the Mare Mortuum, which is a lake in Judea, so called because it never moves, might give name to these places, which though they were not situated by the sea, yet stood near some such stagnated waters or fens. Mr. Dugdale thinks that Robert de Mortimer who lived in King John's time, was the first of the family that was concerned in Norfolk, and the Atlas (fo. 340) tells us that they are descended of the Lords Mortimer of Wigmore, both which are mistakes, for the arms of this family and those of Wigmore being always quite different, is a plain argument to me, that they are of a different extract, and might assume their names from different places; that this family was of French rise is evident from the very arms, ''viz. Or, semi de fleures-de-lis, sab''. the very arms of France at that time, only the colours varied; and as to the other point, the first of the family that I meet with here was Sir William de Mortuomari, or Mortimer, of Atleburc, Knt. whose effigies, riding full speed on horse back, with his sword drawn in one hand, and his