Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/132

 104 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vm. FEB. 5, 1921. "White Horse : Friday Street. Carriers. W. . . Wellington. Th. Abingdon. "White Swan : Holborn Bridge. Coaches. M. W. F. Southampton. Carriers. Every day. Uxbridge. M. W. Chippingham. T. Th. Cain. W. S. Chesham. M.. . Bristol. T. Auburn [sic]. W.. . Bath, Devizes, Lamborne, Swinden, Wootten Bassett. Th. . . Alton, Asston [sic], Chipping Wai- den, Hungerford, Ramsbury, Wendover. F.. . Odiam. S. Amersham. Windmill : St. John Street. Carriers. Th. S... Stevenage. Th. F. Dunstable. W. .. Obourn. T. Stony Stratford. J. PAUL DE CASTBO. GAIMAR'S PATRON: "RAUL LE FIZ GILEBERT." IT is well-known to students of Anglo- Norman that Gaimar's ' Estoire des Engleis ' ends with the death of William Rufus and that in the Royal MS. of that work there is appended to it a long epilogue in which are given some particulars of the conditions under which Gaimar completed his work and of the sources he used in compiling it. Though found only in a comparatively late MS. and though not all of its statements appear to be supported by the very abridged version found in the two earlier MSS. (of Durham and Lincoln respectively ; that at Herald's College the fourth and latest contains no trace of an epilogue), it has generally been accepted as authentic. The question of Gaimar's authorship, extremely probable from internal evidence, could be more .satisfactorily determined were it possible to identify convincingly the patron " Raul le fiz Gilebert " and patroness "dame Gustance," his wife to whom reference is made in the epilogue, and it is this problem of identity that I propose to discuss here. The close acquaintance with Lincolnshire topography shown on many occasions in the "Estoire" and the interest displayed in East Anglian traditions Haveloc, St. Edmund, Hereward, &c. have led to the general assumption that the author had lived in that part of the country, and with this as starting point previous students have endeavoured to identify Gaimar's patron. Apparently little has been done in this direction since the publication of the edition in the Rolls' Series but, in view of the amount of material made available for students since that date, a brief account of the present position of the question, and of the few additional data I have been able to glean from the sources of my disposal, may possibly lead to the solution of a problem which is not entirely without importance. Of the several Ralf fitz Gilberts who figure in the contemporary records and are connected with Lincolnshire, the one most generally identified with Gaimar's patron is that "Redulphus films Gilleberti " who held land at Scampton (Lines.) which he granted c. 1150 to Kirkstead Abbey. Beyond the identity of names there does not appear to be any particular ground for supposing him to be the "Raul le fiz Gilebert " of the epilogue nor does there appear to be any reason, except that he had a son named Ralf, for identifying him with his contem- porary and namesake, the founder of Markby Priory. In the Introduction to the second volume of the Rolls' edition the editor says the latter must have had property in Wilt- shire under Henry II., but the only evidence he gives in support of this assertion is a reference to the ' Pipe Roll of 7 Henry II. ' where, under Hampshire, we read : Et in perdona per brevem regis Radulphus filius Gilleberti iiii m et debet iiii m qui requirendi sunt in Wiltescire. ^s we shall see there appear to be traces of this Ralf in later entries of the Pipe Roll. If we turn to the account of the manor of Empshott (Hants) in the third volume of the Victoria History of that county we find a reference to a charter of " Radulphus filius Gileberti " and of Constance his wife. Curiously enough, though the name figures in the text, it dees not occur in the index to the History, which probably accounts for the reference having passed unnoticed. (It was only while casually turning over the leaves that I came across the notice myself. ) The charter is to be found in the British Museum Add. MSS. 33280 atf. 202 and of it I have procured the following transcript. " Carta Radulphi Filij Gilebti de Capdla dc Imbeschete. Notum sit oibz tarn p'sentibz qam Futuris qd Ego Ridulph' filius GileV & Con- stancia ux' mea & Rad' filius & heres nost' p redempcone animar: nrar: & ancessor: nror: dams & concedims <fe p'senti Carta confirmams Deo & ecclie be Mar' de Suthewic' ad incremntuo noiatim reddiV coqine Fru nror: Canonicor: dee ibm servienciii Capellam nram de Imbisita in ppetua elemosina cu decimis & oblaconibz & oibz pt'en' suis cu una v'gata ire cuis^ dimidia pte