Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 11.djvu/458

 450

NOTES AND QUERIES. P*B.XL JUNK 6, IMS.

sum'ned to apperid before the s'd coroner, that they noe none of them durst appere before hym for fere of death," and apparently the summons was not enforced (Early Ch. Pro., 28, 288).

It is undeniable, at any rate, that one of the above-mentioned privileges of tenants in ancient demesne was recognized as pertaining to inhabitants of South Tawton ; for in an Assize Roll of 9 Ed. I. (181, m. 8) it is re- corded that the bailiff of Galfr' de kammu'll was amerced for taking undue tolls at the market of Nymetbowe, viz., from the men of Suthtauton, "qui sunt de antique dominico Corone d'm regis." Again, in Ass. Roll 186 (m. 52) we find Will Chace and other men of Ralph de Tony, of the manor of South Tawton, complaining of the Abbot of Tavi- stock and his officers for extorting tolls from them in his markets and fairs, claiming " q'd cum ip'i quieti esse debeant de om'imodo teolon dando p' totu' regnu' Angl. eo' q'd sunt tenentes de antiquo dominico Corone d'm Retf" and, if I interpret rightly, their claim is granted. Another authoritative declara- tion as to the status of the manor occurs in Ass. Roll 182 (m. 3 d.). Ralph de Tony being summoned to answer to the king in a plea by what warranty he holds the " Hun- dred de Suththaunton, que ad coronam d'm

Reg* p'tinet et Will's de Giselh'rn qui

sequit ...... dicit q'd hundred est quoddam

sp'iale p'tinens ad Coronam dm Reg 1 "

Finally, the second Tauetona in Domes- day, which all are agreed stands for South Tawton (being held by Githa and having Ash adjacent to it), appears in the Exchequer Domesday among the nineteen manors which were in King Edward's demesne, and now belong to King William : " Hec xix maneria fuerunt In D'nio Regis Ed ward i & p'tinen' ad rege'." The enumeration of these manors is a little confusing owing to the inclusion of some subsidiary ones, and, apparently, of Badentona, for which two were exchanged but if, in the facsimile of the original MS., all those names that are touched up with red ink are noted, it will be seen that they are exactly nineteen in num- ber. In the course of this series occur two sub-headings specifying which manors had been held (I suppose temporarily as dower-lands) by Eddida, Edward's queen, and which by GhiSa (his mother-in-law, mother of Eddida and of King Harold, and widow of Earl Godwin). Among the latter is Taue- tona. I can find nowhere in either Domesday the statement that it was held by Harold himself. After the nineteenth manor comes the heading: "Has subsequentia xiii terras

tenuit Herald comes," and against this m the margin is a figure or device, which, as used elsewhere, seems to indicate a new division or chapter. ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.

"THE BEAUTIFUL CITY OF PRAGUE" (9 th

S. xi. 407). The author of these lines would have considered their appropriation to Thackeray a great compliment. He was W. J. Prowse, one of the clever band of young men who assisted Tom Hood in the conduct of Fun in the sixties. I have a copy dated 1867, of which I give the first verse :

I dwell in a city enchanted,

And lonely indeed is my lot ; Two guineas a week, all I wanted,

Was certainly all that I got. Well ! somehow I found it was plenty,

Perhaps you may find it the same If if you are just one-and-twenty, With industry, hope, and an aim. Though its latitude 's rather uncertain,

And the longitude also is vague, The person I pity who knows not the city,

The beautiful city of Prague. My copy is bound up with several other little poems and his principal work, ' Nicholas's Notes.' He died, alas ! in 1868.

W. K. R. BEDFORD. [A reply from MR. EBSWORTH next week.]

NORMAN SETTLERS IN ENGLAND (9 th S. xi. 407). The list of the companions of the Conqueror is to be found in the annals of the church of Dives, in Normandy. But there is probably no good information in existence with regard to early Norman settlers after the Conquest.

R. M. might consult * Noms de Famille Normands,' by H. Moisy, or 'The Conqueror and his Companions,' by J. R. Planche. There is also a very useful list of Norman family names, with suggested derivations, in Barber's ' British Family Names,' just published in an enlarged edition. In this work (p. 74) will be found a reference to the name Mirville or Morville, which is undoubtedly a place-name. MATTHEW H. PEACOCK.

A list of Normans who accompanied Wil- liam I. to England is inscribed on a tablet in the parish church of Dives, in Normandy, about six miles from Trouville. The pro- prietor of the Hotel Guillaume le Conquerant is a great antiquary, and even a philologist. HERBERT A. STRONG.

FOUNTAIN PENS (9 th S. xi. 390, 438). I re- member a fountain pen of my father's, which I think belonged to his father. It had a, small sponge in the hinder part, which was filled with ink before one began to write, the