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 We must however premise that a list printed by Hearne on p. 103, and taken from the Cambridge MS of the De Antiquitate, is quite untrustworthy. It frequently differs from the statements made earlier in the book, in spelling and order and dates. It is not found in the MS quoted as M by Hearne.

We need not go further at present. We have seen how William of Malmesbury constructed his list, and our examination of such charters as are still available gives ample proof of the care which lie devoted to his task. The tenth-century compiler probably proceeded in a different way, and made the best list that he could from names which he read on sepulchral monuments and in the book of commemorations called the Martyrology. Accordingly it is not until we get near to his own time that we can feel confident that the order which he gives us will be the more accurate of the two.

If now we follow William of Malmesbury in putting Beorhwald next to Hemgisl, what are we to make of Wealhstod in the rival list? Bede mentions that in 731 Ualcfistod was bishop of Hereford: and William of Malmesbury in his Gesta Pontificum quotes some ancient verses which tell how he began the erection of a cross, but did not live to finish it. It was completed by his successor Cuthbert, who afterwards was archbishop of Canterbury. Wealhstod may have been bishop of Hereford as early as 727, and have died as late as 736. No Glastonbury charter mentions him as abbot, and therefore William of Malmesbury has no knowledge of him. If he were an abbot, he must come in somewhere before 731, when Bede speaks of him as bishop of Hereford: and, if William of Malmesbury is