Page:Will of King Alfred.djvu/46

30 parenthetical, and may be rendered literally "given to us in those troubles as to us given," i.e. "whether we were able to retain more or less of our property amidst those troubles" Similar forms of expression occur in Alfred's Boethius.

While Ethelbald was living.] Sax. be aðelbolde lifiendum. The preposition governing the ablative case absolute is here expressed. So be þan libbendan, page 24.

Common right.] Sax. folcriht, the law of the land.

I give - the land, &c] Alfred describes most of the estates which he devises, as land, but in some places he uses the word ham. The latter word (the origin of our home and hamlet) was used by the Anglo-Saxons for a house, farm, town or village, and generally an abode or habitation. Somn. Dict. - Mr. Manning renders it "manor"; meaning, it is presumed, an entire township; for the word manor, if not the thing, is of Norman introduction. - But it is impossible to suppose that the numerous estates devised by Alfred to his two sons, as land, did not comprehend manors in Mr. Manning's acceptation of the term. It is much more likely that land and ham were considered by him synonymous, and that he in fact possessed an entire township in most, if not all, of the places which he mentions.