The Hall of Waltheof/Corrections and Additions

Page 71, 1. 10, for "Cock-crowing Stones" read "Cock-crowing Stone."

Page 75, 1. 1, "Siva" may be connected with chive, or sive, garlick.

Page 78, n. 1, for "in the chapter on 'The Church Lands'" read "on page 129."

Page 83, 1. 26, for "Neepesend" read "Nepesend."

Page 85, 1. 11, for "Woodland" read "woodland."

Page 92. We may refer to the Old Frisian bonner, a bailiff.

Page 94, 1. 12. Insert the word "such" between "with" and "sentences."

Page 100, 1. 7, for "when" read "where."

Page 103, 1. 24, for "Old" read "old."

Page 103, n. 3, for "bocung" read "bócung."

Page 105, 1. 14, for "kaupa-jörd" read "kaupa-jörð."

Page 108, n. 1, for "Lexicon" read "Glossarium."

Page 116, n. 1, 1. 7, for "exponunter" read "exponuntur."

Page 138, 1. 1, for "seals" read "seal."

Page 144. In a printed list, dated 1781, of persons receiving out-door relief from the Sheffield Workhouse many persons are described as residing in "Scotland," meaning a part of Sheffield. W. Wake, Esq., steward of the Manor, has kindly permitted me to see the Sheffield Court Rolls in his custody. These Rolls are not earlier than the end of the last century, and I did not notice any copyhold land in "Scotland" or the neighbourhood thereof.

Page 158, 1. 26. Chaucer's words are "in hernes and lanes blinde." C. T. 12586.

Page 179, 1. 9. "Woodhouse" may be a house built in a wood, as "Moor-house" is a house built on a moor.

Page 212, 1. 23, for "used" read "found." Solheim still occurs as a local name in Norway.

Page 212 n. 4, for "blind" read "blindr."

Page 221, n. 1, 1. 3, for "scaltera" read "sealtera."

Page 240, n. 3, 1. 1, for "message" read "messuage."

Page 245, n. 2, 1. 2, after "Namenbuch" insert "(Zweiter Band)."

Page 247, 1. 26, for "above" read "here."

Page 254, 1. 17, for "opinon" read "opinion."

Page 258, 1. 10, for "translates" read "is derived from."

Page 365, 1. 17, strike out "sole."

Page 274, 1. 11, for "last" read "lost."

THE NAME HATHERSAGE.

On p. 260 I have said that Stanage may be Stein-eg, stone-way, paved way, and it will be seen that the Roman road between Stanage Pole and Hathersage is known as Giant's Causey. Now if that were so, it may be that the termination eg occurs also in Hathersage, anciently Hathersegg, which we may divide as Hathers-egg, meaning Hather's way. The O. N. Höðr, genitive Haðr, was a mythical being of tremendous power, who seems to be identical with the Hotherus of Saxo, and with reference to him Grimm asks us to consider such place-names as Hadersleben and Hothers-nes. Hather, then, seems to be the name of a mythical being or giant who, according to the old legends or popular tales of the neighbourhood, made the great causey or paved way. Little John, the mythical companion of the mythical Robin Hood, is said to have been buried at Hathersage, and the exact place of his burial is still pointed out in the churchyard. Hather or Höðr (Hod) was the being who, according to Norse mythology, shot Balder with the mistletoe, so that "he fell dead to the earth." That places sometimes took their names from ancient roads may be seen in Ridgeway, near Chesterfield. The Roman road above Moorseats in Hathersage is known as The Ridgeway.

WAS THE LAY OF RICH WRITTEN OR SUNG IN HALLAMSHIRE ?

The old Northern poem called the Lay of Righ (Corpus Poeticum Boreale, i., 234) attributed to the eleventh century, describes the characteristics of the three orders of men, viz., thralls, yeomen, and gentlemen. The Earl, according to the poem, lived in a hall facing the south. He began to be a warrior, and

Vig nam at vekja, völl nam at rioða,

val nam at fella; vá til landa.

Réð hann einn at þat átján búom.

"He began to waken war, he began to redden the field, he began to fell the doomed; he won himself lands. He ruled alone over eighteen townships" Messrs. Vigfusson and Powell, the editors of the poem, say that it is "clearly of Western origin," in other words that it originated in the British Isles. Now Waltheof, or Val-þjófr (put to death in 1075), was the acknowledged chief and leader of Danish or Northern England. According to the Doomsday Book he not only had a hall in Hallamshire, but "ruled alone over eighteen townships" there. These were the townships of Sheffield and Attercliffe, which were "inland" of the manor of Hallam, and the sixteen unnamed berewicks, mentioned in the Survey. In the second line, and perhaps in the alliteration, the poet seems to be punning on the word val in Val-þjófr. Can we not, therefore, say that the lay was sung at Waltheof's court, and was intended to flatter or please him? It belongs to the class of genealogical poems. It contains a description of an Earl's house, and of the food, clothing, personal appearance, etc., of its noble inmates.