[1531] Thus, K. 371 (ii. 207): Æthelstan gives to the church of Exeter 6 perticae (yard-lands?). B. ii. 433: he gives one cassate to St Petroc. K. 787 (iv. 115): the Confessor gives a pertica and a half in Cornwall. Crawford Charters, pp. 1–43: Æthelheard gives 20 cassates at Crediton; that is, a dozen of our parishes. Ibid. p. 9: a single yard of land is gaged for 30 mancuses of gold. K. 1306 (vi. 163): in 739 Æthelred gives 3 perticae to Athelney. K. 1324 (vi. 188): Cnut gives to Athelney duas mansas siue (= et) unam perticam.
[1532] K. 1143 (v. 278); B. ii. 527. For the arepennis see Meitzen, op. cit. i. 278, where an explanation derived from the Irish laws is given of its name.
[1534] The lords of Cambridgeshire may have done good service during the campaign in the Isle of Ely.
[1535] Pearson’s valuit is £491; his valet £736.
[1536] The appearance of the curious hida may lead to the guess that if the geld be at two shillings, it is the Leicestershire hida, not the Leicestershire carucata which pays this sum. But (1) if the hida contains 18, or even 12, carucates we shall then have on our hands a case of extreme under-taxation; and (2) this will not account for the fact that an exceedingly small value is given to the land that a team ploughs.
[1537] D. B. i. 233.
[1538] At the end of the account of the land between Ribble and Mersey (i. 240) we are told that there were altogether 79 hidae which T. R. E. were worth £145. 2s. 2d. This would give a very small value for the carucate, if the hida of this district had six carucates; and in many cases 2s. 8d. is the value assigned to the carucate. If to a two-shilling geld the hida paid but two shillings, this is a bad, though not unprecedented, case of under-taxation. On the other hand, if the carucate paid two shillings, its value has been stated in some abnormal fashion. I do not think it out of the question that the hidae of Leicestershire and Lancashire are modern arrangements designed to give relief in some manner or another to districts which have been too heavily burdened with carucates.
[1539] It may, however, have been applied to the conquered West Wales from an early time. See above, [p. 467].