Minor custodia debet sex, sed ita abbreviata usque ad iiijor.

Debent autem escavingores[522] eligi qui singulis diebus a vigilia Nat[alis] domini usque ad diem epyphanie videant illos qui debent de nocte vigilare quod sint homines defensibiles et decenter ad hoc armati. Debent autem ad vesperam in die videri et ad horam completorii exire et per totam noctem pacifice vigilare et vicum salve custodire usque pulsetur ad matutinas per capellas, quod vocatur daibelle. Et si aliqua defalta in custodia contigerit, escavingores debent illos inbreviare et ad primum hustingum vicecomitibus tradere. Potest eciam vicecomes, si vult, cogere eos jurare de defalta quod nulli inde deferebunt nec aliquem celabunt.

De Cartis Civitatis.

In thesauro due regis Willelmi primi et due de libertatibus regis Ricardi et de eodem rege due carte de kidellis et de rege Johanne due carte de vicecom[itatu], una de libertate et una de kidellis cum sigillo de communi cons[523] (sic) habet i cartam regis Johannis de libertate civitatis W.   fil’ Ren’ habet i regis Henrici de libertate et H[enricus] de Cornh[illa] aliam, Rog[erus] maior habet cartam Regin[aldi?] de Cornh[illa] de debito civitatis de ccc marcis.

The latter portion, it will be observed, describes the custody of the city charters, and is of special value as fixing the date to that of the mayoralty of Roger, who held the office in 1213.

The regulations for the watch are decisive, surely, of the functions originally discharged by the “scavengers” of London. They were inspectors of the watch. In his introduction to the ‘Liber Albus’(1859) Mr. Riley held that—

The City Scavagers, it appears, were originally public officers, whose duty it was to attend at the Hythes and Quays for the purpose of taking custom upon the Scavage (i.e. Showage) or opening out of imported goods. At a later period, however, it was also their duty, as already mentioned, to see that due precautions were taken in the construction of houses against fire; in addition to which it was their business to see that the pavements were kept in repair.... These officers, no doubt, gave name to the ‘Scavengers’ of the present day (p. xli.; cf. iii. 352, 357).

Professor Skeat adopts this view in his etymological Dictionary, and develops it at some length, holding that “the n before g is intrusive” as in some other cases, “and scavenger stands for scavager.” He consequently connects the word with our “shew,” through “scavage.” But no evidence whatever is adduced by Mr. Riley for his assertion that the “Scavagers” originally performed the above duty or had anything to do with it.

The last of these London records with which I have here to deal is the so-called “Hidagium” of Middlesex.[524] The explanation of its thus appearing among documents relating to the administration of London is that when London and Middlesex were jointly “farmed” by the citizens, the sheriffs answered jointly for the ‘Danegeld’ of Middlesex and the corresponding donum or auxilium of London. Here therefore we find these two levies side by side as on the Pipe Rolls. But though the latter was levied from the city when Danegeld was levied from the shire, it was in no way connected with hidation, but consisted of arbitrary sums payable by the principal towns. Prof. Maitland, therefore, is mistaken when, in his great work, ‘Domesday Book and Beyond,’ he makes a solitary reference to our MS., as implying that London “seems to have gelded for 1,200 hides” (p. 409). He has here confused the assessed hidage of boroughs with the arbitrary donum or auxilium. This is shown by comparing the latter, as given by himself (p. 175), with the ascertained hidage of towns and the payments its sum would involve.

hides.[geld.]donum.
Worcester15£1100£15
Northampton25210010
Dorset Boroughs454101015
Huntingdon505008
Hertford101005