| 1 | virgate = | 20 | acres. |
| 5 | virgates = | 100 | acres = 1 hide. |
| 25 | virgates = | 500 | acres = 5 hides = 1 knight’s fee. |
| 125 | virgates = | 2500 | acres = 25 hides = 5 fees = 1 barony. |
which results neither coincide with the last, nor with those of Domesday, nor with those derived from Saxon authorities.
The hidage of various ancient Gás which has been given in Chapter III. could naturally not be sufficient guide under the new shire divisions. Unfortunately we have not a complete account of the hidage in the shires: nor does what we have coincide with the conclusion arrived at in the course of the fourth chapter.
In the Cotton. MS. Claud. B. vii. (fol. 204, b), which appears to have been written in the time of Henry III., we have the following entries:—
| Hydae. | |
| In Wiltescyre continentur | 4800 |
| In Bedefordscyre sunt | 1200 |
| In Cantebrigescyre sunt | 2500 |
| In Huntedunescyre sunt | 800½ |
| In Northamptescyre sunt | 3200 |
| In Gloucesterscyre sunt | 2400 |
| In Wirecesterscyre sunt | 1200 |
| In Herefordescyre sunt | 1500 |
| In Warewycscyre sunt | 1200 |
| In Oxenefordscyre sunt | 2400 |
| In Salopescyre sunt | 2300 |
| In Cesterscyre sunt | 1300 |
| In Staffordescyre sunt | 500 |
The Cotton MS. Vesp. A. xviii. fol. 112, b, written in the reign of Edward I., gives a different list of counties, among which the following variations occur:—
| Bedfordshire | 1000 |
| Northamptonshire | 4200 |
| Gloucestershire | 2000 |
| Worcestershire | 1500 |
| Shropshire | 2400 |
| Cheshire | 1200 |
If we pursue the plan heretofore adopted, we shall have these results:—
| County. | Acreage. | Hidage. | H. at 30. | H. at 40. | Excess at 30. | Excess at 40. | Ratio at 30. | Ratio at 40. |
| Wilts. | 868,060 | 4800 | 144,000 | 192,000 | 724,060 | 676,000 | 1:5 | 1:3·5 |
| Bedf. | 297,632 | 1200 | 36,000 | 48,000 | 261,632 | 249,632 | 1:7 | 1:5 |
| Camb. | 536,313 | 2500 | 75,000 | 100,000 | 461,313 | 436,313 | 1:6 | 1:4·5 |
| Hunt. | 242,250 | 800½ | 24,015 | 32,020 | 218,235 | 210,230 | 1:9 | 1:7 |
| Nrhm. | 646,810 | 3200 | 96,000 | 128,000 | 550,810 | 518,810 | 1:5·77 | 1:4 |
| Glouc. | 790,470 | 2400 | 72,000 | 96,000 | 718,470 | 694,470 | 1:10 | 1:7·25 |
| Worc. | 459,710 | 1200 | 36,000 | 48,000 | 423,700 | 411,710 | 1:11·75 | 1:8·5 |
| Heref. | 543,800 | 1500 | 45,000 | 60,000 | 502,800 | 483,800 | 1:11 | 1:8 |
| Warw. | 567,930 | 1200 | 36,000 | 48,000 | 531,930 | 519,930 | 1:14·75 | 1:10·75 |
| Oxf. | 467,230 | 2400 | 72,000 | 96,000 | 395,230 | 371,230 | 1:5·5 | 1:4 |
| Salop. | 864,360 | 2300 | 69,000 | 92,000 | 795,360 | 772,360 | 1:11·5 | 1:8·4 |
| Chesh. | 649,050 | 1300 | 39,000 | 52,000 | 610,050 | 597,050 | 1:15·62 | 1:11·5 |
| Staff. | 736,290 | 500 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 721,290 | 716,290 | 1:48 | 1:36·8 |
Now either these figures cannot be relied on, or we must carry the hide in this calculation to a very different amount. If we take it at 100 acres, we shall find the whole hidage of these thirteen counties amounts to 25,300 × 100 or 2,530,000 acres, while the whole actual acreage is 7,669,905; giving an excess of 5,139,905, and consequently a ratio of 25:51 nearly, or 1:2. This would a little exceed the present ratio, which is 5:11, a result which appears very improbable indeed in the reign of Henry III. But when we consider the numberless errors of transcription, so unavoidable where merely numbers, and not words, are given, and the totally inconsistent accounts contained in different manuscripts, we can hardly rest satisfied that the figures themselves are trustworthy. Even on the hypothesis that in the time of Henry III. or Edward I. the hide was calculated on the new footing of 100 acres, we yet could not reconcile the conflicting amounts assigned to the counties themselves.