(From the Cod. Dipl. No. 942.)
“This writing witnesseth that Orcy hath granted the guildhall at Abbotsbury and the site thereof, to the honour of God and St. Peter, and for a property to the guild, both during his life and after his life, for a long lasting commemoration of himself and his consort. Let him that would set it aside, answer it to God in the great day of judgment!
“Now these are the covenants which Orcy and the guildsmen of Abbotsbury have ordained, to the honour of God, the worship of St. Peter, and the hele of their own souls. Firstly; three days before St. Peter’s mass, from each guildbrother one penny, or one pennyworth of wax,—look which the minster most needeth; and on the mass eve, from every two guildbrothers one broad loaf, well sifted and well raised, towards our common alms; and five weeks before Peter’s mass, let each guildbrother contribute one guildsester full of clean wheat, and let this be paid within two days, on forfeiture of the entrance, which is three sesters of wheat. And let the wood be paid within three days after the corn-contribution, from every full guildbrother one load of wood, and from those who are not full brothers, two; or let him pay one guildsester of corn. And let him that undertaketh a charge and performeth it not accordingly, be mulcted in the amount of his entrance; and be there no remission. And if one brother misgreet another within the guild, in hostile temper, let him atone for it to all the fellowship with the amount of his entrance, and after that to him whom he misgreeted, as they two may arrange: and if he will not bend to compensation, let him lose our fellowship and every other advantage of the guild. And let him that introduceth more guests than he ought, without leave of the steward and the caterers, forfeit his entrance. And if any of our fellowship should pass away from us, let each brother contribute a penny over the corpse for the soul’s hele or pay ... brothers: and if any one of us should be afflicted with sickness within sixty ... we are to find fifteen men who shall fetch him, and if he be dead, thirty, and they shall bring him to the place which he desired to go to, while he lived. And if he die in this present place, let the steward have warning to what place the corpse is to go; and let the steward warn the brethren, the greatest number that he can ride or send to, that they shall come thither and worthily accompany the corpse and bear it to the minster, and earnestly pray there for the soul. It is rightly ordained a guildship if we do thus, and well fitting it is both toward God and man: for we know not which of us shall first depart.
“Now we have faith through God’s assistance, that the aforesaid ordinance, if we rightly maintain it, shall be to the benefit of us all. Let us earnestly from the bottom of our hearts beseech Almighty God to have mercy upon us, and also his holy apostle St. Peter to make intercession for us, and take our way unto eternal rest, because for his sake we have gathered this guild together: he hath the power in heaven to admit into heaven whomso he will, and to exclude whomso he will not, even as Christ himself spake unto him in his gospel: Peter, I give to thee the keys of heaven, and whatsoever thou wilt have bound on earth, the same shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou wilt have unbound on earth, the same shall be unbound in heaven. Let us have hope and trust in him, that he will guide us here in this world, and after death be a help to our souls. May he bring us to eternal rest! Amen!”
THE GUILD AT EXETER.
“This assembly was collected in Exeter, for the love of God, and for our soul’s need, both in regard to our health of life here, and to the after days, which we desire for ourselves by God’s doom. Now we have agreed that our meeting shall be thrice in the twelve months; once at St. Michael’s Mass, secondly at St. Mary’s Mass, after midwinter, and thirdly at Allhallows Mass after Easter; and let each gild-brother have two sesters of malt, and each young man[[860]] one sester, and a sceat of honey; and let the mass-priest at each of our meetings sing two masses, one for our living friends, the other for the dead: and let each brother of common condition sing two psalters of psalms, one for the living and one for the dead; and at the death of a brother, each man six masses, or six psalters of psalms; and at a death, each man five pence; and at a houseburning each man one penny. And if any one neglect the day, for the first time three masses, for the second five, and at the third time let him have no favour, unless his neglect arose from sickness or his lord’s need. And if any one neglect his subscription at the proper day let him pay double. And if any one of this brotherhood misgreet another, let him make boot with thirty pence. Now we pray for the love of God that every man hold this meeting rightly, as we rightly have agreed upon it. God help us thereunto.”
THE GUILD AT CAMBRIDGE.
“In this writ is the notification of the agreement which this brotherhood hath made in the thanes’ gild of Grantabrycg. That is first, that each gave oath upon the relics to the rest, that he would hold true brotherhood for God and for the world, and all the brotherhood to support him that hath the best right. If any gild-brother die, all the gildship is to bring him where he desired to lie; and let him that cometh not thereto pay a sester of honey; and let the gildship inherit of the dead half a farm, and each gild-brother contribute two pence to the alms, and out of this sum let what is fitting be taken to St. Æðelðrýð. And if any gild-brother have need of his fellows’ aid, and it be made known to the reeve nearest the gild (unless the gild-brother himself be nigh) and the reeve neglect it, let him pay one pound; if the lord neglect it, let him pay a pound, unless he be on his lord’s need or confined to his bed. And if any one steal from a gild-brother, let there be no boot, but eight pounds. But if the outlaw neglect this boot, let all the gildship avenge their comrade; and let all bear it, if one misdo; let all bear alike. And if any gild-brother slay a man, and if he be a compelled avenger and compensate for his insult, and the slain man be a twelve-hundred man, let each gild-brother assist ... if the slain be a ceorl, two ores; if he be a Welshman, one ore. But if the gild-brother with folly and deceit slay a man, let him bear his own deed; and if a comrade slay another comrade through his own folly, let him bear his breach as regards the relatives of the slain; and let him buy back his brotherhood in the gild with eight pounds, or lose for ever our brotherhood and friendship. And if a gild-brother eat or drink with him that slew his comrade, save in the presence of the king, the bishop or the ealdorman, let him pay a pound, unless he can clear himself with two of his dependents, of any knowledge of the fact. If any comrade misgreet another, let him pay a sester of honey, except he can clear himself with his two dependents. If a servant draw a weapon, let his lord pay a pound, and recover what he can from the servant, and let all the company aid him to recover his money. And if a servant wound another, let the lord avenge it, and the company, so that seek what he may seek, he shall not have his life. And if a servant sit within the spence, let him pay a sester of honey, and if any one hath a footsitter let him do the same. And if any gild-brother die or lie sick out of the country, let his gild-brethren fetch him alive or dead, to the place where he desired to lie, under the same penalty as we have before said, in case of a comrade’s dying at home, and a gild-brother neglecting to attend the corpse.”
The following document, which seems justly referable to the reign of Eádgár, that is to the close of the tenth century, gives the regulations under which the Hundred was constituted[[861]].