[457]. Æðelst. v. 8. § 1. Thorpe, i. 236.
[458]. “Swá of ánre teoðung ðǽr máre folc sig.” Thorpe, i. 232.
[459]. “And we cwǽdon eác be ǽlcum ðára manna ðe on úrum gegyldscipum his wed geseald hæfð, gif him forðsíð gebyrige, ðæt ǽlc gegylda gesylle ǽnne gesufelne hláf for ðǽre sáwle, and gesinge án fíftig, oððe begite gesungen binnan xxx nihtan.” Æðelst. v. 8. § 6. Thorpe, i. 236.
[460]. “Seðe bið werfǽhðe betogen, and he onsacan wille ðæs sleges mid áðe, ðonne sceal beón on ðǽre hyndenne án cyningáð be xxx hída, swá be gesíðcund men swá be ceorliscum, swá hwæðer swá hit sý.” Ini. § 54. Thorpe, i. 136. Upon this passage the late Mr. Price had the following note, which is interesting, though I cannot agree with his conclusion: “It has been already observed that the hynden consisted of ten persons, and, like hynde in the words twýhynde, sixhynde, twelfhynde, appears to have been formed from hund, of which the original meaning was ten. The hynden therefore will correspond to the turba of the Civil Law (‘quia Turba decem dicuntur.’ Leg. Præt. 4. § Turbam), the Tourbe of the French Coutumes: 'Coutume si doit verefier par deux tourbes et chacun d’icelles par dix temoins.' Loisel. liv. v. tit. 5. c. 13.” But the correspondence noted will entirely depend upon the fact of the hynden really being a collection of ten men, which I do not admit. There is no dispute as to the meaning of Turba or Tourbe: but if, as it is not impossible, turba should be really identical with þorp, vicus, it might deserve consideration whether the original village was not supposed to consist of ten families and so to form the tithing or gyldscipe.
[461]. It is very remarkable how many modern parishes may be perambulated with no other direction than the boundaries found in the Codex Diplomaticus. To this very day the little hills, brooks, even meadows and small farms, bear the names they bore before the time of Ælfred, and the Mark may be traced with certainty upon the local information of the labourer on the modern estate.
[462]. An early confusion gave rise to the reading of Freoborh, liberum plegium, free pledge, frank-pledge, for Friðborh, the pledge or guarantee of peace, pacis plegium. The distinction is essential to the comprehension of this institution.
[463]. This is given here only as the most detailed account: the principle was as old as the Anglosaxon monarchy itself, or older. The law of Eádgár thus expresses it: “Let every man so order, that he have a surety, and let the surety (c) bring and hold him to every right; and if any one then offend and escape, let the surety bear what he ought to bear. But if it be a thief, and the surety can get hold of him within twelve months, let him surrender the thief to justice, and let what he before paid be restored to him.” Eádg. ii. § 6. Thorpe, i. 268.
“This then is my will, that every man be in surety, both within the towns and without the towns.” Eádg. ii. supp. § 3. Thorpe, i. 274.
“Let every freeman have a true borh, who may present him to every right, should he be accused.” Æðelred, i. § 1. Thorpe, i. 280.
“If he flee from the ordeal, let the borh pay for him according to his wer.” Æðelr. iii. § 6. Thorpe, i. 296.