¹ The authors are grateful for much generous help received from Mr D. V. Fowkes, Mr M. W. Greenslade, Mr F. B. Stitt and Mr D. G. Vaisey on the problems of the manuscript's provenance, from Mr R. N. Smart on palaeographical matters, from Mr R. P. H. Green, Dr M. Herren and Dr M. Lapidge on the traces of verse in the proem, from Dr S. D. Keynes on diplomatic and from Mr P. Kitson on matters onomastic and topographical.

² It is not that of Dodsworth, of Spelman, or of any of the antiquaries mentioned below.

³ For Huntbach, see Greenslade, M. W., The Staffordshire Historians, Staffordshire Record Soc., Collections for a Hist. of Staffordshire, 4th ser. 11 (1982), 69–72.Google Scholar

⁴ Ibid. pp. 37–48 and 72–7.

⁵ Domesday Book, vol. 1, fol. 277; see Victoria County History of Derbyshire 1, ed. Page, W. (London, 1905), 350.Google Scholar

⁶ Ibid.; Hodges, R., Poulter, M. and Wildgoose, M., ‘The Medieval Grange at Roystone Grange’, Derbyshire Archaeol. Jnl 102 (1982), 88–100, at 90–1Google Scholar; and Cockayne, A. E., Cockayne Memoranda (privately ptd, Congleton, 1873), pp. 162–3Google Scholar, citing London, British Library, Add. 6675, p. 193.

⁷ The Life, Diary, and Correspondence of Sir William Dugdale, ed. Hamper, W. (London, 1827), pp. 256–7.Google Scholar For Sir Aston and his relationship to Sir Edward, see the entries in the Dictionary of National Biography for Sir Aston and Thomas Cokayne. If the Cokaynes owned the charter, an alternative route to Huntbach can be suggested. The Staffordshire antiquary Sampson Erdeswick (ob. 1603) was related to the Cokaynes (see Sadler, E. A., ‘The Ancient Family of Cockayne and their Monuments in Ashbourne Church’, Derbyshire Archaeol. Jnl 55 (1934), 18–19Google Scholar), and most of his collections came into Chetwynd's possession (Greenslade, , Staffordshire Historians, p. 38Google Scholar). There is no trace of the Ballidon charter in Chetwynd's antiquarian manuscripts, now part of Staffordshire Record Office, D.649.

⁸ Cokayne, A. E., ‘Some Notes on the Cokayne Family’, Derbyshire Archaeol. Jnl 3 (1881), 130.Google Scholar The author of the article is the A. E. ‘Cockayne’ of n. 6 above.

⁹ Hodges, et al. , ‘Roystone Grange’, pp. 89–90.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Fowler, G. H., A Digest of the Charters Preserved in the Cartulary of the Priory of Dunstable, Bedfordshire Hist. Record Soc. 10 (1926), nos. 238–9.Google Scholar

¹¹ Davis, G. R. C., Medieval Cartularies of Great Britain (London, 1958), nos. 320–2 and 431–2Google Scholar, and London, British Library, Harley 1885, 4–6V, esp. 6. In the early seventeenth century the Harthills' charters to Garendon could not be found (Hodges et al., ‘Roystone Grange’, p. 89).

¹² VCH Derbyshire 1, ed. Page, 298–9 and 327–55.

¹³ Charters of Burton Abbey, ed. Sawyer, P. H. (Oxford, 1979), pp. xxxix–xl and xliv–xlvii.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Ibid. p. xliii, and VCH Derbyshire 1, ed. Page, 305–6 and 350.

¹⁵ Burton Charters, ed. Sawyer, p. xlviii.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Ibid. p. xiii and no. 21.

¹⁷ Ibid. p. xiv.

¹⁸ Burton, W., The Description of Leicestershire (London, 1622), pp. 209–10Google Scholar, and Burton Charters, ed. Sawyer, no. 12.

¹⁹ Greenslade, , Staffordshire Historians, p. 38Google Scholar. See also the entry for William Burton in DNB.

²⁰ For the Burton cartularies containing pre-Conquest charters, see Burton Charters, ed. Sawyer, pp. xiv–xv.Google Scholar

²¹ Burton Charters, ed. Sawyer, nos. 14, 17, 23, 26, 27, 28/9 and 32. A medieval scribe numbered each of these charters on their dorse in chronological sequence, corresponding to the order in which they are entered into Peniarth 390 (Ibid. p. xiv). Thus Ibid. no. 17 of 956 is endorsed ‘XVII’ and no. 23 of 968 is endorsed ‘XXIII’. Since Peniarth 390 has five charters of intermediate date (i.e. between 956 and 968), it would seem that the original of the Ballidon charter was not available in the archives for numbering in this series. It is, however, possible that the numbering was contemporaneous with, or preparatory to, the compilation of the cartulary.

²² The editorial conventions of the British Academy and Royal Historical Society's edition of Anglo-Saxon Charters have normally been followed. Standard abbreviations have been expanded silently; the capitalization has been modernized; the punctuation of the manuscript has been emended by the elimination of commas (inappropriate to a tenth-century exemplar) and the provision, where the sense requires, of a few additional punctus; the spelling follows that of the manuscript, though obvious scribal errors are corrected in the text (and the reading of the manuscript recorded in the apparatus).

²³ There appear to be no comparably enclosed crosses in the extant single-sheet Anglo-Saxon diplomas.

²⁴ As Dr Michael Lapidge has pointed out to us, Æthelweard uses anax three times of King Edgar, in his version of the poem on the king's coronation at Bath in 973: see The Chronicle of Æthelweard, ed. Campbell, A. (London, 1962), pp. 55–6.Google Scholar

²⁵ Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury (959–88); Oscytel, archbishop of York (956–71); Cynesige, bishop of Lichfield (949–63); Osulf, bishop of Ramsbury (950–70); Byrhthelm, bishop of Wells (956–8 and 959–73); Ælfwold, probably the bishop of Crediton (953–72) rather than of Sherborne (c. 964–78); Eadhelm, bishop of Selsey (963–80); Ælfstan, probably the bishop of Rochester (c. 961–95) rather than of London (964–96); and Wulfric, ? bishop of Dorchester (c. 958–70).

²⁶ He attests Cartularium Saxonicum, ed. Birch, W. de G., 3 vols. (London, 1885–1893)Google Scholar (hereafter cited as BCS), nos. 1112, 1119 and 1121, which are nos. 712, 723 and 713 respectively in Sawyer, P. H., Anglo-Saxon Charters: an Annotated List and Bibliography, R. Hist. Soc. Guides and Handbooks 8 (London, 1968)Google Scholar (hereafter cited as S); his successor, Wynsige, already attests in 964 (BCS 1134 (S 726)).

²⁷ Eadhelm attests BCS 1101 (S 717), 1112 (S 712) and 1125 (S 714).

²⁸ For Æthelwold's consecration, see Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 963 A, E (Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel, ed. Plummer, Charles (Oxford, 1892–1899) 1, 114–15)Google Scholar. For the complex careers of the two bishops named Byrhthelm in the years 956–63, see Brooks, N. P., The Early History of the Church of Canterbury (Leicester, 1984), pp. 238–9.Google Scholar

²⁹ Their careers and family connections can now be conveniently studied in Hart, C., ‘Athelstan “Half King” and his Family’, ASE 2 (1973), 115–44Google Scholar, and Williams, A., ‘Princeps Merciorum Gentis: the Family, Career and Connections of Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia’, ASE 10 (1982), 143–72.Google Scholar

³⁰ In 963 he attests only BCS 1119 (S 723) and 1112 (S 713); for his career, see Hart, C. R., Early Charters of Northern England and the North Midlands (Leicester, 1975), pp. 287–8.Google Scholar

³¹ BCS 1043 (S 674), 1044 (S 679), 1121 (S 712) and 1113 (S 716); he may be the same man as the unranked Gunner in BCS 882 (S 550) of 949 and the thegn of BCS 937 (S 633) of 956; and he was probably the father of the Thored who ravaged Westmorland in 966. See Whitelock, D., ‘The Dealings of the Kings of England with Northumbria in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries’, The Anglo-Saxons: Studies … presented to B. Dickins, ed. Clemoes, P. (London, 1959), pp. 70–88, at 78.Google Scholar

³² Myrdah's other attestation is in BCS 1044 (S 679); for Norsemen from western Scotland rather than from Ireland, see Smyth, A. P., Scandinavian York and Dublin 1 (Dublin, 1975), 78–89.Google Scholar

³³ Whitelock, , ‘Dealings’, pp. 77–8.Google Scholar

³⁴ BCS 1113 (S 716), 1169 (S 734), 1171 (S 732) and 1172 (S 733).

³⁵ For Ælfwine, see Hart, , Early Charters of Northern England, pp. 277–8Google Scholar; for Æthelsige, see Hart, ‘Athelstan “Half King”’, pp. 132–3.

³⁶ Oswulf and Osweard appear in 963 only in BCS 1121 (S 713) and 1123 (S 722); they are stated to be brothers in a charter of 959 (Finberg, H. P. R., The Early Charters of Wessex (Leicester, 1964), no. 483 (S 652))Google Scholar; Æthelm only witnesses BCS 1119 (S 723) in 963, and Ælfric BCS 1120 (S 719), 1124 (S 708) and 1125 (S 714).

³⁷ BCS 1093 (S 705) and 1076 (S 695); for possible reconstructions of their careers, see Hart, Early Charters of Northern England, pp. 318 and 366.

³⁸ For the standard diplomatic at this time, see Keynes, S. D., The Diplomas of King Æthelred ‘the Unready’ 978–1016 (Cambridge, 1980), pp. 70–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁹ Wells, Dean and Chapter, Cathedral Charter 1: Sanders, W. B., Facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts, Ordnance Survey (Southampton, 1878–1884) 11Google Scholar, Wells. BCS 1040 is translated in English Historical Documents c. 500–1042, ed. Whitelock, D., 2nd ed. (London, 1979), no. 109.Google Scholar See also Keynes, , Diplomas, p. 69 and n. 137.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ For the Tribal Hidage, see BCS 297; and for its date and manuscript transmission, see Davies, W. and Vierck, H., ‘The Contexts of Tribal Hidage: Social Aggregates and Settlement Patterns’, Frühmittelalterliche Studien 8 (1974), 223–41 and 288–92Google Scholar. Bakewell is said to be ‘on Peac lond’ in ASC 924 A (= 920) (Two Chronicles, ed. Plummer 1, 104). It remains uncertain whether the Mercian tribal districts (Pecsæte, Wrocensæte and Magesæte) were archaic by 963 and had already been replaced by the shire system. As late as 1016 we hear of the flight of Ealdorman Eadric with the Magesæte in ASC 1016 (Two Chronicles, ed. Plummer 1, 152–3). See, further, Stenton, F. M., Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd ed. (Oxford, 1971), pp. 336–7.Google Scholar

⁴¹ See above, textual notes w and aa.

⁴² Michael Lapidge has drawn our attention to the occurrence of this familiar phrase first in Lucretius, De Natura Rerum 11.1147, then in Christian poets such as (pseudo-) Paulinus of Nola, Carmen xxxii.217, and Prosper, Epigrammata LV. 1, and in Aldhelm, Carmen de Virginitate 35, and Enigmata xci. 1 etc. He also points out that hexameter cadences are found in the same draftsman's BCS 1041 (S 667), such as the hackneyed ‘spes unica mundi’, first found in Caelius Sedulius, Carmen Paschale 1.60.

⁴³ In line 1 nihilo is an anapaest, but needs to be a dactyl or a spondee (? read as nilo); in line 2 there is no caesura and the -it of composuit needs to be long but is short; line 3 lacks a foot; line 4 lacks both a foot and a caesura; and in line 5 there is again no caesura, and the first u of presulum has to be long, whereas it is short.

⁴⁴ We owe this suggestion and much of our understanding of the complexities of this passage to the kindness of Dr Michael Herren.

⁴⁵ The fundamental works on the cursus are now Lindholm, G., Studien zum mittellateinischen Prosarhythmus (Stockholm, 1963)Google Scholar, for the period to c. 850 AD, and Janson, T., Prose Rhythm in Medieval Latin from the 9th to the 13th Century, Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 20 (Stockholm, 1975)Google Scholar. A major study of the use of rhythmic prose in Anglo-Latin is urgently needed; but see the pioneering work of Winterbottom, M., ‘Aldhelm's Prose Style and its Origins’, ASE 6 (1977), 39–76, esp. 71–3Google Scholar, and Chaplais, P., ‘The Letter of Bishop Wealdhere of London to Archbishop Brihtwold of Canterbury: the Earliest “Letter Close” Extant in the West’, Medieval Scribes, Manuscripts and Libraries: Essays presented to N. R. Ker, ed. Parkes, M. B. and Watson, A. G. (Oxford, 1978), pp. 3–23, esp. 18–19Google Scholar. We are indebted to Dr Chaplais for drawing our attention to the possible use of the cursus in this charter.

⁴⁶ In order to achieve a consistent basis for comparison between authors, Janson's tests are limited to the ends of sentences (Prose Rhythm, pp. 14–21).

⁴⁷ BCS 1055 (S 687: London, British Library, Cotton Augustus ii. 40; Bond, E. A., Facsimiles of Ancient Charters in the British Museum (London, 1873–1878) 111, 22)Google Scholar, where he attests last of 25 ministri. He also attests the spurious BCS 1046 and 1047 (S 658 and 673); he is 17th out of 19 thegns in BCS 1176 (S 738) and 14th out of 20 in BCS 1189 (S 737), both of 966; he is 14th out of 20 in BCS 1221 (S 758) and 1225 (S 760), 13th out of 19 in both BCS 1222 (S 757) and 1224 (S 759), and last of 14 in BSC 1226 (S 769) – all of the year 968.

⁴⁸ Cameron, K., The Place-Names of Derbyshire, 3 vols., EPNS 27–9 (Cambridge, 1959) 1, 1–2, and 11, 343, 369 and 403–4.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (Oxford, 1936), pp. 23 and 341Google Scholar; 4th ed. (Oxford, 1960), pp. 24 and 358.

⁵⁰ Nicolaisen, W. F. H., Scottish Place-Names (London, 1976), p. 164.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Burton Charters, ed. Sawyer, no. 21.

⁵² Ekwall, E., ‘Some Notes on English Place-Names Containing Names of Heathen Deities’, Englische Studien 70 (1935), 56–9.Google Scholar

⁵³ Bronnenkant, L. J., ‘Thurstable Revisited’, Jnl of the EPNS 15 (1982–1983), 9–19Google Scholar. The most recent general survey of pagan references in English place-names is Gelling, M., ‘Further Thoughts on Pagan Place-Names’, Otium et Negotium: Studies in Onomatology and Library Science Presented to Olof von Feilitzen, ed. Sandgren, F. (Stockholm, 1973), pp. 109–28.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ BCS 297.

⁵⁵ For the ancient parishes, see Cox, J. C., Derbyshire Churches 111 (Chesterfield, 1877), pp. 427–45Google Scholar. The parish boundaries established in the tithe maps of the 1840s and 1850s are conveniently plotted on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey 1-inch-to-the-mile maps in the Index to the Tithe Survey, Ordnance Survey (London, 1878). The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1866 stipulated that chapelries and other units in which separate Poor Law rates had been levied should be called parishes thereafter. From that time OS maps record Ballidon as a separate parish. Margaret Poulter and Miss J. Sinar have kindly provided expert guidance on parochial development.

⁵⁶ Margary, I. V., Roman Roads in Britain, 3rd ed. (London, 1973), no. 71a.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ Hodges, et al. , ‘Roystone Grange’, pp. 96–9.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Hodges, R. and Wildgoose, M., ‘Roman or Native in the White Peak: the Roystone Grange Project and its Regional Implications’, Derbyshire Archaeol. Jnl 101 (1981), 42–57Google Scholar. We are most grateful to Dr Hodges for organizing further field-work in the search for miclan dic, to supplement the preliminary investigation of the line of the parish boundary carried out by one of the authors (N.P.B.).

⁵⁹ Cameron, , Place-Names of Derbyshire 11, 395.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ VCH Derbyshire 1, ed. Page, 350, incorrectly attributes 3 carucates to the Domesday estate of Belidene. Dr R. F. Hunnisett and Margaret Condon of the Public Record Office have kindly confirmed that the reading of the manuscript (277r) is iiij car' (as printed in 1783).

⁶¹ Burton Charters, ed. Sawyer, nos. 17, 23, 26, 27 and 32. These texts had, however, been known previously from the versions in the Burton cartulary, Peniarth 390.