Chronicles of Theberton, a Suffolk village

Henry Montagu Doughty, Walter W. (Walter William) Skeat

Informations

• Publié par: les_archives_du_savoir
• Nombre de lectures: 13
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

*^
LIBRARYTHE
OF
THEUNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOSANGELESyVoiv Ready. Extra croivn 8vo, 7s. 6d. net.
CHRONICLES
OF THEBERTON
A SUFFOLK VILLAGE
BY
HENRY MONTAGU DOUGHTY
" "Author Frieslatid Meres, ^'c.of
With an Introduction and Notes by
The Rev. W. W. SKEAT, Litt.D., &c.
Professor ofAnglo-Saxon in the University Cambridge.of
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
1910TN this book we have the history of a Suffolk parish written
by one who knows its traditions and loves its soil. Com-
mencing with the Norman Conquest, when its serfs were still
sold like its cattle and when it was called by a corruption of the
older Saxon name, Thewardetuna, we are led carefully down, step
by step, to the recent date of 1850. The parish has changed very
little, and that slowly, since the days it was mentioned in the
Paston Letters. The old tower which was standing in 1066 is
still part of the Church, and on its outskirts a portion of another
venerable building (and both of these are included in the illustra-
tions of this book), the Abbey of Leiston, exists also. Of this Abbey
we are told much here, for, until the Dissolution, it possessed
advowson of Theberton which adjoined it, having acquired itthe
from Margaret Countess of Norfolk, and it occasionallyin 1373
its rights vi et armis. The author puts the whole life ofupheld
in different centuries before us, giving details ofthe parish the us
incumbents and their difficulties during the Tudorthe Church, the
Stuart times, the parish government, the folklore, and even theand
much to say of the land owners, and the residents,inns. He has
whom in remembrance of his happy youth at Thebertonone of
the name of the parish to a suburb of Adelaide in Southcarried
He gives moreover extracts from the registers (whichAustralia.
' from showing the names of the parishioners, anddate 1 548)
by the prices and valuations which he quotes the gradualindicates
I
of luxury and comfort. When records of the parish haveprogress
wanting the writer has, from his local knowledge, beenbeen
enabled to fill up the lacuncBhy illustrations from the history of the
adjoining parishes, and this book, originally intended as the history
of a small Suffolk community, will be found tobe of special interest
wishnot only to East Anglians, but to all, far and wide, who to
on parishknow how their forefathers have fared and carried life
from the time of the Norman Invasion."
EXTRACT FROM INTRODUCTION
By the Rev. PROFESSOR SKEAT
The law of progress has always involved great and important
changes. Many of these, especially as regards the pronunciation
of our language and the history of our spelling, have been so slight
and imperceptible at the time as to have usually escaped much
observation but constant flux and
; steady movement produce
important differences at last. One difficulty of watching events
consists in the perpetualchange of time and place and it is for this;
reason that it is a partial gain—because it affords us a steadier
view to eliminate one of these elements— by making the place
invariable. This is why it is often of much assistance to peruse
single parish, such as that ofthe annals of a Theberton, in order to
understand how it is fully subject to the general law, changing from
day to day for the most part imperceptibly, yet not unfrequently
even violently affected by the shocks of great events. It is extremely
followinginteresting to note, in the pages, several instances in
which even quiet parish has passed through its trials.a See, for
example, the remark at 8, that "from that act of a pope, whop.
!seven centuries ago, our rectors have still to "died suffer The
"first prosecution of a poacher" goes back to In1299 (p. 10).
1 there was deadly pest amongst131 "a the animals, such as had
never been in memory of man"' 11). And it was ascribed(p.
to the appearance in the sky of an exceptionally beautiful exhi-
bition of the aurora borealis. Much interest attaches to the prices
and 1288ofwheat and bullocks in 1281 (p. 22). A pheasant cost
as much as a goose. In 1348-9 came the terrible Black Death,
" "when upon thegroundharvests rotted (p. 24). Few of us realise,
even in a slight degree, themany comforts of life which we moderns
enjoy. peasant may now protect his windows withEven the glass
;
but the medieval noble, who knew but little privacy, often had to
hall, protected only by a clumsy hood, or not all,dine in at from
the horrible draughts pouring through apertures in the cold stone
" How women got on without pins is hardwall. to imagine
There is a strange story about the arrest of the rector of(p. 30).Theberton in his own church, whilst he was celebrating divine
service, on Ascension Day, In we have the(p. 55). 1528,1445
"trials of two wise women," who pretended to effect cures (p. 63) ;
and somewhat later, of a wizard who practised divination helpby
of a sieve and a pair of shears In the new hand-(p. 65). 1514,
guns were challenging the use of the bow but the parliament
;
decided in favour of the latter (p. 69).
few specimens the multifarious kinds of inform-These are a of
ation to be here found all within the first 70 pages. It would be
;
multiply them largely ; but I hope enough has been saideasy to
to recommend to the reader a careful perusal of the whole volume.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Old Round Tower, Theberton Church.
Church of St. Mary de Insula.
Survivor of the Old Deer Park.A
Framlingham Castle.
'The Font, Theberton Church.
Leiston Abbey in 1781.
The Church Farm.
"The Stone to sitt upon."
George Doughty Esquire.
Norman Door, Theberton Church.
Theberton Hall.
MAPS.
Tylers Green.
Winters Heath.
The Commons of Theberton in 1824.
London: MACMILLAN AND CO, Ltd.
-riKi:Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2007 with funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/chroniclesofthebOOdougialaCHRONICLES OF THEBERTON