It must be understood by all those who read these charters that this ...

THE SAXON LAND CHARTERS OF WILTSHIRE. I ~J\
9. Eft on ther Merhawen : ' Again to the Boundary
(Hedges ?),'
10. Eft 1 on Swinesheved : 'Again to the Headland of
the Swine.'
In the Dauntsey charter (B.457) there is mention of a
Swines Wyll, ' Swine's Spring,' which must have been on
this by. about 3 fur. SSE. of Dauntsey Lock (OMi), on
a steep rise of ground. Here the headland was probably
situated.
Landmarks 7-9 must have been between this point
and the Bourne. Their nature is such that the distinction
of their individual sites is not possible.
11. On the Grete Mapildore : ' To the Great Mapletree.'
12. Thanen on tha Olde Oden Missene : ' Then to the
Old (Threshing Floor ?) . . . .'
13. Endland this Clives on then Hen Ayssh on Hoddiselive
: ' Along the Steep Slope to the (High ?) Ashtree
(on ?) Hod's Steep Slope.'
It is uncertain whether the last two words of this landmark
are a separate landmark implying that the survey
goes on from the ash to Hod's Cliff. It is on the whole
certain that the first clif is the slope on the by. NW. of
Bradenstoke (OMi), the other end of which is called the
Stan Clif in the Dauntsey charter (B.457) ; and it is probable
that the ashtree stood at the sharp bend in the by. 3 fur.
WNW. of Bradenstoke Abbey (OMi), and that Hoddisclif
was the slope just N. of Melsome Wood (OMi).
Probably, too, either the mapletree of 11 or the Missene
of 12 stood at the angle of the by. 1 fur. NW. of Bradenstoke
village (OMi).
14. Foryerd hi Wyrtwalen on Sandriddriate : ' On by
the Tree-roots 2 to (Sandridge ?) Gate.'
The by. now passes along the E. edge of Melsome Wood,
which as the next landmark suggests, is on the site of a
1 The composer of this survey uses eft
in a sense in which the surveyors of AS.
times do not use it. With them it signifies
the return of the survey to the point from
which it began. Whether in the present
case the practice has been copied owing to
the composer of the survey having misinterpreted
its use, or whether the word came
to have a different meaning in ME. times,
I cannot say.
2 As far as my experience goes, Wyrtwala
in the charters generally means the foot of
a slope. But here it seems to have what was
no doubt its original meaning. The by.
is passing along the top of a hill, along the
edge of what is now Melsome Wood (OMi).