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

194 THE SAXON LAND CHARTERS OF WILTSHIRE. I ~J\
A6. Thonne bi eastan Cester Slaed 1 Byrg xxx gerda :
6 Then thirty rods east of Chester Slade Camp.'
B9. Thonne of, etc. upp on Dune thrittig gyrda be eastan
Ceaster Blaedbyrig on tha Byrigenne : ' Then from Sigewine's
Dyke up on the Down thirty rods east of Chester Camp
where the Flowers grow to the Burialplace.' 2
The camp is of course Chiselbury Camp (OMi). The
burialplaces were probably at the SE. corner of the parish,
1 fur. ESE. of the camp.
A7. Swae up to Here Pathe : 4 So up to the Highway.'
Bio. O/, etc. on thane Hearpath : 4 From the Burialplace
to the Highway.'
The highway is the great ridgeway which runs all along
the S. boundaries of Fovant and Sutton Mandeville. 3
A8. Thaet swa uest on Here Pathe anlang Hrygges :
' Then so west on the Highway along the Ridge.'
Bn. Thonne andlang Herepathes : 6 Then along the
Highway.'
1 1 prefer the reading Blaed of B9 to
Slaed of A6. The latter is, topographically
speaking, an unlikely name in such a locality.
A similar name to Blaedbyrig is Bleobyrig in
Berks., the modern Blewbury, which is
probably named from the wildflowers
growing in the camp. Cf. Chesterblade,
Somerset, near Crewkerne.
2 The very precise measurement of 30 rods
given here throws some light on the exact
meaning of the AS. gyrd. Measured with
as much accuracy as is possible on OM6 the
distance from the nearest point of the
boundary to the edge of the vallum of the
camp is exactly 200 yds. This would give
6\ yds. to the gyrd. Of course the measurement
given by the AS. surveyor may only
have been an eye estimate. My own
impression—an impression which may well
have been formed and published by others—
is that the gyrd was an approximate forerunner
of our exact measurement, the rod,
pole, or perch, of yds. and that it was
arrived at in the following way. The AS.
aecer was a strip of ploughland of no exact
measurement, but always tending to the
length of a furlong "and the breadth of a
chain of 22 yds. This breadth was ploughed
in two ridges for drainage purposes; so
each ridge would be 11 yds. in breadth,
and the distance from the summit of the
ridge to the furrow on either side of the
ridge would be 5J yds. This was the
origin of what was no doubt the customary,
but not exact, measurement known as the
gyrd.
In the charters which I know, and the
topography of which I have solved completely
or partially, a measurement in gyrds
occurs in two other instances. In the
charter B.675 of Watchfield, Berks., one
landmark reads, ' Thonne and lang Herpathes
seofan and fiftig gyrda,' ' then for 57 rods
along the Highway.' The ' highway ' here
was coincident with the modern high road
to Faringdon, which the Watchfield by.
follows for a short distance. But when that
distance is measured, it gives a gyrd of
yds. My impression is that there were
two gyrds in AS. times, a long and a short;
and that the long one has eventuated into
our exact measurement, the rod, and the
short one into our yard. There was
undoubtedly a gyrd of about yds. ; and,
as to the existence of a short one, the AS.
word gyrd has given us our word 4 yard.'
The other case of a statement of measurement
in the charters is the charter of
Appleton, Berks., B.777. In it is a landmark
described as follows: ' Thonne on west
healfe thaes Heafod Landes vi gyrda be
zees tan 7" t tinges HlaweJ ' then to the west
side of the headland (of the ploughland)
6 rods west of Ytting's Low.' Unfortunately
this tumulus has vanished.
3 For description of this road see Arch.
Journ. vol. lxxv, 1918, 'Ancient Highways
of Wilts.' road 57, p. 106.