carucates, or about 480 acres; there were further 60 acres of meadow, and, what no longer exists, 300 acres of underwood; which was a very large proportion, considering that in Scrivelsby, now a well wooded estate, closely adjoining, there were at that time only six acres of underwood.
Sir Lionel Dymoke, a scion of the Scrivelsby family, once resided in this parish. His will, dated 15th April, 1512, is a good specimen of the orthography of the period. The following are portions of it: "I leon Dymoke of maryng of the hill in the Countie of lincolne knyght being of good and hoole mynde make and ordigne my testament and Last will in forme following | First I bequeathe my soule to almyghty god and to the blessid virgine his mother seint Mary and to all the holy Company of heven | And forasmoch as no man is certeine of the houre of dethe nor what place he shall die in and nothyng so certeine as dethe | and for as moch as I by the kyngℓ pleasure shall goo in hys warrys in the parties by yonde the see | Therefore my body to be buryed where it shall please almyghty god | Also that I will that my Executours for the helth of my soule in as hasty tyme as they may after my deceas paye or do to be paid all and singler my detts ... Also I bequethe and gyve to the Church warke of Maryng of al halowes vjs viijd and to the highe aulter there for tythes and oblacions forgoten xxd and to seint Jamys gild of maryng xxd ... Also I gyve and bequethe to the Convent of the black Freris of Boston for a trentall[1] to be song for me and all Christen Soules xs," &c., &c. On 17th August, 1519 (when he was apparently on his death bed), witnesses certify that he added a codicil to be annexed, "saying these words in his mother tongue. I will that Sr John Heron knyght have my landes in nethertynton whether I lyve or dye ... and if my wif or myne executōs thynk there be any thyng expressed in my wille oute of goode ordre I will it be reformed by Anne my wif as she and they thynke most pleasure to god profytt for my soule."[2]
As to the owners of the demesne nothing further is told us; but since in Testa de Nevill, already quoted, it is stated that "the churches of Horncastre, Askeby, Upper Thinton, Maringes, &c., are of the gift of the Lord." Gerard de Rhodes was, doubtless, at one time, the common Lord of all those manors, as well as his descendant Ralph de Rhodes. Mr. Weir states that the manor at a later period belonged to Edward Marsh, Esquire, of Hundle House, in the county of Lincoln; by a descendant of whom it was sold to William Hudson, Esquire, of Gray's Inn. In 1659 it was sold to one Duncombe, of whom it was purchased in 1688 by Sir Edmund Turnor, of Stoke Rochford, Knight; in whose family it still continues. Other proprietors are Richard Ward, Esq., and Dr. Parkinson.
In Domesday Book there is mention of "a church and priest," the latter, therefore, being doubtless resident in the parish; although for many years there has been no residence for an incumbent. In 1830 the benefice was held, with High Toynton, by the Rev. E. R. H. G. Palmer, a relative of Viscount Halifax, who resided in Horncastle; in 1863 by the Rev. Isaac Hall, who did the same; and it was not till 1869 that a residence was erected at High Toynton for the united benefices.
- ↑ A "trentall" was thirty masses for the dead to be celebrated on thirty several days.
- ↑ Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol iv, pp. 12-13.
There was a third still lower class of dependents, not here mentioned, named villeins, who performed the meanest labours; these were attached either to the land, or to the person of the owner, and could be transferred from one to another owner, like goods or chattels. Such a position of serfdom is unknown to the agricultural labourer of modern times; and their name, as having belonged to the lowest grade of society, now only survives as a synonym for a dishonest person, a scoundrel or villain.
