he had to do so; but he probably thought it would be waste of time. In view of Mr. Rye's fresh treatise and his attempt to defend its accuracy, it is desirable to show, for once and all, the true character of the 'legend'.[1] A few salient flaws will be sufficient for the purpose. Hubert, Eudo's father, is there said to have secured the crown for the Norman duke by going on an embassy to Edward 'in wonderful state', and to have been rewarded by the king with a grant of Ashe (Essce) in Hampshire.[2] As to this embassy, Mr. Rye admits[3] that 'there is no direct evidence for or against the statement': in other words, there is no corroboration of this notable story. He makes, however, the utmost of Edward's alleged grant of Ash (Hampshire) to Hubert.[4] We first read that, because Freeman admits 'the massacre of the Normans at Guildford' in 1036 (mentioned in the 'Chronicle'), '… the fact that Ash is close to Guildford, the place of the massacre, is suggestive'.[5] A foot-note to this statement explains that—
Ash is five miles N.E. by E. from Farnham (now [sic] said to be in the Hundred of Woking in Surrey and on the Basingstoke canal). It is only about six miles from Guildford, &c., &c.
In sober fact Ash, even 'as the crow flies', is no less than eighteen miles (at least) westward (not 'N.E. by E.') from Farnham, and fully twenty-seven from Guildford. Even if it were 'close to Guildford ', which it is not, that 'fact' could suggest nothing to any one but Mr. Rye.[6]
Immediately, however, before asserting that 'Ash is close to Guildford', he denounces a 'terrible error of Freeman', namely that he 'at first denied the gift to Hubert of Ash, but he had overlooked the fact that in Domesday, under Hants [sic], is this entry, "In Ovretune Eudo the son of Hubert holds Esse of the King"'. After two more sentences, Mr. Rye continues:
Freeman, however, seems later to have found out his own mistake, for in vol. iii, p. 694 [misindexed p. 683], he sets out the history of the gift of Ash by the Confessor, and the visit of Hubert de Rye to England, and quotes in Domesday just set out [sic], adding…
Yet even this is not all; there is another blunder to come. Incredible though it may seem, Mr. Rye, when charging Freeman
- ↑ It is twice so styled by Freeman in his William Rufus (ii. 463).
- ↑ See Norm. Conq. iii. 694 ; William Rufus, ii. 463.
- ↑ p. 40 b.
- ↑ pp. 38 a, 40 b bis, and note, 43 b, 44 b, 51 a.
- ↑ p. 40 b.
- ↑ Mr. Rye's point is that his 'Chronicle' says that at a meeting of the nobles in Normandy, no one but Hubert was willing to go to England, on a mission to Edward, because of the murder of Normans at Guildford in 1036. But the fact that this tragedy (in 1036) is admitted by Freeman and every one obviously does not prove the truth of the alleged assembly at some later time or afford any support to the tale of Hubert's embassy. Nor could the actual position of Ash or even its alleged closeness to Guildford have any bearing on the subject.
