CHALGRAVE AND THIODWEG.

The road called ‘ thiodweg ’ or the Highway, in the Chaigrave charter of A.D. 926, translated on pp. 42, 43 above, has long interested me. There is considerable reason to believe that it once led directly to the ford which was the scene of the peace-negotiations between King Edward ‘ the Elder,’ and the Danish King Guthrum-Eohricsson, after the collapse of the revolt in favour of the ‘ ætheling ’ Æthelwald. The date of this event, which on grounds wholly unknown to me is assigned to the year 903 by a writer in the V.C.H. Beds, (iii, 401), is given in the A. S. Chron. as 906. The name is there written ‘ Yttingaford,’ and has long remained unidentified; but it is found to occur again as ‘ Yttinga ford ’ in a charter of 966, among the metæ or boundary-marks of an estate of ten hides called Hlincgelad; this, as I hope to show, is unlikely to be any other place than Linslade near Leighton Buzzard; and the ford therefore leads from Buckinghamshire to Bedfordshire.

The coincidence of the ford-names has already been noticed by Mr. F. M. Stenton, and Hlincgelad rightly identified with Linslade. But the ford itself was obviously not found; it is placed much too far north and too near Leighton Buzzard. As little or nothing beyond the bare statement of identity is given, unaccompanied by any attempt at proof, it may not be altogether unfair to conclude that it rests upon simple recognition of the name in the charter. If so, it is no more conclusive in itself than the old guess of Hitchin(ford), which was long followed by historical writers; further reference will be made to it below. I may anticipate matters here by remarking that I think that I have found both the ford and its ancient name still in existence.

It will be necessary first to identify the road (‘ thiodweg ’ = theodweg, the people’s road or highway), and to show its course. For this purpose and for others, it may be found not wholly unprofitable to trace the ancient boundary-marks of the two vills in some detail,—perhaps tiresome detail.

Introduction: The “So-Called Slap Tongue Technique” and Flutter Tongue

Sigurd Raschèr (1907–2001), a pioneer of the saxophone’s upper register, cultivated fundamentally new approaches to articulation on the instrument throughout his career. As early as 1936, one critic recognized Raschèr’s innovative efforts, singling out the saxophonist’s use of the “s. k. slap-tongue-tekniken” (so-called slap tongue technique) after hearing him in concert. Produced by creating suction with the tongue against the reed, this percussive articulation initially gained great popularity during the vaudeville era from artists such as Rudy Wiedoeft (1893–1940). Complementing his slap tongue technique, Raschèr also sought to incorporate flutter tongue, a buzzing sound typically produced by rolling the tongue while blowing into the saxophone. Yet unlike his predecessors, Raschèr pursued a different aesthetic with these articulations, and it was this new perspective that offered composers unprecedented artistic avenues to explore with the saxophone.

In a 1938 typescript, Raschèr provided some insight into his approach regarding articulation:

Imprisonment in the Tower must have proved very irksome to the high-spirited knight, and as early as October 1645 we find the House considering “The humble Petition of Sir Lewis Dyve, Knight, desiring more Liberty, and some competent Allowance out of his sequestered Estate the Petition was read on 17th “and nothing done upon it.” Five months later, however, the House modified its attitude and on 27 March 1646 resolved “That Sir Lewes Dive, a Prisoner in the Tower, shall have allowed unto him out of his own Estate in Bedfordshire for the Maintenance of himself and Children Four Pounds per Week; And that the Committee of Bedfordshire do pay him out of his own Estate the said Four Pounds per Week accordingly.” It will be noted that this resolution does not mention Sir Lewis’ wife. The explanation of this is that she was dead; she had been buried at Bromham on 24th of the preceding month. On the subject of her death the royalist paper ‘Mercurius Academicus’ was very touching :—

Introduction

The seven volumes of the diary of John Pedley, the Great Barford farmer, cover the whole period 1773-95 apart from 1780-82, for which the volume is missing. Those who spend most of their lives in the open air and depend for their living on the soil and on the round of the seasons are seldom introverts. Pedley, with his countless entries about poor health, was an exceptional farmer in this respect. His monotonous reiteration of minor ailments, often little more than normal fatigue, give the impression of his having suffered from self-centred melancholia of a mild character. Nine entries out of every ten are petty comments on the state of his health, with its barometric downs and ups, and his corresponding prayers and thanks to the Almighty. Thrice he confessed to drinking too much; on each occasion he was with his fellows on public business, so there was some excuse. Once it led to a fall from his horse. A single reference to gout suggests that he was moderately fond of the bottle. Only entries relating to genuine sickness have been extracted. Except for a short illness in January 1776, he does not seem to have been seriously ill until April 1794, soon after which his diary ends, and he was buried on 14 October 1795 at Great Barford aged 64.

Despite the paucity of informative entries, John Pedley is there; family man, farmer, busy with his crops and his journeys to fairs as well as with parish business; anglican, but not averse to worshipping with nonconformists in the new meeting-house at Bedford (now the Howard Congregational Church), at Cotton End, Cardington, or at Blunham (having been to his parish church in the morning).

Where the Bedfordshire Pedleys came from, where John was born and married, are not evident from a brief search. There were Pedleys a generation earlier in the adjoining parish of Roxton. His father (William Pedley, farmer) who was buried at Great Barford in 1753, seems shortly before this to have bought some parts of the lands of Creakers manor (the estate

was already fragmentised).

• 1. The ‘Notitia’ of William Wake (Bishop of Lincoln 1705-16), in Christ Church Library, Oxford, is too early for much information about Rogers’ incumbencies. It does, however, give about the parishes to which he afterwards ministered some details additional to those found in the later ‘Speculum’ of Bishop Gibson.

• Of Stagsden, Wake says that “it is a very scatter’d parish lying in 5 endships, every one near a mile asunder. There is no school but of small children, kept by one Thomas Smith, a Dissenter; no lecture, almshouse.or hospital. No person of quality or gentleman of estate lives here. No Papists nor reputed Papists have any concern in this parish.” He also says that “the vicarage tithes will not pay for a due collection.” At his 1712 visitation he enters under Stagsden that there is “divine service once every Lord’s Day,” and of communion he notes that “but 4 received at Easter last.” Of Dissenters he says that “they assemble once in a month or six weeks, 50 or 60 at a time.” (Wake MS. 324, p. 190.)

• Of Carlton cum Chellington he notes that there is “no lecture, school, almeshouse nor hospital in either parish. No person of quality or gentleman of estate lives or has a seat in either.” At the 1706 visitation he found “one poor family” reputed Papists, and in 1709 he enters “two reputed Papists.” Of the Dissenters in 1709 he says that their teacher is Robert Church, lacemaker, and they meet “every Sunday twice, near 200 in number.” At the same visitation he reports of communicants that “many seldom or never receive at all”; and in 1712 he gives 20 communicants for Carlton, 12 for Chellington. (Wake MS. 324, p. 180.)

• 2. The ‘Speculum Dioceseos Lincolniensis,’ compiled by Edmund Gibson (Bishop of Lincoln 1716-23), and preserved among the diocesan records, covers the end of Rogers’ incumbency at Stagsden and the beginning of that at Carlton. It is unfortunate that the Stagsden entries are not very clearly arranged, nor are they always clear in themselves. Rogers’ predecessor at Stagsden had also held Stevington; and apparently the Bishop’s volume had been prepared to receive one set of entries for the two parishes. The entries extracted and translated below are those which appear to relate to Stagsden; those relating only to Stevington being omitted.

Introduction

Souldrop and Knotting, two small villages on either side of the Bedford to Rushden road, lie in the pleasant, hilly country to the north of Sharnbrook. The livings were consolidated in 1735, and in 1856, when the diary begins, the greater part of the land belonged to the Duke of Bedford, though by the end of the century it had passed through the hands of the Magniac family of Colworth House to be split up between several owners. Most of the villagers worked on the farms, though some at Souldrop were employed on the railway which ran through the parish. The population of the two parishes has never been large. From 293 in 1801 it rose to 461 in 1861, and then declined steadily to under 280 by the end of the century.

The two books in which this diary is written are kept with the parish records of Souldrop, according to the directions of the Rev. George Digby Newbolt, who began the first volume when he was presented to the combined living of Knotting-cum- Souldrop in 1856. It is by the kind permission of the present incumbent, the Rev. H. L. Clothier, that part is published here. The first volume runs from 1856 to 1885 ; the second from 1886 to 1930, for after Newbolt’s resignation in 1895 it was continued by his successor, but the extracts which follow cover Newbolt’s incumbency only.

The Rev. George Digby Newbolt came from a well-known clerical family. His father had been Vicar of Somerton, and his youngest brother, the Rev. W. C. E. Newbolt, became Canon and Chancellor of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and was a leader of the High Church movement. Among his many relations who were benefactors of the two churches was Mary Ann Dyson, an author and friend of the novelist, Charlotte M. Yonge of Hursley. The Rev. John Keble himself subscribed £3 towards the rebuilding of Souldrop chancel. The whole diary could be read as a commentary on Miss Yonge’s novels : the building and furnishing of new churches in a suitable Gothic style; the floral decorations at the greater festivals; the revival of the Harvest Festival as a religious feast and the reform of the old Harvest Home; the strict observance of the seasons of the Church’s year; regular daily services; and above all the new emphasis on the sacraments.