Carre, of Sleaford, substituted wild fowl for salt in payment of his Tetney rent-the salt flowers being then decayed.* This decay, I suppose, would be brought about chiefly by the gradual retirement of the sea, and the tides not reaching their former level. On October 5th, 1571, the sea inundated the whole of our east coasts from Boston to Grimsby, Tetney being specially mentioned. The destruction of shipping was terrible, "with all the salt coates, where the chief and finest salt was made, were utterly destroyed to the utter undoing of many a man, and great lamentation both of old and young."+

Danish Settlers.

A word now as to the two Danish settlers-Turgisle and Swen. Commencing with the reign of King Alfred, there was a considerable and increasing Danish settlement in Lincolnshire. This was augmented in the year 1013, when large numbers came over with Cnut, who became King of England. According to Turner, there were at the time of which we are speaking 11,322 Danes settled in the county of Lincoln-more than half the whole number then in the country. We have no evidence to show when Turgisle and Swen became settlers and proprietors in Tetney, or how they acquired their lands. Most probably it would be by violence-taking the land in some raid and settling upon it; but, however that may be, they had lost their ownership before 1086, and the most probable surmise is that they did so in consequence of taking part in the Danish insurrection in favour of Swein, who in 1068 made a last effort to regain the Crown of England, and was utterly repulsed. Twelve families of these settlers were allowed to remain, in all about 60 persons, mentioned as sokemen, who doubtless in the

*Linc. Date Book, p. 144.

+ Floods in England, p. 37. Anglo-Saxons, vol. iii., p. 251.

lapse of time mingled with and became identified with the Saxon population.

Ivo Tallibois and Lucy, his wife.

Of Ivo Tallibois, a nephew of the Conqueror, we have more information. He was chief of the Angevin auxiliaries of William's army of adventurers, and, in addition to the vast estates originally bestowed upon him in compensation for his services, he received in A.D. 1072 the hand of Lucy, a great Saxon heiress, and with her vast additional possessions, among them being the manor or parish of Tetney. Few good things are reported of Ivo, and many evil ones. He settled at Spalding, built himself a great mansion there, and became a power in the realm. For some reason or other he joined with Odo, the powerful half brother of the Conqueror, in rebellion against William Rufus, in 1089.* For this he was outlawed and banished the kingdom. After a few years' exile he was allowed to return, which he did, greatly elated, to his wife, the Lady Lucy, who at the time was holding her court at Spalding. Here he afterwards died of an attack of paralysis, and was buried in the Priory of Spalding, with some little sorrow perhaps on Lucy's part, but amid the loudly-expressed exultations of all the neighbours. Ingulph places his death in the year 1114.

The Lady Lucy was of illustrious Saxon descent. Through her grandparents Leofric, the great Earl of Mercia, and his wife Godiva (the famous Lady Godiva of Coventry), she traced her descent from Leofric, Earl of Leicester, or perhaps Chester, in the time of King Ethelbald, A.D. 716–756. Her grandfather Leofric, Earl of Mercia, was a person of singular piety and liberality. He married Godiva, a most beautiful and devout lady, sister to Thorold of Bugenhall, who was also descended from an illustrious family. Algar,

the eldest son of Leofric, succeeded to the earldom in 1057, and held it for only two years. He left two sons and two daughters, viz. :—

Eadwine, who succeeded his father in 1059, and was slain in a skirmish in 1071.

Morkere, who became Earl of Northumberland, and was finally dispossessed of his lands, &c., in 1071, for rebellion against the Conqueror.

Algitha, who became the wife of Harold, King of England, and

Lucy, who became sole heir to her brothers, and inherited

the immense possessions of the Houses of Leofric and Thorold.*

In those days it rested with the king to dispose of the hand of unmarried heiresses. Lucy was said to be beautiful: she was certainly rich, and in disposing of such a matrimonial prize the royal favour was usually bestowed on the highest bidder. In this way Lucy became the wife of Ivo Tallibois in 1072, and, among other possessions, brought him the manor of Tetney.

Of Lucy's other marriages and descendants we shall speak further on.

Tenure of land.

When a baron became possessed of a manor he rewarded his followers and dependents by making them grants of portions of the land. These grants were not absolute, but conditional. His principal followers were provided with lands on which they could settle their dependents, on condition that they should assist him in his wars with a certain number of armed men. The poorer

dependents were settled on lands which he retained in his own possession. In thus planting his followers the lord usually made three classes, viz., villeins, borderers, and servi. * Birch's Domesday, p. 92.

To the first of these he usually assigned to each a virgate, that is, 30 acres of land, with the necessary outfit. This outfit consisted of two oxen, one cow, and six sheep, also tools for his work, utensils for his house or cottage. To the border was assigned a cottage with or without land, but scarcely ever more than five acres. There were none of the inferior class or servi (slaves) in Tetney. At the death of the villein or border his land and all his outfit reverted to the lord, and was usually handed over to his successor, who in this district was customarily his eldest son. The great majority of these were employed on the land, but among them were the blacksmith, the carpenter, the cowherd, the shepherd, and those employed at the salt-works; who had their separate occupations, and were necessary to complete the village community.

The number of inhabitants in A.D. 1086.

There are enumerated 25 villeins

7 borders

12 sokemen

These are understood to be householders.

44.

Allow 5 to each family, then 44 x 5 220, the number of the inhabitants.

The reader must bear in mind that the parish then was not a quarter of its present size, only containing 1,100 acres, as against 5,030 now. The population, therefore, must not be regarded as small.

CHAPTER VI.

THE CHURCH.

WE have no certain information as to how or when the light of Christian teaching first shone upon this parish. The Saxon invaders were certainly heathens; but whether some of the Britons, who had become Christians, remained among them and became their instructors, or whether some devoted missionary settled among them and gathered them into the fold, must remain doubtful. There is good reason to believe that the people were firmly established in the faith before the close of the eighth century, and that a small stone Church had been built on the site of the present one, and whose foundations remain and are enclosed within the existing fabric. This Church was almost certainly burnt down by the Danish invaders in the year 870 (see page 8). It would probably be repaired afterwards, and used until the time of the Conquest, when it gave place to a larger and more dignified Norman Church. In the remains of that structure, incorporated in the north and south walls of the present building, we find numerous burnt stones. From many of them the red, burnt appearance has nearly crumbled away; on others it is more evident. And as these stones are built promiscuously in the Norman masonry it is evident they must have been at hand in an earlier Church, which was burnt down; and from what we know of the Danes who landed at Humberston in 870, and their devastating march to Bardney, and thence to the South, it seems most reasonable to suppose that the first Church was