Page:English Historical Review Volume 35.djvu/98

90 THE STAFF OF A CASTLE IN January The Staff of a Castle in the Twelfth Century Mr. Lapsley's paper on ' Some Castle Officers in the Twelfth Century ' ^ deals with one of those subjects on which the publica- tion of the early pipe rolls hfis added greatly to our information. It is, perhaps, unfortvmate that he has taken as the text of his discourse two documents of later date, viz. a list of the garrison and officers of Harlech Castle in 12 Edw. I, compared with a grant of Beaumaris in 5 Ric. II ; for these refer to castles of a later character and to a time when the duties of a castle garrison and the scale of its pay had already undergone some changes. But he justly observes that The 'personnel of a royal castle fell into two groups, the first chiefly military, the second chiefly ministerial in character. The first group consisted of a certain number of knights and a certain number of Serjeants, men-at-arms less expensively or elaborately equipped (p. 348). Of this group Mr. Lapsley treats briefly, and I need only observe that it is hardly accurate to say that The duty of ward at a given castle was imposed upon one or more of the surrounding baronies, but that only meant that the caput of the barony adjoined the castle ; its members might be scattered over many counties, and its tenants might have to make long journeys in the discharge of their service. The tenure was either by knight-service or serjeanty. For such a barony might not be situate near the castle, nor need even its caput be so.^ Mr. Lapsley then says that — The second group of the castle staff comprised clerks of the works, porters, watchmen. . . . The functionaries to whom I would call particular atten- tion are the clerk, janitor, and watchmen (p. 349). It is, therefore, with these three ' officers ' that I propose to deal, taking them in the same order. I pass over a good deal of Mr. Lapsley's evidence, for it is irrelevant to our subject ; for instance, no light is thrown on the permanent staff of a castle and its pay by the following statement : We find capellani or clerks accounting at the exchequer for the issues {sic) of a castle or an honour. . . . William dericus accounts for the issues and debts of the honour of the constable. Two years later Robert dericus accounts for the abbey of Thorney. Then in the twenty-first year there ' Ante, xzxiii. 34&-59. ' e. g. among the baronies which owed castle- ward to Dover (as to which the evidence is exceptionally complete) was that of Arsic, which had its caput at Coggs (in Oxford- shire) and for which the return is accordingly found under Oxfordshire in the returns of 1 166, and the payment, similarly, on the pipe rolls. So also the important Bedford- shire barony of ' Wahull ' owed castle-guard to Rockingham, though it is found, in returns, under Bedfordshire, where was its caput, Odell (' Wahull ').