notes to the extracts than was accorded in the first volume. An endeavour has, however, been made to restrict these notes to what was absolutely necessary to the work.

As in the previous volume of this work, the translations have had the advantage of the supervision of the Rev. Canon RAINE, D.C.L., and the selection and transcription of the matter and general editing has been done by Mr. W. H. STEVENSON, by whom the notes and glossaries, index, &c., have also been supplied.

In conclusion, the Town Council have only to reiterate the hope expressed in the former volume, that this work may meet with such a reception as will warrant its continuance and completion.

SAM. GEO. JOHNSON,

MUNICIPAL OFFICES,

November 20, 1883.

Town Clerk.

INTRODUCTION.

1. Introductory, p. ix. 2. Documents in English, p. x. 3. Sources: Records of the Borough Court, p. xi. 4. Sources: Papers of William Gregory and William Greaves, p. xiii. 5. Sources: Mayoralty Rolls, Mayoralty Books, Hall Books, p. xiii. 6. Sources: Mickletorn Jury Rolls, p. xiv. 7. Sources: Sessions Rolls, p. xv. 8. Sources: Chamberlains' Accounts, p. xv. 9. Sources: Bridge-Wardens' Accounts, p. xvi. 10. Description of the Plates, p. xvi.

1. The Nottingham Borough Records of the period covered by this volume-a period representing the duration of the rule of the Houses of Lancaster and York-have yielded matter of considerable importance, bearing as well upon local as upon the national history. The historical evidence relating to the period of the struggle of the rival houses for the Crown is so meagre that every shred of authentic matter regarding the events of these direful years is invested with a value it would hardly possess at any other crisis of our national history. Therefore the depositions printed at page 368 of this volume, relating to the passage of Lancastrian Lords through the town in October, 1459, when Henry VI. was gathering his forces against the leaders of the Yorkist party, are of peculiar interest, as showing the excited feeling prevalent in the town at, perhaps, the most critical period in the transactions that preceded open warfare between the two parties. The loyalty of the Earl of Salisbury was at all events believed in by Robert Sherwood; indeed, it is questionable whether York and the Nevilles at this time fully foresaw to what extremes they would be impelled by the policy of the Queen's party. A few years later we have, at page 377 sqq., notices of presents to Edward IV. and his most trusted adherents (including the great Earl of Warwick), who hurried north to repel Queen Margaret's incursion, only to find that the raid had been

effectually suppressed by Montague. We have there notices of the passage through the town of most of these Lords on their return from the North, and of payments for clothing soldiers of the town who rode from Nottingham to the King at York. These soldiers we learn were clothed in red jackets with white letters sewn upon them. There are several records of the visit of Richard of Gloucester to the town, no doubt during his numerous sojourns at his favourite residence, the Castle. Other records of minor importance are the trial by battle fought at Nottingham between two burgesses of Bordeaux in the presence of King Henry IV. and his sons (including, no doubt, the subsequent victor of Agincourt and the noble John of Bedford), and of Henry's illustrious captive and scholar, the Poet King of Scotland, James I. This duel was fought to decide a cause that it was held should be referred to the judgment of God, in other words, to trial by battle. Again, we have the notices of rioting in the town in 1471, occasioned by the partizans of the triumphant House of York shortly after the decisive battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. To the constitutional historian the tribulation caused to the rulers of the town by the gigantic abuses, against which so many successive Statutes of Liveries and Maintenance were aimed, will be of interest; whilst the numerous presentments at the Sessions of persons for playing at games of chance, which the lawgivers in vain attempted to suppress in favour of the national pastime of archery, will not be wholly valueless. Evidence is also forthcoming of the great antiquity of bellfounding at Nottingham, a foundry so well known to the students of bells for its great importance. Finally, the numerous inventories of household and other goods, which assist us so materially in forming an idea of the domestic life of this period, will be most welcome to the students and compilers of glossaries of Middle English. The documents in English are also of great value for the light they shed upon the dialect of the town in the fifteenth century. Many rare English words occur in this volume, some of which are altogether strangers to the printed glossaries.

2. In this century the documents written in English begin to be somewhat numerous. Most of them are printed in full in this

volume. Their introduction has disturbed the strict chronological order observed in the extracts in the first volume, for it has been found necessary to relegate them to a separate section, inasmuch. as they do not require a translation to face them in the same manner as the extracts in Latin. Many objections, it is true, may be urged against this dislocation, but this system seems to be the most convenient one to adopt in a work like the present, for these documents required a different system of editing from the Latin extracts. There are many phrases, words and orthographies in these English documents that can only be understood by students of the language of this period, and it has, therefore, been necessary, in order to render easy the perusal of these records by the general reader, to explain such phrases, etc., as they occur. This has been done by means of footnotes wherein the word or phrase to be explained is repeated for convenience of cross-reference.

3. The Records of the Borough Court have supplied the greater part of the matter for this volume, as they did for the first. The contents of these Rolls vary very much, those for the early part of the period being full of matter; sinking down to the barest possible entries in the reign of Henry V.; in A.D. 1429 again becoming very full, the entries being then as much extended as they were previously condensed. This fulness continues throughout the Rolls until we approach the end of the series, when many of them are mutilated. The variation in the way of keeping these Rolls is generally identical with a change of hand, so that the meagreness or fulness of the entries may be explained by the apathy or zeal of the clerk that kept them. From Nos. 1307 to 1319 the Rolls for each year are divided into two parts, here represented by different numbers, the division being from roll 1 to 14, and from 15 to 26 inclusive. Many of the Rolls have only one of the two parts preserved, so that many of the years are imperfect, rendering it impossible to trace out the result of a suit. A remarkable difference between the Rolls of this period and those of the period of volume I. is to be found in the vast number of foreign suits (Placita Forinseca), or suits wherein one of the parties was not a Burgess of the town, that are