THE SURTEES SOCIETY.

REPORT FOR THE YEAR

MCMXI.

OWING to certain unavoidable causes, twice the usual period has been allowed to elapse since the appearance of the last Report. In the interval there has been only one change in the Council, the substitution of Mr. R. H. Edleston in the place of Sir Thomas Brooke, Bart., deceased.

The Council is glad to report that, after some delay, the publications of the Society are now up to date. Since the appearance of the last Report six volumes have been issued. In the first of these, the "Register of William Wickwane, Archbishop of York, 1279-1285," the series commenced thirtyone years ago by Canon Raine, then Secretary of this Society, with the Register of Archbishop Walter Gray, is carried on a step further by his successor. This volume is specially interesting from the light it throws on the condition of the religious houses in the diocese in the latter part of the Thirteenth Century. A special section, "Correcciones Claustrales," occurring in no other of the York Registers, shews how thoroughly the Archbishop investigated this matter.

With the fourth volume of the "Memorials of Ripon Canon Fowler has concluded a series, in which he has gathered together all the known materials relating to a place which has, from the earliest times, occupied a most important position in the ecclesiastical history of the North of England.

Mr. J. W. Clay's volume of "North Country Wills,' from Somerset House and Lambeth, brings to light a large amount of information with which few NORTH COUNTRY antiquaries were acquainted. In the Appendix are gathered together entries relating to the NORTH from wills of persons whose connection with that part of England was but slight, and thus future inquirers will be saved the labour of wading through long documents for what may possibly be only a very minute piece of information.

"North Country Diaries" affords an example of a class

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of document of which very few seem to have survived. This is much to be regretted, as they are invaluable for the light they throw on the morals and feelings of the average man of the time, the man in the street of modern slang. Mr. J. C. Hodgson's ample explanatory notes (which are a model in their kind) very much enhance the interest of the volume.

In Vol. 119 the Dean of Durham has published all the material which has survived to modern times bearing on the history of "Richard D'Aungerville of Bury," Bishop of Durham, and best known to posterity as the reputed author of the Philobiblion. The editor has illustrated his subject with an introduction giving a full account of that prelate, in which he discusses with great fulness the authorship of the different works attributed to the bishop.

The last work, and the most important, which has been issued since the last Report, is the long expected "Percy Chartulary," for permission to print which the Society is indebted to the kindness and generosity of his Grace the Duke of Northumberland. So many mishaps have delayed its appearance, that it is with no small satisfaction that the Council records its publication. The editing gives abundant evidence of the labour expended by Miss M. T. Martin in preparing the volume for the Press, and finding, where possible, the originals of the documents and carefully collating them. The volume will interest a wider circle than usual, as, though its contents concern, for the most part, the North, there is a great deal of important matter relating to London, Leicestershire, and Sussex, as well as Scotland. For the history of a considerable part of the North of England, and of the illustrious house of Percy in especial, this Chartulary will be found indispensable.

Of the volumes in the Press, which will be issued shortly, mention may be made of the "City Book of York," illustrative of the commercial and municipal life in that city during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries; a Thirteenth Century Assize Roll for the county of Durham; another volume of Wills from Somerset House and Lambeth; and the Register of John le Romeyn, Archbishop of York, 1286—1296.

With a view of reducing the surplus stock, the prices of several volumes have been much reduced.

THE SURTEES SOCIETY,

ESTABLISHED IN THE YEAR 1834,

In honour of the late Robert Surtees of Mainsforth, Esquire, the author of the History of the County Palatine of Durham, and in accordance with his pursuits and plans; having for its object the publication of inedited Manuscripts, illustrative of the intellectual, the moral, the religious, and the social condition of those parts of England and Scotland included on the east between the Humber and the Firth of Forth, aud on the west between the Mersey and the Clyde, a region which constituted the ancient Kingdom of Northumbria.

NEW RULES AGREED UPON IN 1849; REVISED 1863.

I. The Society shall consist of not more than three hundred and fifty members.

II. There shall be a Patron of the Society, who shall be President. III. There shall be twenty-four Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, and two Treasurers.

IV. The Patron, the Vice-Presidents, the Secretary, and the Treasurers shall form the Council, any five of whom, including the Secretary and a Treasurer, shall be a quorum competent to transact the business of the Society.

V. The twenty-four Vice-Presidents, the Secretary, and the Treasurers shall be elected at a general meeting, to continue in office for three years, and be capable of re-election.

VI. Any vacancies in the office of Secretary or Treasurers shall be provisionally filled up by the Council, subject to the approbation of the next general meeting.

VII. Three meetings of the Council shall be held in every year, on the first Tuesday in the months of March, June, and December; and the place and hour of meeting shall be fixed by the Council, and communicated by the Secretary to the members of the Council.

VIII. The meeting in June shall be the Anniversary, to which all the members of the Society shall be convened by the Secretary.

IX. The Secretary shall convene extraordinary meetings of the Council, on a requisition to that effect, signed by not less than five members of the Council, being presented to him.

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X.-Members may be elected by ballot at any of the ordinary meetings, according to priority of application, upon being proposed in writing by three existing members. One black ball in ten shall exclude.

XI. Each member shall pay in advance to the Treasurer the annual sum of one guinea. If any member's subscription shall be in arrear for two years, and he shall neglect to pay his subscription after having been reminded by the Treasurer, he shall be regarded as having ceased to be a member of the Society.

XII.--The money raised by the Society shall be expended in publishing such compositions, in their original language, or in a translated form, as come within the scope of this Society, without limitation of time with reference to the period of their respective authors. All editorial and other expenses to be defrayed by the Society.

XIII.-One volume at least, in a closely printed octavo form, shall be supplied to each member of the Society every year, free of expense.

XIV. If the funds of the Society in any year will permit, the Council shall be at liberty to print and furnish to the members, free of expense, any other volume or volumes of the same character, in the same or a different form.

XV. The number of copies of each publication, and the selection of a printer and publisher, shall be left to the Council, who shall also fix the price at which the copies, not furnished to members, shall be sold to the public.

XVI. The armorial bearings of Mr. Surtees, and some other characteristic decoration connecting the Society with his name, shall be used in each publication.

XVII. A list of the officers and members, together with an account of the receipts and expenses of the Society, shall be made up every year to the time of the annual meeting, and shall be submitted to the Society to be printed and published with the next succeeding volume.

XVIII. No alteration shall be made in these rules, except at an annual meeting. Notice of any such alteration shall be given, at least as early as the ordinary meeting of the Council immediately preceding, to be communicated to each member of the Society.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE SURTEES SOCIETY,

WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE SALE PRICES.

N.B.-Of several of these Volumes the number of copies on hand is very small; some will not be sold, except to Members of the Society under certain conditions, and all applications for them must be made to the Secretary.

1. Reginaldi Monachi Dunelmensis Libellus de Admirandis Beati Cuthberti Virtutibus. 10s. Edited by Dr. Raine.

2. Wills and Inventories, illustrative of the History, Manners, Language, Statistics, etc., of the Northern Counties of England, from the Eleventh Century downwards. (Chiefly from the Registry of Durham.) Vol. I. Edited by Dr. Raine. (Only sold in a set und to a Member.)

3. The Towneley Mysteries, or Miracle Plays. Edited by Mr. J. Gordon. The Preface by Joseph Hunter, F.S.A. (Only sold in a set and to a Member.)

4. Testamenta Eboracensia: Wills illustrative of the History, Manners, Language, Statistics, etc., of the Province of York, from 1300 downwards. Vol. I. 20s. Edited by

Dr. Raine.

5. Sanctuarium Dunelmense et Sanctuarium Beverlacense; or, Registers of the Sanctuaries of Durham and Beverley. 7s. 6d. Edited by Dr. Raine. The Preface by Rev. T. Chevalier.

6. The Charters of Endowment, Inventories, and Account Rolls of the Priory of Finchale in the County of Durham. 10s. Edited by Dr. Raine.

7. Catalogi Veteres Librorum Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Dunelm. Catalogues of the Library of Durham Cathedral at various periods, from the Conquest to the Dissolution; including Catalogues of the Library of the Abbey of Hulme, and of the MSS. preserved in the Library of Bishop Cosin at Durham. 7s. 6d. Edited by Dr. Raine. The Preface by Beriah Botfield, Esq.

8. Miscellanea Biographica: a Life of Oswin, King of Northumberland: Two Lives of Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne and a Life of Eata, Bishop of Hexham. 5s. Edited by Dr. Raine.

9. Historia Dunelmensis Scriptores Tres. Gaufridus de Coldingham, Robertus de Greystanes, et Willelmus de Chambre, with the omissions and mistakes in Wharton's edition supplied and corrected. and an Appendix of 665 original Documents, in illustration of the Text. 7s. 6d. Edited by Dr. Raine.

10. Rituale Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis: a Latin Ritual of the Ninth Century, with an interlinear Northumbro-Saxon Translation. 12s. Edited by Rev. J. Stevenson.

11. Jordan Fantosme's Anglo-Norman Chronicles of the War between the English and the Scots in 1173 and 1174. 5s. Edited, with a Translation, Notes, etc., by Francisque Michel, F.S.A.

12. The Correspondence, Inventories, Account Rolls, and Law Proceedings of the Priory of Coldingham. 7s. 6d. Edited by Dr. Raine.

13. Liber Vitæ Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis; necnon Obituaria duo ejusdem Ecclesiæ. 5s. Edited by Rev. J. Stevenson.

14. The Correspondence of Robert Bowes of Aske, Esq., Ambassador of Queen Elizabeth to the Court of Scotland. 7s. 6d. Edited by Rev. J. Stevenson.

15. A Description or Briefe Declaration of all the Ancient Monuments, Rites, and Customs belonging to, or being within, the Monastical Church of Durham, before the Suppression. Written in 1593. Edited by Dr. Raine. (Only sold in a set and to a Member.)

16. Anglo-Saxon and Early English Psalter, now first published from MSS. in the British Museum. Vol. I. 7s. 6d. Edited by the Rev. J. Stevenson.

17. The Correspondence of Dr. Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of York. With a selection from the Letters of Sir Timothy Hutton, Knt., his son, and Matthew Hutton, Esq., his grandson. 7s. 6d. Edited by Dr. Raine.

18. The Durham Household Book; or, the Accounts of the Bursar of the Monastery of Durham, from 1530 to 1534, 7s. 6d. Edited by Dr. Raine,