556 ANNALS OP BOGER D E HOVEDEN. A.D. 1180. What is the meaning of the name ' Greve,' and what are his ditties ; and what is the meaning of the name Ealdorman, which literally signifies an elder of the people ; and into how many meanings the name ' Greve'' has been expanded. " Greve1 also is a name that signifies power, and cannot be better expressed in Latin than by the word ' prsefectura,' for the word is employed with such multiplied meanings, that there is the ' greve ' of the shire, of wapentakes, hundreds (also of the 'lethe'), boroughs, and of vills even; in all of which it seems to have the same meaning, and to signify the same as ' dominus' [chief]. Some, also, are of opinion that the word 'greve' is a name compounded of the English ' grith ' and the Latin ' V33. ' For ' grith' is a word denoting peace, whereas ' vae ' j indicates misery : as the Lord testifies when He says, ' VseJ unto thee, Chorazin.' Consequently the greve is so called, because by law he ought to ensure to the country ' grith,' or peace, against those who would bring upon it ' vœ,' that is, evil or misery. The Germans, and Frisians, and Flemings, are in the habit of calling their earls by the name of ' margrave,' as though meaning 'higher lords,' or 'good peacemakers.' And those who are called ' grèves' at the present day, having jurisdiction over others among the English, were anciently called ' ealdormen,' as though elders, not by reason of old age, inasmuch as some Avere young men, but on account of their wisdom. For what reason Mng William abolished the laws of the English and retained those of the Danes. " The law of the Danes and Norwegians prevailed in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. Now as to payment of I penalties [by hundreds] for offences committed, where these counties had eighteen hundreds, the former ones3 had only ten and a half, which arose from their being in the vicinity of the Saxons,1 the whole sum of contribution in cases of the largest penalty among the Saxons in those times being eighty-four' pounds. But in aB other matter for trial and penalties they had the same law with the [Danes and] Norwegians above The Saxon " gerefa," more generally spoken of as the " reeve," or "reve." 2 "Woe! " An idea more fanciful than well-founded. See St. Matt. χ. 21. 3 Probably those named m p. 555. 4 Probably the kingdom of Wessex. 4 The text of Hoveden says eighty-four, and is probably correct ; that of Wilkius says forty-four.