Rewruin 1

Rewruin ‘of Putford’ (Devon), fl. 1066
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Rewruin

Summary

Rewruin 1 was a minor thegn who held a tiny estate in north-west in Devon in parage TRE, assessed at only ½ virgate and with a value of 10s.

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire Phil. ref. Vill DB Spelling Holder 1066 Lord 1066 Tenant-in-Chief 1086 1086 Subtenant Fiscal Value 1066 Value 1086 Value Conf. Show on Map
Devon 19,4 West Putford - Rewruin 'of Putford' - William Chevre Ansketil 'the man of William Chevre' 0.13 0.50 0.19 B Map
Totals

Profile

Rewruin 1’s name does not occur in DB itself, where the relevant entry simply records that TRE two thegns held 1 virgate in parage at [West] Putford, a place-name that refers to a crossing of the upper Torridge in north-west Devon. This was clearly a very small estate for two thegns, although its TRE valuation of 20s and its possession of land for 4 ploughs in 1086 could indicate a slightly larger holding than its assessment of 1 virgate would suggest.

Exon (399a3) provides more details, naming the thegns as Godric (Godric) and Rewruinus, and noting that each held ½ virgate. TO (496b4) provides the further information that one ½ virgate, held by a thegn (unnamed) in parage TRE, had been added to the manor after the Conquest but did not belong there, and gives its TRE value as 10s. These details imply that although both thegns held their land in parage they did not do so together as co-heirs to a single pre-Conquest estate of 1 virgate. The later manorial descent seems to perpetuate two distinct parts to West Putford manor (Thorn and Thorn 1985: DB 19,4 Notes).

Rewruin 1’s name is apparently unique, recorded only in this Exon entry, and it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about it on the basis of a single spelling. It is probably Brittonic, with Old Cornish being the most likely language in the context of north-west Devon, and the final ‑us appears to be a Latin inflection indicating that the Exon scribe regarded the name as masculine. Von Feilitzen (1937: 348) related the name to the similarly obscure Reuer and cited Förster to suggest Welsh rhew ‘cold’ as the first element (but cf. Reuer 2 for a suggestion that this name may be Old English rather than Brittonic), whereas with different word-division Old Cornish guyn ‘white, fair, pleasant’ provides a possible second element; but neither suggestion is particularly convincing.

Bibliography


Thorn and Thorn 1985: Domesday Book 9: Devon, ed. C. Thorn and F. Thorn (Chichester, 1985)

von Feilitzen 1937: O. von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book (Uppsala, 1937)