with lands by the liberality of its
first founder, as appears in the deeds preserved in our great muniment
chest. We have ten hides of woodland, wherein none may cut wood save
for our use in the winter; five hides of arable land, and the same
extent of pasturage for cattle. Now for the care of the culture
thereof we have a hundred serfs attached to the glebe, who, we trust,
do not find us unkind lords.

There are twenty brethren who have taken the final vows according to
the rule of St. Benedict, and ten novices, besides six lay brethren,
and other our chief servitors. We keep the monastic hours, duly rising
at daybreak to sing our lauds, and lying down after compline, with the
peace and blessing of Him who alone maketh us dwell in safety.

Our daily work is not light. We preach on Sundays and festivals in the
priory church. We visit the sick. We instruct the youth in the
elements of Christian doctrine. We superintend the labours of those
who till the soil. We copy the sacred writings. In short, we have a
great deal to do, and I fear do it very imperfectly sometimes.

I will add a few words only about myself. I am the third son of
Alfred {i}, thane of Aescendune, and his wife the Lady Alftrude of
Rollrich. Elfric, my eldest brother, died young. Elfwyn is now thane,
and I, the third boy, was given to the Church, for which I had ever
felt a vocation, perhaps from my love to my godfather. We only had one
sister, Bertha, and she has married the Thane Herstan of Clifton, near
Dorchester, the seat of our good bishop Aelfhelm, and the shrine of
holy Birinus.

My father and mother both sleep the sleep of the just. They lived to
see their children happy and prosperous, and then departed amidst the
lamentations of all who had known and loved them. Taken from the evil
to come, we cannot mourn them, nor would we call them back, although
we sorely missed their loved forms. They were full of years, yet age
had not dimmed their faculties. My father died in the year 998, my
mother the following year. They rest by the side of their ancestors in
the priory church.

My brother Elfwyn married Hilda, the daughter of Ceolfric, a Thane of
Wessex, in the year 985. He has two children--Bertric, a fine lad of
twelve, and as good as he is manly; and Ethelgiva, a merry girl of
ten. His household is well-ordered and happy--nurtured in the
admonition of the Lord.

For myself I have had many offers of promotion in the brotherhood of
St. Bene