wards of London of which they were aldermen were, in some cases at
least, their own heritable property, and as such bought and sold and
transferred under particular circumstances. Thus, the aldermanry of a
ward was purchased, in 1279, by William Faryngdon, who gave it his own
name, and in whose family it remained upwards of eighty years; and in
another case the Knighten Guild having given the lands and soke of what
is now called Portsoken Ward to Trinity Priory, the prior became, in
consequence, alderman, and so the matter remained in Stow's time, who
beheld the prior of his day riding in procession with the mayor and
aldermen, only distinguished from them by wearing a purple instead of a
scarlet gown.

Each of the twenty-six wards into which the City is divided elects one
alderman, with the exception of Cripplegate Within and Cripplegate
Without, which together send but one; add to them an alderman for
Southwark, or, as it is sometimes called, Bridge Ward Without, and we
have the entire number of twenty-six, including the mayor. They are
elected for life at ward-motes, by such householders as are at the same
time freemen, and paying not less than thirty shillings to the local
taxes. The fine for the rejection of the office is L500. Generally
speaking, the aldermen consist of those persons who, as common
councilmen, have won the good opinion of their fellows, and who are
presumed to be fitted for the higher offices.

Talking of the ancient aldermen, Kemble, in his learned work, "The
Saxons in England," says:--"The new constitution introduced by Cnut
reduced the ealdorman to a subordinate position. Over several counties
was now placed one eorl, or earl, in the northern sense a jarl, with
power analogous to that of the Frankish dukes. The word ealdorman itself
was used by the Danes to denote a class--gentle indeed, but very
inferior to the princely officers who had previously borne that title.
It is under Cnut, and the following Danish kings, that we gradually lose
sight of the old ealdormen. The king rules by his earls and his
huscarlas, and the ealdormen vanish from the counties. From this time
the king's writs are directed to the earl, the bishop, and the sheriff
of the county, but in no one of them does the title of the ealdorman any
longer occur; while those sent to the towns are directed to the bishop
and the portgerefa, or prefect of the city. Gradually the old title
ceases altogether, except in the cities, wher