The Battle Abbey Roll. Vol. III.
by
The Duchess of Cleveland.
ADDITIONAL NAMES GIVEN BY LELAND.
Prepared by Michael A. Linton
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Hayward : There is nothing Norman in this name. "An interesting relic of primitive precaution against the straying of animals is found in the officership of the 'Hayward,' (or 'Adam le Heyward,' as the Hundred Rolls have it), whose duty it was to guard the cattle that grazed on the village common. He was so styled from the Saxon 'hay,'[1] or hedge. An old poem has it—
"In tyme of hervest mery it is ynough;
Peres and apples hongeth on bough:
The hayward bloweth mery his home;
In every felde ripe is corne."
In 'Piers Plowman,' too, we have the word—
"I have a home, and be a hayward,
And liggen out a nightes
And kepe my corne and my croft
From pykers and thieves."
It will be seen from these two references that the officership was of a somewhat general character. The cattle might be his chief care, but the common village interests were also under his supervision. The term has left many surnames to maintain its now decayed and primitive character. 'Hayward' and 'Haward' are, however, the most familiar."—Bardsley's English Surnames.