Note 257 — Chapter XIII · EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CUSTOM.
Reading edition
The usual explanation of these terms is that they are derived from the number of shillings in the wergeld. Mr. Earle in his valuable Handbook to the Land Charters &c. (p. 1) considers ‘hynde’ to be an old form of ‘ten’ and to refer to the number of soldiers of whom the twelve-hynde and six-hynde men were captains. ‘The former was a captain of 120 and the latter of 60.’ Neither of these explanations seems to me to be satisfactory.