Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/75

Rh chancel reserved to them, and undoubtedly exercised by their posterity to the present times. That Gilbert's ancestors possessed Brougham in Saxon times is proved by the fact, that he is described in a record, now preserved in the Tower, as "one of the Drenges of Westmorland." The deed in the Rolls chapel also recites that he held certain lands "in Burgham per drengagium." Now tenure by drengage was a military service, but it had this peculiarity, that those only held their lands by drengage whose ancestors had possessed them before the Conquest. This is proved by Spelman, who, after citing his authority, says, "Sunt igitur drenches vassalli quidam militares, vel ut nostri forenses loquuntur, tenentes per servitium militare. Ex dictis autem notandum est, eos omnes,