Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 6.djvu/259

 12 s. vi. MAY is,

NOTES AND QUERIES.

211

'Connapa. And I Doe here require yo u all as yo u will one Day answare it in y presence of Almighty God, y* to satisfie any mans pticuler hatred, or .malice hee beares them, yo u straine not yo r Consciences by vsing violence and so make Justice a Stalking horse to worke yo r owne revenge vpon them: Remember y* God is Just and y' hee tells you vengeance is his, and hee himself will .repay it. Their 4 bills wth they pass to M r Gurney for y e money w ch they owe him I doe here deliver yo u.

And I pray God to blesse and prosper y e Comp* 8 affairs on this Coast vnder your Direction, soe

I Remaine

Yo r Respective Friend

AAB BAKES

Fort S* Geo: 20'h January 1654-5

"o^ f Henry Greenhill {= Ch r Yardley B c John Leigh g v William Jackson
 * g-{ Edward Winter

H. R. POPHAM BAKER.

CUSTOM AS PART OF RENT. (12 S. vi. 128.)

'Tnis is a survival from ancient tenures. It appears from Seebohm's 'English Village Oommunity ' that gwestva was a contribution of food exacted from ancient Welsh tenants. Among the Anglo-Saxons the gebur or villanus, besides doing regular week work, did precarice or bene-work, that is, extra special services " To plough three acres to bene (ad precem) and two to gsersyrSe " and he also rendered gafol, which included : " At Martinmas xxiii. sesters of honey and ii. hens. At Easter a young sheep or iid. With another to feed a hound."

Seebohm gives typical cases from the ^Hundred Rolls of Services of Villani, which include : " A hen at Christmas and 8 eggs at Easter " and " Id. as ' loksilver,' that is, 2d. for a loaf and 5 hens, also 20 eggs at .Easter " ; and of services of Cotarii, which 'include: "At Martinmas gives 1 cock and 3 hens for Churchshot " and " 1 hen at 'Christmas and 5 eggs at Easter." From the .Domesday of St. Paul's (A.D. 1222) it appears that on the mau^r of Thorpe each house in the whole village owed a hen at Christmas and eggs at Easter.

The following are taken from ' Tenures of Land and Customs of Manors,' by W. C. Hazlitt (London, Reeves & Turner, 1874) :

" Bery, Co. of Devon. Geoffery de la Worthy held premises here for which he rendered at Easter and Midsummer (inter alia) three capons.

" Brayles, co. of Warwick. In the reign of Edward I. Adam Underwood held premises here .and his renders included a hen.

" Hedsor, co. of Bucks. An estate was held here by the service of bringing in the first dish at the Lord's table on St. Stephen's Day and pre- senting him with two hens, a cock, a gallon of ale, and two manchets of bread ; after dinner the lord delivered to the tenant a sparrow-hawk and a couple of spaniels to be kept at his costs and charges for the lord's use.

" Lastres, co. of Hereford. 10 Edw. IV. John de la Hay took premises here rendering therefor twenty pence a year, and one goose fit for the Lord's dinner on St. Michael's Day, suit of Court, &c.

Plansworth, co. of Durham. In 1382 John de Elyet held premises here, rendering (amongst other things) four hens at the office of the master forester at the feast of St. Martin." These examples will no doubt suffice.

I have never myself come across the reservation of poultry in a lease in modern times, but other survivals of incidents of ancient tenures and of the feudal spirit have come under my notice. For example, in a printed form of agreement xised for letting land in the neighbourhood of Burnley, Lancashire, in 1806 it is provided that the tenant is :

" to grind his Corn, Grain,* -and Malt used upon the premises or sold ground therefrom at the Mill or Mills of the Lessor." Also

" to keep a Dog or Cock for the Proprietor of the said estate for the time being when thereunto required."

with a penalty of 51. per annum in default. The form of agreement also contained the following clause, which, however, was struck out in the copy now before me as the letting for which it was used was only 12 acres :

" And also to cart or plow [a blank is here left in the form to be filled in with particulars of the amount of Boon work to be done] as Boon work with three able and sufficient horses with a Driver for the Proprietor of the said Estate for the time being yearly and every year during the said term when thereto required."

This clause is clearly a survival from the precarice of the Anglo-Saxon gebur and the boon-work of the manorial villani.

Again, a printed form of lease, used on the estate of Sir Henry Hoghton at Walton, near Preston, Lancashire, in 1785, contains a reservation for the lessee :

" Yielding and doing suit and service of Court at and to the Court and Courts from time to time to be holden for the Manor of Walton upon general warning to be given in the usual manner for the holding of such Courts by the Bailiff or other Officer of the Lord or Lords of the said Manor for the time being unless upon reasonable excuse to be allowed by the Steward of the said Courts for the time being he or they shall be freed or discharged for that time for the same and also doing and performing all orders made ' or to be made in any of the Courts kept or to be kept for the said Manor. " t