Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/237

Ch. 4. antient perquiite called queen-gold or ; which is a royal revenue, belonging to every queen conort during her marriage with the king, and due from every peron who hath made a voluntary offering or fine to the king, amounting to ten marks or upwards, for and in conideration of any privileges, grants, licences, pardons, or other matter of royal favour conferred upon him by the king: and it is due in the proportion of one tenth part more, over and above the intire offering or fine made to the king; and becomes an actual debt of record to the queen’s majety by the mere recording the fine. As, if an hundred marks of ilver be given to the king for liberty to take in mortmain, or to have a fair, market, park, chae, or free warren: there the queen is intitled to ten marks in ilver, or (what was formerly an equivalent denomination) to one mark in gold, by the name of queen-gold, or . But no uch payment is due for any aids or ubidies granted to the king in parliament or convocation; nor for fines impoed by courts on offenders, againt their will; nor for voluntary preents to the king, without any conideration moving from him to the ubject; nor for any ale or contract whereby the preent revenues or poeions of the crown are granted away or diminihed.

revenue of our antient queens, before and oon after the conquet, eems to have conited in certain reervations or rents out of the demene lands of the crown, which were exprely appropriated to her majefty, ditinct from the king. It is frequent in domeday-book, after pecifying the rent due to the crown, to add likewie the quantity of gold or other renders reerved to the queen. Thee were frequently appropriated to particular purpoes; to buy wool for her majety’s ue, to purchae oyl for her lamps$p$