Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/91

 Ch. 6. almot every other pecies of tenure. And to this we are next to proceed.

II. , in it's mot general and extenive ignification, eems to denote a tenure by any certain and determinate ervice. And in this ene it is by our antient writers contantly put in oppoition to chivalry, or knight-ervice, where the render was precarious and uncertain. Thus Bracton ; if a man holds by a rent in money, without any ecuage or erjeanty, "id tenementum dici potet ocagium:" but if you add thereto any royal ervice, or ecuage to any, the mallet, amount, "illud did poterit feodum militare." So too the author of Fleta ; "ex donationibus ervitia militaria vel magnae erjantiae non continentibus, oritur nobis quoddam nomen generale, quod et ocagium." Littleton alo defines it to be, where the tenant holds his tenement of the lord by any certain ervice, in lieu of all other ervices; o that they be not ervices of chivalry, or knight-ervice. And therefore afterwards he tells us, that whatoever is not tenure in chivalry is tenure in ocage: in like manner as it is defined by Finch, a tenure to be done out of war. The ervice mut therefore be certain, in order to denominate it ocage; as to hold by fealty and 20s. rent; or, by homage, fealty, and 20s. rent; or, by homage and fealty without rent; or, by fealty and certain corporal ervice, as ploughing the lord's land for three days; or, by fealty only without any other ervice: for all thee are tenures in ocage.

ocage, as was hinted in the lat chapter, is of two orts: free-ocage, where the ervices are not only certain, but honourable; and villein-ocage, where the ervices, though certain, are of a baer nature. Such as hold by the former tenure are called in Glanvil, and other ubequent authors, by the name of liberi okemanni, or tenants in free-ocage. Of this tenure we are firt Rh