Lancashire Folk-lore Part 29

This subject would require extensive notice, if the materials requisite for its elucidation were more numerous and accessible. All prescriptive customs of manors have existed beyond what is termed "legal memory"--_i.e._, from the reign of Richard I. (1189-1199). Many others, relating to the military and other free tenures of the chief tenants of manors, and to the socage and inferior or servile tenures, with the boons of the cottagers, &c., and the various services attached to these different tenures, would make a very curious piece of history of customs and usages; but these are usually recorded only in private grants, charters, and other deeds, or in copy-rolls and other records of manors, not generally accessible. The following are some examples:--

THE HONOUR OF KNIGHTHOOD.

In the early ages of our history, the honour of knighthood, with the military services to which it was incident under the feudal system, was often forced upon the subject. In the year 1278, a writ to the Sheriff of Lancas.h.i.+re commanded him to distrain upon all persons seised of land of the value of 20 yearly, whether held of the King _in capite_, or of any other lords who ought to be knights and were not; and all such were ordered forthwith to take out their patent of knighthood. Fourteen years after this, a writ was issued, wherein the qualification was raised to double the amount; and a writ, dated 6th February, 1292, was issued to the Sheriff of Lancas.h.i.+re (with others), proclaiming that all persons holding lands in fee, or of inheritance, of the value of 40 per annum, must take the order of knighthood before Christmas in that year. The crown might relax or vary these services: hence a writ to the Sheriff of Lancas.h.i.+re recites "that the commonalty of England, having performed good services against the Welsh, the king excuses persons not holding lands of the value of 100 yearly from taking the order of knighthood;"

but all holding above that amount, and not taking the order before the Nativity of the Virgin (Sept. 8), were to be distrained upon.

Subsequently, injunctions were addressed to the Sheriff, commanding him to make extents of the lands of those refusing to take the order of knighthood, and to hold them for the king until further orders. Another writ to the Sheriff of Lancas.h.i.+re, of 6th April, 1305, directs him to proclaim that all who should become knights, and are not, must repair to London before the following Whit Sunday to receive that distinction, if properly qualified.[202]

MARITAGIUM.

On the marriage of the Princess Alianora (sister of Edward III.) with the Earl of Guelders, an order was issued to the abbot of Furness, and to the priors of Burscough, Up-Holland, and Hornby, as well as to the abbot of Whalley, and to the priors of Cartmell and Coningshead, requesting them to levy the subsidy on their respective houses, towards the _Maritagium_, an impost of early times, which ceased with the feudal system.[203] This order the priests were slow to obey, in consequence of which another letter was issued by the king from Pontefract, reminding them of their neglect, and ordering them to communicate their intention to the proper authority. No further doc.u.ments appear on the subject; and it may be presumed that this second application produced the desired effect.[204]

PECULIAR SERVICES AND TENURES.

The following are entries in the "Testa de Nevill," a book supposed to have been compiled towards the close of the reign of Edward II. or the beginning of that of Edward III., and consequently to exhibit the services and tenures existing about the beginning of the 12th century:--Thomas and Alicia de Gersingham, by keeping the king's [John's] hawks in Lonsdale, till they became strong, when they were to be committed to the Sheriff of Lancas.h.i.+re. Luke Pierpoint, by keeping an aery; Adam de Hemelesdale, by constabulary at Crosby. Quenilda de Kirkdale, by conducting royal treasure. Richard Fitz Ralph, by constabulary at Singleton. John de Oxeclive, by being carpenter at Lancaster Castle. Adam Fitz Gilmighel, by being the king's carpenter.

Roger the carpenter, by being carpenter in Lancaster Castle. Ralph Barun or Babrun, by being mason in Lancaster Castle. Walter, son of Walter Smith, by forging iron instruments. Roger Gernet, by being chief forester. William Gernet, by the service of meeting the king on the borders of the city, with his horse and white rod, and conducting him into and out of the city. William and Benedict de Gersingham, by the sergeantry of keeping the king's aeries of hawks. Gilbert Fitz Orm, by paying yearly 3_d._ or some spurs to Benedict Gernet, the heir of Roger de Heton, in thanage. Roger de Leycester, by paying 8_s._ and two arrows yearly. A great number of persons in thanage: others in drengage. John de Thoroldesholme, by larderery; Roger de Skerton, by provostry. Roger Fitz John, by making irons for the king's ploughs. Others, by gardenry, and by masonry, or the service of finding pot-herbs and leeks for Lancaster castle, smith's work, and carpentry; the burgesses of Lancaster, by free-burgage and by royal charter. Peter de Mundevill, by service of one brachet [a sort of hound] of one colour. The prior of Wingal, by he knows not what service. Lady Hillaria Trussebut, by no service, and she knows not by what warrant. Henry de Waleton, by being head sergeant or bailiff of the Hundred of Derbys.h.i.+re [_i.e._, West Derby]. Galfridus Balistarius [Geoffrey Balistur] by presenting two cross-bows to the king. William Fitz William, by presenting one brachet, one _velosa_ [? a piece of velvet] and two _lintheamina_ [pieces of linen cloth]. Roger Fitz Vivian holds the sergeantry of Heysham, by blowing the horn before the king at his entrance into and exit from the city of Lancaster. Thomas Gernet, in Heysham, by sounding the horn on meeting the king on his arrival in those parts. William Gresle, by presenting a bow without string, a quiver, 12 arrows, and a _buzon_ [?

possibly a quiver or arrow-case]. William Fitz Waukelin, by presenting one soar-hawk. Hervi Gorge, by presenting one plough, one _linthola_ [piece of linen cloth], one _velosa_ [piece of velvet], and one _auricular_ [? a veil for the confessional]. Roger and Hugh de Auberville, by keeping one hawk. Several religious houses held in pure and free and perpetual alms, or what the Normans styled "Frank-almoigne." A large number of persons held by donation, in consideration of yearly rents, and some of these were nominal, as "a pepper-corn, if demanded," "a clove," "a red rose on St. John the Baptist's Day" (24th June), "a pair of white gloves or a peny," a "Manchester knife," &c.

SMITh.e.l.lS.--The mesne manor of Smith.e.l.ls in Sharples, near Bolton, is dependent upon the superior manor of Sharples, the lord of which claims from the owner of Smith.e.l.ls a pair of gilt spurs annually; and, by a very singular and inconvenient custom, the unlimited use of the cellars at Smith.e.l.ls Hall for a week in every year.[205]

It does not appear, however, that the lord of Smith.e.l.ls was bound to the quant.i.ty or to the quality of the liquors with which his cellars were at that time to be stored. This feudal claim seems now nearly abandoned, as it has not been enforced within the present century.[206]

MANOR OF c.o.c.kERHAM.--REGULATIONS FOR THE SALE OF ALE.

The customs' dues of this manor appear to have been originally ordained by Brother William Geryn, cellarer of the Abbey of c.o.kersand, in 1326, and were confirmed by John the Abbot in 1st Richard III. (1483-4). The confirmation is in the English of the period; and among other curious ordinances, contains the following regulation as to the price, &c., of ale (the spelling is modernised):--"There shall no brewer let no tenant for to have ale for their silver out of their house, and such [may] have four gallons within their house, so that they bring a vessel with them.

Ye shall not sell a gallon of ale above a halfpenny when ye may buy a quarter of good oats for 2_d._ Ye shall give ale-founders [manorial officers also called ale-tasters] a founding-gallon, or else a taste of each vessel, and your charge, on pain [penalty] of grievous amerciaments."[207]

MANORIAL CUSTOMS IN FURNESS.

KIRKBY IRELETH.--In this manor the widow is ent.i.tled during her widowhood to the moiety of the estate whereof her husband died seised; but forfeits her right thereto upon re-marriage or breach of chast.i.ty.

Every tenant, upon being admitted to a tenement, pays to the lord of the manor 20 years' quit-rent for a fine. Every entire tenement was formerly obliged to keep one horse and harness, for the king's service, on the borders or elsewhere. These were called "summer [? sumpter] nags," of which 30 were kept in Kirkby. The tenant was also to furnish a boon plough and a boon-harrow, that is, a day's ploughing and harrowing; and no one is to let his land for any time exceeding 7 years, without licence. Tenements in this manor are forfeited to the lord by treason or felony. A tenant convicted of wilful perjury forfeits to the lord 20 years' rent, and for petty larceny, 10 years' rent.

PENNINGTON.--Pennington is the smallest parish in the county, and contains fewer streams than any other parish in North Lonsdale. Some feudal customs, obsolete in most places, are still observed in the manor of Pennington. A tenant on admission pays a fine of 16 years' quit-rent.

On the death of the lord and on every change of the lord by descent, the tenant pays a further fine of 6 years' quit-rent; and a running-fine, town-term, or _gressom_, is payable every 7th year. The heir, where there is a widow, pays a heriot. Every tenant must plant two trees of the same kind for every one that he fells. Formerly every tenant was obliged to carry a horse-load once a year to Manchester and half a horse-load to Lancaster. In 1318 a dispute between the Pennington family and the Abbot of Furness, as to boon services, was thus decided:--"That the manor of Pennington was held by the service of 30_s._, and of finding yearly, for one day in autumn, a man and woman, sufficient to mow at the Grange of Lindale, for every house with a court-yard except Sir William de Pennington's capital messuage; the convent to find the daily refreshment of each mower while employed, according to ancient custom; and Sir William granting that all the tenants of the manor, who had or might have ploughs, should plough half an acre of the Abbot's Grange at Lindale."[208]

MUCHLAND.--Immediately after the Conquest Aldingham was granted to Michael Flandrensis or le Fleming, and his land was called Michael's land, to distinguish it from that of the abbey of Furness; spelled often Mychel-land and Mychelande, till it got corrupted into Muchland. In the manor of Muchland, the tenant on being admitted to his tenement pays to the lord of the manor two years' rent over and above the usual annual rent. Every tenant paying 40_s._ rent was formerly obliged to find a horse and harness for the King's service, on the borders or elsewhere.

Every tenant who paid 20_s._ a year rent, was to furnish a man harnessed for the King's service. Every old tenant paid a _gressom_ of one year's rent on the death of the lord, and every new tenant pays two years' rent to the next heir. The widow has one-third of the tenement during her chaste widowhood. If a tenement is not presented within a year and a day after the death of the tenant, or if it be sold, set, or let without paying the fine, or _gressom_, for a year and a day, then the lord, if there be not good distress upon the grounds, may seize such tenement into his hands as a forfeiture, &c.

LOWICK.--Here the customs are much the same as in Kirkby Ireleth, except as to forfeitures. The running _gressom_, or town term, is a year's rent every seventh year, paid to the lord. There are four house-lookers annually appointed for reviewing and a.s.signing timber for necessary repairs.

NEVIL HALL.--The admittance fine is two years' rent, over and above the accustomed yearly rent. The heriot, on the change of lord, is half a year's rent. The running _gressom_, or town-term, is half a year's rent every seventh year. Every tenant paying 20_s._ rent was formerly to keep a horse harnessed in readiness for the King's service. The widow in this manor, if the first wife, to have half the tenement; but if she be a latter wife, then only one-third the tenement. A tenant may, whenever he pleases, give his tenement to any of his sons; and in default of sons to any of his daughters, as he thinks fit. A tenant may let, or mortgage, any tenement or part of it for a year, without a licence; and may sell his whole tenant-right, or any part of it, with licence from the lord.

The rents mentioned above are old and immutable rents.[209]

MUCH-URSWICK.--These customs include a fine of 20_d._ to the lord of the manor on every change of tenancy, or on the death of the lord; except one large house, which paying 4_s._ rent, paid a fine of five times the lord's rent, or 5_d._ on the death of the lord, or a change of tenancy.

The tenant's widow had half the estate during chaste widowhood. The tenants were obliged to carry a single horse-load, anciently fish, once a year to Mowbreck Hall, near Kirkham; but this service was commuted for a small rent called carriage rent. Tenements in this manor, on treason or felony by the tenant are forfeited to the lord. A tenant convicted of wilful perjury, forfeits to the lord twenty years' rent, and for petty larceny, ten years' rent.[210]

THE ROYAL MANOR OF WARTON.--These customs are similar in many respects to those of the duchy manors in Furness. In the reign of Elizabeth a commission of survey, and a jury of twenty-four, from the neighbouring manors, made a return of the customs, which were confirmed by the Court of Exchequer. These manorial bye-laws are applicable to customary tenants, and relate to the subjects of heirs.h.i.+ps, performance of suit and service, the powers of the steward, the enrolling of tenants, the payment of rents, amounts of fines, &c. A fine of two years' rent is to be imposed on changes of tenantry; all tenants paying above 20_s._ rent were required to maintain a horse and man with armour, tenants paying under 20_s._ being commanded to serve in person: these services to be strictly and fully executed in cases of need. Each tenant is directed to repair his own homestead. In case of the death of a married tenant, one-half of the tenement is a.s.signed to the widow, to be held during her chaste widowhood, and the other half to the heir or heirs. The crime of fornication to be punished with forfeiture. Tenants not to set, let, or mortgage for above three years without licence; not to encroach on the common without permission. The manor court to have jurisdiction in cases of t.i.the and tenant right; the tenants to be at liberty to take ash wood. The tenants are not to be abated in their rents for any loss they may suffer in their several proportions of turbary, marsh and common.

These manorial regulations are now but seldom enforced, and the Court Baron of Warton a.s.sembles only on rare occasions, not uncommonly after intervals of years.[211]

FEUDAL PRIVILEGES OF THE HONOUR AND MANOR OF HORNBY.--These ancient privileges comprised free warren, subject to a fine of 10_l._ on encroachments on the King's forests; right of market and fair at Arkholme and at Hornby; court of view of frank-pledge; sheriff's turn; free court of all pleas; a.s.size of bread; soc, sac, tol, and them; infangetheof and utfangetheof; hamsocn; leyrwite; murder; acquittance of s.h.i.+res and hundreds, lestage [or lastage], aids of sheriffs and their bailiffs, and amercements; wards.h.i.+ps, and works and enclosures of castles, parks, and bridges; and of pa.s.sage, frontage, stallage, toll, paiage, and money given for murder; and right to pontage, stallage, hidage, and pickage. All these feudal customs were confirmed in the 12th Charles I. (1636) to Henry Parker, Lord Morley and Monteagle.[212]

A number of the above terms require explanation. "Money given for murder," implied the fines levied on a district in which a murder had been committed, and the criminal not discovered; "the privilege of murder" was the power to levy such fines; thus the town or hundred which suffered an Englishman, who had killed a Dane there to escape, was to be amerced sixty-six marks [44_l._] to the King. _Hamsocn_, is the privilege or liberty of a man's own house, its violation is burglary.

_Leyr_ or _lecher wite_, is the privilege of punis.h.i.+ng adultery and fornication. Pa.s.sage is a toll for pa.s.sing over water, as at a ford or ferry; pontage is bridge toll; stallage, a toll for stalls in a market; paiage or pavage, is a paving toll. _Sac_, the right of a lord to hold pleas in his court, in causes of trespa.s.s among his tenants; _soc_, the right to administer justice and execute laws; _toll_, the right to levy tolls on tenants; _them_, the right to hear, restrain, and judge bondmen and villeins, with their children, goods and chattels, &c.

_Infangetheof_, the lord's privilege to judge any thief taken within his fee. _Outfangtheof_, the right of the lord to call men dwelling within his manor, and taken for felony outside his fee, to judgment in the lord's own court.

THE LORD'S YULE FEAST AT ASHTON.

Among the customs of the Manor of Ashton-under-Lyne, as described by the late Dr. Hibbert-Ware, was the making of so-called "presents" by the tenants-at-will to the lord of the manor, for the sake of partaking in the annual feast at the great hall. In the rental of Sir John de a.s.sheton, made in November 1422, these presents are claimed as an obligatory service from the tenants-at-will, in the following terms:--"That they shall give their presents at Yole [Christmas]; every present to such a value as is written and set in the rental; and the lord shall feed all his said tenants, and their wifes, upon Yole-day at the dinner, if they like for to come; but the said tenants and their wifes, though it be for their ease not to come, they shall send neither man nor woman in their name,--but if [unless] they be their son or their daughter dwelling with them,--unto the dinner; for the lord is not bounden to feed them all, only the good man and the good wife." In some manor-houses of Lancas.h.i.+re, once dedicated to these annual scenes of festivity, may be observed an elevation of the floor [or _das_] at the extremity of the great hall, or, in the place of it, a gallery which stretches along one side of the room [many halls have both _das_ and gallery] to accommodate the lord and his family, so that they might not be annoyed by the coa.r.s.e rustic freedoms which the tenants would be too apt to take during the hours of their conviviality. In a hall, then, of this kind in the manor-house at a.s.sheton, we may imagine the large Yule fire to be kindled; while in a gallery or raised floor Sir John of a.s.sheton, his lady, and family, together with his kinsmen, Elland of Brighouse, and Sir John the Byron, are feasting apart, yet attentive to the frolics or old songs of the company below. It was on these occasions that peg-tankards were used, and horns that bore the names of the Saxons and Danes, whom the Normans had ousted out of their possessions. Of the description of ale that flowed merrily on these occasions we know little; but there can be no doubt that it was like King Henry the Eighth's ale, which contained neither hops nor brimstone. We may suppose, then, that on annual festivals like these, the wooden bowl or horn would pa.s.s freely through the hands of Sir John of a.s.sheton's tenants-at-will; among whom were such personages as Hobbe Adamson, Hobbe of the Leghes, William the arrow-smith, Roger the baxter, Roger le smith, Jack the spencer, Jack the hind, Elyn Wilkyn daughter, Elyn the rose, and the widows Mergot of Staley, Peryn's wife, and Nan of the Windy Bank,--all clad in their best hoods, and brown woollen jackets and petticoats. The ancient musical instruments used in Lancas.h.i.+re were a kind of fiddle, not of the present form, and a stringed instrument called the virginals. The provincial songs of that period, few of which were less than half-an-hour in length, rehea.r.s.ed the deeds of Launcelot du Lake, and his conquest of the giant Tarquin, at the castle of Manchester; Ranulph of Chester, and his wars in the Holy Land; or the warlike feats and amorous prowess of the renowned Ches.h.i.+re hero, Roger de Calverley. In order to preserve, as much as possible, the degree of decorum that was necessary at such meetings, there was firstly introduced a diminutive pair of stone stocks, of about eighteen inches in length, for confining within them the fingers of the unruly. This instrument was entrusted to the general prefect of manorial festivities named the King of Misrule, whose office it was to punish all who exceeded his royal notions of decency. Accordingly such a character appears among the list of Sir John of a.s.sheton's tenants, under the name of Hobbe the king. From these entertainments being supported by the contributions of the tenants, they were derisively called _Drink-leans_.

[_Laen_, A.-S. a loan, a gift, a reward; _Laene_, adj., lean, slender, fragile.][213]

RIDING THE BLACK LAD AT ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE.

In the rental of Sir John a.s.sheton, knight, of his Manor of Ashton-under-Lyne, A.D. 1422, it is stated that two of his sons, Rauf of a.s.sheton, and Robyn of a.s.sheton, by grants to them, "have the sour carr guld rode and stane rynges for the term of their lives." This donation (says Dr. Hibbert-Ware) evidently alludes to the privilege of _Guld-riding_, a custom that in Scotland at least is of great antiquity, having been intended to prevent lands from being over-run with the weeds, which, from their yellow colour, were named _gools_ or _gulds_, _i.e._, the corn-marigold, or _Chrysanthemum Segetum_ of Linn. Boethius (lib. 10) mentions a law of king Kenneth (probably rather of Alexander II.) to prevent the growth of _ma.n.a.leta_ or _guld_, and to impose a fine of oxen on proof of its infraction. The Rev. J. P. Bannerman, in a statistical account of the parish of Cargill, in Perths.h.i.+re, states that with a view of extirpating this weed, "after allowing a reasonable time for procuring clean seed from other grounds, an act of the Baron Court was pa.s.sed, enforcing an old Act of Parliament to the same effect, imposing a fine of 3_s._ 4_d._, or a wether sheep, on the tenants for every stock of _gool_ that should be found growing in their corn at a particular day; and certain persons styled _gool-riders_ were appointed to ride through the fields, search for _gool_, and carry the law into execution when they discovered it. Though the fine of a wether sheep is now commuted and reduced to a penny, the practice of _gool-riding_ is still kept up, and the fine rigidly exacted." To this origin Dr.

Hibbert-Ware attributes the custom peculiar to Ashton-under-Lyne of "Riding the Black Lad." He states that in the days of Sir John of a.s.sheton (A.D. 1422) a large portion of low wet land in the vicinity of a.s.sheton was named the Sour Carr (carr being synonymous with the Scotch word _ca.r.s.e_, and the well-known term _sour_ implying an impoverished state of the carr). It had been over-run with corn-marigolds or carr-gulds, which were so destructive to the corn that the lord of the manor enforced some rigorous measures for their extirpation, similar to the carr-guld riding in Perths.h.i.+re. Ralph of a.s.sheton, Sir John's son by a second marriage, and Robin, his brother, were on a certain day in the spring [Easter-Monday] invested with the power of riding over the lands of the carr, named the _Carr Guld Rode_, of levying fines for all _carr-gulds_ that were found among the corn, and, until the penalties were paid, of punis.h.i.+ng transgressors by putting them into the [finger]

_stocks_ or _stone rings_, or by incarceration. Ralph a.s.sheton, by his alliance with a rich heiress, became the lord of the neighbouring manor of Middleton, and soon afterwards received the honour of knighthood; being at the same time entrusted with the office of Vice-Constable of the kingdom; and it is added, of Lieutenant of the Tower. Invested with such authorities, he committed violent excesses in this part of the kingdom. Retaining for life the privilege granted him in Ashton of Guld-riding, he, on a certain day in spring, made his appearance in the manor, clad in black armour (whence his name of the Black Lad or Black Boy) mounted on a charger, and attended with a numerous train of his own followers, in order to levy the penalty arising from the neglect of clearing the land from carr-gulds. The interference of so powerful a knight belonging to another towns.h.i.+p could not but be regarded by the tenants of a.s.sheton as the tyrannical intrusion of a stranger; and as Sir Ralph, sanctioned by the political power given him by Henry VI., exercised his privilege with the utmost severity, the name of the Black Lad is still regarded with sentiments of horror. Tradition has, indeed, perpetuated the prayer that was fervently e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed for a deliverance from his tyranny:--

Sweet Jesu! for thy mercy's sake, And for thy bitter pa.s.sion, Save us from the axe of the Tower, And from Sir Ralph of Ashton.

Upon the death of the Black Knight, Sir John's heir and successor abolished the usage for ever, reserving for the estate a small sum of money for the purpose of perpetuating, in an annual ceremony, the dreaded annual visits of the Black Boy. This is still kept up. An effigy is made of a man in armour; and since Sir Ralph was the son of a second marriage (which, for this reason, had been esteemed by the heir of Sir John as an unfortunate match) the image is deridingly emblazoned with some emblem of the occupation of the first couple that are linked together in the course of the year. [Mr. Edwin b.u.t.terworth says with the initials of their names.] The Black Boy is then fixed on horseback, and, after being led in procession round the town, is dismounted, made to supply the place of a shooting-b.u.t.t, and, all fire-arms being in requisition for the occasion, he is put to an ignominious death. [The origin of Riding the Black Lad, here suggested, is exceedingly ingenious; but it seems questionable whether any real data for it are given in the single pa.s.sage cited from the rental of 1422. "The Sour Carr Guld Rode and the Stane Ringes" taken as they stand, may mean the Guld-ruyding, or ridding, as a piece of land cleared of stumps, &c., was called; _ex. gr._ Hunt-royd, Orme-rod, Blake-rod, &c. The Stone Rings may be a piece of land so-called. There is no mention of the power to levy penalties, nor even of any official riding, but only the _rode_,--not road, as it has been interpreted, but ridded land, perhaps cleared from gulds and weeds, no less than from stubs, stumps, and stones.--EDS.][214]

Mr. Roby, from the above materials, has written a tale of Sir Ralph's cruel seizure of a widow's only cow, as the heriot due to him as lord of the manor, on the death of her husband. Her half-witted son is said to have told Sir Ralph that on his death his master the devil would claim a heriot, and that Sir Ralph himself would be given up. On this Sir Ralph took fright, and sent back the heriot cow to the poor widow. Another tradition exists as to the origin of the custom of "Riding the Black Lad," which Mr. Roby thinks may have been fabricated merely to throw off the odium attached to the name of Sir Ralph. In the reign of Edward III.

one Thomas a.s.sheton fought under Queen Philippa in the battle of Neville's Cross. Riding through the ranks of the enemy, he bore away the royal standard from the Scotch king's tent, who himself was afterwards taken prisoner. King Edward, on his return from France, conferred on Thomas the honour of knighthood, with the t.i.tle of "Sir Thomas a.s.sheton of a.s.sheton-under-Lyne." To commemorate this singular display of valour, Sir Thomas inst.i.tuted the custom of "Riding the Black Knight or Lad" at a.s.sheton, on Easter-Monday; leaving 10_s._ yearly to support it, together with his own suit of black velvet, and a coat of mail. Which of these accounts of the origin of the custom is correct, there is now no evidence to determine.

BOON SHEARING.

In the manor of Ashton-under-Lyne, every tenant-at-will was thus commanded:--"He that plough has, shall plough two days. He that half plough has, shall plough a day, whenever the lord be liever [more willing], in wheet-seeding, or in lenton-seeding; and every tenant harrow a day with their harrow, in seeding time, when they bin charged.

And they should cart, every tenant ten cartful of turve from Doneam Moss to a.s.sheton, and shere four days in harvest, and cart a day corn." This service, so profitable to the lord, was familiarly called boon-work.

Hence an old adage still retained in the North of England, when a man is supposed to be working for nothing, that "he has been served like a boon-shearer."[215]

THE PRINc.i.p.aL OR HERIOT.

One of the services of Sir John a.s.sheton's tenants-at-will, in the manor of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the fifteenth century, as appears by his rental of 1422, was that "they should pay a princ.i.p.al at their death, to wit, the best beast they have." This was evidently a heriot. As of a military va.s.sal, or tenant by knight-service, his horse was the heriot due to his lord at death; so the custom became extended to that cla.s.s of dependents who were retained in the lord's employ to perform the busier services of the manor. As their property consisted of cattle, or of implements of husbandry, the heriot due to the lord was the best beast, cow, or horse, of which the tenant might die possessed. This condition being fulfilled, every further claim upon the goods of the deceased was remitted. At times this expressive relic of ancient military subjection was found exceedingly galling. In the manor of a.s.sheton there are many traditional stories still remaining on the subject of such princ.i.p.als or heriots. A tenant's boy, on the death of his father, was driving an only cow to the manor-house of the adjoining demesnes of Dukinfield. He was met by the lord of the place, with whose person and rank he was unacquainted, who questioned him whither he was taking his beast. "I am driving it as far as Dukinfield for the heriot," replied the boy. "My father is dead--we are many children--and we have no cow but this. Don't you think the devil will take Sir Robert for a heriot, when he dies?" The lad was fortunately addressing a humane landlord. "Take the cow back to thy mother; I know Sir Robert,--I am going to Dukinfield myself, and will make up the matter with him."[216]

DENTON RENT-BOONS.

The lands of the Denton estates of the Hollands were held in 1780 by seventeen tenants, subject to a rent of 294_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ The entire property was held by lease of lives, and this rental was exclusive of fines paid on the renewal of leases. By the terms of their respective leases the tenants were also pledged to the payment of certain rent-boons, consisting of a dog and a c.o.c.k, or (at the landlord's option) of their equivalent in money--for the dog 10_s._, for the c.o.c.k 1_s._; the landlord thus providing for his amus.e.m.e.nt in hunting and c.o.c.k-fighting in a manner least onerous to himself.[217]

A SAXON CONSTABLEWICK.