408 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OP GLASGOW. 



except he have the witne3s of two true men, and that he keep 

 for three nights the hide and the head." This restriction, we 

 assume, was enforced so that owners might be able to find their 

 oxen again. 



Turning now to the Gwentian Code, we find it laid down that 

 the worth of wild and tame animals, of which people make use, is 

 to form part of a judge's knowledge. Distinct breeds were also 

 recognised, for we read that " there are three animals whose teithi 

 [qualities] exceed their legal worth — a stallion, a hamlet bull, and 

 a herd boar; for the breed be lost if they be lost." As regards the 

 "hamlet bull," was he in colour white or black? The code tells 

 us that "the worth of a hamlet bull is another bull that can leap, 

 with a cow before him and another behind him." A reference as 

 to colour in the code is found in the following extract: — "If an 

 ox die by over-ploughing, the owner has an erw [a measure of 

 corn given in compensation], and that is called the erw of the 

 black ox." Here we find " black " being used in the sense of a 

 general colour, say, of the herd, which then was legally twenty- 

 four cows and one bull. The code notes what may be termed 

 the composition of the herd. It says: — "The maer [bailifi"] to 

 have the heifers, the steers, the stirks, the sheep, the goats, and 

 all that shall be found in the house, except the horses, oxen, large 

 cattle, gold, silver, and furred clothes." " Large cattle" may be 

 a reference to a white breed, as we have all the animals of the 

 black breed — heifers, steers, stirks, and oxen — already separately 

 noted. The Saxons, we are told, rode on bulls, and at Shobing- 

 ton, in Bucks, they are said, according to tradition, to have 

 charged the Normans on bulls. Again, it is said that eight of the 

 Saxons rode into William the Conqueror's camp on bulls, from 

 which exploit comes, we believe, the surname of Bullstrode. The 

 Scotch surname Turnbull has also a legend regarding its origin. 

 The colour of these animals is, unfortunately, not stated. 



The practice of enclosing forests is said to have been introduced 

 by the Normans, yet in the Welsh laws we learn that there are 

 " three thieves subject to a camlwrw [a fine in compensation for 

 damage] — a dog stealer, a stealer of garden herbs, and a stealer 

 of a wild animal out of an enclosed park land." In this connection, 

 one section of Canute's Forest Laws is interesting as given in 

 John Manwood's translation, 1592 — 



