92 Erlestoke and its Manor Lords. 



at every court the first business was the swearing of the homage 

 and that there followed the formal charge of the president that 

 they sliall " enquire into and present those things which belong to 

 the said court upon their oaths " ; but the manner in which their 

 enquiries were conducted is not disclosed as the minutes record 

 only the final report or presentment on each matter brought 

 forward. As custom was the law that governed the relations 

 existing between the lord and the tenants, a great part of the 

 minutes consists in the presentments of the homage concerning 

 the customs of the manor, and it would appear from the constant 

 repetition of those which were in the tenants' favour that their 

 continuance depended to some extent on their recital at the courts. 

 The more important of these have already been referred to, such 

 as the three lives and three widows allowed on each copy, the 

 dead year, the four boots, and the custom attaching to Fernham, • 

 while among the minor customs may be mentioned the duty of 

 the lord to maintain the bounds of Marsh Common, and to keep a 

 boar for the benefit of the manor. 



The rights of the lord evidently did not need repetition and are 

 only referred to by the homage when anyone made default and 

 required admonishment or correction. Thus, in the year 1690 a 

 tenant was presented " for coursing on ye manor and destroying 

 the lord's game," for which he was amerced five shillings ; and 

 reference has already been made to the presentments relating to 

 the duty of the tenants to grind their corn at the manor mill. 

 Brewers and bakers seem to have required a licence to carry on 

 their trades, and in regard to the latter this regulation was strictly 

 enforced, for in April, 1682, six persons who had erected ovens 

 were ordered to pull them down by Midsummer day or forfeit ten 

 shillings each, though at the Michaelmas court some excuse for 

 their behaviour is disclosed by the presentment of the homage 

 that " Elizabeth Ball is not fit to continue her oven and [we] think 

 it very inconvenient," a strongly-worded hint to the lord of the 

 manor. The court also acted as guardian of the waste of the 

 manor for the mutual benefit of the lord and the tenants, and its 

 care to prevent encroachments is shown by the following extract : 



