222 FROC. COTTESWOLD CLUB VOL. xill. (3) 



Lammas Day, August i — a custom which of late years 

 had for practical purposes fallen into disuse, but one which 

 was regularly observed by annually driving cattle over the 

 fields, termed " breaking the fields," so as to maintain the 

 common rights. 



Green, in his 'Making of England' (p. 180), thus 

 describes the village " tun " — " The unit of social life was 

 the cluster of the farmers' homes, each set in its own little 

 croft, which made up the Township or the tun. Within 

 the earthen mound raised for purposes of defence lay the 

 homes of the villagers, and outside this mound lay the 

 home pastures and folds — beyond and around lay the 

 village plough land, generally massed together in three or 

 four large ' fields,' each of which was broken by raised 

 balks into long strips of soil which were distributed in 

 turn among the village husbandmen." 



The peasant would be dressed in times of peace in his 

 smock-frock,* falling to his knees — as still to be seen, 

 though rapidly dying out — to be superseded by the Norman 

 short coat, the " curthose." 



Property had not then reached the stage of absolute 

 possession. The plough land was merely allotted to the 

 families of the Freemen, though subject to fresh divisions 

 as the number of claimants grew greater or less. 



These Freemen would meet in the " tun-moot," where 

 the good sense and opinion of each would be contributed 

 to form the wise decision — or " common sense," implying 

 the good sense — of a community. 



But we ask — Why was the ownership so scattered ? 

 why was it not compact, each property being together ? 



The reason may be found here. We have seen that the 

 principle of co-operation prevailed, so that each who wished 

 to join in the co-ploughing must bring his contribution — 



* The word "smock" implies something crept into, being put over the head. 



