VOL. XVIII. (3) THE COURT OF ATTACHMENT 227 



THE COURT OF ATTACHMENTS, FOREST OF DEAN, 

 AND THE OFFICE OF VERDERER 



BY 



M. W. COLCHESTER- WEMTSS, J.P., D.L. 



The ancient Court which is still held at the Speech House 

 every forty days is called the " Court of Attachments," and 

 its members " Verderers." 



The Verderers owe their first institution to the oldest 

 known Charta de Foresta, proclaimed by King Canute at a 

 meeting held at Winchester in 1016. By this old Charter, 

 King Canute appointed (with the advice " primanorum 

 hominum meorum ") four men in each of his Royal Forests, 

 who were to have regal powers {" regalem frotestatem ") save 

 when the King himself was present, in matters relating to 

 vert and venison, " as well over the Danes as over the Angles." 

 Each Verderer was to receive annually for his services two 

 horses, one with, one without a saddle, one sword, five spears, 

 one javehn, one shield, and 200 shillings in silver. In order 

 to sustain their authority it was decreed that, if any man 

 offered force to a primarius, he was, if a freeman, to lose his 

 liberty and his goods, if he were villein he was to lose his right 

 hand ; and for a second offence the penalty was death. 



This old Charter is quoted by Man wood as being " very 

 barbarously translated out of the Danish tongue into Latin," 

 but, he adds, in a note, that " my Lord Coke bids us beware 

 how we give credit to it." 



After this there were several Charters issued by the Nor- 

 man Kings, but the chief appears to have been one issued in 

 the ninth year of King Henry the 3rd, and this Charter for 

 long regulated the Royal Forests. This Charta de Foresta 

 summarises the preceding Charters, describes all the officials 

 connected with the Forest, and their several duties ; it clearly 

 delines the then existing Forest laws, the Courts of the Forest, 

 and the many quaint rights, privileges, and onerous restric- 

 tions connected with the King's and also private Forests. 



