A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



He was arrested and imprisoned. On his ap- 

 pearance before the justices he disclaimed all 

 knowledge of the doe. He was in the wood on 

 lawful business searching for his horse. The 

 foresters and verderers seem to have given evi- 

 dence in favour of the accused, and deposed that 

 in their opinion he was not the guilty party, but 

 rather one Ricliard Gelee, the reaper of Newton, 

 who had incontinently fled on hearing of Henry's 

 arrest. And the record proceeds : ' Because 

 Henry himself has taken the cross, and is not 

 suspected, and has lain for a long time in prison, 

 it is granted to him that he may make his pil- 

 grimage ; and let him start before Whitsunday ; 

 and if he return and can find pledges of his fealty, 

 let him remain in the forest.' This entry further 

 illustrates in the sphere of forest law the working 

 of the principle of collective responsibility, for 

 the whole township of Newton were in mercy 

 on account of their fugitive reaper. 



During the period 121 7— 130 1 from the 

 Charter of the Forest to the disafForestation of 

 large tracts by Edward I., we have many notices 

 of the forests of Northamptonshire, of which few 

 can be mentioned here. As regards the supply 

 of wood, orders for grants seem to have been 

 more rare under Henry III. than in the case of 

 other royal forests, and were very seldom indeed 

 bestowed on outsiders. Possibly this points to 

 the deficiency of well-grown timber.i 



The Forest Law had for its particular object 

 the preservation of the beasts of the forest, and 

 these were generally four only — the red deer, the 

 fallow deer, the roe," and the wild-boar, and in 

 one exceptional district, the warren of Somerton, 

 the hare. 



An important landmark in the forest adminis- 

 tration was the year 1238, when two provinces 

 were formed north of Trent and south of Trent, 

 and a justice of the forest was appointed for each 

 province. Previously there had been, as a rule, 

 though exceptions are to be found, only one 

 chief forester or forest justice (the ' Capitalis 

 Forestarius ' of the Charter). His usual duties 

 were quite as much administrative as judicial, 

 and were occasionally in the thirteenth and often 

 in the fourteenth century performed by deputy. 

 Next in the official hierarchy came the wardens 

 or stewards, some hereditary, others appointed 

 during the king's pleasure. Usually each steward 

 received the custody of a single forest, but the 

 forests of Northampton, Huntingdon, Oxford, 

 and Buckingham were for a time grouped to- 

 gether, and their custodian was styled the Steward 

 of the Forests between the bridges of Stamford 



1 Rev. J. C. Cox, LL.D. Royal Forests of England, 

 chap, xix, an important contribution to the history of 

 Rockingham Forest, the advance sheets of which we 

 have, by the kindness of the author, been allowed to see. 



" Until the decision of the King's Bench (1338), 

 Coram Rege, 315, m. 106, which reduced it to a beast 

 of the warren. 



and Oxford. The deputy-wardens, later known 

 as lieutenants, were also on occasion loosely 

 called stewards, and more correctly sub-stewards.' 

 A third class of officers comprised the verderers, 

 elected, as were the coroners in the county 

 court, and generally chosen from the landed 

 gentry of the neighbourhood. The actual police 

 duties of the forest were mainly performed by 

 officers known as foresters and their pages. 

 Woodwards, agisters,* palesters, and rangers may 

 also be mentioned. 



Among the lesser courts of the forest we may 

 class the Attachment Court, which was largely 

 concerned with small trespasses to the vert, and 

 inquisitions, special and general. Probably the 

 vague term ' swanimote ' or ' swainmote,' was on 

 occasion applied to all of these. During the 

 reign of Henry III. special inquisitions were 

 frequent, and the extant rolls ' of those for the 

 forest of Rockingham (30-39 Hen. III.) were 

 probably transcribed for use in the eyre of 1255. 

 In later reigns general inquisitions largely took 

 the place of special inquiries. We may cite as 

 an example a roll of courts held in the forest of 

 Rockingham in the years 19-24 Edward I.' 

 It is quite clear that any trespass, whether against 

 vert or venison, might be dealt with. The 

 times and places of the courts seem to have fol- 

 lowed no settled order. One was held at Brigstock 

 on 6 September, 1292, before the deputy-justice of 

 the forest south of the Trent, by the deputy- 

 warden or steward of the forest between the 

 bridges of Oxford and Stamford, two riding 

 foresters, three verderers, and twelve as well 

 knights as free and loyal men of the neighbouring 

 parts of the forest. Another was held at Ged- 

 dington on the 2 January, 1292-3. It may be re- 

 marked that a number of the Whittlewood general 

 inquisitions for the years 22—31 Edward 1.7 are 

 said to have been held ' in pleno Swanimotto ' ; 

 and statutory sanction was given to the designa- 

 tion 'swanimote' in the year 1306. As far as 

 Northamptonshire is concerned, special inquisi- 

 tions were not completely superseded. At Salcey 

 both special and general inquisitions were held 

 from time to time from 15 to 33 Edward 1.8 



The Forest Eyre was the supreme court of the 

 forest, and the justices were appointed by letters 



* In an inquisition held in Rockingham Forest on 

 9 March, 1294, Adam of Nailford is described in one 

 place as ' sub-senescallus ' and in another as ' locum- 

 tenens Elye de Hauvile,' Forest Procs. Tr. of Rec. 

 82, m. 5, quoted by Turner, op. cit. p. xviii. 



* The forest ' agistment ' has left traces in the local 

 dialect ; when a farm is understocked and the occu- 

 pier takes in the cattle of another man to feed at so 

 much per head, such cattle are said to be ' jisted ' (the 

 'i ' being pronounced long). Wise, Rociingiam Castle 

 and the Watsons, p. 151. 



^ Forest Proc. Tr. of Rec. No. 63 ; Turner, Pleas 

 of the Forest, p. 79. 



6 Forest Proc. Tr. of Rec. No. 82. 



1 Ibid. No. 83. 8 Ibid. No. 78. 



342 



