THE TENANT-FARMER, 1583-1702. 813 



into my hands is that of the Belvoir estate, which I procured 

 by the kindness of Lord John Manners. The extent of this 

 estate in 1692 was 18,837 acres, and the rental ,3,367, or a 

 fraction over 35. 6d. an acre. In 1692 the rents were revised 

 and slightly raised, the rental being 3,690, or a little over 

 3^. iod. an acre. I am well aware that this estate has been 

 by ancient tradition very leniently rented, as I learned, years 

 ago, when I had for a time the use of a house on it. But 

 I cannot account for the discrepancy between the Belvoir 

 and the Coke rentals on this ground alone, and I conclude 

 that the cloth-weaving industry had not taken such a hold 

 on this district as it had on Norfolk. It would seem that, 

 though one of the Belvoir estates is described as chiefly pas- 

 ture, the rent of this part of the property is rather below the 

 average. 



A third rental, printed in vol. vi. p. 713, is of the estate 

 of Lord Kingston in North Notts. In this case it appears 

 that the owner entrusted one of his tenants, Mr. John Wildbore, 

 with the collection of his rents. How the rental came into 

 the possession of the well-known Samuel Pepys I do not know, 

 but it is among his papers in the Rawlinson Collection. This 

 is by far the most highly rented estate which I have found, the 

 average being about los. an acre. But on the other hand, 

 much of the property is described as meadow and pasture, the 

 goodness of the farm-houses is dwelt upon, and in two of the 

 parishes it is said that the tenant has rights of common. 

 Some of the tenements too are cottages with land attached 

 to them, the rent of which slightly increases the rent by the 

 acre ; and in Saundby and North Wheatley the tenancies are 

 said to be tithe free, a very important factor in the farmer's 

 profits when the produce is small and the cost of cultivation 

 high. 



There is very little entirely arable land let. Three small 

 tenancies are at 6s. 8</. an acre, but most of the occupancies 

 are of arable meadow and pasture, and the two latter are 

 generally in excess of the former. It would seem then that Lord 



