THE USE OF THE LAW. 



livery, and pay primer seisin, but not to be in ward for 

 body or land. 



By example and resemblance of the king s policy in How manors 

 these institutions of tenures, the great men and gentlemen ^^ first 

 of this realm did the like so near as they could : as for c 



, , . IT- J c , i Manors created 



example, when the king had given to any of them two Dy gre at men in 

 thousand acres of land, this party purposing in this place imitation of the 

 to make his dwelling, or, as the old word is, his mansion ^ n llc f n th e bsti 

 house, or his manor house, did devise how he might make tutions of* &quot; 

 his land a complete habitation to supply him with all nures. A ma- 

 manner of necessaries, and for that purpose, he would give nere &amp;gt; thewoid 

 of the outtermost parts of those two thousand acres one 

 hundred or two hundred acres, or more or less, as he should Knight s ser- 

 think meet, to one of his most trusty servants, with some vice tenure re- 

 reservation of rent, to find a horse for the wars, and go with ^on person*?&quot; 

 him when he went with the king to the wars, adding vow 

 of homage, and the oath of fealty, wardship, marriage, and 

 relief. This relief is to pay five pounds for every knight s Relief is five 

 fee, or after the rate for more or less at the entrance of every pound to be 

 heir; which tenant,* so created and placed, was and is to j^Mit^bv^ 17 

 this day called a tenant by knight s service, and not by his knight s service 

 own person, but of his manors ; of these he might make as to his lor(1 u P oa 

 many as he would. Then this lord would provide that the ^ecS&quot;^&quot; 6 

 land which he was to keep for his own use should be every knight s 

 ploughed, and his harvest brought home, his house repaired, fee descended. 

 his park paled, and the like : and for that end he would Soccage tenure 

 give some lesser parcels to sundry others, of twenty, thirty, [^d 6 

 forty, or fifty acres, reserving the service of ploughing a 

 certain quantity (or so many days) of his land, and certain 

 harvest works or days in the harvest to labour, or to repair 

 the house, park, pale, or otherwise, or to give him, for his 

 provision, capons, hens, pepper, commin, roses, gilliflowers, 

 spurs, gloves, or the like ; or to pay him a certain rent, 

 and to be sworn to be his faithful tenant, which tenure was 

 called a soccage tenure, and is so to this day, howbeit most 

 of the ploughing and harvest services are turned into 

 money rents. 



The tenants in soccage at the death of every tenant were Relief of tenant 

 to pay relief, which was not as knight s service is, five in soccage, one 

 pounds a knight s fee.f But it was, and so is still, one year s JJ^J^S ^ 

 rent of the land, and no wardship or other profit, to the other profit 



* Knight s service tenure created by the lord is not a tenure by knight s ser 

 vice of the person of the lord, but of his manor. 



t Aid money and escuage money is likewise due unto the lords of their 

 tenants, vide N. 3. fol. 82 and 83. 



