THE MANOR AND THE VILLAGE 43 



ever the view of the law, custom was powerful, and 

 the interest of the lord often went with it, for he 

 naturally wished to keep on good terms with the men 

 on whose help he relied both in peace and war. The 

 bondsmen's families, therefore, must have had in a 

 large number of cases what amounted to permanent 

 tenancies, the land passing, generation after generation, 

 from father to son. 



For their holdings the peasants, whether free or 

 bond, rendered various agricultural services or rents. 

 These services and rents fall under three main head- 

 ings : (i) Week-work, an obligation which compelled 

 the peasant to work a certain number of days per week 

 on the lord's land. (2) Boon-work, which compelled 

 him to undertake special work, as, for example, carting 

 corn to market for the lord. (3) ' Gafol,' a tribute in 

 cash or kind, such as a hearth penny per year, or a 

 dozen eggs at Easter, or corn or honey, or young stock, 

 fish or fowls. Bondsmen had also sometimes to pay, 

 in addition, taxes at the lord's discretion. 



These services and rents varied not only in the 

 different manors, but in the various sections of the 

 community. Freemen's obligations were comparatively 

 light, and it appears that the freeman had never to 

 undertake the week-work ; villeins', which were 

 heavier, were different from cotters', while artisans' 

 and herdsmen's varied from the true peasant farmers'. 

 Moreover, the obligations of the men of the same 

 section varied with their holdings. A specimen of an 

 Oxfordshire villein's services a thirty-acre man as 

 rendered in the XHIth century, is given in illustration. 1 



1 This information, which is to be found in the Hundred 

 Rolls of Edward I, is based on the extracts from the Rolls given 

 in the late Mr. F. Seebohm's invaluable book on " The English 

 Village Community," pp. 43-4 (Longmans). 



