54 THE BREAK-UP OF THE MANOR 



frequented the local statute fairs, or mops — cowmen with the hair 

 of cows twisted in their button-holes, or carters and ploughmen with 

 whip-cord in their hats. Thus the very legislation which was 

 designed to maintain the supply of rural labour and check migra- 

 tion into towns, introduces that principle of freedom of movement 

 which is essential to the modern relations of employer and employed. 

 In another respect, also, the Labour Statutes loosened the depend- 

 ence of bondmen on their manorial lords. The jurisdiction of the 

 king's law courts was extended till it invaded the sacred precincts 

 of the manor court, and settled disputes between the lord and his 

 villeins. Wages even were no longer to be fixed as between a bond- 

 man and his feudal lord ; they were to be controlled by Justices of 

 the Peace acting as the king's agents. It is not suggested that 

 the fifteenth century labourer benefited by a change which virtually 

 transferred the right of fixing wages to an association of employers. 

 But the transfer of authority was a not unimportant step towards the 

 complete collapse of the manorial organisation, and towards free 

 competition as the true basis of money wages. 



