310 VILLAGE GREENS. 



There were numerous witnesses to prove that the in- 

 habitants had been in the habit of going on the Common, 

 from time immemorial, for recreation and games. 

 The defendants relied mainly on evidence to negative 

 this user and on the smallness of the population, 

 which was only 147 at the beginning of the century; 

 and they contended that there could not have been a 

 custom for so small a body of inhabitants to play games 

 on so large a Common, and that it was not confined to 

 the people of the parish. 



The judge submitted the case to the jury, who 

 found their verdict for Mr. Virgo ; and an injunction 

 was given to restrain the defendants from inclosing the 

 Common, from erecting barbed fences on it, and from 

 planting it with bushes. Sir A. Wills gave an im- 

 portant opinion in the course of this case, on the right 

 of outsiders to contribute to the maintenance of such 

 a suit. In answer to objections which were raised on 

 this score, he said that it was perfectly lawful for 

 anyone to subscribe to a suit, where it was believed 

 that the public interest was at stake. 



In the following year Mr. Yirgo returned to the 

 charge, and in his quality as a Commoner, claimed the 

 restitution to the Common of a portion of it known 

 as Common Hill Wood, which had been inclosed a few 

 years previously. The defendants did not dispute the 

 right of common, and the only question was whether 

 the portion claimed was originally part of the Common. 

 This was again tried before a jury at Bristol, who also 

 gave their verdict in favour of Mr. Virgo. The case is 



