ABOLISHED BY ROYAL WARRANT. 91 



a strong manifestation of royal wrath ; yet it was as mild 

 asithe note of a hunting-horn compared with the ultimatum 

 at the end of the King's letter : " And to insert in the said 

 warrant instead of him (Sir Pexsall Brocas) the name of 

 Robert Rayne, now Sergeant of the Buckhounds for that 

 Kennel, requiring in the same, the said Sheriff to make all 

 payments, mentioned in the said Privy Seal, to the said 

 Robert Rayne, until His Majesty's pleasure be signified to 

 them to the contrary." To conform with the King's arbitrary 

 behest would be illegal, as, pursuant to the Patent of the 

 27th Henry VI., no one, other than the holder of the 

 Manor of Little Weldon, was entitled to receive the stipend 

 appertaining to the Hereditary Master of the Royal Buck- 

 hounds, and payable to him. in that capacity by the Sheriffs 

 of Surrey and Sussex, for the time being. Without going to 

 such an extreme, the King had the power of effectually stop- 

 ping the Hereditary Master's annual stipend by simply 

 withholding the Writ of Privy Seal. Without that warrant 

 the Sheriff would not be authorised to pay the stipend levied 

 on the issues of those counties. On the other hand, the fact 

 of Robert Rayne having been foisted into the office held by 

 Brocas, clearly indicates that the Hereditary Mastership was, 

 at this time, practically considered obsolete. This opinion, how- 

 ever, did not invalidate the financial obligations incidental to 

 the office, nor did it affect the sergeanty of the custody of the 

 hounds appertaining to the Manor of Little Weldon ; for, so long 

 as the writ of Privy Seal could be obtained, the stipend could 

 not be withheld, provided the Sheriff could raise sufficient 

 money to meet the claim. That this view of the case was 

 ultimately adopted (when calmer councils prevailed, after 

 the storm had subsided) is manifested by the fact that Sir 

 Pexsall Brocas obtained his Privy Seal, and the Sheriff of 

 Sussex paid him 50/. by right of his office in 1610. At this 

 time Thomas Brown was still the huntsman, and Richard 

 Ailiff and Robert Duck the yeomen berners of this branch of 

 the pack. 



Robert Rayne continued to officiate as sergeant of the 



