ANCIENT FORESTS. 13 



other forests, besides chases, of which there were thirteen 

 mentioned, and parks, of which there were upwards of 

 600 fully recognised, 



The essential characteristic of a forest, Man wood inti- 

 mates, is its being set apart for the conservation of game. 

 The timber trees, which in modern times are supposed to 

 be the constituents of a forest, are, according to Man wood, 

 treated in the laws of the forest chiefly, if not exclusively, 

 as cover for game ; and the pasturage of forests, as provi- 

 sion for the support and nourishment of the same. He 

 affirms expressly : " A forest must always have beasts of 

 venery abiding in it, otherwise it is no forest; and if 

 there be neither beast of forest, nor beast of chase in the 

 same, then may men fell their woods that they have 

 within the forest and destroy their covers, for that there are 

 no wild beasts remaining in it to have cover therein;" and 

 the same thing is reiterated in language, if possible, still 

 more explicit. 



In another part he says : A forest having neither 

 beast of venerie, i.e., as he elsewhere explains the terms, 

 hart, hind, hare, boar, and wolf; nor beast of chase, i.e., 

 buck, doe, fox, marten, and roe : a forest having neither 

 beast of venerie nor beast of chase in it is no forest at all. 



It thus appears that in English law a forest is a royal 

 hunting ground, including both woods and fields, and 

 comprising, it may be, private property ; and in virtue of 

 its being a royal hunting ground legally constituted alone 

 is it so designated. 



By the Redbook Liber rubrus, it is declared that a 

 forest cannot be made in every place, but only in fit places, 

 that is, woody countries. 



" By this it appeareth," says Manwood, " that it is inci^ 

 dental to every forest to be as well replenished with woods 

 as to have pleasant food and lands for the king's deer. 



The manner of erecting a forest, according to law, is 

 thus described : " Certain Commissioners are appointed 

 under the Great Seal, who view the ground intended for a 



