STJMMAfcY OF MEDIEVAL LEGISLATION. 205 



by Vere, Earl of Oxford, who made the last ' iter,' or cir- 

 cuit of which there is any evidence on record. Since the 

 time of Charles I. the prerogative in forests annexed to 

 royalty has certainly not been used for oppressive pur- 

 poses ; and although there has been mismanagement and 

 worse, there has been nothing but what it was always in 

 the power of Parliament to redress/' 



The chronological order of matters leading to the en- 

 actments of these forest laws appears to have been this. 

 The primitive forests were the abode of numerous beasts 

 of prey, which destroyed the flocks and herds, and also 

 possessions of the inhabitants, and so annoyed them that 

 they were fain to destroy the woods adjacent to their 

 dwellings as a means of keeping away the wild beasts 

 sheltering in them. 



In the tenth century, Edgar, a Saxon prince, nearly 

 exterminated wolves and foxes both in England and 

 Wales : from the Welsh he also required an annual tribute 

 of wolf-skins ; and a wild pleasure was experienced in the 

 chase. To secure this enjoyment for themselves and 

 their associates the kings then took measures to preserve 

 for their hunting the wild beasts of the field, and more 

 especially those the flesh of which was delicate to the 

 taste ; and all beasts and birds which were wild by nature 

 were claimed by the king as belonging to him alone, 

 wheresoever they might be found ; so that it was not 

 lawful for any man to kill, take, or hurt any wild beast or 

 bird even within his own grounds, and if any one did so 

 he was liable to punishment for so doing. And further, 

 a restriction was imposed on the destruction of woods in 

 which wild beasts might find shelter, so that no man was 

 allowed to cut or destroy these woods a restriction in 

 which we find the primitive form of the creation in 

 England of forests as royal hunting-grounds. 



" Ordericus Vitalis," says the Hon. George P. Marsh, in 

 his volume, entitled The Earth, as Modified by Human 



