n8 THE AGRICULTURAL CLUB. 



hundred yards before the plough is wheeled round and the return 

 furrows ploughed. I should be glad if some experienced plough- 

 man would tell me how close these two furrows would be. At the 

 distance of every 22 yards a balk of grass or stubble is left, and 

 the area so enclosed, known as an acre, though ploughed in 

 common, is the private property of an individual. The break- 

 up of the unity of the family has undoubtedly gone so far. 

 But only for a season. The rough fence erected round the 

 ploughed land to keep off the cattle is pulled down when the 

 harvest is reaped and the stubble becomes the common grazing 

 land of the community again. Time does not permit a more 

 detailed examination of Anglo-Saxon Agriculture, and after all 

 we are out to discover the system of land tenure. So we must 

 find out the reeve or headman of the village and ask him, " Who 

 owns this land, and what rent do you pay for it ? " Of course 

 he has not the least idea what we mean, but after a great deal 

 of explanation, I expect he will say that the land belongs to the 

 hide that is, the family living in the " mansion " we have 

 already noticed, and that no rent is paid, but the king, that 

 is to say the head of the kin, for that is what the word means, 

 has the right of free maintenance with all his following for so 

 many nights in the year when he comes round dealing out his 

 judgments under the law of the tribe. But this rent, paid in kind, 

 is already fixed in amount, and more cannot well be exacted. 

 This right, which originally existed all over Northern Europe, 

 survived in full force in Ireland down to the reign of Queen 

 Elizabeth, and was only abolished with the Brehon law. A 

 similar rent was also paid to the priest of the village in England 

 and under the name of tithe continued to be collected in kind 

 till the nineteenth century. The nature of this service is so 

 remarkable that before we leave we must try to ascertain whether 

 these men are " free," as held by some writers, or hold by a semi- 

 servile tenancy as believed by others, for the point has often 

 been discussed and is not unimportant. Again, we shall get no 

 rational reply from the reeve, but I suspect that the true answer 

 is these men are subject to no lord other than the king as far 

 as the tenure of their land is concerned, but they are not free 

 as we understand the word. They are subject to the sternest 

 tyrant that ever lived tribal custom. 



Let us now skip four or five hundred years and go over the same 

 ground in the eleventh century, say just about the time that the 

 Domesday Book is being compiled. The Roman roads will be 

 almost obliterated except in certain places. The dense forests 

 have grown much smaller and definite green roads used by 

 travellers on horseback are common everywhere, for pilgrims and 

 pedlars are constantly moving about the country. The village, 

 however, has altered a little in appearance. The large family 



