EARLY HISTORY. 155 



succeeded by Richard de Plecy, who died without 

 children in 1289, and the forestership devolved on 

 his sister Sabina, who in 1307 married Nicholas 

 Pecche. She was followed by her son Nicholas 

 Pecche and her grandson Mathew Pecche, who 

 in 1337 sold the estates and the office of forester in 

 fee to Sir Richard d'Amori, who paid a fine to the 

 Crown of £20/^ Sir Richard d'Amori sold a life 

 interest to Mathew de Clevedon, and subsequently 

 to Roger Beauchamp, who tranferred the whole 

 interest to Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, in 1359. 

 This terminated what may be called the first period 

 of the history of Exmoor. This was a stirring and 

 troublous period of history, not only round Exmoor, 

 but over the whole of England. The iron hand of 

 the Norman had closed down on the land, and in 

 respect of nothing with more ruthless tyranny than 

 with regard to the game in the Royal forests. 



Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the word 

 forest does not necessarily imply trees, though 

 Manwood seems to hold the opinion that covert for 

 deer is essential to a forest — it means a place where 

 fierce, wild animals, particularly deer, had special 

 protection by law. 



With the exception of a few quite modern planta- 

 tions, there are not, and probably never were, within 

 the bounds of the forest of Exmoor, as determined 



* It is worthy of note that at about the same period the Pecches 

 sold Beaurepaire, in Hampshire, to Sir Bernard Brocas, the here- 

 ditary Master of the Royal Buckhounds. 



