EXMOOR UNDER THE PLANTAGENETS. 201 



continuously from this date, and formed the autho- 

 rity under which the lessees of the forest kept up 

 the staghounds during the eighteenth century. 



The unfortunate Anne Boleyn does not seem ever 

 to have succeeded to Exmoor, but it was settled on 

 Lady Jane Seymour, and after her death was reserved 

 into the King's own hands. 



Sir Hugh Pollard, who appears to have come from 

 a family belonging to King's Nympton, in Devon, 

 and Kilve, a village lying between the foot of the 

 Quantocks and the sea, held office on Exmoor, but 

 the date of his appointment is unknown. That 

 he lived somewhere on or near the forest seems 

 probable from a document, dated 1520, now in the 

 Record Office, and quoted by Mr. Rawle in his 

 book. There seems to have been a robbery at 

 Hillersdon House, between CuUompton and Exeter, 

 and search was made for two servants named 

 Holland: 



" Caused the city of Exeter to be searched for 

 William ; sent also to Sir Hugh Pollard to keep the 

 fords over the Ex in Exmoor." 



This either means that Sir Hugh Pollard held 

 some office as deputy for the Sheriff, or it betrays a 

 most astonishing ignorance of the district ; for the 

 " Ex in Exmoor " is nowhere more than a foot deep, 

 except in a few holes, and only a yard or two across. 

 The most likely supposition is that the thief was 

 trying to take an unfrequented route to Porlock 

 Weir, with a view to crossing to Wales, when he 



