EXMOOR UNDER THE PLANTAGENETS. 205 



it looks very much as if the disturbances were only 

 a part, or symptom, of a general opposition to the 

 exactions of the forest officers ; an opposition which 

 the more lawless spirits carried out in the way 

 described. The row began apparently by Roger 

 Sydenham complaining to Sir John Poyntz against 

 Humphrey Sydenham — a relative, presumably — 

 described as " the Captaine of a certain bande of 

 trained soldiers," and also Richard Langham, 

 Richard Hurford, and others for " spoile lately 

 committed on the deer." 



Sir John ordered proceedings in the Star Chamber, 

 which, it will be noted, seems to have superseded 

 the Court of the Chief Justice of the Forests in 

 Eyre. In these proceedings Roger Sydenham 

 alleged that "there had always been kept a game 

 of red deare in the forest." 



Humphrey Sydenham, Edmund Horner, Humphrey 

 Quircke, and the other defendants at once filed a 

 cross complaint against Roger, but on what ground 

 is not stated — probably they alleged overstocking of 

 the common, wrongfully extorting agistment moneys, 

 &c. ; the usual charges against forest officers, of 

 which we shall see a specimen presently. Humphrey 

 and his friends, looking around for money to sustain 

 their suit, hit on the device of holding a Church Ale. 

 The subsequent events, though not strictly con- 

 nected with staghunting, throw such a curious 

 light on the state of the country as to be worth 

 recording : — 



