28o THE RED DEER OF EXMOOR. 



Luckily for us in these days nothing further seems 

 to have been done in the matter, but the threatened 

 disafforestation may have been the reason for the 

 Earl of Pembroke abandoning his lease, which he 

 seems to have done before 1634, for in that year, 9 

 Car. I., Exmoor was granted to Sir John Poyntz for 

 the lives of himself, his wife Elizabeth, and his 

 daughter, who became Lady Thurles. Presumably, 

 this was the son of the Sir John Poyntz who 

 previously was forester ; he only held the grant for a 

 year, apparently dying at once, for in 10 Car. Lady 

 Thurles assigned her interest to Sir Lewes Pollard, 

 who subsequently assigned it to trustees for his 

 creditors, in whose hands it was found to be in 1657, 

 when the Commonwealth took stock of the lands of 

 the King. Lady Thurles was then said to be 72 

 years of age, and the Commissioners gave her six 

 weeks' notice to prove she was alive ; as she failed 

 to do so they reported the property to be in "' hand." 



Previous to this, however, Mr. Endymion Porter, 

 a gentleman of the bedchamber, had in 1637 offered 

 the King, with whom he was a great favourite, to 

 give him double the rent of £\6 133-. \d. if he was 

 given a grant in fee with liberty to disafforest. A 

 poor oi^er compared with the previous one. 



That the sporting rights on Exmoor were not a 

 dead letter even in those troubled times is shown 

 by a warrant in the year 1637, addressed to the 

 Ranger of Exmoor, directing him to deliver a fat 

 stag to Mr. Windam. How the stag was to be 



