GROWTH OF THE MANOR n 



the demesne. If he owned neither horse nor ox, he would 

 sometimes have to use his own back. 1 



The holding of the villein did not admit of partition by sale' 

 or descent, it remained undivided and entire. When the holder 

 died all the land went to one of the sons if there were several, 

 often to the youngest. The others sought work on the manor 

 as craftsmen or labourers, or remained on the family plot. 

 The holding therefore might contain more than one family, but 

 to the lord remained one and undivided. 2 



In the fourth class came the bordarii, the cotarii, and the 

 coliberti or buri ; or, as we should say, the crofters, the cottagers, 

 and the boors. 



The bordarii numbered 82,600 in Domesday, and were 

 subject to the same kind of services as the villeins, but the 

 amount of the service was considerably less. 3 Their usual 

 holding was 5 acres, and they are very often found on the 

 demesne of the manor, evidently in this case labourers on the 

 demesne, settled in cottages and provided with a bit of land of 

 their own. The name failed to take root in this country, and 

 the bordarii seem to become villeins or cottiers. 4 



The cotarii, cottiers or cottagers, were 6,800 in number, 

 with small pieces of land sometimes reaching 5 acres. 5 

 Distinctly inferior to the villeins, bordarii, and cottars, but 

 distinctly superior to the slaves, were the buri or coliberti who, 

 with the bordars and cottars, would form a reserve of labour 

 to supplement the ordinary working days at times when work 

 was pressing, as in hay time and harvest. At the bottom of 

 the social ladder in Domesday came the sjayes, some 25,000 

 in number, who in the main had no legal rights, a class which 



1 Vinogradoff, Villeinage in England, p. 285. 



2 Ibid. p. 246 ; and English Society in the Eleventh Century, p. 448. At 

 the end of the eighteenth century, in default of sons, lands in some 

 manors in Shropshire descended to the youngest daughter. Bishton, 

 General View of the Agriculture of Shropshire, p. 178. 



3 Vinogradoff, English Society in the Eleventh Century, p. 456. 



4 Maitland, Domesday Book, p. 40. 5 Ibid. 



