THE COMMON-PASTURES 27 



of cottages. The most important part of these lands were the 

 common pastures, which were often the only grass that arable 

 farmers could command for their live-stock. They therefore 

 formed an integral and essential part of the village farm. No 

 rights were exercised upon them by the general public. On the 

 contrary, the commons were most jealously guarded by the privileged 

 commoners against the intrusion or encroachments of strangers. 

 The agistment of strange cattle or sheep was strictly prohibited : 

 commoners who turned out more stock than their proper share 

 were " presented " at the manorial courts and fined ; cottages 

 erected on the commons were condemned to be pulled down ; the 

 area within which swine might feed was carefully limited, and the 

 swine were to be ringed. 1 Those who enjoyed the grazing rights 

 were the occupiers of arable land, whose powers of turning out 

 stock were, in theory, proportioned to the size of their arable 

 holdings, and the occupiers of certain cottages, which commanded 

 higher rents in consequence of the privilege. It was on these 

 commons that the cattle and sheep of the village were fed. Every 

 morning the cattle were collected, probably by the sound of a horn, 

 and driven to the commons by the village herdsman along drift 

 ways, which were enclosed on either side by moveable or permanent 

 fences to keep the animals from straying on to the arable land. In 

 the evening they were driven back, each animal returning to its 

 own shelter, as the herd passed up the village street. Similarly, 

 the sheep were driven by the village shepherd to the commons by 

 day, and folded at night on the wheat fallows. Sheep were the 

 manure carriers, and were prized as much for their folding quality 

 as for their fleeces. In some districts they were kept almost 

 entirely for their agricultural value to the arable land. Until the 

 winter they were penned in the common fold on the fallows or the 

 stubbles. After the fallows had been ploughed, and before the 

 crops on the other fields were cleared, they had only the commons. 

 During winter each commoner was obliged to find hay for his 

 sheep and his own fold, the common shepherd penning and folding 

 them so as gradually to cover the whole area. 



The open-field system, thus briefly sketched with its arable, 

 meadow, and permanent pasture land, prevailed at some time or 



1 The Regulations for " Common Rights at Cottenham and Stretham " 

 are printed by Dr. Cunningham in the Camden Miscellany, vol. xii. (1910), 

 pp. 173-296. 



