30 THE ROYAL FORESTS OF ENGLAND 



on this, says : " It is unfortunate that no documents still 

 exist which relate to the forests in Nottingham and Derby in 

 the reign of Henry III. or his predecessors," and adds that 

 a roe occurs in the Nottingham forest eyre of 15 Edw. I., 

 but that as this is a single case, the great rarity of the roe in 

 these counties may be inferred. The instances here adduced 

 show that this is a mistake. 



At the eyre for Pickering forest, Yorks, in 1338, the 

 question as to whether the roe was a true beast of the forest 

 arose, and the justices in eyre referred the question to the court 

 of King's Bench, when it was decided (contrary to previous 

 decisions) that it was a beast of the warren, for the curious 

 reason that it put to flight other deer. It has been supposed 

 that from that date the roe ceased to be a beast of the forest 

 throughout England. But that decision was either not gene- 

 rally known, or applied only to the peculiar case relative to the 

 manor of Seamer. In 1398 a case was presented at a swain- 

 mote held at Tideswell, Derbyshire, of a venison trespasser 

 killing a roebuck and a fallow doe. As late as 7 Henry VII. a 

 charge of taking a roe deer in a snare in Clarendon forest was 

 preferred against an offender, at the eyre held at Salisbury. 



There are many interesting particulars relative to the roe 

 deer in the records of Pickering forest. Edward II., in 1322, 

 paid the large sum of $ for cord to make nets to catch roe- 

 buck. This expenditure on cord would not be for the purpose 

 of making small snares, but to aid in the construction of a 

 buckstall into which the deer would be driven. Henry, Lord 

 Percy, claimed, in 1338, to hunt and take fox, roe deer, cat, 

 and badger on his manor of Seamer, although within the 

 forest. The jury found that Lord Percy and all his ancestors 

 had hunted and taken roe deer, but that that animal was a 

 beast of the forest, for which offence poachers had been con- 

 victed and fined at the last eyre. The justices referred this 

 point to the judgment of King's Bench, with the result already 

 stated. 



The few cases of venison trespass that are extant with regard 

 to the forest of Exmoor, prove that it possessed both red deer 

 and roebuck. Presentments for killing roe deer are also extant 

 in the case of the Forest of Dean and several others. 



The WILD BOAR. The wild boar is one of the oldest and 



