42 THE ROYAL FORESTS OF ENGLAND 



royal woods ended fifteen days after Michaelmas. The usual 

 agistment fee was a penny for each pig above a year old, and 

 a halfpenny for every pig above half a year old. The swain- 

 motes were constantly engaged in the late autumn, throughout 

 England, in fining those who had unagisted pigs in the forest. 

 The pannage fees were usually paid at a special swainmote 

 held about Martinmas, which was sometimes, as in Duffield 

 Frith, called the pannage, or "tack" court. Each tenant who 

 had common rights "tacked," or declared the number of his 

 pigs turned into the forest. Any untacked were forfeited, and 

 the tenant was also fined according to the steward's pleasure. 

 When the tenant had as many as seven swine, the king had 

 one, but returned ^d. for it to the tenant ; if eight, the king 

 had one, returning zd. ; if nine, id. was returned ; but if ten, 

 one was taken with no return. This remained the Duffield rule 

 to the end of its days as a forest. There is also a good deal of 

 evidence of this being carried out in other forests; particularly 

 the proviso of the king having the best one of every ten 

 pannaged swine. 



Guildford park, in the Surrey portion of Windsor forest, 

 was agisted in 1257 with 156 pigs, and in that case the king's 

 claim was the heavy one of every third pig, amounting to 

 52 pigs worth 2s. each. In 1260 the same park was agisted 

 with 240 pigs ; but for that year 4^. was paid for each pig. 



At a pannage court held at Birkley lodge on 2Qth October, 

 1523, for all the wards of Needwood forest, the pannage fees 

 for 185 pigs amounted to 2js. o\d. y being at the usual rate of 

 id. a pig, and \d. for a young pig. 



Fines for collecting and carrying off both acorns and beech 

 mast were not uncommon at the autumn swainmotes. 



It should be remembered that any freeman, in the case of 

 swine and other animals, had a right, by the Charter of the 

 Forest, to agist any free wood of his own, though situated in a 

 forest, in accordance with his desire, and take his own pannage. 

 The charter also granted leave to any freeman to drive his 

 swine through royal demesne woods, in order to gain his own 

 wood or some place outside the forest. 



CATTLE. The agistment of cattle in certain stretches of the 

 forest, as well as their pasturing on particular lands, was usual 

 throughout England. From an early date it was customary to 



