234 THE ROYAL FORESTS OF ENGLAND 



rabbits, and wild cats ; that he had appropriated escape of 

 beasts, and received fines for hare and rabbit poaching that 

 ought to have gone to the king ; that he had imprisoned men 

 and bound them with iron chains for trifling forest trespasses, 

 and had released them on payment of fines ; that he had taken 

 twenty-four marks from Richard of Whitchurch for taking 

 a buck without a warrant, and IOQS. from Henry Murdoch for 

 his mastiffs that were found following his ploughman to Deep- 

 dale within the forest ; that he amerced various townships for 

 offences at his will ; that every year, save the year between the 

 battles of Lewes and Evesham, he had his piggery and pigs, 

 sometimes to the number of 300, digging in the forest en- 

 closure to the great injury of the pasturage of the king's deer; 

 that he had appointed a forester for the last three years to 

 guard the road between Stamford bridge and Casterton, on 

 the outlying part of the forest on the east side, to take chemin- 

 age for his own use, charging 4^. on every cart carrying wood 

 or timber from the county of Lincoln to Stamford, an entirely 

 novel charge ; that he made a gaol of his own at Allexton 

 (just over the borders in Leicestershire), full of water at the 

 bottom, and there imprisoned unlawfully many men of his 

 bailiwick in the county of Rutland, whereas they ought to be 

 taken to the castle of Oakham. Almost every one of these 

 and other charges were considered proved by the justices, 

 the clauses on the rolls where they are stated ending for 

 the most part with "therefore to judgement with him" (ideo 

 ad judicium de eo}. 



Another charge against Peter de Neville was that he had 

 increased the number of foresters, and put pages under them, 

 to the overburdening of the district. It was proved that five 

 walking foresters, to wit, two for Beaumont bailiwick, two for 

 Braunston bailiwick, and one in the park of Ridlington, 

 together with one riding forester with a page, was the full 

 ancient complement of such officials for the Rutland and 

 Leicester forest ; the justices made order that this number was 

 not to be increased. 



The whole of this elaborate accusation against the forest 

 keeper is set forth at length in Turner's Forest Pleas (pp. 43-53), 

 together with the following recital of the forest bounds (1269) 

 taken at the same eyre : 



