Henry VIII. 



Sporting t7iid Rural Records of the Cheveley Estate. 15 



is likewise confirmed by the fact that, soon after, this manor Ditton 



(which, at the time mentioned, was worth only ;^22 i2,y. 6d. a alence. 



year; was acquired by Henry VI 11., who gave Sir Giles Capel Sir Giles Capel 



three manors in Essex, Herts, and Middlesex, producing an ^nd 



annual income of thrice the value of this one taken by the 



King in exchange for them. These incidents prove that the 



value of shooting rights is not of so recent a creation as is 



commonly supposed ; a careful investigation of conveyances of 



estates and old leases (as in this case) demonstrates that the 



" apprehensione volatilium " (fowling), in cases where what we now 



term the " shooting," was good, commanded a specific value over 



and above the agricultural produce of the land. It is obvious Bluff 



King Hal acquired this manor because the game there was probably 



the best obtainable in his dominions. 



Sir Giles Capel was son and heir of Alderman Sir William 

 Capel (Lord Mayor of London in 1503 and 1509) and Margaret, 

 daughter of Sir Thomas Arundel, Knight, of Lanhern, co. Cornwall. 

 Sir William obtained a grant of the manor of Ditton Valence in the 

 thirteenth year of the reign of Henry VII. (.\.D. 1498). His son, 

 Giles Capel, was one of the most famous sportsmen and cavaliers 

 of the reign of Henry VIII. We first hear of him when he was 

 appointed a captain to serve in the expedition to France in June, 

 15 1 2, where, by his martial deeds, he attained a high reputation, 

 and was knighted for his valour at the sieges of Terouenne and 

 Tournay, and at the action of Guinegate, called the Battle of Spurs. 

 The ceremony of his knighthood was attended with all the pomp 

 and circumstance of victory in the church of Terouenne, " after 

 the Kinge came from Masse, under the banner in the Churche, 

 December 25th, in the 5th yeare of his reigne " (.\.D. 1513). Sir 

 Giles attended the King during the expedition into France in 1520, 

 where he and others challenged all gentlemen there to feats of arms 

 for four days. This famous tournament is known as " The Field 

 bf the Cloth of Gold," and so well did Sir Giles do his devoir on 

 that occasion, that he was included among those, on the English 



