42 THE NEW FOREST 



such a commoner, was perfectly within the bounds 

 of the Crown's authority. 



The verderers had, however, endeavoured, on 

 the plea of " technical damage," to restrain such 

 things as the placing of a telephone pole on the 

 waste, arguing that on the few inches of land it 

 occupied there might have been some blades of 

 grass. Making of holes on a golf green four 

 inches in diameter and the mowing of a cricket 

 pitch fell under the same ban, and all had to 

 be carried out in the teeth of the opposition of 

 the court. 



Finally matters culminated in a lawsuit as 

 to whether the Crown, when felling or selling 

 timber, had the right (which it had exercised 

 from time immemorial) to cut it and convert on 

 the open Forest, sometimes perhaps depositing 

 temporarily a heap of sawdust caused by the 

 operation. 



A considerable array of counsel appeared on 

 both sides, with piles of arguments dating from 

 Magna Charta at the least. There was every 

 prospect of a case dealing with innumerable his- 

 torical details and lasting many days, but at the 

 suggestion of one of the judges trying the case 

 (which, as he truly pointed out, affected an 

 alleged damage that after all could not amount 

 to 5 !) a compromise was attempted. It took 



