5. YORKSHIRE. 63 



fervatlon confirmed by tradition, that mnny 

 of the grafsland commons, which now remain, 

 and which a few years fince were thickly fcat- 

 tered over the kingdom, were formerly co- 

 vered wholly or partially with wood ; the 

 original fources of fuel and panage : which 

 fuel and panage belonged exclufively to the 

 orij^inal houfes : confcquently, when the land 

 which produced them v.-as cleared, the houfes 

 hid a pica for an cxclufive right to the her- 

 hfl^e Which fucceedcd. 



o 



Thus the ancient houfes having, by original 

 right, a claim upon the wcodj and, by impli- 

 cation, upon the herbage \v\\\c\\ fucceeded it^ 

 they became objedls of importance compared 

 with modern houfes ; and it appears to have 

 grown gradually into a cuftom, which in 

 time became law, that no modern l:oufc, nor 

 even the lands of the townfhip which lay to 

 them, fliould enjoy either the fuel or the her- 

 bagc of the commons. 



Thus the ancient houfes by implication 

 gained in part, and by ufurpation entirely, a 

 privilege oi prefenting the lands of the town- 

 fiiip with ihQ freedom of the commons : which 



privilege 



