7 8 THE DOMESDAY INQUEST 



justice ; possibly this payment was originally a fee to the 

 court for arranging a compromise. But there were also 

 offences against the Crown, such as absence from the fyrd, 

 neglect to perform "burhbot," breach of the King's peace, 

 drawing a weapon and wounding therewith so as to shed 

 blood, etc. For all these a fine was imposed, and from 

 Domesday Book we learn that the fines went to the King 

 or his representatives. Long lists of the fines payable at 

 Hereford, Shrewsbury, and Chester are given in Domesday 

 Book, and at Chester it is expressly stated that " of all these 

 forfeitures, two parts were the King's, and one part the 

 earl's." And when we read of the pleas of the hundreds 

 and the shires, and the profits arising therefrom, we are 

 reading of the sums of money accruing from these two 

 sources : (a) the " wites," or fees payable to the courts on the 

 arrangement of private feuds ; (b) the " bots," or fines for 

 offences against the Crown. Except in certain cases, all these 

 were, T. R. E., divided between the King and the earl, in the 

 proportion of two to one ; but on the suppression of many 

 of the earldoms by the Conqueror, the third pennies of the 

 suppressed earldoms reverted to the Crown. 



Often the pleas, or rather the profits of the pleas, of a 

 hundred were annexed to a manor within that hundred ; the 

 pleas of the half-hundred of Witham pertained to the manor 

 of Witham. 1 In the same way, the King's share of the profits 

 of these pleas could be annexed to a manor : To the manors 

 of Recordin, Condover, and Barchurch (Salop.) pertained, 

 T. R. E., two pence of the (pleas of the) hundreds bearing the 

 same names respectively. 2 And the earl's third penny was 

 often annexed to one of his manors : T. R. E. the third penny 

 of the hundreds of Stradford and Chistelestone pertained to 

 the manor of Burgelle ; 3 the third penny of the whole county 

 of Dorset was annexed to Harold's manor of Puddletown ; 4 



1 D. B., II. 2. * id., I. 253 a 2. 



3 /</., I. 186 a i. * Id., I. 75 a 2. 



