14 . THE FORESTS OF ENGLANt). 



forest, and fence it round ; this Commission being returned 

 into Chancery, the king causeth it to be proclaimed 

 throughout the country where the land lieth that it is a 

 forest; and prohibits all persons from hunting there 

 without his leave. Though the sovereign may erect a 

 forest on his own ground and waste, he may not do it on 

 the ground of other persons without their consent ; and 

 agreements with them for that purpose ought to be con- 

 firmed by Parliament." 



Of the more ancient forests in England I have found no 

 record or history which makes any certain mention of 

 their erection, though they are mentioned by several 

 writers and mentioned in several of our laws and statutes. 



According to Manwood, the sovereign alone can make a 

 forest, and by a sovereign alone can a forest be held ; and 

 thus is a forest distinguished from a chase, a park, a 

 warren, or a pasture. 



It appears that while a forest cannot be held by any 

 but the sovereign, it is competent to a sovereign to make a 

 grant of a forest to a subject on request made in Chancery; 

 but by this very act it ceases to be a forest, and in accord- 

 ance with this statement, it is observed by Crompton that 

 that which would otherwise be called a forest, when it is in 

 the hands of a subject, loses its name and becomes a chase, 

 which is a place of retreat for deer and wild beasts, but 

 having not the privileges, laws, and coverts of a forest, and 

 being subject to the control of common law. It differs 

 also from a forest in not being enclosed. 



Pennant states that Sir Henry Munro, of FowKs, holds a 

 forest from the Crown upon a very whimsical tenure — that 

 of delivering a snowball on any day of the year that it is 

 demanded ; and, it is added in the notice of this which I 

 have seen : he seems to be in no danger of forfeiting his 

 right by failure of the quit rent, for snow lies in the form 

 of a glacier in the chasm of Ben Nevis, a neighbouring 

 mountain, throughout the year. According to the law 

 laid down by Manwood, this ce-devant forest would, in 



