ANCIENT AND MODERN FORESTRY 27 
time. There seems to be no record as to the 
place where, or date when, the first park was 
formed; but Domesday Book mentions sixteen 
subjects who then held parks. From the time of 
Edward I. onwards most great men had parks 
and chases, while licenses to impark are frequently 
recorded in the Patent Rolls. Portions of royal 
forests could be granted to subjects by letters- 
patent, but only the king could hold a forest, as 
he alone could appoint a ‘ Chief Justice in Eyre,’ 
an officer essential to the definition of the land 
as Forest. When portions of forest were thus 
granted, all the officers remained except the 
Justice in Eyre. In ancient law books the Chief 
Justices in Eyre were called fusticiarii [tinerantes, 
or judges holding a sort of roving commission, 
the English name being derived from the old 
French Erre, or Ir, ‘to go.’ This high function- 
ary can be traced back to the time of Henry II. 
It was considered an office of such great trust and 
dignity, and of such high honour and authority, 
that it was always filled by a peer of the realm, 
who was also a Privy Councillor. Originally there 
were three such justices for different parts of the 
kingdom, who had to make tours through their 
