8 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 
had the right of the chase upon his own land, 
though forbidden to follow it into or upon the 
king’s woods. Both the actual customs and 
the reputed laws of Canute, as well as the cus- 
toms in the time of Edward the Confessor, give 
evidence that such was the case, and in all prob- 
ability these ancient customs were based upon 
older Scandinavian practices and laws. 
From the original folk-land held in common 
the royal demesnes and forests of England seem 
to have gradually sprung up as the king became 
more fully representative of his nation. The 
process of formation of ‘King’s Land’ and ‘King’s 
Wood’ before Domesday is somewhat obscure. 
All that seems clear is that the forests were 
considered to be a special royal possession, and 
that the higher chase was reserved for the king, 
while the lower could be enjoyed by the holder 
of the land. 
Thus, in England, the royal appropriation of 
large tracts of land, and especially of woodlands, 
practically as Forests, seems to have taken place 
as early as the period of the Heptarchy. The 
commencement was made when each petty local 
chief or princeling formed his demesne; and 
