A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



their status of 'serf and nativus is in no way differentiated, the word 'serf 

 and ' native ' being used interchangeably in such expressions as ' nothing from 

 dead (serfs, natives) this year,' "' a reference clearly to the lord's power of 

 acquiring a great portion of the dead serf's chattels.'" Still more confounding 

 is the further discovery that in Lancashire these nativi of the demesne 

 were even enjoying the very privilege which it is affirmed was the distin- 

 guishing mark of the villein, namely fixed services. Most astounding of all 

 is the fact that these nativi had achieved a further victory, for they were allowed 

 and were sufficiently prosperous to be able to compound every year by a fixed 

 money payment for the definite services they had been bound to render.'" But 

 this was, according to the writers already quoted, precisely the privilege distin- 

 guishing the ' villeins ' from the ' natives,' yet here are the natives placed 

 upon an obvious equality with the villeins and with the customarii or 

 customary tenants.'" There appears in fact no distinction between the 

 nativi of Downham and the customarii of Burnley ; and what establishes 

 their position as beyond cavil is the fact that they paid an equal rent. Thus 

 on the demesne lands at Skerton the ' bondman ' paid an average of i 2j. ifd. 

 per oxgang, while the nativi oi Singleton paid at the high rate of i6j. 8d'., 

 which was exactly the rent paid by the customarii of Ribby,"* so that on 

 the basis of rent they were all equal. 



On the demesne and customary lands of the honour of Clitheroe the 

 same conditions of equality between ' natives ' and customarii prevail. Both 

 hold lands ' in bondage,' and apparently on the same terms. At Colne and 

 Downham the 'natives' pay 3J. an oxgang for 10 oxgangs, and commute 

 their services by a payment of 4^. per oxgang or 3/. in common.'" At 

 Burnley and at Great and Little Marsden, as at Padiham, the customary 

 tenants pay the same rent per oxgang, and an extra payment for services not 

 rendered.'-' Whatsoever, therefore, may have been the origin of the 

 Lancashire ' native,' whether he was a survivor of the ancient British race or 

 merely a depressed Saxon freeman, the mediaeval evidence ""' disposes us to 

 conclude that in Lancashire the 'serfs' were a less servile class than in 

 other parts of England. Some support is lent to this theory by an entry in 

 the Pipe Rolls for the year 1180, when we learn that Richard son of 

 Waltheve is offering _^5 for a writ against his men, who had revolted against 

 their enforced condition of serfdom, and were making themselves free 

 (' (jui sefaciunt liberos ') when they were no such thing."" What is certain is 



'" L.T.R. Misc. Enr. Accts. 14., m. 68 (first skin), Lands of Tlios. late earl of Lane, in Preston Le 

 Wrae, Singleton. Also cf. Mlns. Accts. bdle. 1148, No. 6, Rental of the Lacy Fee in 1324.. Colne- 

 ' Goods of deceasi;d natives — nil.' 



Ill Cf. also Uamecestre, ii, 279-80 ; also 310-12. Villeins of Gorton, Crumpsall, and Ardwick 



•W orb remitted' on the De Lacy estate are as follows :— At Downham the ' rents and services' of 

 10 oxgangs held m bondage were 30/., the land being rented at the rate of 3/. per oxgang, and a payment of 

 3/. was paid in common to the lord by the said men for the aforesaid bondages, probably for works, remitted 

 At Colne the rate for remission of services was only 4^. per oxgang ; but at Great Marsden even the 

 mam pay as much as (>d. per oxgang for remission. At Little Marsden the customary tenants only pay 

 4^ per oxgang for works excused, and at Padiham the customary tenants of 24 oxgangs compounded for it 

 at h/. yearly ; Lanes. Inq. (Rec. Soc. liv), 5-7. '^ 



K ^r f '^^"''"/'= insistence on the identity of the customary tenant and the bondman of a manor, quoted 

 by Mr. Leadam (Inq. of 15 17), p. 210. ' ^ 



, . '^\^,f'^^-\ ^°c-' ^^^''^ J^u^' °f Blackbumshire. Skerton ; ibid. m. 72 d (first skin) ; also ibid. 

 14, m^ 68 (first skin). Singleton, Ribby. '" Inq p.m. 4 Edw. II, No r i 



^^ x> p- ^ ... '"Cf. Stubbs, C.-;./. H,V/. ii, 453. 



"^ Mag. Rot. Pip. 27 Hen. II (i 180-1), No. 27, m.7,d. 



278 



