A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



demesne, and for as long or as short a time as suited his convenience. The 

 lord could cancel the agreement when he pleased, from which Mr. Leadam 

 argues the insecurity of their tenures as compared with that of the holders in 

 villeinage.^'' If, however, they were as unprotected as Mr. Leadam infers, it 

 is strange that this form of tenancy should have proved so popular in 

 Lancashire. A great portion of the demesne lands of the honour '" were let 

 in this way, and so was the greater part of the De Lacy land.^" Though in 

 the counties with which Mr. Leadam deals the tenants at will were of the 

 villein class, in parts of Lancashire they were of a most mixed order, 

 embracing in 1324, at West Derby for instance, the reeve, the physician, the 

 harper, the carpenter, Adam the clerk of Liverpool, Sir Alan the chaplain, 

 Henry the vicar of Childwall, John the smith, and Sir John the chaplain.'" 



The social relation of the tenants at will to their manorial overlord is 

 very precisely detailed for us in an ancient custom roll of the manor of Ashton- 

 under-Lyne for the year 1422. Like some of the tenants on the De Lacy and 

 royal estates, those at Ashton seem to have rented cottages at varying rents, 

 paid annually, and here the tenants at will took their holding for ' twenty 

 winter terms,' and the rent was paid by two instalments twice a year. Their 

 labour services were very strictly defined, and among these was a very curious 

 one, namely, ' the return of a present to the lord at Yule or Christmas for the 

 sake of partaking in the annual feast of the great hall.'**" Here again, as in 

 the lord's privilege of multure previously commented upon, we are struck with 

 the harsh, unbending, ungenial character of the feudal lord's attitude towards 

 his tenantry. He took all they would or could give, and did not even vouch- 

 safe them the loan of his hall as a hostel for festal relaxation unless each tenant 

 contributed his or her individual payment towards the feast. The tenants 

 appear to have entertained themselves and their lord at this Ashton festival, 

 and from the ungenerous conditions of the entertainment, it was very properly 

 styled the ' Drink-lean.' A king of misrule, ' known as Hobbe the King,' 

 presided at the feast, with power to punish ' all who exceeded his royal notions 

 of decency.' '" In these rude festivals the mediaeval peasantry sought relaxa- 

 tion from the monotonous routine of their daily life. Their opportunities for 

 social intercourse were few, but were afforded at the weekly markets and 

 yearly fairs, which from an early period had been established in Lancashire. 

 At these gatherings it was customary to pay bills, transact law business, and 

 pass the latest news from court. 



Salford market dates from 1228."' Wigan market and fairs date from 

 the reign of Henry III, when the town was made a borough."' There were 



'" Cf. 'Inq. of I 5 17,' Trans. Roy. His:. Sec. (New Ser.), (1892), vi, 207. 



"'Rentals and Surv. R. 379 ; Hale, in tenants at will; also Rentals of manor of Hollan d, where 

 there were 7 1 tenants at will ; also Bolton-le-Sands, I 5 tenants at will, &c., &c. 



'^'Cf. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. II, No. 51. At Colne 551 acres of demesne were demised to tenants 

 at will ; at Great Marsden, 335 acres; at Little Marsden, 243 J acres; at Brierdiffe, 166 J acres; at 

 Burnley, over 354 acres ; at Padiham, 99J acres ; at Ightenhill, 151 acres ; at Accrington, io6i acres '; at 

 Cliviger, 80 acres ; at Haslingden, 183 acres ; and so on. 



"' Rentals and Surv. 379, m. 9. Rentals of (West) Derby (17 Edw. II). There are 167 tenants at 

 will, including those mentioned above. Cf. Lanes. Inf. (Rec. Soc. liv), 85-91. 



"° From Dr. Hibbert's ' Observations on the Custom Roll and Rental of Ashton-under-Lyne,' read before 

 the Society of Scottish Antiquaries in 1822. This Roll is published by the Chet. Soc. (Ixxiv 117). 



'*' Ibid. 120. ' 



"' Ca/. Close, 1227—31, p. 54. 



'" Quoted by Baines, Hist, of Lanes, (ed. Harland, ii, 172), as being granted 42 Hen. Ill (1258). 



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