SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



he must resume work either in person or by deputy. Should he not recover 

 he might make his will by view of the bailifF, and after his death his widow 

 might remain in the house for thirty days without doing any work, and if 

 she gave 5^. for heriot, in addition to the best beast, she might retain the 

 land so long as she pleased ; upon her death the best beast again accrued to 

 the lord. At Cranfield ** an instance occurs in which a widow granted a 

 quarter virgate of the villeinage, which she held at rent, to Walter Marshall, 

 a free tenant, on condition that he should support her for life, and the grant 

 seems to have been held so far valid that Walter's heirs were allowed to retain 

 the land. The principle of heredity seems also to have been to some extent 

 recognized in practice, though not in theory ; as in Cranfield we find Robert 

 son of Eva de Horle holding half a virgate of work land which his mother 

 had held,^" while Elyas de Pyro had succeeded Ralph de Pyro, Richard 

 Alberd held land, part of which Reginald Alberd had held, William son of 

 Alan had land which Alan son of Si ward (probably his father) had held," 

 and other instances might be given. Still more remarkable is the case of 

 Ralph Pick," a serf of Segenhoe, who in 1286 brought an action of 

 mort (^ancestor against his lord, the prior of Dunstable. It is true that 

 he abandoned the action before it came up for trial, but as the prior, 

 upon payment of zos., granted him the land in dispute to be held by 

 the same service by which his father had held it, his claim seems to have 

 been recognized. The sokemen, however, of Weston, who claimed that 

 their heirs should be admitted to their lands upon paying heriot,'* were 

 probably freemen, and in any case were exceptionally situated as tenants 

 of ancient demesne. The distinction between the free and the unfree is 

 exceedingly complicated ; there were, for instance, at Sharnbrook, villein 

 cottars holding by money rents of about 2J., and free cottars holding 

 similar tenements at rents of from 18^. to zod.^* The one certain proof 

 of the villein, in this county as elsewhere, was his liability to be tallaged 

 ad altum et bassum, and his inability to sell his horse or ox, or cause his 

 son to receive the clerical tonsure, without licence, or marry his daughter 

 without paying ' merchet.' " 



Belonging to the unfree class were the officials and the servants {famuli) 

 of the manor. On the reeve devolved all the duties of the modern farm 

 bailifF, and in addition many others incidental to the system of forced labour. 

 As compensation for occupying this onerous post he was excused all work 

 services and usually held a virgate in right of his office,"' though at Til- 

 brook he appears only to have received two cart-loads of wood." The smith 

 also held a tenement free from work and was bound in return to repair the 

 ironwork of a certain number of ploughs and shoe the oxen pulling them.'® 

 The woodward was another official often found, also the warrener or game- 

 keeper ; below them came the carters, ploughmen (usually about six in 

 number), ' daye ' or dairy keeper, shepherds and swineherds, all receiving 

 about 3J. ^d. a year, and women servants and carters' boys, paid only 2j.'* 



" Ramsey Chartul. (Rolls Ser.), i, 439- '" ^•'i'l- 444- 



51 Ibid. 465. '' ■<^»»- Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 327. 



» Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), i, 6. " Ibid, ii, 323. 



" Ramsey Chartul. (Rolls Ser.), i, 466, 472, 478. '° Mins. Accts. bdle 740, nos. z, 5. 



" Rentals and Surveys R. 44. " Mins. Accts. bdle. 740, nos. i, 10. 



*' Ibid. nos. 1,3; bdle. 741, no. 19. 



2 81 II 



