EPPING FOREST. 123 
eager to challenge its conclusions as to their rights, and 
to vindicate their claims to inclose. The Commoners, 
a scattered and feeble folk, were little considered. The 
nature of their rights being ignored, or not understood, 
it was contended that they could only turn out their 
cattle upon the wastes of the Manors in which their 
lands were situate, and that the absence of boundary 
fences alone was the foundation of the right or practice 
of allowing their beasts to stray over the wastes of the 
other Forest Manors. Many of these inclosures were 
made by virtue of alleged customs of the Manors 
to inclose with the consent of the homage-juries 
of the copyhold tenants, summoned to the Manor 
Courts. In some cases these Courts were held very 
irregularly, and if anyone attended for the purpose 
of objecting to grants of the waste, the Court at 
which they were to be made was not opened till eight 
or nine o'clock at night, when the wearied objectors 
had departed. In one Manor the homage summoned 
consisted of persons who were to receive grants of 
waste; when it came to the turn of one of them to 
receive a piece of land, he retired from the homage, and 
another took his place; and when the grant had been 
made to him, he returned to his post and assisted in 
granting land to others. Thus the rights of the Com- 
moners were overridden by collusive acts, which in 
theory were done according to the custom of the 
Manor. In other Manors the Commoners were left to 
take any remedy which they could find. In the 
Manor of Wanstead, between 1851 and 1569, there were 
