310 VILLAGE GREENS. 
There were numerous witnesses to prove that the in- 
habitants had been in the habit of going on the Common, 
from time immemorial, for recreation and games. 
The defendants relied mainly on evidence to negative 
this user and on the smallness of the population, 
which was only 147 at the beginning of the century; 
and they contended that there could not have been a 
custom for so small a body of inhabitants to play games 
on so large a Common, and that it was not confined to 
the people of the parish. 
The judge submitted the case to the jury, who 
found their verdict for Mr. Virgo; and an injunction 
was given to restrain the defendants from inclosing the 
Common, from erecting barbed fences on it, and from 
planting it with bushes. Sir A. Wills gave an im- 
portant opinion in the course of this case, on the right 
of outsiders to contribute to the maintenance of such 
a suit. In answer to objections which were raised on 
this score, he said that it was perfectly lawful for 
anyone to subscribe to a suit, where it was believed 
that the public interest was at stake. 
In the following year Mr. Virgo returned to the 
charge, and in his quality as a Commoner, claimed the 
restitution to the Common of a portion of it known 
as Common Hill Wood, which had been inclosed a few 
years previously. The defendants did not dispute the 
right of common, and the only question was whether 
the portion claimed was originally part of the Common. 
This was again tried before a jury at Bristol, who also 
gave their verdict in favour of Mr. Virgo. The case is 
