TITHRS. 



i 



Three egjrs for ever)- cock and h«n, duck and drake, pay- 

 able on Wednefday before Ealler, in lieu of tithe eggs, 

 and chicken' and ducks hatched in the panfh. ( Bunb. 307. ) 

 Tliirty eggs for all tithes of eggs. ( i Roll's Abr. 648. 65 1 . 

 2 Salk. 656.) The tenth cheefe made from the ill of May 

 until the fall of Aiiguft, in difcharge of the tithe of milk. 

 'Cro. Eli/.. 609.) An halfpenny for the wool of flieep 

 .old after (hearing, and before Michaelmas. (Moore, 91 1.) 

 One penny /.<■;• head for (heep brought into the parilh after 

 Candlemas, and dipt in the paridi, in lieu of tithe of wool ; 

 three-pence per head for flieep in the parifli before Candle- 

 mas, and carried out before (hearing time, though the wool 

 titlie is not then adually due. ( i Anil. 341 . ) It is a good 

 modus for an innkeeper, that in confideration that he and 

 all, &c. have paid tithe hay and grain growing upon the land 

 belonging to tlie faid inn, and have paid tithe for all their 

 own cattle feedini{ upon the land, that they have been time, 

 S:c. difcharged of the tjthes of the horfes of their guefts 

 Rgilled in the faid land, when they travel by the faid inn ; 

 for fome have faid that this was but a perfonal tilhe, and 

 others have faid that no tithes (hould be paid for fuch a^ijl- 

 mrnl bv the common law, without any modus. 9 Vin. 

 Ab. 13. 



The tilings that are titheable are, for the moft part, as 

 follow : corn is a predial great tithe, and titheable according 

 to the cuftom of the place, commonly by the tenth fhock, 

 cock, or fheaf. Beans and peafe, expended in the houfe, are 

 fuLjeCl to no tithes ; but if they are gathered to be fold, or 

 to feed hogs, they are titheable, and are in their nature great 

 tithes. Hay is a predial great tithe, and is to be tithed in 

 fwathcs or cocks, according to the cuftom of the place. 

 Clover, rape, and woad, are fmall tithes ; heath, furze, and 

 broom are alfo titheable : but no tithe fhallbe paid of fern. 

 (2 Inft. 652.) The tithe agijlmmtk a fmall tithe, and due 

 of common right. Wood is a predial tithe, but whether 

 great or fmall, hath been queftioned between the parfons and 

 the vicars ; but it has been refolved, that if a vicar be only 

 endowed with the fmall tithes, and has always had tithe- 

 wood, in fuch cafe it fhall be accounted a fmall tithe, other- 

 wife it is to be accounted among the great tithes. Timber 

 fit for building of houfes and fhips, and comprehending oak, 

 elm, and afh, are exempted from tithes, by 45 Edw. III. 

 c. 3 ; but timber-trees, cut and corded for fuel, have been 

 adjudged to pay tithes, as well as under-wood ; however, no 

 tithe (hall be paid for the roots of trees, for wood cut for 

 huibandry or fuel, for hurdles of fheep, for hop-poles, and 

 for making of bricks, and alfo fruit-trees. When the wood 

 is titheable, it is fet out while Handing by the tenth acre, pole, 

 or perch ; or, when cut down, by the tenth faggot or billet. 

 Of under-woods fold ftanding, the tithe fhall be paid, not by 

 the feller, but by the buyer. The tithe of flax and hemp is 

 a fmall tithe, and by ftatute this is charged at 5^. per acre. 



ill & 12 Will. c. 16.) The tithe of madder is alfo a 

 mall tithe, and charged at ^s. per acre, by 31 Geo. II. 

 C. 12. The tithe of hops is predial, and reckoned among 

 fmall tithes ; it is not to be paid till after they are picked, 

 and before they are dried, every tenth meafure. Out of 

 gardens is pmd tithe of all garden herbs and plants, which 

 are fmall tithes, and may be demanded in kind : potatoes 

 aad turnips arc alfo fmall tithes, as are likewife tobacco and 

 faffron. However, in Keu of the tithes of gardens, a cer- 

 tain confideration in money is paid, either by cuftom, or by 

 a^cement with the parfon. Fruits of trees, as apples, pears, 

 plums, cherries, and the like, are predial tithes, to be paid 

 in kind when they are gathered, unlefs there is fome modus, 

 or rate-tithe, paid in lieu of them. The tenth calf is due 

 to the parfoii of common right ; and if there are feven, he. 



ftiall have one ; if under feven, a halfpenny, or what eul- 

 tom (hall direft, for each calf. But in moft places, at tliis 

 day, the cuftom hath obtained, that if there are five, the 

 parfon fhall have the value of half a calf, lamb, or other fuch 

 like ; if there are fix, he fliall have one entire ; and fhall 

 receive or pay out refpcftively a proportionable fum for each 

 number under five, or above fix. Colts and pigs are titheable 

 in the fame manner as calves ; and the time of payment of 

 thcfe tithes is when they are fo old that they may be weaned. 

 Wool and lamb are generally reckoned mixt fmall tithes. 

 Milk is a mixt tithe : where tithe-milk is paid in kind, no 

 tithe-chccfe is due ; and where tithe-checfe is paid in kind, no 

 tithe-milk is due. The tithe of milk is to be paid, not by 

 the tenth part of every meal, but by every tenth meal en- 

 tire. Deer and conies, being fene nalurts, are not titheable 

 of common right, but by fpecial cuftom. Of fowls, which 

 are domeftic, as geefe, hens, and ducks, tithes are to be 

 paid, either by paying the tenth egg, or the tenth of their 

 young, according to cuftom. It hath been adjudged, that 

 the paying of thirty eggs in Lent, is a good modus for all 

 tithes of eggs. Bees are free of tithes, but the wax and 

 honey arc chargeable at the rate of the tenth meafure of 

 honey, and the tenth weight of wax. By the books of com- 

 mon law it appears, that fome tithe or other is due for a 

 mill. Fi(h in ponds and private fifheries, and in common 

 rivers, are titheable only by cuftom. Fifh taken in the lea are 

 chargeable by cuftom as a perfonal tithe. Perfonal tithes are 

 regulated by ttat. 2 & 3 Edw. VI. c. 13 ; but perfonal 

 tithes are now fcarcely any where paid in England, unlefs for 

 mills or fifh caught in the fea, and then payable where the 

 party hears divine fervice, and receives the facrament. 



The manner or form of fetting out or payment of tithes, 

 is for the moft part governed by the cuftom of the plaee. 

 The parfon, vicar, impropriator, or farmer, cannot come 

 himfelf, and fet forth his tithes, without the licence and con- 

 fent of the owner ; for if of his own head he fhall tithe the 

 corn or hay of any land-holder within his parilh, and carry it 

 away, he is a trefpafrer,and an aftion will he againft him for it. 

 But every perfon is bound of common right, to cut down, 

 and fet out the .tithes of his own lands. And that it may 

 be done faithfully and without fraud, the laws of the church 

 entitle the parfon to have notice given him ; but by the de- 

 claration of the common law, fuch notice is not neceflary. 

 Yet neverthelefs, the common law declareth a cuftom of 

 tithing without view to be an abfurd cuftom : and by the 

 ftatute of 2 & 3 Ed. VI. c. 13. it is enafted, that at all 

 times whenfoever, and as often as any predial tithes fhall be 

 due at the tithing of the fame, it fhall be lawful to every 

 party to whom any of the faid tithes ought to be paid, or 

 his deputy or fervSnt, to view and fee their faid tithes to be 

 juftly and truly fet forth and fevered from the nine parts. 



The care of the tithes, as to wafte or fpoiling, after fever- 

 ance, refts upon the parfon, and not upon the owner of the 

 land. For it feemeth that the parfon is at his peril to take 

 notice of the tithes being fet out ; and fo it hath been de- 

 clared, that although the parifhioner ought de jure to reap 

 the corn, yet he is not bound to guard the tithes of the 

 parfon. Gibf. 689. 



But after the tithes are fet forth, he may of common right 

 come hmifelf, or his fervants, and fpread abroad, dry and 

 ftack his corn, hay, or the like, in any convenient place or 

 places upon the ground where the fame grew, till it be fuffi- 

 ciently weathered and fit to be carried into the barn. But 

 he muft not take a longer time for the doing thereof, 

 than what is convenient and necen"ary ; and what iTiall be 

 deemed a convenient and neceflary time, the laiw doth not nor 

 can define ; for the quantity of the corn or hay, and the wea- 

 ther. 



