250 THE CHEVAUCHEE DE ST. MICHEL. 



At different times we find that various Receiver Generals 

 of His Majesty's rents, as loyal Crown officials, tried to elimi- 

 nate this drain on their Royal Master's purse. As early as 1439 

 John Phylippe, Receiver of the King's rents, was cited to 

 appear before Denis Le Marchant, Senechal of the Court of 

 St. Michel, to explain his neglect in providing various dinners 

 which the King, as Seigneur of the Royal Court, owed his Com- 

 missioners and officials, especially those during the course of 

 the Chevauchee. The old deed from which I quote describes 

 them as follows : When starting from the door of the Yale 

 Priory there should be " du pain et du vin abondament et 

 honnestement servis ;" at the door of the Church of St. Peter 

 Port there should be provided " une table ronde, mise, fournie 

 et garnie bien et honnestement de doublier, pain et vin," also 

 on arrival at " les portes de pleinmont " there should be " du 

 pain et a boire ;" and on the return of the Chevauchee to the 

 said Priory they were entitled to have a " disner bien et 

 honnestement tous ensemble es depens et coustages de notre dit 

 Seigneur." 



The case was argued before the Court of St. Michel on the 

 9th July, 1439, and by " un bon et loyal serment de douze 

 prud'hommes de la dit paroisse de St. Michel du Valle " — who, 

 of course, found it more profitable to agree with the Abbot on 

 the spot than with the King in the offing — unanimously decided 

 that His Majesty owed these repasts " de droit et d'ancienne 

 coustume."* 1 ) 



As a matter of fact, in the Royal Extente or Rent Roll of 

 1331 these meals were not included in the list of dues owed by 

 the King to his subjects. On the contrary it is there stated 

 that the Abbot owed the Royal Court " trois diners ou repas, 

 au Baillif, au Clerq, au Prevost, ct au Bedel avec trois chevaulx 

 et deux gar cons de coutume ancienne," and although the 

 Chevauchee is not mentioned by name, this clause undoubtedly 

 refers to it, as the significant proviso is made that due notice 

 should be given to the Abbot by the King's Sheriff, and that a 

 Saturday should intervene between the notice and the feast, 

 " pour achapter les vitailles pour le dit disner " — which points 

 to the Abbot's feast being a movable one, whereas the Court of 

 Chief Pleas, after which the King's dinners are always given, is 

 held at a certain fixed date. Thus it is evident that the 

 Norman Abbots with great astuteness had managed to transfer 

 these expenses from their own shoulders to those of an English 

 King to whom they owed no allegiance. 



An analysis of these different customs discloses various 

 layers or strata built up by successive stages of civilisation. 



Begining at the top we find its latest and most obvious 

 development, the inspection of the roads and the due mainten- 



(1) This judgmant was ratified by a decree of the Royal Court dated 19th May, 

 1572. (Jugements et Records, 134 A. Guernsey Greffe). 



