16 



Broughton Gifford. 



of no value, and drew blood from him, for which he is fined ix d ." 

 1582. " Thomas Golding and Edward Somes played at ball (lus- 

 erunt globis) against the form of the statute, fined 6 s . 8 d ." 1583. 

 " Pigs are not to range at large, except watched, unless at mast 

 [acorn] time." Mr. Gore is presented for " putting pigs into the 

 fields before the corn was rid" [carried.] 1624. " The custom 

 of Broughton Gifford is that when a tenant do die the day after 

 Michaelmas day that the Executor is to hold it [the tenement], 

 and have the use of his living, untill Michaelmas next following, 

 except the Broad meade and the summer fallow." This present- 

 ment is often repeated. 1629. " They present that there are no 

 Butts (metae, anglice Butts) to practise archery (ad exercendos 

 sagittarios; anglice artillery) 1 within the parish of Broughton Gif- 

 ford, therefore, the inhabitants must erect proper butts before the 

 end of Lent next, under a penalty of 40 shillings." 1629. "Ed- 

 ward Barrett, one of the residents within the jurisdiction of this 

 court, put dead and putrid flesh (anglice carrion) into the church 

 brooke to the damage of all the inhabitants, for which he is fined 

 6 d ." " The way across that part of the meadow called Michell 

 meade, which is beyond the brook, ought and is customarily used as 

 a bridle road (cum saccis et fasciculis, anglice with sack and sumpter 

 only), and not with wagons." Notices are frequent of assaults, 

 dung heaps (stercoraria), ditches not scoured out, houses out of 

 repair, drocks (quidam canales, anglice thoroughs) wanted, stiles 

 (climaces) in various directions to be put up, found in decay (to be 

 repaired by the lord), pound breach, trees destroyed, gates to be 

 repaired (Awfield gate seems to have given a deal of trouble), 

 " driver of the fields " (agrophylactes) appointed, boundaries to be 

 set out by arbitration, sawpits unlawfully dug in the street, cattle 

 not pastured according to the order of the stint agreed upon, but 

 above all, cottages built, and gardens enclosed out of the lord's 

 was te ; — sometimes as many as nine in one presentment. Unhap- 

 pily the court, however right in its decisions, had not the power 

 of enforcing them. Sometimes the Homage complain, " we can 

 have no reformation, though we have often presented." At last 

 1 " And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad." 1. Sam. xx. 40. 



