666 FOR 
record. Mtinw. c. 2. Though the king may now ereft a fo¬ 
reft on his own ground and waftes, he may not do it in 
the ground of other perfons, without their confent ; and 
agreements with them for that purpofe ought to be con¬ 
firmed by parliament. 4-Injl. 300. 
Proof of a foreft appears by matter of record ; as by 
the eyres of the juft ices of the forefts, and other courts, 
and officers of forefts, See. and not by the name in grants. 
12RJ.22. Bounds of a foreft may be afeertnined by 
commiflion from the lord chancellor; and commiflioners, 
fheriffs, officers of forefts, &c. are impowered to make 
inquefts thereof. 16 & 17 Car. I. c. 16. Al(o the bounda¬ 
ries of forefts are reckoned a part of the toreft ; for it any 
perfon kill or hunt any of the king’s deer in any highway, 
river, or other inchifive boundary of a foreft, he is as great 
an offender as if he had killed or hunted deer within the 
foreft itfelf. 4 Injl. 318. By the grant of a foreft, the 
game thereof doth pal’s; and beafts of the foreft are the 
hart, hind, buck, doe, boar, wolf, fox, hare, See. 
The ancient feafons for hunting whereof are as follow, 
viz. that of the hart and buck begins at the feart of St. 
John Baptift, and ends at Holyrood day ; of (he hind 
and doe, begins at Holyrood, and continues till Candle¬ 
mas; of the boar, from Chriftmas to Candlemas; ot the 
fox, begins at Chriftmas, and continues till Lady-day ; 
of the hare, at Michaelmas, and lafts till Candlemas. 
Dyer 169. 4. Injl. 316. * 
Not only game, &c. are incident to a foreft, but alfo a 
foreft hath divers fpecial properties. 1. A foreft truly 
and ftriftly taken, cannot be in the hands of any but the 
king; for none but the king hath power to grant com- 
million to any one to be a jultice in eyre of the foreft : but 
if the king grants a foreft to a fubjeft, and grants further 
that upon requeft made in chancery, he and his heirs 
(hall have juftices of the foreft, then the fubjeft hath a 
foreft in law. 4 Injl. 314. Cro. Jac. 155. 
The fecond property of a foreft is the courts; as the 
juftice-feat, the fwainmote, and court of attachment. 
The third property is the officers belonging to it; as firft, 
the juftices of the foreft, the warden or warder, the ver- 
derors, forefters, agifters, regarders, keepers, bailiffs, 
beadles, See. 
The court of the fwainmote is no left incident to a fo¬ 
reft, than a court of piepowder to a fair : and, if this fail, 
there is nothing remaining of the foreft, but it is turned 
into the nature of a chafe. Manw. c. 21. The court ot 
attachment or woodmote in forefts, is kept every forty 
days ; at which the forefters bring in the attachment de 
viridi et venatione , and the prefentments thereof, and the 
verderors are to receive the fame and inroll them; but 
this court can only inquire, not convidl. The court of 
fwainmoie is holden before the verderors as judges, by the 
fteward of the fwainmote, thrice in the year: the fwains or 
freeholders within the foreft are to appear at this court, to 
make inquefts and juries ; and this court may inquire de fu- 
peroneatione forejlarionm et aitorumminijlrorum forejlce, et deeo- 
ru?n cppreflianiLits populo nojt 0 illatis: and alio may receive 
and try prefentments certified from the court of attach¬ 
ments, againft offences in vert or venifon. And this court 
may inquire of offences, and convitf alfo, but not give judg¬ 
ment, which muft be at the juftice-feat. 4Injl. 289. The 
court of regard, or furvey of dogs, is holden likewife 
every third year, for expectation, or lawingof dogs, by 
cutting off to the Ikin three claws of the fore feet, to 
prevent their running at or killing the deer. No other 
dogs but maftiffs are to be thus lawed or expeditated, 
for none other were permitted to be kept within the 
precinfts of the foreft, it being fuppofed that the keep¬ 
ing of tliei'e, and thefe only, was neceffary for the defence 
of a man’s houfe. a, Injl. 308. 
The principal court of the foreft is the court of the 
chief juftice in eyre, of juftice-feat, which is a court of 
record, and hath authority to hear and determine all 
Srefpaffes, pleas, and caufes of the foreft, See, within the 
E S T. 
foreft, as well concerning vert and venifon, asother caufes 
whatsoever; and this court cannot be kept oftener than 
every third year. As before other juftices in eyre, it 
muft be fummoned forty days at leaft before the fitting 
thereof; and one writ of fummons is to be directed to the 
fheriff of the county, and another writ Cujiodi forejlce, do- 
mini regis vcl ejus locum tenenti, &c. Which writ of fum¬ 
mons confifts of two parts : Firft, to fummon all the of¬ 
ficers of the foreft, and that they bring with them all re¬ 
cords, &c. Secondly, all perfons who claim any liberties 
or franchifes within the foreft, and to fliew how they 
claim the fame. It may alfo proceed io try prefent¬ 
ments in the inferior courts of the foreft, and to give 
judgment upon convi&ion of the fwainmote. And the 
chief juftice may therefore after prefentment made, or in¬ 
dictment found, but not before, iffue la is warrant to the 
officers of the foreft to apptehend the offenders. 1 Edw. III. 
c. 8. 7 Rich. II. c.4. Thiscourtbeingacourt of record, 
may fine and intprifon for offences within the foreft, and 
therefore, if there be erroneous judgment at the juftice- 
feat, the record may be removed by writ of error into the 
king’s-bench, or the chief juftice in eyre may adjourn any 
matter to that court. 4 Injl. 491. 
Thefe juftices in eyre were inftituled by Henry IT. ia 
1184, and their courts were formerly held very regularly ; 
but the laft court of juftice-feat of any note, was that hol¬ 
den in the reign of Charles I. before the earl of Holland ; 
the rigorous proceedings at which are reported by fir W. 
Jones. After the reftoration, another was held, proforma 
only, before the earl of Oxford : but fmee the aera of the 
revolution in i 58 S, many of the foreft laws have fallen 
into difufe. 
There is but one chief juftice of the forefts on this fide 
Trent, and he is.named jijliciarius itinerans foreftarum, ( 3 c. 
citra Trentam\ and there is another, capitalis jujliciarius ; 
and he is jujliciarius itinerans omnium forejlarum ultra Tren- 
tarn, &c. who is a perfon of greater dignity, than know¬ 
ledge in the laws of the foreft; and therefore when juf¬ 
tice feats are held, there are affociated to him fuch as the 
king ffiall appoint, who, together with him determine 
omnia placila forejla, ( 3 c. 4 Injl. 315. By 32 Henry VIII. 
c. 35, juftices of the king’s forefts may make deputies. 
A juftice in eyre cannot grant licence to fell any timber, 
unlefs it be fedente curia, or after a writ of ad quod damnum : 
and it hath been refolved by all the judges, that though 
juftices in eyre, and the king’s officers within his forefts, 
have charge of venifon, and of vert or green-hue, for the 
maintenance of the king’s game, and all manner of trees 
for covert, browfe, and pannage ; yet when timber of the 
foreft is fold, it muft be cut and taken by power under 
the great feal, or the exchequer feal, by view of the fo¬ 
refters; and the juftice in eyre, or any of the king’s of¬ 
ficers in the foreft, cannot fell or difpofe of any wooft 
within the foreft without commiflion ; fo that the exche¬ 
quer and the officers of the foreil have divifum imperium, 
the one for the profit of the king, the other for his plea- 
fure. Alfo no officer of the foreft can claim windfalls, 
or dotard trees, for their perquifites, becaufe they were 
once parcel of the king’s inheritance ; but they ought to 
be fold by commiffiion, for the king’s beft benefit. Read 
on Stat. 3 vol. p.304. If any officers cut down wood, 
not neceffary for browfe, &c. they forfeit their offices. 
9 Rep. 50. The lord of a foreft may by his officers enter 
into any man’s wood within the regard of the foreft, and 
cut down brovvfewood for the deer in winter. A pre- 
l’cription fora perfon to take and cut down timber-trees 
in a foreft, is faid to be good. If a man hath wood in a 
foreft, and hath no fuch prefeription, the law will allow 
him to fell ir, fo as he does not prejudice the game, but 
leave fufficient vert; but it ought to be by writ of ad 
quod damnum, ( 3 c. Cro. Jac. 155. And every perfon in his 
own w'ood in a foreft may take houfebote and hay-bote, by 
view of the forefter ; and fo nvy freeholders by preferip¬ 
tion, copyholders by cuftoni, &c, 1 Edw, III. ft. 3.0. 2. 
