ON THE TRACK OF THE " OLD MEN." 
103 
Customs of the Stannaries in Devon, the names of the twenty-four 
"jurates," or delegates, attending this Parliament from each of the 
Stannary Courts of Chagford, Ashburton, Plympton, and Tavistock, 
are given. "Which said Jurates being sworn and try'd by the 
Assent and Consent of all the Tinners in the County aforesaid, 
enact, ordain, and constitute, That every Statute of the Tinners, 
afore this time then made, to be void, broken, and of none effect ; 
and those done anew to be in this Court affirmed as hereafter 
followeth." The matter done anew consisted of thirty-seven 
clauses regulating the tinners' conduct, protecting their interests, 
and providing for punishment in Lydford gaol. 
Twenty-three years later there is an account of another Parlia- 
ment, held for the purpose of confirming the rules and regulations 
of the previous one, and for passing new laws, consisting of 
sixteen clauses, the most important of which dealt with the 
fouling of the rivers, and consequent silting up of the havens 
of Dartmouth and Plymouth. This action was doubtless forced 
on the tinners by the Act of Parliament passed two years before, 
to which reference has already been made. Courts were also 
held on the Tor in 1534, 1553, and in 1576. 
The latter, held on the 6th of August in the sixteenth year of 
Elizabeth, was presided over by the Earl of Bedford, the Lord 
Warden of the Stannaries, and the first seven clauses of the 
thirty-eight enacted referred to the silting up of the havens. 
The penalties for carrying silt into the "main or great fresh rivers" 
were increased to forty marks (£26 13s. 4d.) or in default "to be 
committed to the prison of Lidforde, there to have the Imprison- 
ment of one whole year, without Bail or Mainprise." No one 
was allowed to dig or work for tin within sixty feet of the rivers 
Teign, Dart, Plym, Tavy, Walkham, or Tamar. It was enacted 
that tinners should have the right to carry their silt into any 
" hatches, tye-pitts, moory places, or grounds which have been of 
ancient times wrought" 
This convenient permit has doubtless buried up many an 
archaeological treasure ; for the earliest stream works have been 
covered by the later. 
How long these open-air Parliaments had been held it is impos- 
sible to say. There is every indication that they were in existence 
long before 1494. The only records that would throw light on this 
and other interesting matters affecting Dartmoor, are concealed 
