The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-17

ally. In the course OF tho next two centuries: and
even so. freedom came. not through violence,
but through the steady action Of natural causes,
which made servio labor less valuable so that
in tho end, tho manorial lords yielded easily what
had come to be not worth keeping. Mr. Warner
recognizes that hore is certain picturcsq uencss
In the idea and perhaps Thorold Rogers adopted
II for that reason that, after the Black Death
lords oppressed laborers till tho latter arose In
their might, and struck of the chains which
bound them The facts. however. were less simple,
and the social results OF the postilcnce less dc
cisve than this theory suggesta
We come 70 the second expedicn, TO which the
lords of manors had recourse in order to pc
the ruin threatened by the scarcity OF labor We
have seen that ono new plan. that Of letting land
on stock andland leases, had been, 10 a certain
extent adopted but the leaseholders could not
afford 10 pay high rents; bad debts and the cost
OF repairs and Of renewing stock ran away with
much OF such profit as there was: Furthermore,
1t was often difficult TO find tenants even on the
easiest terms If, however, the land could be
farmed on a different system. n system in which
less labor was required the difficulty would be at
an end. When II was perceived that the desired
object could be attained by substituting pasture
Tor Village and by keeping large nocks OF sheep
which could be tended by few shepherds II was
only natural that sheep farming. should spread
rapidly. 1t was doubly profitable in the first
place 1t enabled the landlord 10 do without the
cultivator. who hard 10 get and who il
he was villein, required constant watching TO
prevent his escape, or, if free. demanded wages
which seemed exorbitantly high; while secondly,
the increased demand for English WOOL
which was caused by tho growing pros
perity OF the native cloth manufacturers, and
which supplemented the demand from the
Low Countries, raised the price OF the commod-
ity, and rendered sheep farming more profitable
than agriculture had been, even under favorable
conditions Before sheep farming could be practiced
on large scale, however. ii was found necessary
to enclose. Tho old open-lcld system OF hus-
bandry had left England almost hcdgcess The
meadow land in hay time and the corn fields when
the crops We're standing had, indeed, to be fenced
TO keep out the cattle; but the fences were not OF
permanent character and, moreover they did not
divide of one mans land from another; they sim
ply separated land in crops from la nd lying falow
or from land not cultivated at all Within the
enclosure, such as il was, the land might belong
TO one or TO many owners TO the lord il it was on
the demesne, 10 tho lords tenants II it was land
In villeinage; or even TO both lord and vilcins
where the demesne land was mixed with the viii
layers strips Such state OF things was clearly
incompatible with sheep farming So long as
land remained unenclosed any departure from
the old routine was impossible, unless everyone
agreed 10 IL
Before speaking OF the enclosures which took
place on great scale in the latter half OF the If
tenth and during the whole of the sixteenth
century, Mr. Warner is careful to guard the reader
against confusion. Many different kinds OF land
were enclosed, and when land was enclosed il
was not always enclosed for sheep farming In
some cases. where the open fields were broken
up the old tenant received an equivalent for
his scattered thirty acres in cont yuous land con
ccntrated In few fields, lie could farm this as
he pleased, and the result Of such enclosure was
uniformly good. But enclosure for sheep farm
ing properly socallcd was the work Of lords who
wished TO turn their arabic lands into wide tracts
on which sheep could be kept in large numbers.
II was this process that. coming rs an after
elect OF the Black Death, again caused
great suffering among the rural population and
called forth much Legislation. II now attention
be liked on enclosure for tho purpose of sheep
farming only. Mr.. Warner shows that the results
differed according TO the kind Of land enclosed
Three main classes may be distinguishes first
demesne land and land held in freehold; secondly.
common or waste land, the commons" Of our
own day thirdly, the land cultivated by villcins.
or customary tenants. The case OF demesne
land is the simplest II the dcmcsnc land had no,
been sometimes intermixed with the common fields
OF the tenants. the process Of change from arabic
to pasture farming on the demesne could have
been carried out without disturbing any existing
right In the eye Of the law no one would have
suffered damage by the owner o, the land doing
what he pleased with his own, but although no
legal injury was done, great hardships might
follow. The lord was encouraged to take TO sheen
farming. because OF the dearness and scarcity
NJ ahp IoLz
dcarness off labor from quite another point
OF view. They had been accustomed TO
work on the demesnes for wages in some coses
all the year round in others during the busy sea
son OF haymaking, harvest and sowing; in any
case. the wages they obtained were a great help
toward their livelihood. When the dcmesne
became sheeprun, the saving in labor which
gave so much satisfaction TO the lord meant the
pinch OF poverty to the laborcrs A few might
get work as shepherds but the majority lost their
occupation Moreover the lords Of manors were
less inclined tolive In their country houses When
sheep farming took the place Of arabic farming.
the lord lived away and spent his money at court.
the household would be reduced and the manor
house shut up This, too, meant the loss Of en-
ployment No wonder, then, that even when
enclosure was confined to demcsnc land an outcry
was raised against the policy which fostercd
instead Of men the grev-faced sheen"
Enclosure. however, not confined to de
mesnes The waste land Of the manor, used time
out OF mind for pasturing the sheep and the cattle
OF lord and tenant alike, seemed intended by ma
tute for sheep farming, and it was grcedily en-
closed In the eye Of the law, however this waste
land stood on q footing different from that Of
demesne land The privilege OF grazing over
commons was shared by the lord with the tenant
OF the demesne BY the statute OF Merton Q2S5)
tho lord was empowered TO make his profit OF
the'Waste and pasture, but only so long as the
tenants had sufficient pasture left 10 them When
the lord turned sheep farmer, his temptation was
TO take very narrow view OF what was enough
for the villagers, who, finding themselves stintcd
In pasture and hay, complained bitterly Of the
new methods In some cases when the lord took