New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-01-18
LORD OF THE MANOR.
Pictures of Life an MedieUat Eng
land.

THE aNS ANB SO R g. D 9y
ton & Co.
Life in medieval England from the coming
| of the Nornans TO the end Of the fifteenth cent
ury, very largely the life Of the manor
| house and Of the subordinate jewellers on the
| manor In those days towns and cities were
| small. and, at any rate until the great changes
which followed the depopulatfon of England by
the Black Death in the middle Of the fourteenth
century. the main occupation Of the inhabitants
of England was nushandry. It is this common
, life of Englishmen that Mr.. Hone undertakes
to revive and describe in The Manor and Ma
norial Records" Into the long standing contro-
versy as the origin of the manor in England
he enters but slightly. He mentions the various
theories of Maitland. Seebohm and Vinogradof
without giving in his adherence to any one OF
them. Whether English communities were orig
inally free. owning the land in common, or
whether the land Of England from Roman times
belonged to enthusiastically to the lord,
while the cuItivators of the land were from the
first servile-Mr. Hone is content to leave in
doubt; although he evidently considers that the
weight of evidence appears to be with those who
maintain that the seisniorial element was super
imposed upon originally free communities The
purpose of Mr.. Homes book is TO portray the
main features Of the English manor as it has
existed from period 'whereunto the memory
of man runneth not to the contrary" to use the
quaint English phrase which describes the basis
of customary right.
The first figure to arrest attention is natur-
alIv the lord of the manor 1.-The familiar and
rather high sounding title OF lord Of the manor.
Mr. Hone writes conveys but little practical
meaning to the many, although 1t confers on
the bearer a certain social status" Almost
every locality in rural England still has its
lord of the manor, eTen where the manor house
has completely disappeared, and where the
greater part of the old immortal lands has
passed into the hands Of new owners-owners
who have none of the dignity or jurisdiction
that formerly attached TO the lordship Of the
manor The lord of the manor has lost much
of his former powers His tenants longer
come to be judged In the lords courts: no longer
are any powers OF local government reserved
to the lord Nevertheless, he is still real factor
in local life. Parish and district councils, which
came into existence under the local government
act of 1894, find that they have to reckon with
him in questions which are constantly arising
touching village greens. recreation grounds,
commons and rights of way; and the claims Of
the community have to be adjusted in accord
ance with the old immortal rights enjoyed for
centuries by the lord Of the manor.
The title lord Of the manor is not indicative
of the definite social rank of its holder, like
duke or baron The lord of the manor may
not be Of the titled aristocracy. He may in
modern English be plain Mr.. Smith. who has
come by inheritance into the enjoyment of one
of the ancient manors of England. manor
Mr. Hone defines as "a certain circuit of ground
granted by the King to some baron, of
worth as an inheritance for him and his heirs,
with the exercise of such jurisdiction within
! the same compass the King fit TO grant
and subject the performance Of such ser
vices and yearly rents were by the grant
required" theoretically there is such thing
In England as the absolute ownership Of land.
! All land is held directly indirectly from the
| King: and in early days the conditions Of ten
| IRE were always twofold-certain payments to
| the King on the occasion Of the coming Of age
/ of the Kings son or the marriage of his daugh-
/ fer and service in the field IN case Of war
| These services have long been commuted into
! the payment of land taxes. There were. how
ever, also frequently other services which still
survive in connection with of the old
/ n,anors many of which are both curious and
| interesting One manor in Hertfordshire, for
| instance is held condition that the lord
provides the King with silver ever and BASIN
and pours out water to wash the royal hands
O., the coronation. Hone does not however,
touch upon these tenures. He tells the condf-
+,ons on which tenants held from the lord, but
not the conditions which the lord held from
the King.
II was on the church manors that life was
easiest and pIeasantest. both for viliein and free
tenant Mr. Hone gives the substance OF sew
ersl entries In the records of a Stanordshire
and a Derbyshire manor. belonging TO the ABBEY
/ M T,urton-on- Trent, in the twelfth century. II
would be very difficult" he writes. ito nno such
easy tenures on any secular manors Oh approx
NAT. date In q variety of cases house was
hels for which a single days work per week
=; harvest time for the lord was the only charge.
The proportion of I'D opas tenants on these
Estates was unusually small: thus at Mickie-
ever out of a total of seventy-eishf tenants
or,v twenty-five had to make any return In
tabor. and In each Of these cases the WHEN
held two bovates of land in return Tor TWO days
| labor a week at certain perioos Oh Tue seai'
- =. the occasional carrying Of a load to the