Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-01-02
ODD ENGLISH LEASES.
Some of the Customs That Have Come
Down Through the Centuries.

Of all countries England is the one
i'm which the most curious leases
abound, the terms of which have been
handed down from time immemorial.
n Shropshire there are to this day
valuable lands that are rented for
two chopping blocks or choppers"
paid annually. The lease demands
that one bill hook shall be OF better
quality than the other, so two faggotS
and block have to be brought to prove
the fact by actual demonstration.
The kings remembranccrs, a quaint
office retained in the CROWNS list of
employees. receives these choppers, and
at the same time six horseshoes and a
portion of land held in the parish of
St Clement Dane, on which there orig
inally stood a forge. These articles are
usually distributed by the king among
the royal family as gifts.
Though the fact is well known that
the duke OF Wellington holds Strath-
fieldsaye on condition that he present
a flag to his sovereign annually. and
that the duke of Marlborough holds
Blenheim under the same condition,
few are aware that the marquis of
Ayesbury holds his estate on condi-
ton that should royalty visit him he
will present to the king an ivory
drinking cup. Bury house. in the New
Forest is held under a somewhat sim
liar proviso. The occupant must pre-
sent to the king when he enters the
New Forest, Il brace of milk-white
greyhounds. The incident of George
III receiving a brace of these hounds
in 1889 is the subject OF "a famous
painting by Lawrence. This form OF
tenure is known as "petisergeantry.
one of the most extraordinary ten
ures of record was that under which
the manor of Broughton, with its 200
acres, was held till within the last few
years. Every Palm Sunday man
from Broughton had to visit the viii
lage church with a long whip or OK
goad, which he cracked three times on
the porch. AT the beginning of the
second lesson he approached the cler-
gyman, knelt down opposite him. and.
holding the whip and the purse at
tached to the handle above his head,
waved it three times. The purse con-
tanned so pieces of silver, which We're
afterward given to the church. No one
seems to know how this custom origi-
mated.
Under the curious form of tenure
known as "frankalmoign" most of the
lands of the church are still held. Ten
ants under this are not even bound to
fealty to their lord, for their prayers
and aims are supposed to wipe away
all other claims. Borough English"
still exists IN some parts of the tight
little isle. This is Il strange tenure
that gives the right of succession to
the youngest instead of the eldest son
to the real estate when the father dies
without making a will In certain
manors in Sussex not the youngest
son. but the youngest daughter, inner
its. This same form of tenure is found
in all districts in Europe except Italy
and Spain, and has defied all attempts
at explanation.-N. Y. Herald.
G.. II. Nixon, auditor of the South
ern Railway at Huntsville, Ala, shot
himself in the head, while standing
in the hallway of a hotel there, Mon
day. and will die. Friends attribute
his act to dependency.
While skating with party of chill