Workings

Workings - A large part of the work on the demesne land was done by the serf-tenants as part of their yearly payment for the lands they held of the manor, the tenant being in some grants required to provide the labor of one man, in other grants, of two men. About 1230, we find a piece of meadow near Oxford held by payment of quit-rent and by the ploughing of 1 acre. Such services were extremely common in hay-time and harvest. The Latin name for a day's work on these conditions was precaria. By old agreement or custom, the lord of the manor provided the laborer with his food on certain precariae, which were therefore called siccae. On other work-days, the lord provided both food and drink, and these were non siccae.