some other estates in the same county, were granted to occupiers on the condition of their blowing horns to give alarm whenever an invasion of the Scots was perceived. Wrenoe, son of Meuric, held lands in Shropshire upon the serjeantcy of officiating as latimer, or interpreter, between the English and Welsh on diplomatic occasions. The prices of certain weapons are shown by the terms on which these articles might be commuted for money: thus, a pole-axe was redeemable for 12d., and a sword for 3s 4d.
Sports came next to war. Innumerable estates were granted to holders on condition of keeping or training hawks and hounds for the king's use; of providing spurs, hunting-horns, cross-bows, arrows, for the chase; or of keeping a royal forest clear of destructive vermin. William the Conqueror granted to Robert Umframville, the lordship, valley, and forest of Riddesdale, in Cumberland, under condition of his defending that part of the country "forever from wolves and enemies," giving him, moreover, the sword worn by his Majesty when he first entered the country. Johannes Engaym held an estate in Huntingdonshire from Henry III., subject to his chasing wolves, foxes, and cats ("currendi ad lupum, vulpem et cattum") and exterminating all manner of vermin in that part of the country. A manor in Kent was held under Edward I., by Bertram de Criol on condition of providing a vauterer, or dog-leader, to take charge of the hounds trained to hunt the wild-boar, whenever the king visited Gascony. Vauterer, Latinized into velterarius, seems to be derived from the old French word vaultre, meaning "a mongrel hound." The vauterer in the instance we have cited was engaged to accompany the royal train "as long as a pair of shoes worth four pence would last." This period of service is prescribed in many other instances. The high value attached to animals trained for the chase is curiously exemplified in the dues paid annually by the county of Wilts, and which comprise "a hawk worth xx pounds and a horn worth xx shillings."
The Plantagenet kings were great travellers,—rivalling in their locomotive propensities her present Majesty, although they enjoyed no facilities of steam-yachts or special trains. For travelling, accordingly, they took care that their tenants should make fitting provision. Many manors were held on the tenure of furnishing bridles, housings, and other horse-gear for the king's use; of shoeing his Majesty's horses, or carrying hay to his stables. An estate at Cuckney, in Notts, was held by a tenant who was bound to shoe the king's palfrey on all four feet, using, however, royal nails and materials. If, by his unskilfulness, the animal was lamed, the tenant was bound to provide another, of not less than four marks' value, or £2 3s 4d. Edward I., consequently, paid at least forty-three shillings for his riding-horses. By way of provision for royal voyages by sea, several towns on the coast were under obligation to find ships, rigging, or sailors. Some lands were held by individuals on the tenure of pulling an oar or hauling a rope in the royal galley. Among others Solomon Attefeld enjoyed a manor in Kent, on the serjeantcy of holding the king's head whenever he journeyed by sea.
Many services now performed by the functionaries of the law were at this period attached to the tenures of landed estates. The duty of serving writs, acting as thief or debtor catcher,—"cachepolli," as they were called in the mongrel Latin of the time,—of escorting money on its way to the royal Exchequer, and of aiding in various shapes the administration of law or security of the subject, were imposed on many tenants under the crown in every country. The most disagreeable function of this kind, however, which we find recorded, devolved upon the occupiers of certain messuages and lands at Stanley, in Warwickshire, who held the property upon the service "of erecting the gallows and hanging the thieves."
We catch, in some of these tenures, curious glimpses of the homely and simple way
