Quaint Old Customs which will not Die. cession had walked along the banks of the river, which was part of the boundary, and that some had swum over the boundary line. It was contended that because the feet had not touched the bed of the river there could be no evidence of perambulation. I remember, one New Year's Day, being in the town of Aylesbury, following the pro cession of bound-beaters, and watching them beat the bounds. The men carried long willow wands with which they beat the pave ment, or wherever the boundary was said to be. At last they found a house erected on the line and the whole procession entered the house, passed through the kitchen and out by the window. A little farther on a baker had erected an oven on the boundary line and a boy was seized and pushed into the oven so that he could " beat the bounds." Though no longer necessary, or of any use, many parishes keep up the cus tom and the society recently established speaks of these annual perambulations as being " highly beneficial " to the public. For several years I was interested in the effort to reclaim the commons from rapa cious lords of Manors, and I often wished that the "bounds" of the commons had been beaten annually so that there could be no dispute about the extent of land which
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had been wisely set apart for the people to hold in common. The Manor of Oakham, in Rutlandshire, preserves a quaint custom. Peers of the realm were prohibited passing through the Manor, and if any peer should defy the order his horse was seized and its hoofs taken off. This cruelty was modified later and instead of the hoofs, the shoes were removed and kept in the castle with an appropriate inscription setting forth the name of the peer and the date of his disobedience of the law. Although the castle is in ruins, save a small portion used as a county hall, the custom is kept up and every peer who passes through the town has to send a new horseshoe to be nailed up on the castle wall. The latest instance occurred in June, 1897, when the Earl of Onslow passed through the town. The earl had a silver horseshoe made, highly decorated, bearing the inscription: "William Hillier, 4th Earl of Onslow." This was forwarded to the con stable of the castle and by him placed on the wall by the side of several centuries of horse shoes. There are rusty old shoes dating back several hundred years, gold shoes sent by peeresses, silver and steel and iron shoes, each telling of some peer who had dared to dis obey the law of the Manor.
