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The Green Bag.

the east end of Carnwath to the Sallow Cross, this to take place on Midsummer Day. The estate of Foulis was granted to Donald Munro in the eleventh century by King Malcolm II. upon the condition that when called upon to do so, he and his suc cessors should always supply the king with a bucketful of snow, no matter at what time of the year this was demanded. But the lords of Foulis had no cause to be uneasy as to the fulfilment of their part of the bargain, for did they not possess a part of Ben Wyvis on which the sun never shone, so that snow remained there all the year round? The service in question was performed for the last time on the night before the battle of Cullonden, when it is said that Sir Robert Munro presented the Duke of Cumberland with a bucket of snow for cooling his wine. It must have been rather more difficult to obtain the garland of roses at Christmas time which was demanded of the tenant of Crendon, Bucks, but the thousand clusters of nuts for John, Earl of Warrenne and Sur rey would be gathered in due season at Wakefield. It is curious to find Henry IV. requiring a catapult (described in an old chronicle as an ancient war-like engine to shoot darts) in exchange for the lands of Carlton; and there is a quaint flavour about the terms of the holding for a manor in Salop, by which Rob ert Corbet bound himself to find one foot man in time of war who was to follow the army into Wales, carrying with him a salted hog. On coming up with the soldiers, the man had to deliver a share of the bacon to the king's marshal, and so long as this suf ficed to provide a daily dinner for one per son, the footman was obliged to remain with the army. Directly it was finished, he was free to return home. Sir Osbert de Longchamp also undertook to follow the king and his army into Wales, and it is specified that he must bring with him a horse of the price of six shillings, a sack of the price of six pence, and a needle to the sack. The foot

man, provided by the tenant of Brineston, was only required to follow the army into Scotland, but had to do this barefoot, and armed only with a bow in one hand, and an unfeatherecl arrow in the other; and he was altogether worse off than Richard Miles, who could return from following the king directly he had worn out a pair of shoes of the value of fourpence. A grand old mansion in Cheshire, rendered famous in our own time as being the residence of a great living statesman, was formerly held by Robert de Montrault, Earl of Arundel, for the somewhat easy duty of attending the Earl of Chester on Christmas day at Ches ter, and placing the first dish upon his table, while an oar paid for the estate of Grange, near Hastings, and even this was only de manded when the king happened to sail in that direction. Many tenants fulfilled all obligations by keeping hounds or falcons for their landlords, while others shod the king's horses (and had to replace those which were lamed in the process); but it is difficult to understand the exact significance of one old record, which says that Hugh de Sottehoe held the lands of Shottesbrook in the time of Henry II. by virtue of fine coals for making the crown of the king and his royal orna ments. Were these the original black dia monds? Even crowned heads were not exempt from the conditions of tenure, for we find that at one time the king of England accepted three hundred pounds of land down from the king of Scotland in lieu of homage for some land in Bedforshire, and also paid an annual rent of one jerfalcon (one of the varieties of large Arctic falcons). A pound of land, it should be mentioned, is generally reckoned at about fifty-two acres, so the commutation was a very substantial one. A somewhat similar hold ing to the barony of Penicuik was that of the manor of Horton in Yorkshire, whose tenant was required to blow a horn at stated periods, and I believe that the horn used on these occasions is still carefully preserved.