第42章

Landforpasturealsooccursinprivatehandsandinseveralty，butsuchcasesaremuchrarer。(3*)Sometimesthepasturegetsseparatedandputunder’defence’foronepartoftheyear，andmergesintocommunalownershipafterwards。(4*)Butinthevastmajorityofcasesthepastureisusedincommon，andnoneofthetenantshasarighttofenceitinortoappropriateitforhisownexclusivebenefit。Itoughttobenoted，thattherighttosendone’scattletothepastureonthewaste，themoors，orinthewoodsofamanorappearsregularlyandintimatelyconnectedwiththerighttodepastureone’scattleontheopenfieldsofthevillage。(5*)Bothformonlydifferentmodesofusingcommunalsoil。Asinthecaseofarableandmeadowtheundividedusecannotbemaintainedandgetsreplacedbyasystemofequalisedsharesorholdings，sointhecaseofpasturethefacultyofsendingoutanynumberofbeastsretiresbeforetheequalisationofsharesaccordingtocertainmodesof’stinting’thecommon。Wefindasanimportantmanorialarrangementthecustomto’apportion’therightsofcommontothetenements，thatistodecideinthemanorialCourt，mostlyaccordingtoverdictsofjuries，howmanyheadofcattle，andofwhatparticularkind，maybesenttothediverspasture-groundsofthevillagebytheseveralholdings。Fromtimetotimetheseregulationsarerevised。OneoftheGlastonburySurveyscontains，forinstance，thefollowingdescriptionfromthe45thyearofHenryIII。Eachhidemaysendtothecommoneighteenoxen，sixteencows，onebull，theoffspringofthecowsoftwoyears，twohundredsheepwithfourrams，aswellastheiroffspringofoneyear，fourhorsesandtheiroffspringofoneyear，twentyswineandtheiroffspringofoneyear。(6*)Accordingtoacommonruletheonlycattleallowedtousethevillagepasturewasthatwhichwasconstantlykeptinthevillage，levantecouchantenlemaner。Inordertoguardagainstthefraudulentpracticeofbringingoverstrangecattleandthusmakingmoneyattheexpenseofthetownship，itwasrequiredsometimesthatthecommonablecattleshouldhavewinteredinthemanor。(7*)

Theselastrulesseematfirstsightdifficultofexplanation：onedoesnotseeinwhatwaythebringinginofstrangecattlecoulddamagethepeasantryofthevillage，asnobodycoulddrivemorethanacertainnumberofbeaststothecommon，andastheoverburdeningofitdependedentirelyontheexcessofthisnumber，andnotontheoriginofthebeasts。Andsoonehastolooktosomethingelsebesidestheapprehensionthatthecommonwouldgetoverburdened，inordertofindasuitableexplanationoftherule。Anexplanationisreadilysuppliedbythenotionthattheuseofthecommonwascloselyconnectedwiththeholding。Strangecattlehadnothingtodowiththeholding，andweretobekeptofffromthelandofthecommunity。itisasrepresentativesofacommunitywhoseterritoryhasbeeninvadedthattheindividualcommonershavecausetocomplain。Infact，thecommonpasture，aswellasthemeadows，werethoughtofmerelyasaportionoftheholding。Thearrangementsdidnotadmitofthesamecertaintyorratherofthesamekindofdeterminationasthedivisionofthearable，butthemainideawhichregulatedthelatterwasbynomeanscutshortinitsoperation，ifonemaysayso：itwasnotboundupwiththeexactmeasurementofarableacres。Theholdingwasthenecessaryagriculturaloutfitofapeasantfamily，andofthisoutfitthemeansoffeedingthecattlewerequiteasimportantapartasthemeansofraisingcrops。Itisonlyinaccuratelythatwehavebeenspeakingofavirgateof30acres，andofaploughlandof180or160。Thetrueexpressionwouldbetospeakofavirgateof30

acresofarableandthecorrespondingrightstopastureandothercommonuses。Andtherecords，whentheywanttogivesomethinglikeafulldescription，donotomittomentionthe’pertinencia，’thenecessaryadjunctsofthearable。Thetermisratheravagueone，quiteinkeepingwiththerightswhich，thoughtangibleenough，cannotbecuttosocertainapatternasinthecaseofarable。(8*)Andforthisreasonthelaxerrighthadtoconformtothestricterone，andcametobeconsideredasappendanttoit。

Wehaveconsideredtillnowthedifferentaspectsassumedbycommonofpasture，whenitariseswithinthemanor，andasaconsequenceofthearrangementofitsholdings。Butthisisnottheonlywayinwhichcommonofpasturemayarise。Itmayoriginateinanexpressandspecialgrantbythelordeithertoatenantortoast