第43章

Ithinkthatallthismustfollownecessarilyassoonasthemainfactisadmitted，thatcommonisnormallytherighttopastureofashareholderofthemanor。Theobjectionmayberaised，thatsuchapriorireasoningisnotsufficientinthecase，becausethedocumentsdonotcountenanceitbytheirclassification。Wouldtheobjectionbefair？Hardly，ifonedoesnotinsistonfindinginBractontheidenticaltermsusedinCokeuponLittleton。ItistruethatBractonspeaksofcommoningeneral，andnotofcommonappendant，appurtenant，andingross，buttherightofcommonwhichhetreatsasnormalappearstobeverypeculiaronacloserexaminationofhisrules。Itispraedialandnotpersonal；tobeginwith，itisalwaysthoughtofasbelongingtoatenement。(18*)Whatismore，itcannotbelongtoatenementreclaimedfromthewaste，(19*)andinthiswaytherequirementof’ancientarable’isestablished，thatis，thepastureisconsideredasoneoftherightsconcededtotheoriginalsharesofamanorialcommunity。Theuseoftheopenfieldoutsidethetimeofreasonabledefence(20*)isprimarilymeant，andthecommonpastureappearsfromthispointofviewasoneofthestagesintheprocessofcommonfarming。Tomakeupthewhole，therighttocommonisdefinedbya’quantumpertinet。’(21*)whichhasasenseonlyinconnexionwiththeadmeasurementofclaimseffectedbytheinternalorganisationofthemanor。SuchisevidentlythenormalarrangementpresupposedbyBracton’sdescription，andhisonlyfaultis，thathedoesnotdistinguishwithclearnessbetweentheconsequencesofthenormalarrangement，andofgrantsorusurpationswhichsupplementandmodifyit。Itmustberememberedthatheonlygivesthesubstantivelawaboutcommonrightsinthecourseofadiscussionofthepleadingsinactions’quojure’andassizesofpasture。IfwecomparewithBracton’stexttherulesanddecisionslaiddowninthelegalpracticeofthethirteenthcentury，weshallfindthatthesamefactsareimpliedbythem。Theyallsupposeacontrastbetween’intrinsec’and’forinsec’claimstocommon，thatisbetweentherightsofthosewhoaremembersofthemanorialgroup，andtherights，ifany，ofthosewhoareoutsideit，andagainacontrastbetweenthenormalrightsofcommonersandanymoreextensiverightsacquiredbyspecialgrantoragreement。Onlythefreeholdersareprotectedintheenjoymentoftheircommons；onlythefreeholdersareprotectedintheenjoymentoftheirtenements；buttheirclaimsarebasedonarrangementsinwhichtheunfreelandparticipatesineverythingwiththefree。Itmaybeaddedthatlitigationmostlyarisesfromtheadjustmentof’forinsec’claimsunderthewrit’Quojure。’

Theintercommoningbetweenneighboursgivesrisetoagoodmanydisputes，andismuchtoofrequenttobeconsidered，asitwasbylaterlaw，amere’excusefortrespassing。’(22*)Thiscommon’purcausedevicinage’maybearelicofatimewhenadjoiningvillagesformedapartofahigherunitofsomekind，oftheMark，ofahundred，forexample。Itmaybeexplainedalsobythedifficultyofsettingdefiniteboundariesinwidetractsofmoorandforest。Howeverthismaybe，itsconstantoccurrenceformsanothergermofanecessarycontrastbetweenthetwoclasseswhichafterwardsdevelopedintocommonappendantandcommonappurtenant。Itcouldnotbebroughtunderthesamerulesasthosewhichflowedfromtheinternalarrangementofthemanor。A

specialdifficultyattendeditastoadmeasurement：thecustomarytreatmentofotherholdingscouldnotinthiscaseserveasastandard。Theverylaxityoftheprinciplenaturallygaveoccasiontoverydifferentinterpretationsanddeductions。Andsowearejustifiedinsaying，thatthechiefdistinctionsoflaterlawaretobefoundintheirsubstanceinthethirteenthcentury，andthatalthoughagooddealofconfusionoccursindetails，theearlierdocumentsgiveevenbettercluesthanthelatertothereasonswhichledtothewell-knownclassification。

Commonappendant，ifwemayusethemoderntermforthesakeofbrevity，isindissolublyconnectedwiththesystemofhusbandryfollowedbythevillagecommunity。Averynoticeablefeatureofitis，that，inonesense，ittowersoverthelordofthemanoraswellasoverthetenants。Ofcourse，legallythelordisconsideredastheownerofthewaste，(23*)butevenfromthepointofviewofpurelawhisownershipisrestrictedbyhisowngrants。insomuchashehasconcededfreeholdtenementstocertainpersons，heisboundbyhisowndeednottowithholdfromthesepersonsthenecessaryadjunctsofsuchtenements，andespeciallytherightsofpastureboundupwiththem。Thefreetenantssharewiththelord，ifhewantstoturnhiscommonpasturetosomespecialandlucrativeuse；if，forinstance，strangersareadmittedtoitformoney，onepartoftheproceedsgoestothetenantry。(24*)Again，thelordmaynotoverburdenthecommon，andsometimesfreeholderstrytheirhandatlitigationagainstthelordont