第54章

orbyspecialprivilegeswhichhaveexemptedcertainsharesinthelandfromageneralschemeofvillainage；or，lastly，bytheexistenceoffreeholdsasnormalfactorsintheancientvillagecommunity。

Letustestthesevarioussuppositionsbythefactsrecordedinoursurveys。Atfirstsightitmayseempossibletoaccountforthefreeholdvirgatesbyreferencetotheprocesswhichconverted’workland’into’molland。’Wehaveseenabovethatifalordbegantodemandmoneyinsteadofwork，theresultmight，insomecases，betheevolutionofnewtenureswhichgraduallylosttheirvillaincharacterandbecamerecognisedasgenuinefreeholds。Andnodoubtoneconsiderableclassofcasescanbeexplainedbythisprocess。Butagreatmanyinstancesseemtocallforsomeotherexplanation。Tobeginwith，themereacceptanceofrentinlieuoflabourdidnotmakethetenementafreehold；serviletenementswerefrequentlyputadcensum，(70*)

anditseemsdifficulttobelievethatmanylordsallowedacommutationoflabourforrenttohavetheeffectofturningvillainageintofreehold。Anotherdifficultyisfoundontheoppositeside。Whatforcekeptthesharestogetherwhentheyhadbecomefree？Whydidtheynotaccumulateanddisperseaccordingtothechancesoffreedevelopment？Itmaybethoughtthatcustom，andexpressconditionsoffeoffment，musthaveactedagainstdisruption。Idonotdenythepossibility，butIsaythatitisnoteasytoexplaintheverywidelydiffusedphenomenonoffreeshareholdingbyacommutationwhichtendedtobreakupthesharesandtomakethemuselessforthepurposesofassessment。

StillIgrantthattheseconsiderations，thoughtheyshouldhavesomeweight，arenotdecisive，andIinsistchieflyonthefollowingargument。

Thepeculiartraitwhichdistinguishes’molland’isthetransitionfromlabourservicetomoneyrent，andtherentisundoubtedlyconsideredasanequivalentfortherighttolabourserviceswhichthelordabandons。Itmustbeadmittedthatinsomecasesthelordmayhavetakenlessthantherealequivalentinordertogetsuchaconvenientcommodityasmoney，orbecauseforsomereasonoranotherhewasinneedofcurrentcoin。StillIamnotafraidtosaythat，inageneralway，commutationsupposesanexchangeagainstanequivalent。Indeedthedemandformoneyrentswasconsideredratherasincreasingthanasdecreasingtheburdenincumbentonthepeasantry。(71*)Now，althoughitwouldbepreposteroustotryandmakeoutineverysinglecasewhethertherentofthefreevirgateisanadequateequivalentforvillainservicesornot，thereisaverysufficientnumberofinstancesinwhicharoughreckoningmaybemadewithoutfearofgoingmuchastray。(72*)Andifweattemptsuchareckoningweshallbestruckbythenumberofcasesinwhichtherentofthefreevirgatefallsconsiderablyshortofwhatityieldedbythevirgateofthevillain。WehaveseenthatinRavenston，Bedfordshire，thevillainserviceisvaluedateightshillingspervirgate，andthatthefreeassessmentamountsonlytofourshillings。InThriplow，Cambridgeshire，thevillainsperformlabourdutiesvaluedat9s。4d。perbovate，thefreeholdersareassessedvariously；butthereisacertainnumberamongthemwhichforms，asitwere，thestockofthatclass，andtheiraveragerentis5s。6d。perbovate。(73*)InTyringham，Buckinghamshire，thevillainholdingiscomputedatsixacresandonerood，anditsserviceatfiveshillings；thefreevirgateshavealikenumberofacresandpayvariousrents，butalmostwithoutexceptionlessthanthevillains。(74*)InCroxton，Cambridgeshire，therearecustomerswithtwentyacres，andotherswithtenacres；thefirsthavetopaytenshillingsandtoassistatfourboonworks。Thefreeholdersarepossessedofplotsofirregularsize，andtheirrentisalsoirregular；butontheaveragemuchlowerthanthatofthecustomers。(75*)Letitbenotedthatthecustomarytenantshavecommutedtheirlabourservicesintomoneypayments，and。infact，theyaretobeconsideredasmolmeninthefirststageofdevelopment。Still，theirpaymentsarecomputedonadifferentscalefromthoseofthefree。

InBrandone，Warwickshire，thetypicalvillain，WilliamBateman，paysforhisvirgate5s。3d。，andsendsonemantoworktwiceaweekfromthe29thofJuneuntiltheistofAugust，andthenceonwardhismanhastoworktwodaysoneweekandthreedaysthenext。Thefreehalf-virgatemerelypaysfiveshillings，anddoessuittothemanorialcourt。Thislastpoi