E. F. lord of the said manor, unto A. B. In the lease, made in consequence of the license, it would be proper to insert covenants to the following effect: a lease under license. "That (the lessee) his executors, adminis- Covenants in trators, or assigns, shall not, nor will, do, or cause, or knowingly suffer, to be done, any act, matter, or thing whatsoever, by means of which the estate and interest of the said A. B. his heirs, or sequels, in the said messuage, &c. or any part or parcel thereof, may in any wise be forfeited or impaired." "That (the lessor) his heirs, executors, or administrators, or some or one of them, shall and will, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, discharge, or, upon reasonable request, save harmless and indemnify, the said C. D. his executors, adminis [123] trators, and assigns, from and against all rents, dues, duties, and services, from henceforth, during the said term, to be paid, rendered, or performed, to the lord or lords of the said manor for the time being, for, out, or by reason of the said demised premises, or any part or parçel thereof." License to fell Timber. "Also at this court license was granted to A. B. one of the customary tenants of this manor, to fell, within six calendar months from the sitting of this court, twenty oak trees now growing on a certain tenement called C. within the manor aforesaid, and already set out and marked by the woodward or reeve of this manor [or to be forthwith set out and marked by the woodward or reeve of this manor, ','] [124] as in such cases used and accustomed, for the purpose of repairing the buildings and fences of, or belonging to, the said tenement. But he paid no fine for his license, by reason that the said trees were assigned for botes," "to fell, within six calendar months from, &c. two hundred oaks, eighty elms, forty-eight ash trees, and twenty-two beech trees, now growing on certain tenements called D. E. F. and G. within the manor aforesaid, to be chosen by the said A. B. [or forthwith to be set out and marked by the woodward or reeve of this manor, as in such cases used and accustomed,'] and the same to convert to his own use, or to sell and dispose of at his pleasure, without any account to be rendered for the same. PROVIDED nevertheless that this license shall not extend to the felling any of the oak trees now growing in or near the crofts known by the names of the Wellcroft and Lamb-croft, and called the Boundary-oaks; nor to a certain oak called Arthur's-oak; nor to any trees growing in the walk or avenue called the Prior's walk. And the said A. B. paid to the lord for a [125] fine for such his license one hundred pounds [or, And, for such his license, the said A. B. is to pay to the lord for a fine, within three calendar months after the felling of the said trees, the sum of three shillings and fourpence for every ton of timber which the said trees shall contain, according as the same shall be admeasured by the woodward or reeve of this manor, as in such cases used. and accustomed.'] CHAP. VI. [126] Nature and history of heriots. Military heriot. OF HERIOTS. THAT system which we usually denominate the feudal, while it anxiously provided for the liberty of the individual, was admirably calculated for national defence. Each freeman was a soldier (a), and was obliged to render to his country his services in war. He was to be provided with arms, according to the usage of the times and the rank which he bore, not only for personal, but for national safety. In these arms the society was interested (b); and, when the tenant died, they (a) Vide LL. Gul. cap. 65. ap. Seld. ad Eadmer. And see Watk. Introd. to Gilb. Ten. & Note 1. p. 339. (b) See Gilb. on distresses, 9. 2 Bl. Comm. 66. Si quis hæc arma habens obierit, arma sua remaneant devolved to his superior, to his immediate lord, that they might continue to be used in the defence of the state; and hence the origin of the heriot. We find the heriot either expressly nóticed or alluded to in most of the Gothic codes (c); and from the northern nations have we also derived the term (d). [127] hæredi suo. (c) LL. Longob. lib. 3. Tit. 8. s. 4. Lindenbrog. Cod. Leg. Antiq. 679. LL. Canut. cap. 69. & 75. apud Lamb. & Wilk. Compare LL. Can. c. 69. & LL. Gul. c. 22, 23, 24, & 29. (apud Wilk. LL. Sax. Seld. ad Eadmer. & Kelh. Norm. Dict.) & LL. Hen. 1. cap. 14. (ap. Wilk. & Lamb.) & Doomsday Book: Berchescire, tit. Walingeford, & Herefscire, tit. Hereford Civitate, & Arcenefelde. By the 75th law of Canute, the heriot was not to be accounted for when the tenant died in battle. (d) From bene (Exercitum) & gear (fusus). Bel |