John Keble's Parishes: A History of Hursley and Otterbourne

manor of Merdon were revised, this seems to be the f

ueror, from the Duchy of Normandy. The reasons commonly assigned for the peculiar usage just mentioned are given by Blackstone, but they are evidently not satisfactory to him, and, as it should seem, not founded on truth. His own way of accounting for it is far more rational and probable, though, it must be confessed, it is only conjectural. He supposes that the ancient inhabitants of this island were for the most part herdsmen and shepherds; that their elder sons, as soon as they arrived at manhood, received from their father a certain allotment of cattle, and removed from him, and that the youngest son, who continued to the last with him, became naturally the heir of the family and of the remaining property. Whether thi

Saxon system of tenure was laid aside, and that the Normans, wherever they had lands granted to them, introduced the feodal system; and that at length it was adopted generally, and as constitutional, throughout the kingdom. There does not, however, I think, appear to be su

has no right of wardship, neither is the copyhold liable to escheat for felony; the widow of a tenant has also a right of inheritance, and the tenement may be let without the lord's consent for a year. All which circumstances appear to bespeak an original and fundamental difference of tenure from that of the feodal system, and are, I presume, to be considered, not as encroachments that have gradually grown upon that system, but as being of a more liberal extraction and much greater antiquity. [57a] But besides these differences, the supposition here advanced has this farther ground to rest upon, viz. that neither the name of Merdon, nor that of Hursley, is so much as mentioned in the great survey of the kingdom, called Domesday-Book, which, if the intention of that survey be rightly understood, [57b] it seems next to a certainty that o

which could not fail of being peculiarly acceptable to them, as they were not only relieved by it from a service they considered as a grievance, and performed reluctantly, but had the prospect of being in the end great gainers by it. But though by this concession on the part of the lord some ground of discontent was removed, yet disputes and animosities still continued to subsist with respect to other customs; and no sooner was Mr. Maijor dead, and the Cromwell family dispossessed of its power, than the tenants laid aside their fears and renewed their opposition. The circumstances of the times being now in their favour, it might perhaps have been expected that they, in their turn, should establish all their claims without contention. The case, however, was quite otherwise, as neither Mrs. Cromwell nor her son would tamely forego an

have been time out of mind, copyholds of inheritance, demised and demisable to the copyholders or customary t

nly to the youngest son or youngest daughter, and for default of such issue of such customary tenant to the youngest brother or youngest sister, but also, for default

to come to the next Court or Law-day to make her claim and election, whether she will pay a penny and hol

any customary tenement within the said manor, is entitled to have such customary tenement of his

of kin and farthest from the land, have had, and ought to have the guardianship and custody of the body of such heir and his copyholds, held of that man

to pay his fine to the lord of the said manor, and be admitted tenant before he attain

t within the said manor, is, and time out of mind was, double the quit-rent of the said customary tenement; that is to say, when the quit-ren

the said manor may sell his inheritance during the life of the w

s of the said manor, to let her, his, or their copyholds for one year, but

ustomary tenant of the said manor for a licence to let his customary tenement; but su

ay dig for stone, coal, earth, marle, chalk, sand and gravel in their own grounds, to be employed thereon; and may also dig any of the commons or waste

ld not yield the same for them, that they, the said customary tenants, may and have used to dig new pits in any of the wastes and commons of the lord within the said manor, and there dig and carry away e

e and feedings in all the lord's commons belonging to the said manor, viz. upon Cranbury Common, Hiltingbury Common, Ampfield Common, Bishop's Woo

ught to plough any part of the land upon the aforesaid wastes a

times of the year, common of pasture in the wastes, heaths, and commons of the lord of the said manor within th

ave had, and used and ought to have, right of cutting furzes growing upon the wastes and commons of the said manor for their firing, and to cut fern for their uses and that the said customary tenants, in like manner, have right of cutting thorns, bushes, wythies, hazels, maples, alders, and crab-trees, growing upon the wastes and commons of the said manor, or in either of them,

ed their cattle in the three coppices called South Holmes, Hele Coppice,

cut down the said coppices, or one of them altogether, or

er of the said coppices, he, by the custom, is not compellable to fence the

y tenants of the tenement called Field House, have a right of selling or disposing san

trees standing or growing in or upon his said customary tenement, for repairs of his ancient customary messuages, with their appurtenances, and for estovers and other nece

s growing upon his customary tenement, without the licence of the lord of the said manor, un

of the said manor, may cut down timber trees or other trees, standing or growing in or upon one

rees or any other trees from off his customary tenement, nor give or dispose of the same, fo

ld trees, called decayed pollard trees, standing or growing in or upon his customa

hall want necessary repairs, may cut, and hath used to cut down, one timber tree from off one farm or customary tenement, once only during the life o

one customary tenement in the life-time of any customary tenant thereof, for the repairs aforesaid, nor can h

aid manor, or before any two customary tenants of the said manor without the reeve or beadle, no herriot

choose the officers of and for the said manor, for the year ensuing, viz. a Reeve, a Beadle, and a Hayward, and such officers

lect and pay to the lord of the said manor such custom

s discontinued by either Sir Philip Hobby or Richard Maijor; but on the borders between Hursley and Baddesley, at a spot called High Trees Corner, near the railway, is marked in the old map,

ious entries in t

ckes as apereth in the old custom

book of Fines w

th gather b

gathers t

and eggs and is kee

18

in his coat of arms was a "pelican in her piety," and the Pelican was the name of the public house and of the farm that succeeded it down to the present day. The title as well as that of the college a