ECHO OF FEUDAL SYSTEM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21022, 10 May 1930, Page 26

ECHO OF FEUDAL SYSTEM.

THE LORDS OF THE MANOR. .An echo of feudal times c" "Torn Kent, where on certain estate , n-nen a tenant dies or sells his land, the lord oi the manor has a right to claim his best beast. In a recent case, the best beasc was a bullock, worth between £4O and £SO. If he wishes, a tenant can pay a percentage on the value of the land to obtain the privilege of buying his boasi back, which in this case he did for £3O. In another case the best beast was a racehorse worth £IOOO. The land that was sold was worth only £IBO, and the tenant resented the seizure of his horse. An agreement was reached whereby he paid the lord of the manor 10 per cent, of the value of the land and was allowed to buy the racehorse back.■ These customs are taken for granted by the participants, and are maintained and, if necessary, uphold by law. The dues owing to the “lords and masters” are not mentioned in the title deeds of the property, but the occupier pay them, for if they refuse a writ is issued. The steward for the estates declares he has “ never lost a ease yet.” ' Another relic of feudal times, when a vassal, if lie did not go to war for his lord, bad to obtain a substitute or pay a sum of. money, was reported recently from Dumfrieshire. where the Duchess of Norfolk is exercising her right as Baroness Herries to seek tribute from feuars or landowners on. her ancestral estates. About £20.000 is at stake, sums from individual landowners varying from £2O to £l5O Feu in Scotland is the common mode of land tenure, and in a feu bolding the tenant. in addition to paying rent, is obliged to pay “ casualties ” to the superiot of the land on the happening of certain events. The last time “ casualties ” were demanded in Dumfries was in 1884.