This tenure, by which the greatest part of the land this kingdom were holden, and that principally of the I in capite, till the middle of the last century, was create Sir Edward Coke expressly testifies, for a military pose; viz. for defence of the realm by the King's principal subjects, which was judged to be much be than to trust to hirelings or foreigners. This descrip alludes to knight-service proper; which was to attend King in his wars. There were also some other specie knight-service; so called, though improperly, bec the service or render was of a free and honour nature, and equally uncertain as to the time of dering as that of knight-service proper, and beca they were attended with similar fruits and consequen Such was the tenure by grand serjeanty per magnum vitium, whereby the tenant was bound instead of serv the King generally in his wars, to do some special ho rary service to the King in person; as to carry banner, his sword, or the like: or to be his butler, cha pion, or other officer, at his coronation." These services, both of chivalry and grand serjear were all personal, and uncertain as to their quantity duration. But the personal attendance in knight-ser growing troublesome and inconvenient in many respe the tenants found means of compounding for it; by f sending others in their stead, and in process of t making a pecuniary satisfaction to the lords in lieu of This pecuniary satisfaction at last came to be levied • Spelm. Gloss. 219. P C. 2, s. 27. q 4 lnst. 192 24 [75] HOW REAL PROPERTY MAY BE HELD. [Book assessments, at so much for every knight's fee; a therefore this kind of tenure was called scutagium Latin, or servitium scuti: scutum being then a we known denomination for money: and, in like mann it was called, in our Norman French, escuage; bei indeed a pecuniary, instead of a military, service. By the degenerating of knight service, or perso military duty, into escuage, or pecuniary assessmen all the advantages (either promised or real) of the feo constitution were destroyed, and nothing but the hardsh remained. Palliatives were from time to time applied successive acts of parliament, which assuaged some temp [77]rary grievances; and at length the military tenures, with their heavy appendages (having during the Usurpation be discontinued) were destroyed at one blow by the stat 12 Car. 2, c. 24, which enacts, "that the court of wa and liveries, and all wardships, liveries, primer seisi and ousterlemains, values and forfeitures of marriages, reason of any tenure of the King or others, be tota taken away. And that all fines for alienations, tenures homage, knight's-service, and escuage, and also aids marrying the daughter or knighting the son, and tenures of the King in capite, be likewise taken awa and that all sorts of tenures, held of the King or othe be turned into free and common socage; save only tenu in frankalmoign, copyholds, and the honorary servi (without the slavish part) of grand serjeanty." statute, which was a greater acquisition to the c property of this kingdom than even magna carta itse since that only pruned the luxuriances that had gro out of the military tenures, and thereby preserved th in vigour; but the statute of King Charles extirpated whole, and demolished both root and branches. A still further alteration of the law of tenures has be proposed by the Real Property Commissioners in th Third Report, as will be noticed in the ensuing pag But it is proper here to observe, that they consider t the honorary services of grand serjeanty should be p served.a a Third Real Property Report, p. 7. time applied by e court of wards that had grown y ensuing pages. consider that should be pre free and honorable services; but such as were liquidat and reduced to an absolute certainty. And this tenu not only subsists to this day, but has in a manner a sorbed and swallowed up (since the statute of Charles t Second) almost every other species of tenure, and this t nure it is not proposed to alter." Socage, in its most general and extensive significatio seems to denote a tenure by any certain and determina service. Socage, is of two sorts: free-socage, where the servic are not only certain, but honorable: and villein-socag where the services, though certain, are of a baser natur Such as hold by the former tenure are called in Glanvi and other subsequent authors, by the name of liberi sok manni, or tenants in free-socage. Of this tenure we a first to speak; and this, both in the nature of its servic and the fruits and consequences appertaining theret was always by much the most free and independent sp cies of any. The grand criterion and distinguishing mark of th species of tenure are the having its renders or servic ascertained, and it will include under it all other methods holding free lands by certain and invariable rents and d ties: and, in particular, petit serjeanty, tenure in burga. and gavelkind. Petit serjeanty, bears a great resemblance to grand se jeanty; for as the one is a personal service, so the other a rent or render, both tending to some purpose relative the king's person. Petit serjeanty, as defined by Littl ton," consists in holding lands of the king by the service t Lib. 3, c. 7. s See Third Real Property Report, HOW REAL PROPERTY MAY BE HELD. [Воок rendering to him annually some small implement of as a bow, a sword, a lance, an arrow, or the like. Tenure in burgage is described by Glanvil, and is pressly said by Littleton," to be but tenure in soca and it is where the king or other person is lord of an cient borough, in which the tenements are held by a certain.x The Commissioners do not propose to make any alt tion, either in the tenure of petit serjeanty, or tenur burgage. The free-socage in which these tenements are seems to be plainly a remnant of Saxon liberty; w may also account for the great variety of customs, af ing many of these tenements so held in ancient burg the principal and most remarkable of which is that c Borough English, so named in contradistinction were to the Norman customs, and which is taken n of by Glanvil, and by Littleton ; viz. that the your son, and not the eldest, succeeds to the burgage tene on the death of his father. The Commissioners propose entirely to abolish the tom of Borough English.a The distinguishing properties of the tenure of g kind are various : some of the principal are these; 1. tenant is of age sufficient to aliene his estate by feoff at the age of fifteen. 2. The estate does not esch case of an attainder and execution for felony; maxim being, "the father to the bough, the son t plough;" but it escheats for want of heirs, and in fe if the felon be outlawed. 3. In most places he power of devising lands by will, before the statute fo purpose was made. 4. The lands descend, not t eldest, youngest, or any son only, but to all the so gether; which was indeed anciently the most usual [85] of descent all over England. 5. That the widow is do WAALI པལམབཔཐ བཔ་ཨལ་ The other grand division of tenure, is that of villenage, as contradistinguished from liberum tenementum, or frank tenure. And this (we may remember), Bracton subdivided into two classes, pure and privileged villenage: from whence have arisen two other species of our modern tenures. 1. From the tenure of pure villenage have sprung our present copyhold tenures, or tenure by copy of court roll at the will of the lord: in order to obtain a clear idea of which, it will be prievously necessary to take a short view of the original and nature of manors. A manor, manerium, a manendo, because the usual residence of the owner, seems to have been a district of ground, held by lords or great personages; who kept in their own hands so much land as was necessary for the use of their families, which were called terrae dominicales or demesne lands; being occupied by the lord, or dominus manerii, and his servants. The other, or tenemental lands, they distributed among their tenants: which from the different modes of tenure were distinguished by two different names. First, book-land, or charter-land, which was held by deed under certain rents and free-services, and in effect differed nothing from free-socage lands:1 and from hence have arisen most of the freehold tenants who hold of particular manors, and owe suit and service to the same. The other species are called folk-land, which was held by no assurance in writing, but distributed among the com |