field or meadow, for which
each pays a small ground rent to the Corporation.[14] These "parts"
number 254, and they are of varying value, so that, as Mr. Gomme puts
it, they constitute "a sort of lottery." At Manchester there are 280
allotments, each about an acre in extent, in which all the commoners
have an interest. To forty-eight landholders is assigned an acre each,
and twenty-four assistant (?) burgesses have each of them an additional
acre. At Berwick-on-Tweed there are two portions of land, of which one
is demised, under the name of "treasurer's farms," by the mayor,
bailiff, and burgesses to tenants. The other part includes sundry
parcels called meadows ranging from 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 acres; and every year
at a meeting of the burgesses--the "meadowguild," as it is termed--the
lands vacated by the death or departure of those last in occupation go
to the oldest burgesses or burgesses' widows eligible by residence, the
right of choice depending on seniority.

The land belonging to the Corporation of Langharne is similarly
allocated. When an occupier dies, the profits accruing from his share
are kept by his representatives, and at the ensuing Michaelmas Court the
burgess next in age to the deceased is presented by the jury, and
obtains the share previously held by him. Mr. Gomme points out that the
reverence for age discoverable in so many of these customs is
characteristic of the Teutonic races and of primitive communities in
general. An interesting feature of this case is that corn is sown in 330
acres for three years in succession and during the next three years they
are grassed out.

The heading of the chapter is "Rus in Urbe," and, still following Mr.
Gomme's guidance, we have now to trace a transition that occurred in
the use of these public lands as the urban element became more and more
preponderant. It seems that while there are boroughs with common pasture
only, there has been found no instance of a borough having arable and
meadow allotments, and no common pasture. The inference is that, as the
community grew more addicted to mercantile pursuits, they were less able
to devote themselves to the cares of husbandry, and, accordingly, the
lands ceased to be cultivated. But they were still of considerable value
for grazing purposes. The merchants' cattle and horses might be placed
in them--the latter, perhaps, being subsequently entered in the service
of trade. Existing arrangements in boroughs which have aband