242 NAVESTOCK IN OLDEN DAYS ;
The payments in kind or in money were various, as, e.g., havedsot,
chevagium, or head money already referred to. Next came Wardpenny,
which was a payment due to the Crown, but payable at the County
Court. Navestock was required to pay 16d., which was collected by
requiring eight tenants to pay 2d. each.; but whether as a commu-
tation for any, and what kind of guard, there is no distinct evidence to
prove.-7 It was, however, payable at Hocktide, and was thus in some
degree connected with the ceremony of the Wardstaffe. We learn,
at any rate, that both at Navestock and Sutton in Middlesex it was
payable where the Wardstaffe watch was kept. In connection with
wardpenny, the following note is worthy of your consideration :
John Aldred, a customary tenant on one of the manors of St. Paul's,
was bound, with others of the same rank, to keep watch at the Court
from Christmas to Twelfth Day, and have a good fire in the hall, one
white loaf, one cooked dish, and a gallon of ale ; and, if any damage
was done, he that watched was to make it good unless he had raised
the hue and cry for the village to go in pursuit. "Probably," adds
Archdeacon Hale, "when service was commuted by the lord, the
money paid in lieu was termed wardpenny." This would account for
the fact of only eight tenants paying that tax in Navestock, viz., that
the remainder performed their service in person. Landgable, or
landgafol, was a tax levied on seven of the nativi at Navestock, at the
rate of 5d. per virgate. It was a tribute or tax upon the house ; though
why it should have been levied on these seven only does not appear.
Amongst other payments in kind we found poultry and eggs, and
under the head of service, carriage of produce to the granary of
St. Paul's and the carriage of wood to the Court House of the
Manor are expressly mentioned. It is to be noted that the smith,
William Faber, in lieu of rent for his holding of 5 acres, was required
to make horse-shoes for the Court, being allowed one oak per annum
for his assistance.
The lands thus let out were divided into numerous parcels, and
were apparently at first assigned for the occupation respectively of
the various classes into which the society of the day was divided ;
each such parcel carrying with it its respective dues. The land
assigned to the freeman carried with it its dues, obligations, rights,
and privileges, and so with the rest. A serf willing to pay the lawful
dues of land assigned for the use of freemen could hire such land,
and without removing from his position in society as a serf, could
27 S. P. Domesday, p., lxxvii , 2 civ., 3 lxxiii.