Pain list

1. Pain list, Hutton in the Forest, 1637

Source: Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle, D/Van/1/4/2/2

Transcript:

Quick Glossary:

Commentary:

These are the first few entries in a list of 25 ‘pains’ (orders or byelaws) made by the court at Hutton in the Forest in December 1637. The paper book in which they are recorded also contains further pains made in 1650, 1668, 1729 and 1733.  This is an example of the village byelaws, largely agrarian in character, which manor court juries laid down in order to try to maintain ‘good neighbourhood’, that is friendly relations between members of the local community.  Many concern the use of common land, where conflict over the exercise of rights was particularly frequent: the first two pains on this list suggest tension over turbary rights at Hutton.  Pains 3 and 4 reflect the manor court’s desire to exclude those thought to be undesirable: ‘sturdie roggs [rogues] were the wandering ‘masterless men’, who were seen as a threat to peace and order; in the case of single mothers, the main concern was economic, the potential charge to the township in poor relief.  The final pain in this extract is a reminder of the importance of the lord of the manor’s rights: by forbidding tenants from taking civil actions in courts other than the manor court, it protected the lord’s right to hear minor pleas in the manor court.

2. Transcript of 'Paine Roll' of manor of Alston Moor, 1597

Background:

Source: The National Archives, ADM 74/1/3 (printed in Angus J L Winchester, The Harvest of the Hills: rural life in northern England and the Scottish Borders 1400-1700 (Edinburgh University Press, 2000), pp. 160-5).

For some manors, lists of all the ‘pains’ (customary rules or byelaws) overseen by the manor court survive.  This example, from Alston Moor, high in the north Pennines, is a compilation dated 5 October 1597, which had been 'drawen furthe’ from an earlier roll made in Henry VII’s time.  Another copy, made in 1692 from the 1597 compilation, also survives: in the transcript below, additional material from that later copy has been entered between asterisks.  The individual pains have been numbered in square brackets, for ease of reference in the commentary and notes which follow the transcript.

Transcript:

Aldstone more in *the county of Cumberland*, 1597.

A payne rolle agreed upon by the juries hereunder wrytten withe the lykinge and advise of Thomas Hilton esquire lord of the manor there and William Hutton esq. stewarde of the courte within the said lande, together withe the consente & agremente of the whole lordship, maide the fifte daie of October anno regni domine nostre Elizabethe regine &c. xxxix and drawen furthe of an old payne roll made *in* Kinge Henrie the viith daies, as followethe, videlicet:

[1]        Pena posita per juratores supradictos viz. yt is agreed and put in payne that none make anie assalt or fraie upon another within the Lord's liberties upon paine of vi^s viii^d for everie offence.
[2]        Item that none drawe any bloode one upon another with in the said land upon payne of iii^s iiii^d totiens quotiens.
[3]        Item that noe man take part or helpe to supporte one another in any assalt or fraie to stryke upon payne of v^li for every offence.
[4]        Item that if any forrayners or straingers doe make anie assalt or fraie within this land that none within the lordship of Alstone moore shall take parte or stryke on eyther party sub pena vi^s viii^d.
[5]        Item that none shall slander one another within the lordship and the same being founde by jury upon payne of vi^s viii^d totiens quotiens.
[6]        Item that everie man come and arise and followe upon everie offraie and folowinge upon paine of vi^s viii^d totiens quotiens, and that noe man turne backe from the same till thofficer & the rest of the countrie retorne upon the lyk payne.
[7]        Item that everie man kepe his night watches from Lammas [1 August] till Alhallowmas [1 November] sub pena vi^s viii^d *if need require*.
[8]        Item that everie man kepe the daie watches from mid Aprill daie till the xxtie daie of Maie and from Saint Peter daie [29 June] till Lammas [1 August] upon payne of iiii^d for everie offence *if need require*.
[9]        Item that everie man kepe the plump watches at the poyntment of thofficer upon payne of everie defalt to be punished in the countrie at the discretion of the officer and upon refusall of his punishment to send him or them so refusing unto the lord there to take his punishment as he shall thinke good.
[10]      Item that everie one be well furnished in horse and geare accordinge to the custome of the countrie and if anie falt be found by the lord or his officer at any muster and they being not founde sufficient by the jurie to forfeyte to the lord vi^s viii^d for everie offence.
[11]      Item that if it fortune that any man lose his horse by chaunce, stelthe or otherwise that then it is put in payne that everie suche tenant shall provide a horse agayne within the tearme and space of one half yeare from the daie of his said losse upon payne of vi^s viii^d for everie offence, and if he sell his horse to provide one againe within fortie daies sub pena predicta.
[12]      Item that noe man fishe without lycense of the lord or his officer betwene the Tyne brig and the foote of the Lowcroke sub pena vi^s viii^d for everie defalt.
[13]      Item that noe man fishe with leepes or ropes within this lordship at any tyme hereafter without lycense sub pena vi^s viii^d
[14]      Item that noe man kill any salmon in spalding tyme betwene the Rode daie [14 September] and St Andro daie [30 November] sub pena vi^s viii^d
[15]      Item that noe man kepe any moe goodes in somer then he kepes in wynter sub pena of viii^d for everie nowte and for everie horse xii^d for everie v shepe viii^d *and for* everie x lambs viii^d
[16]      Item that noe man take any goodes beneathe Glendewe and Kendall forde to jeaste upon double mercyment aforesaid for every defalt.
[17]      Item that noe man shall lodge any that dwells beneathe Glendew without lycense of the lord or his officer sub pena vi^s viii^d
[18]      Item that noe man put any skabbed horse or meares upon the comon or pasture upon payne of vi^s viii^d
[19]      Item that noe man kepe any nassells upon the comon sub pena vis viii^d
[20]      Item that the pyndfold be maid sufficient and able yerelie before Saint Helen daie [3 May] and so to be kept able upon payne of iii^s iiii^d for everie defalt and that noe man breake the fold and take furth anie goodes furthe of the same upon the lyk payne and that noe man make any rescowse of any goodes goinge to the fold upon the lyke payne.
[21]      Item that the butts of Aldston and Garrigill be yerelie maid before St Helen daie upon *pain* of iii^s iiii^d for everie offence.
[22]      Item that everie tenant that have used to goe to the sheles to goe to the same within one monethe after St Helen daie [3 May] and there to staie till St Peter daie [1 August] sub pena xii^d for everie defalt. ['This is with drawen' added in different hand.]
[23]      Item that none be hurtfull to the lordes demayne eyther in setting in of waters or breaking of hedges within the same upon payne of iii^s iiii^d totiens quotiens.
[24]      Item the tenantes that joyne upon the Marke Close to make upp there parte that joynes upon the same upon the payne of iii^s iiii^d and to be able at the discretion of the fence men.
[25]      Item that none disobey the lawfull commandement of thofficer upon the payne of vi^s viii^d
[26]      Item everie man sew or breache his tupe before the morrow after Michelmas daie [30 September] sub pena vi^s viii^d totiens quotiens.
[27]      Item that noe man cut or fell any wodds of warrant within the lordship without lycense of the lord or officer sub pena iii^s iiii^d for everie stoven totiens quotiens.
[28]      Item that noe man kill any hares in the snowe sub pena xii^d
[29]      Item that everie man make his hedges of his head dyke sufficient and able before St Helen daie [3 May] yerelie sub pena vid totiens quotiens and that none suffer anye gaps to be in there outer hedges sub pena for everie gapp vi^d
[30]      Item that everie one ring his swyne and suffer not the same to go unringed by the space of thre daies together sub pena vi^d totiens quotiens.
[31]      Item that everie man turfe his peate pott within this lordship sub pena vi^d
[32]      Item that *noe* man plaie at cardes or tables for money within the lordship but within the xii daies of Christmas sub pena vi^s viii^d totiens quotiens.
[33]      Item that noe man grave peates or turfes within acre wall without lycense sub pena vi^d totiens quotiens.
[34]      Item that none take anie geaste swyne sub pena vi^d totiens quotiens.
[35]      Item that none take anie geaste gese within the lordship sub pena vi^d totiens &c.
[36]      Item that none make anie hedges or garthes with the lordes woddes without sole upon paine of vi^d
[37]      Item that noe man shall fowle or take anie cockes within this lordship sub pena vi^s viii^d
[38]      Item that everie man dryve his drift accordinge to the drifte roll sub pena vi^d *for every default.*
[39]      Item that noe man shall hound upon the comon or pasture sub pena xii^d
[40]      Item that noe man shall dryve anie goodes over anie head water one upon another sub pena vi^s viii^d totiens quotiens.
[41]      Item that none within this libertie serve proces one upon another or sewe or arreste one another in anye other courte then in the courte of this manor upon payne of xl^s
[42]      Item that everie one at everie fraie and followinge have a bowe speare or gunne upon payne vi^s viii^d
[43]      Item that noe tenant doe hier any to watche within this libertie that dwells beneathe Gildersdaile burne or Aile sub pena vi^s viii^d soe often as they doe the contrary.
[44]      Item that none doe take anie haukes within this lordship and convey the same furth of the lordship without lycense of the lord or his officer sub pena v^l
[45]      Item that everie man bringe his horse to fraie and following and not come on foote but to carrie the same as farr as he will carrie him upon payne of vi^s viii^d provided if the tenant or he that followes be beneathe his horse a mile and more that then he shall followe upon his foote.
[46]      Item that noe man shall marke or occupie anie other man's goodes within this land upon paine of vi^s viii^d
[47]      Item that noe man make anie rescowse upon thofficer upon payne of iii^s iiii^d
[48]      That noe man shall marke any other man's marke but to marke and keepe his owne house marke upon paine of vi^s viii^d and not to mark two houses marks. [This entry added in a different hand.]
[49]      *Item that none shall take cottagers under the payne of vi^s viii^d*
[50]      *Item that none shall keep any inmates under the paine of iii^s iiii^d*

Commentary:

The pain roll was drawn up by two juries, one for the Crown (pro domina regina) and one for the lord.  The former presumably had particular care for the clauses concerning peace-keeping, maintaining watches, and muster (numbers 1-11) which preface the usual manorial pains. 

Although the body of the two versions of the document is essentially the same, some significant textual developments can be traced.  The 1597 text contains two amendments in a different hand:  one notes that the regulations about shielings (no. 22) had now been ‘withdrawn’, presumably as the use of shielings had ceased; the other is the addition of a regulation about sheep marks (no. 48).  The latter (but not the gloss on no. 22) is incorporated into the 1692 text.  That text also adds ‘if need require’ to two of the regulations concerning watches (nos. 7 and 8) and contains two additional byelaws, forbidding the keeping of cottagers and inmates (nos. 49 and 50).  The changes reflect changing concerns: the old world of Border reivers and shielings was giving way to a new era of cottage-building, as lead-mining took hold of Alston Moor.

Notes to text:

nos. 7-9 The watch was actively kept on Alston Moor in the later 16th century, when Border reiving was still a real threat. The term ‘plump watches’ (no. 9) probably uses ‘plump’ in the sense of ‘a compact body of persons; a band, troop or company’ (Oxford English Dictionary).
no. 13  ‘leepes’:  ‘leap’; a basket.  The 1692 copy has ‘Scopes’, presumably a variant of ‘scoop net’.
no. 14  spalding:  probably for ‘spawning’ (the 1692 copy has ‘spaunding’).
no. 16  The Glendue and Kindle burns form the northern boundary of Knaresdale with Kirkhaugh (Northumberland), the adjacent parish to Alston.  Nos 16 and 17 imply that stock and men from Knaresdale with Kirkhaugh had rights on Alston Moor not available to others from further afield.
no. 19  ‘nassells’: ill-tempered (‘azzold’) horses, especially stallions.
no. 24  Mark Close (NY 711 468) appears to have been lord’s demesne, probably a deer park (cf. names High, Mid, Nether and Low Park and Hallhill nearby).
no. 26  ‘sew or breache’: to fit a cloth on a ram as a crude, temporary contraceptive device.
no. 33  ‘acre wall’:  the head-dyke separating farm land from the open fell.
no. 34  ‘geaste’: agisted.
no. 36  ‘sole’:  the 1692 copy reads ‘sale’.  The meaning is perhaps ‘delivery’.
no. 38  ‘drifte roll’: an award of the manor court specifying the ‘drifts’ for each farm, by which livestock were driven to and from the common grazings on the moors.
no. 43  Gilderdale and Ayle burns form the northern boundary of the manor of Alston Moor.

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