old and young were hunted down with dogs, Brooks in his Ornithology in 1771, above-quoted, says of the bustard in France, near Chalons, "sometimes fowlers shoot them as they lie concealed behind some eminence, or on a load of straw; others take them with greyhounds, which often catch them before they are able to rise." Yarrell in his article on the bustard in his "British Birds," quotes the Rev. Richard Lubbock for the following, "A very fine bird, an old male, is still in preservation as a stuffed specimen, at the house of a friend, in my neighbourhood, which was taken by greyhounds 40 years ago, within three miles of Norwich." Again, Mark Antony Lower in his "Contributions to Literature," (1854), says, "The South Downs afford a fine field for the Naturalist as well as the sportsman; one cannot but regret, however, the extinction of some of the animals which they formerly nourished, particularly that fine indigenous bird, the bustard or wild turkey. The grandfather of the present writer was among the last who joined in the sport, about the middle of the last century, of hunting down the last remains of the species with dogs and bludgeons!" and in a note which I have lately received from that gentleman, he adds "My grandfather, John Lower of Alfriston, was born in 1735: he was a boy at the time he went a-hunting bustards, and we may assume the year 1750 as about the period: my friend the late Mr. John Dudeny of this town, (Lewes), a shepherd in his youth, and the son of a shepherd, told me that his father, who must have been cotemporary with my grandfather, had also taken part in bustard hunting in his youthful days:" and, he adds, "I have no hesitation in saying, that fully grown birds were hunted down with dogs, though I have never heard it mentioned what kind of dogs were employed." The next witness I adduce for the hunting of bustards generally on the ground, is the Honorable Robert Curzon, in his recent work on "Armenia and Erzeroum." At p. 145 he says, " Later in the year I risked my neck by riding as hard as I could tear, over the rocky, or rather stony, plains at the foot of the mountains after the Great Bustard; I have more than once knocked some of the feathers out of these glorious huge birds, as they ran at a terrible pace, half flying and scrambling before my straining horse,

but I never succeeded in killing one, though I have constantly partaken of those which had fallen before more patient gunners, who stalk them as you would a deer, and knock them over with a rifle or swan shot from behind a stone or bank." Lastly, Bishop Stanley in his familiar history of birds tells us, "the bustard can fly, but its usual motion is on foot, running with such speed as often to rival a greyhound."

For the second opinion, that the young alone were thus coursed with dogs, I first adduce Bewick, who lived when these birds were not yet extinct, and who, (one would suppose), could not well have been mistaken as to the method of obtaining them generally adopted by sportsmen; in his life-like woodcut of the Great Bustard in his first edition in 1800, we see in the back-ground of the picture, one of these birds running, pursued by greyhounds, and followed by a man on horseback; and in his subsequent editions, with the descriptions added to the figures, he says, "they are slow in taking wing, but run with great rapidity, and when young are sometimes taken with greyhounds, which pursue them with great avidity: the chase is said to afford excellent diversion." My next authority for this opinion, is Mr. Hooper of Littleton, who has always lived on or near the plain, and states that he has often heard from old men, that in the days of bustards the shepherds were in the habit of hunting the young birds with their sheep dogs; he says "there can be no doubt of the matter as far as the practice of this neighbourhood is concerned;" but, he adds, "the older birds were too swift under the combined help of wings and feet, thus to be taken, and they were understood not to be so followed; they hunted the young ones before they were fully fledged."

With such authority for the hunting of bustards with dogs, as I have adduced, and I might mention much more to the same effect, we shall scarcely be prepared to deny the fact altogether, whether we incline to the belief that the old birds were so coursed, as well as the young, or no; for my own part, I incline to the belief that the old birds were occasionally so taken, though, perhaps, this was generally in drizzling wet weather, which was certainly the time usually chosen for the sport, when the birds feathers were soaked

with rain. But I must adduce the arguments of the advocates for the contrary opinion, that neither old nor young birds were so hunted with dogs at all, and these are founded on the supposed impossibility of the thing. Thus, Selby, the talented author of the "Illustrations of British Ornithology," says, "upon being disturbed, so far from running, in preference to flight, (as has been often described), it rises upon wing with great facility, and flies with much strength and swiftness, usually to another haunt, which will sometimes be at the distance even of six or seven miles. It has also been said, that in former days, when the species was of common occurrence, it was a practice to run down the young birds, (before they were able to fly), with greyhounds, as affording excellent diversion; so far from this possibility existing, with respect to the present remnant of the breed, the young birds, upon being alarmed, constantly squat close to the ground, in the same manner as the young of the Lapwing, Golden Plover, &c., and in that position are frequently taken by the hand." The same opinion, though with somewhat less confidence, is given by Mr. Nicholson, (quoted by Yarrell in his paper on the bustard, read before the Linnean Society), who had enjoyed great opportunities of observing these birds in the neighbourhood of Seville, where they abounded; says, "they never try to run; one that I had winged making the most absurd attempts possible to get away from me, and though a young bird, showing much more disposition to fight, than to get away by running. I cannot imagine greyhounds being able to catch bustards, though there seems to be good authority for believing they did."

he

With these observations, and leaving every one to form his own conclusions on this much-disputed point, I take leave of the Great Bustard, regretting with all my heart, the extinction of so noble a bird from its once favorite haunts on our open wide-spreading downs, and earnestly entreating all who can glean any authentic information regarding its habits and appearance, within the memory of living persons, to rescue from oblivion facts of such deep interest to the Ornithological world, relating, as they do, not only to the largest, but, I may say, the noblest and most highly prized of

On the Self-Government of Small Manorial Communities. 145

British birds; as well as to that one for which our county was so notorious, as the principal stronghold of what once stood at the head of the game list. ALFRED CHARLES SMITH.

Yatesbury Rectory, Calne, June 4th, 1856.

ON THE

Self-Government of Small Manorial Communities, as exemplified in the Manor of Castle Combe.

By G. POULETT SCROPE, Esq., M.P.

Those who have paid any attention to the Constitutional History of our country need not be told that to the MUNICIPAL privileges exercised from a very early period by the citizens of its townships, we are in a great degree indebted for those political liberties of which we are justly proud, and which by securing to us the blessing of domestic tranquillity, form the main source of our national wealth, power, and greatness.

The origin of these privileges is obscure. Nor has much light been hitherto thrown upon the subject, however interesting, by constitutional historians. That they existed long before the introduction of the feudal system is as certain as that they formed the most effectual barrier against the oppressive and tyrannical influence of that remarkable military institution. It is known that the provincial cities under the Roman empire enjoyed a municipal constitution, securing to the citizens a magistracy of their own appointment, and important rights of internal regulation and self-government, together with much common property. And in France and Germany, as well as in this island, claims to privileges of this character were more or less successfully maintained by local communities throughout the period of the occupation of these countries by their Teutonic invaders, with whose native institutions such rights assimilated readily, and became closely incorporated.

U

Even when the general establishment of feudality had compelled the towns to submit themselves to some paramount lord, he usually found it politic to respect the ancient privileges of their inhabitants; or, if temporarily suspended, they were recovered at the first favourable opportunity. It was not so easy to oppress a collected body of citizens, as the scattered and dispirited cultivators of the soil. The monarchs, moreover, found in the towns efficient allies in those contests in which they were so frequently engaged during the middle ages with their powerful vassals; and they repaid the assistance of the citizens by confirming and extending their ancient franchises, under the form of royal or imperial charters of incorporation. By an extension of the royal prerogative, springing from the same obvious motive, many towns or manors which possessed no special charter, grant, or corporation, claimed and enjoyed analogous privileges of self-government, as having anciently formed part of the royal demesnes.

It is remarkable how little attention has hitherto been paid to this very important element of our constitutional history. Even in the case of many of the larger cities and towns, whose charters of incorporation have been repeatedly confirmed and renewed by successive sovereigns, little is known, or has at all events been communicated to the public, of the early history and character of their municipal privileges. The very title deeds of these privileges, and the records of the proceedings of their courts, corporations, or governing bodies, have been imperfectly preserved, and in the majority of instances, it would appear, are irrecoverably lost. Their ancient customs and usages have been allowed to fall into desuetude, and few memorials remain of their former existence, unless in the case of some parliamentary franchise, or other privilege to which a pecuniary or party value was attached.

This very general neglect of the ancient municipal constitutions of our towns was remarkably brought out by the replies forwarded in the year 1831 to queries circulated by the Record Commission among them, requesting information as to what documents relating to these matters were in the custody of their municipal officers. From the replies it appeared that in very few out of some hundred