21 JAC. I. c. 21.

[An Act concerning hostlers and innholders.

Sect. 2. No hostler or innholder shall make horse-bread in his hostrey, nor without, but bakers shall make it, and the assize shall be kept, and that the weight be reasonable after the price of the corn and grain in the markets adjoining; and the hostlers or innholders shall sell their horse-bread, and their hay, oats, beans, peas, provender, and also all kind of victual both for man and beast, for reasonable gain, having respect to the prices for which they shall be sold in the markets adjoining, without taking any thing for litter.

Sect. 3. It shall be lawful for every hostler and innkeeper, dwelling in any town or village, being a thoroughfare, or a common passage, and being no city, town corporate or market town, wherein any common baker exercising the occupation of baking, and that hath been apprentice at the said occupation by the space of seven years, is dwelling, to make within his house horse-bread sufficient, lawful, and of due assize, according as the price of grain and corn shall be.

Sect. 4. If the horse-bread which any of the said hostlers or innholders shall make be not sufficient, lawful, and of due assize, according to the price of grain and corn as aforesaid; or if any of them shall offend in any thing contrary to this act; then the justices of assize, &c., justices of the peace, sheriffs in their tourns, and stewards in their leets and law-days, shall have full power and authority to enquire, hear and determine the said defaults and offences of the said hostlers and innholders. And the hostler or innholder for the first offence shall be fined according to the quantity of the offence; and if, being once convicted, he shall again offend, for the second offence he shall be imprisoned for the space of one month; and if he shall a third time offend, being thereof convicted, he shall stand upon the pillory; and if he shall offend after the judgment of the pillory given, he shall be forejudged for keeping an inn again. (And see 32 H. 8, c. 41, repealed by this act.) (d)]

(d) N. B. The powers of the above acts are expressly confined to the steward as far as respects the jurisdiction given to the court leet.

But by the act of 31 Eliz. c. 7, "Against the erecting and maintaining of cottages," it is enacted [s. 6] that after the feast of All Saints then next coming, there should not be any inmate or more families or household than one dwelling or inhabiting in any one cottage, upon pain that every owner or occupier of any such cottage should forfeit to the lord of the leet, within which such cottage should be, the

sum of 10s. for every month that any such inmate or other family than one should dwell or inhabit in any one cottage as aforesaid: "And that all and every lord and lords of leet and leets, and their stewards, within the precinct of his and their leet and leets, shall have full power and authority within their several leets to enquire, and to take presentment by the oath of jurors, of all and every offence and offences in this behalf; and upon such presentment had or made, to levy by distress to the use of the lord of the leet all such sums of money as so shall be forfeited:

1 ELIZ. c. 17.

"An Act for preservation of spawn and fry of fish."

"For the preservation hereafter of spawn, fry, and young breed of eels, salmons, pikes, and of all other fish, which heretofore hath been much destroyed in rivers and streams, salt and fresh, within this realm, insomuch that in divers places they feed swine and dogs with the fry and spawn of fish, and otherwise, lamentable and horrible to be reported, destroy the same, to the great hindrance and decay of the commonwealth: Be it therefore enacted by," &c., "That no person or persons of what estate, degree or condition soever he or they be, from and after the first day of June next coming, with any manner of net, weele, but, taining kepper line, crele, raw, fagnet, trolnet, trimenet, trimboat, stalboat, weblister, seur, lammet, or with any device or engine made of hair, wool, line or canvas, or shall use any helingnet or trimboat, or by any other device, engine, cawtel, ways or means whatsoever heretofore made or devised, or hereafter to be made or devised, shall take and kill any young brood, spawn, or fry of eels, salmon, pike or pikerel, or of any other fish, in any floodgate, pipe, at the tail of any mill, wear, or in any straits, streams, brooks, rivers, fresh or salt, within this realm of England, Wales, Berwick, or the marches thereof; nor shall from and after the first day of June next coming, by any of the ways and means aforesaid, or otherwise, in any river or place above specified, take and kill any salmons or trouts not being in season, being keppersalmons or kepper-trouts, shedder-salmons or shedder-trouts."

Sect. 2. "And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no person or persons, of what estate, degree or condition he or they shall be of, from and after the said first day of June, by any of the means aforesaid, in any of the rivers or places above named, shall take and kill any pike or pikerel, not being in length ten inches or more; nor any salmon not being in length sixteen inches or more; nor any trout not being in length eight inches or more; nor any barbel not being in length twelve inches or more."

Sect. 3. "And to the intent the said young fry, brood or spawn, may be preserved according to the true meaning hereof, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no manner of person or persons, from and after the first day of June next coming, shall fish or take fish with any manner of net, tramel, kepe, wore, hivie, crele, or by any other engine, device, ways or means whatsoever, in any river or other place above men

And moreover, that it shall be lawful for the lord of every such leet, where such presentment shall be made, to recover to his own use any such forfeiture by action of debt in any of the Queen's Majesty's courts of record, wherein no essoin, protection or wager of law shall be allowed." See sects. 1, 2, 3 and 5 of this act, ante, VOL. II.

1179, 1180.

[Vide also sect. 8 of the 1 Eliz. c. 17, post, p. 1186, which authorizes the lord of every leet to enquire of the offences mentioned in that statute, according to the usual course of amercements or other things enquirable in the court leet.](Ante, pt. 3, p. 692, 693.)

SS

tioned, but only with net or tramel, whereof every mesh or mask shall be two inches and a half broad; angling excepted."

Sect. 4. “ Provided nevertheless, and be it enacted by authority aforesaid, That in all such places where smelts, loches, minnies, bulheads, gudgions or eels, have been used to be taken and killed, that in all such places it shall be lawful only for the taking of smelts, loches, minnies, gudgions and eels, to use such nets, lepes and other engines, devices, ways and means, as heretofore have been used for the taking of the same; so that such person or persons using or occupying such nets or other engines as is last aforementioned, do not take, kill or destroy any other fish with the said nets or engines, contrary to the tenor and form above in this statute contained."

Sect. 5. "And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons, after the aforesaid day limited in this present act, offend in any of the points before rehearsed, contrary to the tenor, form and purport of any part of the same, that then every such person and persons so offending shall lose and forfeit for every time of his or their offence the sum of twenty shillings, and the fish so taken contrary to the tenor hereof, and also the unlawful nets, engines, devices and instruments, whatsoever they be, wherewith or whereby such offence shall fortune to be made, committed or done."

Sect. 6. "And to the intent that a perfect execution may be had of this present act, be it further ordained by authority aforesaid, That the Lord Admiral of England, and the Mayor of the City of London for the time being, and all and every other person and persons, bodies politic and corporate, which by grant or other lawful ways or means lawfully have or ought to have any conservation or preservation of any rivers, streams or water, or punishments and corrections of offences committed in any of them, shall have full power and authority by virtue of this act to enquire of all the offences to be committed and done contrary to the effect and true meaning of this act, within his or their such lawful rule, government, juris diction and conservancy, by the oaths of twelve men or more, and to hear and determine all and every the same offences committed within his or their such jurisdiction, conservancy, rule and government.'

Sect. 7. "And that all such pains and forfeitures as shall rise and grow by the reason of any such conviction for any the offences aforesaid, shall be to the use of every of the said person and persons being no body politic or corporate, nor head of any body politic or corporate, before whom such conviction as is aforesaid shall be had, and to the use of every such body politic and corporate as heretofore have lawfully had any fines, forfeitures and amerciaments for any offence unlawfully committed or done in any such their jurisdiction or conservancies, upon conviction had before the head of any such body politic or corporate."

Sect. 8. "And that also the lord of every leet within this realm of England and Wales, or the dominions of the same, shall have full power and authority to enquire of all the offences contrary to the purport, tenor and form of this estatute, within the precinct of their said leet: such enquiry to be had in manner and form, and after snch sort, as common amerciaments

or other things inquirable in their court leet, have been lawfully used and accustomed to be had and made.”

Sect. 9. "And that upon every such presentment had in any court or leet, by the oath of twelve men or more, as is aforesaid, of any offence or offences made contrary to the tenor of this estatute; that then all such forfeiture above in this estatute limited and appointed for such offence shall be unto the lord of the said leet for the time being, to his own use for ever, and shall be levied in such manner and form as amerciaments for affrays committed within the precinct of such leet have been used and accustomed to be levied."

Sect. 10. "And if any leet after the said first day of June be kept within this realm of England or Wales, or the dominions thereof, and the steward of the said leet for the time being, or other for him, do not charge the jury sworn in such leet to enquire of all the offences done within the precinct of the said leet, contrary to the tenor and form of this estatute, that then the steward of the said leet to lose and forfeit forty shillings; the one moiety of which forfeitures shall be to the queen's majesty, her heirs and successors, and the other moiety to him that will sue for the same. And if any jury, sworn in any leet, and being charged to enquire of the offences committed within the precinct of that leet, do wilfully and willingly conceal and make default in presentment, or do not present the offence and offenders, that then it shall be lawful to the steward or bailiff of the leet, or his or their deputy for the time being, to impannel one other jury within the said leet, and to enquire of such concealment, default or non-presentment; and that upon such concealment, default or non-presentment found and presented, every of the said jurors which so did conceal, make default or not present, shall lose and forfeit for every such offence twenty shillings to the lord of the said leet, the same to be levied in manner and form as is above said for the other offences limited and expressed."

Sect. 11. "And it is further enacted by authority aforesaid, That if the offences above-mentioned touching the taking, killing or destroying of fish, or fry and spawn, be not presented at the leet where they shall be committed, within one year next after the offence committed, that the justices of peace in their sessions, justices of oyer and determiner, and justices of assise in their several circuits, shall have full power and authority to enquire thereof, and to hear and determine all the offences committed contrary to the tenor of this estatute."

Sect. 12. "Saving always to all and every person or persons, bodies politic and corporate, and every of them, all such right, title, interest, claim, privilege, and conservation and enquiry, and punishment of and for any the offences aforesaid, as they or any of them lawfully have and enjoy, or of right to have and enjoy by any manner of means, any thing in this act to the contrary notwithstanding. This act to endure to the end of the next parliament."

Sect. 13. "Provided always, that this act, nor any thing therein contained, shall not extend unto the fishing of the river or water of Tweed; nor to any river or water whereof the queen's majesty is answered of any

yearly rent or profit; nor to the owners, farmers and occupiers of the rivers Uske or Wye in the county of Monmouth, for any fish hereafter to be taken in any the rivers or waters before-mentioned and expressed; but that it shall be lawful at all seasonable time and times hereafter, for such as have or shall have any manner of interest therein, to take and fish the said rivers and waters, in such manner and form as heretofore hath been used and accustomed, not using any net or engine to the intent willingly to take, kill and destroy the spawn, breed or fry, breeding any kind of fish within the said several rivers or waters; this act, or any thing therein mentioned or contained to the contrary notwithstanding." [Continued by 2 Jac. 1, c. 15; made perpetual, except as to the last section, by 3 Car. 1, c. 4.]

9 HEN. III. c. 17.

"Holding pleas of the crown."

"No sheriff, constable, escheator, coroner, nor any other our bailiffs, shall hold pleas of our crown."

1 Edw. IV. c. 2.

"Justices of peace may award process upon indictments taken in
sheriffs' tourns."

"Also whereas many of the king's faithful liege people, as well spiritual as temporal, by the inordinate and infinite indictments and presentments, as well of felony, trespasses and offences, as of other things, which of long time have been had and used within the counties of this realm, and taken before sheriffs for the time being in their counties severally, under sheriffs, their clerks, bailiffs and ministers, at their tourns or law days, holden before them severally in the counties, which indictments and presentments be oftentimes affirmed by jurors having no conscience, nor any freehold, and little goods, and often by the said sheriffs' menial servants and bailiffs, and their under sheriffs, by which indictments and presentments the said lawful liege people be attached and arrested by their bodies, and put in prison by the said sheriffs, under sheriffs, their clerks, bailiffs and ministers, to the great loss of their goods; and they so being in prison by the said sheriffs, undersheriffs, their clerks, bailiffs and their ministers are constrained to make grievous fines and ransoms, and levy of them great fines and amerciaments for the said indictments and presentments, in great hindrance and utter undoing of the said liege people; after which fines, ransoms and amerciaments, so rated and levied by the said sheriffs, under sheriffs, clerks, bailiffs and their ministers, the people aforesaid be inlarged out of prison, and the said indictments and presentments be embezzled and withdrawn: our said lord the king considering the premises, by the advice &c., hath ordained and established, that all manner of indictments and presentments that shall be taken hereafter before any of his said sheriffs of his counties for the time being, their under sheriffs, clerks, bailiffs or ministers, at their