"The seat of judgment, the King's seat, or 'Königs-stuhl,' was always established on the greensward; and we collect from the context, that the tribunal was also raised or appointed in the common fields of the Gau, for the purpose of deciding disputes relating to the land within its precinct. Such a 'King's seat' was a plot sixteen feet in length, and sixteen feet in breadth; and when the ground was first consecrated, the Frohner dug a grave in the centre, into which each of the Free Echevins threw a handful of ashes, a coal, and a tile. If any doubt arose whether a place of judgment had been duly hallowed, the Judges sought for the tokens. If they were not found, then all the judgments which had been given became null and void. It was also of the very essence of the Court, that it should be held beneath the sky, and by the light of the sun. All the ancient Teutonic judicial assemblies were held in the open air; but some relics of solar worship may perhaps be traced in the usage and in the language of this tribunal. The forms adopted in the Free Field Court also betray a singular affinity to the doctrines of the British Bards respecting their Gorseddau, or Conventions, which were 'always held in the open air, in the eye of the light, and in face of the sun.'[1] "When a criminal was to be judged, or a cause to be decided, the Graff and the Free Echevins assembled around the 'Königs-stuhl;' and the 'Frohner,' having proclaimed silence, opened the proceedings by reciting the following rhymes: "Sir Graff, with permission, I beg you to say, According to law, and without delay, If I, your Knave, Who judgment crave, With your good grace, Upon the King's seat this seat may place. "To this address the Graff replied: "While the sun shines with even light Upon Masters and Knaves, I shall declare The law of might, according to right. Place the King's seat true and square, Let even measure, for justice' sake, Be given in sight of God and man, That the plaintiff his complaint may make, And the defendant answer,--if he can. "In conformity to this permission, the 'Frohner' placed the seat of judgment in the middle of the plot, and then he spake for the second time: "Sir Graff, Master brave, I remind you of your honour, here, And moreover that I am your Knave; Tell me, therefore, for law sincere, If these mete-wands are even and sure, Fit for the rich and fit for the poor, Both to measure land and condition; Tell me as you would eschew perdition. "And so speaking, he laid the mete-wand on the ground. The Graff then began to try the measure, by placing his right foot against the wand, and he was followed by the other Free Echevins in rank and order, according to seniority. The length of the mete-wand being thus proved, the Frohner spake for the third time: