where the equivalent of the lord-lieutenant of an English county is known at the present day as “lieutenant and _sheriff_ of the shire,” the acting official being the _sheriff-depute_, the tenure of whose office is equally permanent.[286] As it was the policy of the race of Alfred to knit together the whole of Southern England and the Danelage in the bonds of Commendation, or _hlaford-socn_, so amongst the first principles of the system of government introduced by David, it was strictly enacted, that, within a fortnight after the proclamation of the king’s writ in the royal _Moot_, every man “should find him a lord,” or forfeit the usual mulct of eight cows to the king, and remain at the royal mercy until he had duly commended himself to some responsible person. So necessary was this enactment considered for insuring the internal peace of the kingdom, and the practical dependance of its unruly population upon the sovereign, that it was a royal axiom in the reign of David’s grandson, William, that any man accused of theft, who could not “find a lord” to be his surety, was to be at once treated as a convicted felon; though such must have been the difficulty of enforcing it in the remoter districts, that four centuries after the first introduction of the principle, enactments were still occasionally levelled against “the broken clans” of the Highlands and Borders.[287] Violence and robbery, the usual crimes of a lawless age, were severely dealt with, and the sanctity of the _Gryth_ strictly enforced, its “infraction”--in other words a breach of the peace--being heavily fined, according to the rank and dignity of the personage whose _gryth_ or peace was broken. All the district up to a certain limit around the kings court and person, and all the public highways, were “in pace regis,” or under the immediate protection of the king; whilst the earldom, the barony, and the thanage were under the similar protection of the proprietors, whether lay or clerical, who were entitled to the privileges of a court. For threatening to strike within the limits of the royal _gryth_, four cows were paid to the king, one to the party threatened; the oaths of two “liel men” being required in proof of the charge. For an actual blow the fine was raised, increasing in proportion, if blood followed; a drawn dagger was struck through the hand; and if the weapon were used, and with effect, the guilty hand was forfeited--a stern enactment, enforced five centuries later by the Star-Chamber;--whilst if death followed the blow, the full fine of one hundred and eighty cows was paid to the king, the kindred receiving that “satisfaction according to the law of Scotland”--the _cro_ or wergild--from which the victim could no longer hope to profit.[288] Petty thefts were summarily dealt with; the man detected _backberand_--with a calf, a sheep, or anything he could carry on his back--was mulcted of a cow or a sheep by the lord