"A coller, a coller here, sayd the king, A coller he loud gan crye; Then would he[245] lever than twentye pound, He had not beene so nighe. A coller, a coller, the tanner he sayd, I trowe it will breed sorrowe; After a _coller_ commeth a _halter_, I trow I shall be hang'd to-morrowe." 5. Esquires to the knights of the Bath, _for life_, and their eldest sons. 6. Sheriffs of counties _for life_, coroners and justices of the peace, and gentlemen of the royal household, while they continue in their respective offices. 7. Barristers-at-law, doctors of divinity, law, and medicine, mayors of towns, and some others, are said to be of scutarial dignity, but not actual esquires. Supposing this enumeration to comprise all who are entitled to esquireship, it will be evident that thousands of persons styled esquires are not so in reality. It is a prevailing error that persons possessed of £300 a year in land are esquires, but an estate of £50,000 would not confer the dignity. Nothing but one or other of the conditions above mentioned is sufficient; yet there are some who contend that the representatives of families whose gentry is antient and unimpeachable, and who possess large territorial estates, are genuine esquires. This, however, does not seem to have been the opinion of such persons themselves two or three centuries ago, for we find many gentlemen possessing both these qualifications who, in documents of importance, such as wills and transfers of property, content themselves with the modest and simple style of _Yeoman_. The mention of the word yeoman reminds us of the misappropriation of this expression in modern times. The true definition of it, according to Blackstone, is, one "that hath free land of forty shillings by the year; who is thereby qualified to serve on juries, vote for knights of the shire, and do any other act where the law requires one that is _probus et legalis homo_." Now, however, it is applied almost exclusively to farmers of the richer sort,[246] even though they do not possess a single foot of land. The yeomen of the feudal ages were as much renowned for their valorous deeds on the battle-field, as those of a later period were for their wealth. In the sixteenth century it was said-- "=A knight of Cales, a squire of Wales, And a laird of the North Countree, A Yeoman of Kent, with his yearly rent, Would buy them out all three.=" It is much to be regretted that this substantial class of men is almost extinct. To how few are the words of Horace now applicable-- "Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis, Ut prisca gens mortalium, _Paterna rura_ bobus exercet suis." "Happy the man whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound; Content to breathe his native air _On his own ground_."