The yeoman was a man of good education and long pedigree; he belonged to the largest section of English society, called ‘middle class.’ Agriculture was his profession; he seldom left home, consequently had few opportunities of spending money; the character and personal history of every human being on the place was intimately known to him, for the villagers lived and died in their native villages. The roads were bad, therefore traffic from place to place was restricted to what was absolutely necessary. Posts and passenger coaches were rarities, and when first started met with little patronage from the majority of the people. To return to the manorial courts. These were held but once during the year. It was the annual audit of the freemen on the estate, the ‘Visus franciplegii,’ as the opening words of the court roll states. Quarter sessions were held four times in the year, while the sheriff’s tourn took place half-yearly. These inquired into matters of public interest and public expense, whereas the manor court dealt with trivial matters pertaining to the manor itself. The sheriff’s tourn and the manorial court were almost identical in object; the first was the representative of the Crown dispensing justice to the King’s subjects; in a lesser radius and degree the lord of the manor had a similar office to fulfil. [Illustration: COURT ROLL. (_See page 75._)] Manors were ruled by custom, and customs varied in different places. The general aspect of a court roll will always be found to be identical. The older rolls are in Latin, but, like the deeds, the later ones are written in English. The earliest ones are literally ‘rolls’ closely written on parchment in the handwriting called by the French ‘minuscule.’ Every court roll has at its commencement the name of the manor written either above or on the margin. The opening words read thus: ‘Visus franciplegii cum curia.’ After this is the name of the lord of the manor, the date of the day and month, followed by the King’s name and the number of years since he ascended the throne. _Esson._, on the margin, is the abbreviation for _essonium_, an excuse--namely, the jurymen who pleaded absence from the court. Following this are the names of the twelve jurymen present, and then the work begins. In the older rolls the presentment of offences are the principal items; latterly only the tenants and their leases employed the attention of the court at its annual sitting. The first thing to consider was usually the assize--licensing, so to speak, of bread and ale. By this means fraud and adulteration were held in check. The right of brewing ale was a privilege not to be infringed without penalty; the fine imposed was at the rate of 1_d._ for each illegal brewing; the offenders are generally women.