QUEER RENTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 913, 5 March 1930, Page 6

QUEER RENTS

Survival from Olden Times SNOW IN MIDSUMMER The custom of paying rent to the King for “the moors” of Shropshire has been observed for the last 700 years, and is a survival from feudal times, but it is by no means unique, for the number of properties held from the King in consideration of the payment of a “quit rent” is considerable (says the “Star,” London). In the case of the Shropshire moors, the rent consists of two bundles of faggots, a hatchet, and a bill-hook, and its payment is accompanied by a quaint ceremony. The proclamation “Tenants and Occupiers of a piece of waste land called ‘the moors/ in the County of Salop, come forth and do your service,” is cried. The quaintness of the custom is enhanced by the fact that nobody today knows exactly where the “moors” are, and because (he city of London holds the tenure, its solicitor officiates for the “tenants and occupiers,” chopping up the faggots while the King’s Remembrancer stands by. Afterward the latter exclaims “Good service!” The early days of November see the annual collection of farthings and halfpennies as the quit-rent on the Isle of Portland. From very early days the King of England has been lord of the manor. The money is collected by two officials, and the custom is for every cottage to contribute a farthing, the larger houses a halfpenny, while shops with an acre or more of land pay threepence. The tally is kept oil a staff, which is marked by notches and small cuts, and in places with the sign of the Cross, in order to indicate the sizes of the holdings and the particular rent due. Every year, on June 18, the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, the King is presented with a small tricolor banner by the Duke of Wellington. This is rent due for the estate of Strathfieldsaye, in Berkshire, which was voted to the Iron Duke in consideration of his services. The flag is draped over the bust of the Duke in Windsor Castle guardroom, where it remains until the new one is pre- | sented. The Duke of Marlborough, ! Loo, presents a similar token on the anniversary of the battle of Blenheim. Many of the rents survive in Scotland, and the Duke of Atholl has to give the King a white rose whenever he visits Blair Atholl, while Braehead, In Midlothian, is held by the provision of water for the King’s hands when he stays in the district. Kidwelly Castle has to provide the King with a knight in armour; the Foulis estate pays with a bucketful of snow; and a Yorkshire estate is supposed to be quit with the gift of a snowball on Midsummer Day! In some cases pepper figures as the rent, for this spice was of far greater importance as a commercial article in former days than it is now.