48 THE MANOR
the greatest difficulties of the common-field system was the
problem of how to cope with one's neighbours who sat cheek by
Jowl on every side. Men had to take their chance: a neighbour
might be a careless worker who allowed weeds to flourish un-
checked, or a helpful and friendly partner with whom one could
share the common labours. But the real difficulty arose much
more from the man who could not keep to his own, but who, as
we have seen in Piers Plowman, would "pinch" on his neigh-
bour's holding in some way or another. Sometimes he would
move the stones marking off one strip from another and thus
gain a few feet more of land for himself,1 or he would plough up a
balk between himself and another man.2 When the time came
for gathering in the crops he would falsely reap some of his
neighbour's oats, and pitch into his cart a few sheaves from a
convenient stook.8 In short, such was the system (or lack of
system) that it was hard for anyone to know exactly what was
Ids own; and, even if he knew this quite well, it was harder still
to be constantly on the watch to protect it against other men's
carelessness or worse.
Offences of this nature were common enough to be mentioned
by the medieval moralists. Take, for example, the story from
Caesarius of Heisterbach, translated in the fifteenth-century
English Alphabet of Tales, which related how a man on his
deathbed was terrified by visions of a great burning stone coming
towards his mouth to scorch him. The priest was called, and
told him to think whether he had harmed anyone with such a
stone. And he thought awhile and then said, "Ah, sir! I have
now a good mind of how I removed this stone in the field to the
intent that I would enlarge my own ground and lessen other
men's ground", etc.4
Difficulties such as these were, of course, well enough known
to the peasants, and they did what they could to alleviate them,
either as we have seen by private arrangement, or by appeal to
their lord for protection, or else by common agreement. Common
1 E.g. Durham Halmote Rolls, 26, 27, 142, 158.
J Select Pleas in Manorial Courts (Selden Soc.), 93, and see also Ramsey
Cart.i, 344, where a peasant holding two virgates has, inter alia, got possession
of thirteen strips formerly belonging to four other peasants.
3 E.g. Hales Rolls, 305-6.
* Alphabet of Tales (E.E.T.S.), 31.