THE BAILIFF AND THE PEASANT 165
manorial custom by a favoured peasant, or were themselves
flagrant offenders. In short, there was a wide field for the
activities of knavish bailiffs, and many entries in the Hundred
Rolls and in manorial documents1 show that such men reaped a
rich harvest, and that the popular phrase which spoke of the
bailiff as "rough as a boar" had some justification.
While the day of reckoning for such offences was frequently
long delayed, the bailiff was well aware that from time to time the
coming of the steward gave an opportunity for complaint to be
laid against him and also for the steward himself to notice how
things were going. While he might hope to escape any serious
criticism at the Manor Court—for, after all, his position was so
considerably superior to that of the serfs, and he always had
the ear of the steward, who would generally support his actions
—yet yearly a day of reckoning came. Once a year, soon after
Michaelmas, the lord's auditors appeared on the manor, and held
a searching inquiry into its financial condition. The bailiff had
to face this and give full details of how he had spent the lord's
money and with what return. Every smallest detail was in-
vestigated. Let us take, as an example, the question of hos-
pitality. As the representative of the lord, the bailiff from time
to time gave a night or two's shelter to some passing traveller
who claimed to be a friend or dependent of the lord. But the
auditors were not satisfied with this. By what authority did he
extend such hospitality, and where was the written command
from his lord which authorised his action? If he could not pro-
duce this, or something that would move these hard-faced men,
he found himself surcharged with the amount. Some justifica-
tion for such scrutiny may be urged, for men found this an easy
way of getting a free night's lodging, and it was necessary to take
steps to overcome such abuse. So bad, indeed, did it become at
times that lords had to refuse all hospitality to strangers, as did
the Bishop of Winchester, in 1295, when he issued an order
to all his bailiffs commanding them to receive no one except
the steward and his clerk.2
When at last the day came for the bailiff to leave the manor, he
made his final appearance before the auditors, and having given
1 Rot. Hund. passim; Hales Rolls, 404; Vale Royal, 117, etc.
* Reg. Pontissara, 529; and see also Walter of Henley^ 92, 103.