THE REEVE'S PRIVILEGES 177
reeve was given " i acre of corn in his lord's third-best field",1
while the Battle reeves were forced to be content with one acre of
corn grown on land which had not been manured, and was there-
fore not likely to yield very highly. Even this was not all, for they
could only take it at the order and discretion of the bailiff, who
could thus give them whatever he wished.2
The greatest relief the reeve obtained was undoubtedly from
none of these things, but from a partial or total relaxation of his
customary works. In fact, it would have been wellnigh impossible
for him to act as reeve and also to perform his usual number of
daily works; and most customals realise this and excuse him
completely.3 Some grudging lords would not assent to this, but
made their reeve pay a fine of half a mark in lieu of the works
their own demands forbade him fulfilling, while others would
excuse the works at the busy harvest season only.4
Besides these various privileges, he was on some manors so
identified with the lord that he could demand his food daily with
the lord's other servants at the manor house.5 On some of the
Ramsey estates this was so, while at Harmondsworth in Middle-
sex the reeve either dined daily at his lord's table or else received
a weekly allowance of one bushel of wheat. The Harmondsworth
entry concludes "and nothing more save by the lord's grace", as
if to protect the lord from his reeve demanding total and not
partial board. We shall see the importance of this when we come
to discuss the other manorial servants.6
A far more frequent custom, however, was to allow the reeve
to eat with the other manorial servants during the harvest period
which extended roughly from the feast of St Peter in Chains
(i Aug.) to Michaelmas (29 Sept.). This was a period of abnormal
activity, and it was most important that the reeve should be con-
stantly at the head of affairs, and about the manor and the manor
house. So the lord graciously allowed him to feed at the manor
1 Glas. Rentalia, 243; and cf. 56, 60, 67, 94, etc.
8 Battle Customals, 66.
8 See Glas. Rentaliay passim; Ramsey Cart, passim; Eynsham Cart. 10, 61,
137; Rot. Hund. n, 5250; etc.
4 Ramsey Cart, i, 52; Castlecombe, 146; but see Davenport, op. cit, bcvi,
where the reeve gets off three works at harvest, and apparently none during
all the rest of the year.
5 Ramsey Cart, i, 406, 473; cf. D.S.P. Isvii.
6 V.CJH. Middlesex, n, 68. See below, p. 184.
BL 12