2i4 THE MANOR COURT
their activities to matters concerning serfs: on some manors they
presented free men for offences of every kind, or were called on
to declare the age of an heir to the estate, and acted in many ways
which seem contrary to strict legal theory.1
Not unnaturally, with so much put upon them, we get a mass
of complaints as to their incompetence, partiality and slackness.
Sometimes, indeed, suitors go so far as to say justice is impossible,
since the lord's officers pack the jury,2 but more generally it is a
tardy verdict or a neglect of their orders that is complained of.
Sometimes they are fined for concealing the truth of a matter,
and frequently subsequent events bring new facts to light and
the wretched jury are punished for neglecting to make due
search.3 Their lot in short was unenviable. The lords had long
been accustomed to use their courts as a source of profit, and to
fine the jurors was one of many ways of making money. Thus we
find Wynslow juries fined for concealment of a marriage, of a
sale of land, of "waste" on the lord's land, etc., when in all pro-
bability the worst that could be said was that they had been
careless and inefficient.4 Again,
uniformity and consistency were strictly enforced upon the sworn
men, and the coercion and punishment of a dissentient minority
seems to have been frequent. Fines for the contradiction of fellow-
jurors were common, and offenders were not merely fined by the lord,
but could be impleaded by the parties to the case, who lost prestige
through the lack of unanimity in their favour.5
The deliberations of the jury were a matter of much interest
in the village, and great care had to be taken to keep them secret
so as to avoid opportunity for renewed litigation. Again and
again the jurors are ordered to keep their deliberations secret
under pain of fine,6 and again and again we learn that this
secrecy has been broken.7 On the other hand their verdicts give
rise to violent expressions of opinion: men stood up in court and
upbraided the jury; or, as one record runs: "A. B. disturbed the
court with his scornful words, and would not be prevailed on by
1 Selden Soc. n, 89, 90, 173; Ancient Deeds, v, 495.
* Bristol and Glouc. Arch. Soc. ix, 332. a Abbots Langley, f, 4.
4 UX.C. Wynslotoe Rolls, 8. 46, 56, 136, 636, etc.; cf. Durham Halmote,
passfrn-, Selden Soc. n, 90, 97.
* Cropland Estates, 42.
1 Durham Halmote, 33; EJI.R. XLV, 209 n. i.
7 Wakefield Rolls, n, 92; Crotoland Estates, 42, 43.