THE SECOND HUSBAND 255
previously relinquished it) and this interest could only be for-
feited by some act of her own, such as re-marriage without
permission or unchastity. Her re-marriage was obviously a
matter of consequence, both to her lord and to her family, for it
put a new man in virtual charge of the family holding for the
time being. He might prove to be a good or a bad husbandman,
and this would seriously affect them all. He seems to have had
no more than a temporary right to the holding, however, for,
according to the few cases that came before the Manor Courts, the
rights of the children of the first marriage to the holding seem
always to be protected at the expense of the husband and any
children of the second marriage, unless the woman had been
allowed to surrender her right and seisin, and it had been
granted in court to her new husband.1 Such an act meant that
any children of her first marriage were forever barred from her
holding, and we may well believe that this did not often happen,
but that, in general, a second husband was only allowed to enter
on his wife's holding on sufferance, and for the term of her life—
and often only during the minority of her children. In himself
he had no rights, and on the death of his wife was forced to give
up the holding.2
The other reason liable to cause the widow's holding to be
forfeited was unchastity, for the lord had an interest in her re-
marriage, and objected to any action on her part which would
make that less possible or which would tend to cheapen her in
the eyes of possible suitors. A West Country custom, reported
on several manors, says that the widow could recover her holding
if she rode into court on a ram, repeating the jingle:
Here I am,
Riding upon a black ram
Like a whore, as I am...
Therefore, I pray you, Mr Steward,
Let me have my land again.3
On the death of the widow the holding went in toto to one of
the children. The division of the holding was repugnant to
medieval law, and in some places the elder, in some the younger,
1 Selden Soc. n, 29.
2 Ancient Deeds, rv, 175; Col. Inquis. Misc. n, 76 (No. 299).
8 Law Mag. New Series, xm, 33, and cf. references there.