Greslet of Manchester, with its appurtenances, and all the lands of the same Robert which he had within the Lyme, to be held so long as it shall please us. Wherefore we also command that you may direct full seisin to be made to the said Adam of the aforesaid castle, with all thereunto belonging, and of the said land within the Lyme.' The castle of Manchester, of which mention is here made, was no doubt a fortress which had been constructed upon the site of, and perhaps with materials from, the Roman castrum. For nothing is more reasonable than the supposition that the Norman lords of Manchester would keep in repair the Anglo-Saxon fort of Mancastle, and perhaps re-construct its defences according to their own system of castrametation; and although the barons of Manchester resided at the Baron's Hull, or Hill, the site now occupied by the Cheetham Library and Hospital, yet there is no reason for supposing that their residence became the fort or castle of the town. From this time we hear no more of the castle of Manchester. In March of the same year, Robert Greslet received other letters of safe conduct, dated from Hainslope, Bucks, which protected him for the Sunday next before the feast of St. Gregory (March 12th) and the eight following days exclusively. But the undaunted spirit of the Baron of Manchester could not restrain itself, or keep within the bounds which the king's tyranny prescribed, and we find that shortly afterwards the possessions of the Greslets were given by John to William Maresa the younger, and to Hugo de Vivian, in order that being enriched by the confiscated lands they might the better support the cause of the monarch. But John lacked power to enforce his grant, and his favourites could not obtain possession. As we have just seen, King John was at Hainslope, in Buckinghamshire, in the early part of March. On the 30th of the same month he reached Enfield, when the barons who were in arms against him despatched envoys and hostages to offer the crown to Louis, son of the king of France. The French prince soon after landed, and a series of conflicts ensued, but without any definite result; and on September 22nd we find John at Lincoln. He subsequently marched towards the south ravaging the country, and reached Lynn, October 9, where the inhabitants welcomed him, in consequence of which he stayed in the town three days. In his march on the shore of the Wash towards

Wisbeach, he lost a considerable portion of his baggage and treasure on October 11, and the following day was seized with illness at Swineshead, the monastery founded by the ancestors of Robert Greslet, and died seven days afterwards at Newark, being buried at Worcester, according to his own desire. The death of John was followed by a new state of things, and the Baron of Manchester was left in peaceable possession of his

estates.

We have it stated, on the authority of Kuerden, that Robert Greslet was the first baron of Manchester who resided in the town; but it is not recorded whether he had his dwelling at Mancastle, on the site of the Roman station, or on the spot called in later times the Baron's Hull. Our opinion is in favour of the latter supposition; for at the time to which we have now arrived, the ancient town and its fort were included within the park of Aldport, which was about a mile in circumference, and intersected by the Medlock. Some years later a survey was made, from which it appears that this park contained a large number of oaks, and the grounds were in process of being used as a pannage or pasture for swine. The park also contained an aery of hawks, together with herons, eagles, honey, and bees; but of this more hereafter. As we have seen at page 7, a Roman road connected the station of Mancunium with the station of Coccium (Ribchester). This road proceeded from the station in Aldport Park, and traversed a locality variously named the Breadenorchard, or Walles Green, which is described as lying between Aldport and the rectory of Manchester;-the latter, the site of which is now known as the Parsonage, stood on the western side of the Roman road to Ribchester, at a distance of about half a mile from Aldport, and near the entrance to the new town of Manchester. The Ribchester road to the north of the parsonage was flanked with houses, which extended as far as St. Mary's Gate, so named from its leading to the church of St. Mary, at this time the parish church of Manchester. It is very probable that at this period the town did not extend much farther north. 'Beyond this point,' says Dr. Hibbert-Ware, 'the Ribchester road was diverted by a gradual descent towards the west, to the chief passage across the Irwell, named Salford; while its continuance in a northerly direction was interrupted

by the presence of a deep dell, named in Lancashire and other northerly counties, a "dene."1 This dell or natural ravine contributed to the enclosure and defence of a peninsular area of ground, destined to be the future residence of Robert Greslet. It formed the channel of a small stream, caused by the drainage of certain lands to the north-east of the town, which, in turning an ancient mill, imparted its name to the Old Millgate of Manchester, and then fell into the Irwell, near the ford or crossing-place of Salford. The ground thus naturally fortified, was bounded on the west by high banks and the waters of the Irwell; and on the north by the river Irk, near its confluence with the Irwell. On the north-east, however, a small space intervened between the Irk and the commencement of the dene, or valley, which became artificially strengthened by a fosse. The remaining portion of the defence, on the east and south, was formed by the dene. There is every probability that when Saxon Manchester was first removed to its more northerly site, the peninsular area thus naturally fortified, would suggest to the thegn a convenient place for habitation. But there is a very great doubt whether much of the artificial modelling had taken place before the time of Robert Greslet. From this time the name which it bore in ancient charters would be first applied to it, namely, that of "the Baron's Hull,"the term "hull" being the Saxon expression for "hill." Lastly, it may be mentioned that the portion of the Roman road leading north from Aldport, until it was met at right angles by the dene, or valley, by which the Baron's Hull was fortified, thence acquired the name of the Denesgate, now one of the most crowded streets in the town. The Roman road, after descending within the valley, or dene was conducted across the rivulet near a spot still known by the name of Hanging Bridge, from which it ascended to the level of the peninsular site just described, and thence along the high bank of the Irwell, to the Irk, which it crossed near its confluence with the Irwell.

1 See page 43 for the etymology of 'dene.'

CHAPTER VI.

Civil Jurisdiction of the Barons of Manchester-Frank Pledge-Tythings, Hundreds, and Shires-Jurisdiction of Manchester originally comprised in the Hundred of Salford-Manorial Privileges of Manchester: Soc, Sac, Toll, Theam, Infangtheof, Outfangtheof, Waif and Stray, Gallows and Tumbril, Markets and Fairs-The Cucking Stool-Limits of the two Bailiwicks of the Barony of Manchester-Manor Courts-Aca's or Acres Fair first granted—Charter of Henry III., by which the Fair is held-Supposed Church of St. Matthew-Acres Field; Derivation of its Name from Aca, a Saxon-Whitaker's Account of the Origin of the Fair.

In order to understand the position in which the Greslets stood with respect to Manchester, and the various rights and privileges which, as its lords, they enjoyed, it will be necessary here for us to take a short review of the civil jurisdiction exercised by Robert Greslet; and in doing so, we must premise that the system of jurisdiction then prevalent was based upon that of the AngloSaxons, and had for its two principles-residence and mutual responsibility, which, when effectually carried out, as in the great majority of instances they appear to have been, seem to have formed quite a sufficient police for the state of society that then existed. This residence and mutual responsibility are known by the name of Frank Pledge,' a law by which the whole population of England was distributed into a number of petty societies, called tythings, or free burghs, each of which consisted of ten free families, so bound together, that if any offence was committed, the tything was bound to present the offender in court, that he might make reparation in his own property and person; but if he escaped, the tything was not answerable for his offence, unless they failed to exculpate themselves from participation in his crime or flight. This system of frank pledge was at first attended with obvious advantage to the people, as admirably calculated to repress that spirit of rapine and insubordination to which the

Anglo-Saxons were more especially addicted; but, although successful as a political regulation, it was certainly inimical to the true spirit of liberty, as it placed every man in the position of the guilty and accused, by compelling him to find a surety who might be responsible for his appearance when judicially summoned. 'Hence,' as Hallam very justly observes, notwithstanding the personal liberty of the peasants, it was not very practicable for one of them to quit his place of residence. A stranger guest could not be received more than two nights as such; on the third, the host became responsible for his inmate's conduct.' The principal man in each tything was known as the tything-man. Above the tythings were the hundreds, which consisted of a number of contiguous tythings, and possessed its own peculiar court-the hundred court, which met twelve times a year to decide minor suits, and to which all those who owed suit and service at the court were obliged to appear. Superior to the court of the hundred was that of the shire, or county, which was presided over by the shire-reeve, or sheriff, and met twice a year, at Easter and Michaelmas, and consisted of the lords and freeholders of the county.

When the Anglo-Saxons first invaded England, the woods were no longer the towns of the natives. The Britons had been. collected in cities, polished but subjugated by the Roman legionaries, who lived in villas and towns on the taxes raised in the country. Unlike the adventurous colonists of modern times, they did not find nations less civilised than themselves in the land, but more corrupted-less capable of freedom, and political organisation. As the Roman towns still existed, some of their forms and institutions may have remained, and have impressed on the populations of York, London, and other cities, some modifications of the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians; but those modifications can, however, rarely be traced. The condition and circumstances were no longer the same in the fertile cultivated soil of England as they had been on the western shores of the Continent, and the new races adapted themselves to the change; but their relations to each other, -to their families and to their princes,-required free institutions of a character very different from the provincial organisation of the declining Roman empire. The Saxon borough was a modification of the hundred; the burgesses were free men,