heth, fro Smelehethe to derslenthe—to Caldewell, et sic de aliis."[1]
But General Wrottesley, from whom I have these particulars, is not aware of any supposed right of cutting timber in the Deerleap.
My brother informs me, on the authority of Mr. L. C. Cholmely, who formerly resided near Richmond Park, that round the park the Crown claims the land for 16 feet (about 5 yards) outside the fence, and that the adjoining owners recognise the claim, and pay rent for the strip as yearly tenants.
These three instances of boundary privileges, as I may call them, seem to take us back to a very early stage in the history of village settlements, and of private property in land. I shall be glad to hear if anyone else can furnish similar instances, or corroborative details. The name "the Buck's Leap" evidently signifies the width of land a deer could leap over, and may be compared, as a measurement, with such phrases as "a bowshot-length", and "a stone's cast." It must not be confounded with the saltatorium, or chartered deer-leap, such as may still be seen in Wolseley Park, Staffordshire, which was a low part of the fence so constructed that the deer from the forest could leap into the park but not back again.
- ↑ Printed in the William Salt Archaological Collections, vol. ii, p. 183. The MS. is a 14th century copy of the original of the ist year of William II, hence the repetition, and the explanation that "of" means "from".
