the sheriff to men of detestable avarice who receive this for the effusion of blood, it is computed to him as by custom of the exchequer; that is, not by writ of the king. And there is another thing which ought to be computed to the sheriff by custom alone: when the treasure of the king, being about to be borne by decree of the greater barons from one place to another has need of vehicles and minor things of the kind, the sheriff, by order of the treasurer, or the chamberlains, or their servants sent for this purpose, pays from his fann what is necessary, and this is computed to the sheriff without a writ,—the treasurer himself, however, or any one of the aforesaid who has ordered this to be done, bearing witness concerning this matter in the presence of the greater barons; and then it shall read in the roll: "for these or these necessaries of the treasury, this or that, through such and such a one."
Likewise if a royal fish is taken, a turbot or a whale or another of the kind, what is paid out by the sheriff for salting it and for furnishing other necessaries is computed without a writ. Likewise what is spent in cultivating the vines on the domains of the king, and in vintaging them, or in furnishing receptacles and other necessaries, is computed without a writ, on the oath of the sheriff; concerning which oath, how it is taken, whether once or oftener, we shall speak below. These, therefore, are the things which occur to us at present which are to be placed to the account of the sheriff by custom alone. Now let us continue concerning the other things which pertain to the account from the body of the county.
VIII. In what order those things are to be computed to the sheriff which were spent in public works by a writ of the king not specifying the amount.
It happens sometimes that the king gives orders to the sheriff by his writ, that for fortifying castles or for building edifices and the like, he shall furnish from his farm what is necessary, by view of two or three men whose names are expressed in that writ; and that he adds at the end a short clause, but one necessary for those making up the accounts: "and it shall be computed to thee at the exchequer." When,
