explained more fully above. In this case, however, he measures the meers
with a cord, not only forward and backward from the ends of the headmeer, as he is wont to do in the case where the owner of a vena profunda has
a meer granted him, but also from the sides. In this way meers are marked
regalian right to the minerals. In the two centuries subsequent to their advent there are
on record numerous inquisitions, with the recognition and confirmation of "the customs
and liberties which had existed from time immemorial," always with the reservation to the
Crown of some sort of royalty. Except for the High Peak in Derbyshire, the period and
origin of these " customs and liberties " are beyond finding out, as there is practically no
record of English History between the Roman,withdrawal and the Norman occupation.
There may have been " liberties " under the Romans, but there is not a shred of evidence
on the subject, and our own belief is that the forms of self-government which sprang up were
the result of the Roman evacuation. The miner had little to complain of in the Norman
treatment in these matters ; but between the Crown and the landlord as represented by the
Barons, Lords of the Manor, etc., there were wide differences of opinion on the regalian rights,
for in the extreme interpretation of the Crown it tended greatly to curtail the landlord's
position in the matter, and the success of the Crown on this subject was by no means universal.
In fact, a considerable portion of English legal history of mines is but the outcropping of
this conflict, and one of the concessions wrung from lüng John at Runnymede in 1215 was
his abandonment of a portion of such claims.
The mining communities of Cornwall and Devon were early in the 13th century
definitely chartered into corporations—" The Stannaries "—possessing definite legislative
and executive functions, judicial powers, and practical self-government ; but they were
required to make payment of the tithe in the shape of " coinage " on the tin. Such recognition, while but a ratification of prior custom, was not obtained without struggle, for the
Norman Kings early asserted wide rights over the mines. Tangible record of mining in
these parts, from a legal point of view, practically begins with a report by William de Wrotham
in 1198 upon his arrangements regarding the coinage. A charter of King John in 1201, while
granting free right of entry to the miners, thus usurped the rights of the landlords—a claim
which he was compelled by the Barons to moderate ; the Crown, as above mentioned did
maintain its right to a royalty, but thé landlord held the minerals. It is not, however, until
the time of Richard Carew's " Survey of Cornwall " (London, 1602) that we obtain much
insight into details of miners' title, and the customs there set out were maintained in broad
principle down to the 19th century. At Carew's time the miner was allowed to prospect freely
upon " Common " or wastrel lands (since mostly usurped by landlords), and upon mineral
discovery marked his boundaries, within which he was entitled to the vertical contents.
Even upon such lands, however, he must acknowledge the right of the lord of the manor to a
participation in the mine. Upon " enclosed " lands he had no right of entry without the
consent of the landlord ; in fact, the minerals belonged to the land as they do to-day except
where voluntarily relinquished. In either case he was compelled to " renew his bounds "
once a year, and to operate more or less continuously to maintain the right once obtained.
There thus existed a " labour condition " of variable character, usually imposed more or less
vigorously in the bargains with landlords. The regulations in Devonshire differed in the
important particular that the miner had right of entry to private lands, although he was not
relieved of the necessity to give a participation of some sort to the landlord. The Forests of
Dean, Mendip, and other old mining communities possessed a measure of self-government,
which do not display any features in their law fundamentally different from those of Cornwall
and Devon. The High Peak lead mines of Derbyshire, however, exhibit one of the most profoundly interesting of these mining communities. As well as having distinctively Saxon names
for some of the mines, the customs there are of undoubted Saxon origin, and as such their
ratification by the Normans caused the survival of one of the few Saxon institutions in
England—a fact which, we believe, has been hitherto overlooked by historians. Beginning
with inquisitions by Edward I. in 1288, there is in the Record Office a wealth of information,
the bare titles of which form too extensive a list to set out here. (Of published works, the
most important are Edward Manlove's " The Liberties and Customs of the Lead Mines within
the Wapentake of Wirksworth," London, 1653, generally referred to as the " Rhymed
Chronicle " ; Thomas Houghton, " Rara Avis in Terra," London, 1687 ; William Hardy,
" The Miner's Guide," Sheffield, 1748 ; Thomas Tapping, " High Peak Mineral Customs,"
London, 1851.) The miners in this district were presided over by a " Barmaster," " Barghmaster," or " Barmar," as he was variously spelled, all being a corruption of the German
Bergmeister, with precisely the same functions as to the allotment of title, settlement of
disputes, etc., as his Saxon progenitor had, and, like him, he was advised by a jury. The
miners had entry to all lands except churchyards (this regulation waived upon death), and a
few similar exceptions, and was subject to royalty to the Crown and the landlord. The discoverer was entitled to a finder's " meer " of extra size, and his title was to the vein within
the end lines, i.e., the " apex " law. This title was held subject to rigorous labour con-
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