It was granted to lords of manors " in order that they might administer justice to their tenants at home." All the people in the district of the Court- Leet were bound to attend under penalty of a small fine. The Steward of the M.anor was the judge, and the people of the manor alone could be the jurors. " Anciently," said Lord Mansfield, " the Tourn and the Leet (derived out of it) were the principal Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction ; coeval with the establishment of the Saxons here. There were no traces of them either among the Romans or Britons ; but the activity of these Courts is marked very visibly both among the Saxons and the Danes." *

6. The Franchises annexed or appendant to a Manor. These were privileges specifically given by the Crown in the Grants of manors, or of lands not manors. "A franchise," says Cruise, "is a royal privilege or branch of the King's prerogative subsisting in a subject by a grant from the Crown." * When so granted they were said to be appendant to the manor, or other grant in which they are set forth. There was nothing whatever which was "feudal " in their nature. They were simply favors extended by the crown to the grantees of lands whether manorial, or non-manorial, to increase the value and enjoyment of their properties. They varied much, some manors having more, some less. Most of these franchises were common to both manorial, and non-manorial, lands. Some, however, were only granted to Manors, and were held by their Lords in addition to those common to both these classes of Crown-granted lands. Among those of the non-manorial lands were Hunting, Hawking, Fowling, Fishing, &c., among the latter, those of Courts-Baron, Courts-Leet, Waifs, Estrays. Advowsons, Deodands, &c.