CAP. III.

THE 1813 TRIAL.

THE COMPROMISE AND SETTLEMENT.

The Hill Causes of 1786 had been as the letting loose of the Waters of Strife, and it will be seen that the Great Forest lands up to the Inclosure in 1819, and what was left of the Forest Tenants' lands after that had taken place, have never known a peaceful moment since, and disputed questions of vital importance are rife there to-day.

These Hill Causes were, we believe, supported by the Crown, or, if not, certainly excited their attention a good deal; and the suggestion occurred to their advisers that a much greater sum could be obtained by the sale or otherwise of the Crown's interest in the Forest than that then received. And a little before the expiration of the last lease in 1801, and during Sir Chas. Morgan's life (he died in 1806), Mr. Hassall, the Surveyor of Eastwood, co. Pembroke, was instructed by the Surveyor-General to make a Report on the Great Forest, and how it could be turned to the best profitable use in the interests of the Crown.

Mr. Hassall's Report as to the Customs of the Forest is interesting, having been made from information supplied to him by Mr. Philip Morgan, the Forest Collector. We give the following extract —

"The Great Forest of Brecknock is within the Manor of Brecknock whereof Sir Chas. Morgan Bart. is Lord of the said Manor and the forrest is situate in the Several parishes of Llywel Devynnock, Ystrad vellte and Ystradgunlais in the County of Brecknock, but does not include the whole of either of those parishes.

OF THE DEPASTURATION OF THE GREAT FOREST.

"The kinds of Cattle depastured are Cows, Bulls, Heifers, Oxen, Steers, Yearling Beasts, Brood Mares, Horses and Mares for labour, Colts and Sheep. It is a matter of considerable difficulty to ascertain the average number of the different sorts of stocks maintained Yearly upon the Great Forest owing to the number of Interlopers, as well as the Stock of those persons who have a Right of Depasturation, which are every season turned out to Graze upon the Forest, and not accounted for to the Lessee of the Herbage or his representative.

"By ancient and invariable Custom, the sums paid yearly for the depasturation of Cattle and other Stock upon the Great Forest, being the Stock of Occupiers of Lands within the Forest, are as follows:

For every Cow, one penny.

Bull, one half penny.
Ox, one penny.

Steer, one half penny.

For every Heifer, one half penny.

Yearling Beast, one farthing.
For every Horse Mare or Gelding broke

to labour, one penny.

"It is doubted wheather Brood Mares or Colts which have not been broke to labour are Subject to any payment. One Half-penny for each Mare and the like sum for each Colt has been received in Several Instances. On the contrary many persons have refused to pay nor does it appear that any coercive measures have been adopted to compel them.

"It is an established Custom that if a Mare has once been broke to labour and is afterwards turned off to breed, the payment of one penny yearly is due for her pasturing so long as she continues to be kept upon the Forest.

Sheep-For every hundred of five score Eight pence Yearly. For any number less than a hundred, two pence per score or one penny for a Dozen.

"Persons residing within the Boundary of the Forest and not being occupiers of Lands nor assessed to the parish Rates, such as Handicraft and hired Servants etc. have by Custom a right to depasture Cattle and other Stock upon the Forest paying yearly as follows::

"For every Cow, Horse, or other beast, four pence.

66 For every hundred of Sheep, sixteen pence.

"For any number less than a hundred, two pence per Dozen.

"All Occupiers of Lands lying out of the Boundary of the Great Forest and within the several parishes of Llywel, Devynnock, Cantref, Ystradvellte, and Ystradgunlais, within the Manor of Brecknock, have by Custom a right of Depasturation for Cattle and other Stock upon the Great Forest, paying double Rates for the same which double Rates are:

"For every Cow or other Beast, two pence.

"For every hundred of sheep, sixteen pence, or two pence per Dozen for any less

number.

"All occupiers of Lands lying within the Lordship of Brecknock, including part of the several parishes of Llanspyddid, Trallwm, Llandilo Vau, Llanfihangel Nantbran, Merthyr Cynnog, Llandevaelog, Llanfihangel Vechan, Garthbrengy, Saint Davids, Llanthetty, and Llangasty-tal-y llyn, have by Custom a right to depasture Cattle and other Stock upon the Great Forest, paying yearly for every Cow, Horse or other Beast four pence and for every hundred of Sheep Sixteen pence; but the inhabitants of those Districts having extensive Commons near their Lands, seldom send sheep to the Great Forest.

"The Occupiers of the Little Forest, in the parish of Devynnock, have no right to depasture their Cattle or other Stock on the Great Forest, but the Lessee of the Great Forest do permit the Cattle and other Stock of the Tenants of the Little Forest to depasture their Cattle and other stock on the great Forest, paying fourpence yearly for every Cow, Horse, or other beast, and sixteen pence yearly for every hundred Sheep.

"The Lessee of the Great Forest has no power of excluding the Cattle or other Stock of the persons holding Lands or residing within the Boundary thereof, nor of the Occupiers of Lands Within the Lordship of Brecknock, such persons, Occupiers and residents, having by ancient and invariable Custom a Right of depasturation upon the Great Forest, paying the usual Rates for the same.

"It is held to be the Custom of the Great Forest that Whenever the Residents and other persons having Right of Depasturation there, do not send out Cattle and other Stock in sufficient numbers to eat the Herbage, the Lessee thereof may, in that case only, take in Foreign Cattle and other Stock to eat up the Superabundance of grass, and this Right of the Lessee has been exercised to a considerable extent within the last twenty years. The usual payment for such foreign Cattle has been four pence yearly for every Horse, Ox, or other beast; but this payment may be varied at the Will of the Lessee, and has in some instances been raised to a higher Rate of payment. No person whatever has a Right of depasturation in and upon the Great Forest of Brecknock, without paying the Rates hereinbefore stated, and the Right of Depasturation is confined to the persons, parishes, and places aforesaid.

"By ancient Custom, all Occupiers of Lands having a Right of depasturation upon the Great forest, may turn out any number of Cattle or other stock over and above such as are Levant and Couchant upon their respective holdings, at any Time Whatsoever paying the usual Rates for the same.

"All Horses carrying Lime from the Kilns upon the Great forest and not depastured thereon and paid for by the year, are liable to the payment of one penny each, for every summer or Liming season.

"It is held to be the Custom of the Forest that all persons living thereon or within the Lordship of Brecknock have a right to dig and burn Lime or to dig Tile Stones and other Stones upon the Forest without payment, also to Cut Turf for burning, which Right has been exercised from time Immemorial, and it does not appear that any acknowledg ment or payment was ever made to the Lessee of the Forest in respect thereof."

AND WE FIND the following paragraph in the Surveyor-General's Report, IV, page 194, A.D. 1809:

"The Great Forest of Brecon, of which the Crown is the owner, being a district considerable in extent, but mostly mountainous and barren, and incumbered with rights of depasturage of cattle by the occupiers of adjacent lands, under small fixed rates of payment, and much encroached on; and being a property not likely to be rendered productive to the Crown under its actual circumstances, though perhaps a desirable object of possession to the great landowners of the county, I advised to be sold, and the produce to be invested in £3 per cent. Stock in like manner with the sale of other property appertaining to the Crown."

AND IN THE YEAR preceding (1808) an Act of Parliament had been passed, 34 G. III, c. 75, enabling the Crown, for the purposes of improving the Land Revenue of England (among other powers), to sell the Crown's interest in the Great Forest of Brecknock ::

"And whereas (Section 27) His Majesty, in right of His Crown, is owner of the soil of the Great Forest of Brecknock in the County of Brecknock, and of the mines, minerals, and other substances within and under the same, and is also entitled to the Herbage thereof, subject to the depasture of Cattle of Occupiers of certain land within and adjacent to the said Forest at annual fixed and customary payments. And whereas, by reason of such depasture of Cattle and the nature and extent of the said Forest, and of the Soil, the Rights and Interests of His Majesty cannot be made productive in their present state, and it is therefore expedient that power shall be given to dispose of the same, be it therefore enacted that it shall be lawful for the said Surveyor-General for the time being to contract and agree with any person or persons, or any bodies Politick or Corporate, for the sale of the soil, mines, or other minerals, or other substances or Herbage, or any other Rights or Interests of His Majesty, His Heirs and successors in the said Forest or any part thereof, or in any manner appertaining thereto or existing within the same, within the ordering and survey aforesaid, as and for the best prices or consideration in money which the said Surveyor-General shall be able to procure for the same, and which shall be approved of by the Lord High Treasurer or Commissioners of the Treasury for the time being."

ON THIS ACT of Parliament being passed, it soon became known in the County that the Crown intended to sell the Forest in several lots, inclusive of the soil and minerals, and the herbage and other interests of his Majesty. The intention thus to dispose of the Crown's interest is expressed in the report of the Commissioners of Woods and Forest, (who had now taken the place formerly held by the Surveyor-General) in their first report, page 22, in 1812 :—

"There are two very extensive tracts of land, which, like Delamere, appear to have been formerly Royal Forests, and of which the soil belongs to the Crown; viz., the Forest of Brecknock, in the County of Brecknock, and that of Exmoor, in the Counties of Devon and Somerset. The Forest of Brecknock cousists of 40,000 acres, but of this, as appears from a report made by a person who has been employed to survey it, there are about 2,000 acres fit for the growth of the oak. Under the Act of 48 Geo. III, we have a power to sell the whole of the King's interest in this Estate, with the approbation of the Lords of the Treasury; and though it would be very desirable to retain those 2,000 acres in the hands of the Crown, yet the rights and claims over the whole are of so complicated and extensive a nature, that an attempt to divide and enclose it in the manner of Bere Forest, and others we have mentioned, appropriating a due proportion to His Majesty, might be attended with insurmountable difficulty. We, therefore, think that the best plan will be to sell the entire interest of the Crown in Brecknock Forest by Auction or otherwise, when