VIII. THE THEOWS OR SLAVES ON THE LORD'S DEMESNE.
The theows, or slave class.
One word must be said of the theows or slaves on the lord's demesne—the thane's inland—lest we should [p165] forget the existence of this lowest class of all, in contrast with whose slavery the geburs and cottiers on the geneat land, notwithstanding their serfdom, were 'free.' These latter were prædial serfs 'adscripti glebæ,' but not slaves. The theows were slaves, bought and sold in the market, and exported from English ports across the seas as part of the commercial produce of the island. Some of the theows were slaves by birth. But it seems to have been a not uncommon thing for freemen to sell themselves into slavery under the pressure of want.[193]
The servi of the Domesday Survey.
The 'servi' of the Domesday Survey were no doubt the successors of the Saxon theows. And as in the Survey the servi are mostly found on the demesne land of the lord, so probably in Saxon times the theows were chiefly the slaves of the manor-house. Most of the farm work on the thane's inland, especially the ploughing, was done no doubt by the services of the villein tenants; but as, in addition to the villein ploughs, there were the great manorial plough teams, so also there were theows doing slave labour of various kinds on the home farm of the lord, and maintained at the lord's expense.
In the bilingual dialogue of Ælfric,[194] written in Saxon and Latin late in the tenth century as an educational lesson, in the reply of the 'yrthling' or ploughman to the question put as to the nature of his daily work, a touching picture is given of the work of a theow conscious of his thraldom:— [p166]
Feelings of the theow.
Hwæt sægest þu yrþlinge?
Hu begæst þu weorc þin?
Eala leof hlaford þearle ic deorfe ic ga ut on dægræd þywende oxon to felda and iugie hig to syl. Nys hyt swa stearc winter þæt ic durre lutian æt ham for ege hlafordes mines ac geiukodan oxan and gefæstnodon sceare and cultre mit þære syl ælce dæg ic sceal erian fulne æþer (æcer) oþþe mare.
Hæfst þu ænigne geferan?
Ic hæbbe sumne cnapan þywende oxan mid gad isene þe eacswilce nu has ys for cylde and hreame.
Hwæt mare dest þu on dæg?
Gewyslice þænne mare ic do. Ic sceal fyllan binnan oxan mid hig and wæterian hig and sceasn (scearn) heora beran ut. hig hig micel gedeorf ys hyt geleof micel gedeorf hit ys forþam ic neom freoh.
What sayest thou, plowman?
How dost thou do thy work?
Oh, my lord, hard do I work. I go out at daybreak driving the oxen to field, and I yoke them to the plough. Nor is it ever so hard winter that I dare loiter at home, for fear of my lord, but the oxen yoked, and the ploughshare and coulter fastened to the plough, every day must I plough a full acre, or more.
Hast thou any comrade?
I have a boy driving the oxen with an iron goad, who also is hoarse with cold and shouting.
What more dost thou in the day?
Verily then I do more. I must fill the bin of the oxen with hay, and water them, and carry out the dung. Ha! ha! hard work it is, hard work it is! because I am not free.
Perhaps some day his lord will provide him with an outfit of oxen, give him a yard-land, and make him into a gebur instead of a theow. This at least seems to be his yearning.