BURIAL OF UNCLAIMED CORPSE.

(Vol. vii., pp. 262. 340.)

A tradition of similar character with that mentioned by E. G. R., and noticed by J. H. L., is reported to have occurred between the parishes of Shipdham and Saham Tony in Norfolk, of a corpse being found on the common pasture of Shipdham, which parish refused to bury it, and the parish of Saham Tony, therefore, was at the expense thereof, and claimed a considerable piece of the common pasture from Shipdham, in consequence of the neglect of the latter parish.

A fine continues to be paid by Shipdham to Saham to this time; and although many entries are made of such payments in the early parish accounts, beginning A.D. 1511, yet in no instance is it said the reason or cause of these payments being annually made. The said payments are not always of the same amount; they are sometimes paid in money and sometimes in kind, as the following instances show.

The first entry I meet with is in 1511:

Payd the halffe mark at Saham.

1512. Delyvyrd to same ij buschells of otts, viij^d; in sylv^r, ij^d.

1513. The same payment as in 1512.

1514. No entry of any payment.

1515. Payd for woots to Saham, vj^d, and ij^d of mony.

1516. Payd to y^e hallemarke, j^d (not said if to Saham or not).

This entry "to y^e hallemark" may be an error of the scribe for "y^e halffe mark," as in the first entry under 1511.

1517. Payd to y^e halffe mark, j^d (no doubt to Saham).

1518. No entry of payment to Saham.

1519. Payd to same for ij barssels of owte, vj^d; to same, ij^d ... viij^d

1520. Payd for ij busschellys of otte to same, viij^d; and a henne, ij^d ... x^d

1521. Payd to same for ij buschells of ots, xj^d, and ij^d in sylver ... xiij^d

1522. Payd for y^e half marke, j^d; payd for oots to same, vij^d ... viij^d

1523. Payd for y^e halff mark (no doubt to Saham) ... j^d

1524. Payd for otts to sam and wodlod ... viij^d

1525. Similar entry to the last.

1526. Payd for otts to same, viij^d; payd for wod led to same, j^d ... ix^d

1527. Payd the halffe mark, j^d; paid to the Comon, to (two) bussells otts, ix^d, and

a j^d in lieu of a henne ... xj^d

1539. Payd to same for the task ... x^d[^[3]]

1541. Payd to Thomas Lubard, for ij bs. of otts to Saham ... viij^d

Payd to y^e seyd Thomas for j heyn (hen) to Saham ... ij^d

On looking through the town accounts of Shipdham, I find entries of—

Payd to the half mark to Saham j^d

Ij bushells oates, and in lieu of a hen ij^d

The only entry in which I find anything at all apparently relative to the common is that under 1527. Whether the court books of Saham would throw any light on the subject, I know not. Should an opportunity offer for my searching them, I will do so.

G. H. I.

P.S.—Although I have given several entries of the customary payments to Saham, they are merely given to show the different modes of making those entries, and not in expectation of your giving all of them, unless you think any further light can be given on the subject. As before, perhaps the court books of the manor of Saham would assist.

It was an annual custom for Shipdham people to "Drive the common" (as it was called) once a year, in a night of an uncertain time, when all the cattle, &c. found within the limits or boundary of Shipdham were impounded in a farm-yard adjoining. Upon the common, all those belonging to owners residing in Shipdham and claimed were set at liberty, while those belonging to Saham had to be replevied by a small payment, which custom continued up to the period of the commons being inclosed. Perhaps this custom was by way of retaliation, by which means the charge of payment of oats and a hen was recovered by the money paid for replevying their cattle, &c. so impounded.

Footnote 3:[(return)]

No payment entered in the accounts between 1527 and 1539. The average tenpence annually.