ESTRAY, or Stray
,—appertain equally to horse, mare, bull, ox, cow, sheep, or, in fact, any head of cattle, who having strayed from its own home, common, waste, or lair, into a strange MANOR, or LORDSHIP, and there found without an owner, is then called an ESTRAY, or stray: in which case it is an established custom, sanctioned by LAW, and founded in EQUITY, that such stray is proclaimed, and his or her marks described, by the common crier, in the three next nearest towns on the market-day; and if the stray is not claimed within a year and a day of the time on which it was publicly cried, and fully described, it then becomes the property of the LORD of the MANOR where it was found. If the owner makes the claim within the time limited, he is liable to pay reasonable charges for finding, keeping, proclaiming, &c. An estray must be kept without labour, uninjured, and properly fed, till reclaimed, or the time above mentioned is expired.