A man otherwise free and possessing a homestead already, could, under the laws of Ine, hire a yard-land of demesne land and pay gafol for it, without incurring liability to week-work. But if the lord found for him both the yard-land and the homestead, then he was a complete 'gebur' or 'villanus,' and must do week-work also.
The Saxon 'gafol' and 'gafol-yrth.'
Taking the gafol first, and descending to details, it was found to be complex—i.e. it included gafol and gafol-yrth. [p400]
The gafol of the 'gebur,' as stated in the Rectitudines, was this:—
- For gafol proper:—
- 10d. at Michaelmas.
- 23 sesters of beer, and 2 fowls, at Martinmas.
- 1 lamb at Easter, or 2d.
- For gafolyrth:—the ploughing of 3 acres, and sowing of it from the 'gebur's' own barn.
Comparing the gafol proper with the census of the St. Gall charters, and the tribute of the 'servi' of the Church under the Alamannic laws of A.D. 622, the resemblance was found to be remarkably close.
The tribute of the 'servi' of the Church was thus stated in the latter:—
- 15 siclæ of beer.
- A sound spring pig.
- 2 modia of bread.
- 5 fowls.
- 20 eggs.
As regards this tribute in kind the likeness is obvious, and it further so closely resembles the food-rent of the Welsh free tribesmen as to suggest that it may have been a survival of ancient tribal dues—a suggestion which the word 'gafol' itself confirms. It seems to be connected with the Abgabe, or food gifts of the German tribesmen.[622]
Possible connexion with Roman tributum.