acquired the bond lands of their manors, and so got together the large and compact estates which we now see in these days when a manor without copyhold lands is worth nothing.
One word more. It must not be supposed that the Ingoldmells villein is quite a fair example of the villeins of Lincolnshire. He had had his services commuted at an exceptionably early period, and probably had other advantages over his neighbours. The Court Rolls for the manors of Sutton and Bolingbroke seem to show that the other villeins of the Duchy of Lancaster fared tolerably well, though they owed some labour services, and the survey of the Bishop’s manor of Stow in 1288, and early Lincolnshire Inquisitions post mortem show no great hardships, but the Chronicle of Peterborough, and Spalding Priory surveys in the Cole MSS. show exactions that were decidedly more onerous, and papers found by Mr. Cole, of Doddington, in the Swinderby parish chest show that the Knights of St. John exacted on the death of their bond tenants at Eagle, N. Scarle, and Swinderby, one-third of their goods, and were entitled to a third of the full price paid for any land sold.
