glected, it will by long continuance of time grow out of memory (as doubtleſs it frequently has) whether the land be holden of the lord or not; and ſo he may loſe his ſeignory, and the profit which may accrue to him by eſcheats and other contingences[1].
4. The tenure in ſocage was ſubject, of common right, to aids for knighting the ſon and marrying the eldeſt daughter[2]: which were fixed by the ſtatute Weſtm. 1. c. 36. at 20s. for every 20𝑙. per annum ſo held; as in knight-ſervice. Theſe aids, as in tenure by chivalry, were originally mere benevolences, though afterwards claimed as matter of right; but were all aboliſhed by the ſtatute 12 Car. II.
5. Relief is due upon ſocage tenure, as well as upon tenure in chivalry: but the manner of taking it is very different. The relief on a knight's fee was 5𝑙. or one quarter of the ſuppoſed value of the land; but a ſocage relief is one year's rent or render, payable by the tenant to the lord, be the ſame either great or ſmall[3]: and therefore Bracton[4] will not allow this to be properly a relief, but quaedam praeſtatio loco relevii in recognitionem domini. So too the ſtatute 28 Edw. I. c. 1. declares, that a free ſokeman ſhall give no relief, but ſhall double his rent after the death of his anceſtor, according to that which he hath uſed to pay his lord, and ſhall not be grieved above meaſure. Reliefs in knight-ſervice were only payable, if the heir at the death of his anceſtor was of full age: but in ſocage they were due, even though the heir was under age, becauſe the lord has no wardſhip over him[5]. The ſtatute of Charles II reſerves the reliefs incident to ſocage tenures; and therefore, wherever lands in fee ſimple are holden by a rent, relief is ſtill due of common right upon the death of the tenant[6].
