At
Malmesbury, it appears, he occupied the position of honour held in other
towns by the Mayor, and his salary is represented by a piece of land
called the Alderman's Kitchen.
Let us now turn to the communities themselves. At Nottingham resident
burgesses have a right, falling to them in order of seniority, to the
"burgess part"--i.e., a piece of land, either field or meadow, for which
each pays a small ground rent to the Corporation.[14] These "parts"
number 254, and they are of varying value, so that, as Mr. Gomme puts
it, they constitute "a sort of lottery." At Manchester there are 280
allotments, each about an acre in extent, in which all the commoners
have an interest. To forty-eight landholders is assigned an acre each,
and twenty-four assistant (?) burgesses have each of them an additional
acre. At Berwick-on-Tweed there are two portions of land, of which one
is demised, under the name of "treasurer's farms," by the mayor,
bailiff, and burgesses to tenants. The other part includes sundry
parcels called meadows ranging from 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 acres; and every year
at a meeting of the burgesses--the "meadowguild," as it is termed--the
lands vacated by the death or departure of those last in occupation go
to the oldest burgesses or burgesses' widows eligible by residence, the
right of choice depending on seniority.
The land belonging to the Corporation of Langharne is similarly
allocated.
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