The torrents of human beings
which poured in on the decaying Empire were considered by the older
historians as evidence of nomadic barbarism. We, with our present
lights, say rather that they indicate a population too dense for their
own homes to support.
"It would be a matter of course that the elder sons should go forth and
carve out for themselves new homes in the West; but when the swarm
departed, all the sons would not go forth from the shelter of the native
roof-tree. One at least, commonly the youngest, would stay behind. On
him would devolve the duty of looking after the old folk and his
unmarried sisters. On him would devolve in due time the duties of the
sacrifices connected with the sacred hearth; and when the father died to
him would devolve the paternal dwelling, with its ploughland, its
meadow, and its rights of wood and water. Here is, we believe, the key
to the origin of Borough English."
THE OPEN FIELD
We now pass to the methods of cultivation observed in the open
field--the conditions of early agriculture. There is reason to believe
that at the time of the English settlement extensive tillage must have
existed, at any rate to some degree; but this was soon superseded by
intensive culture. Certain fields, that is to say, were allocated for
the raising of particular crops, the limits being marked by large balks
or banks. Beside these arable fields there was a tract of meadow land,
from which the cattle would have been excluded during the time necessary
for the growth and carrying of hay.
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