to communicate their privileges, at any rate freely, to boroughs of
_servile_ condition, i.e., those which owed service to some lord. The
case of Hereford is thus stated:

"The King's cittizens of Hereford, who have the custodye of his citty
(in regard that it is the principall citty of all the market townes from
the sea even unto the boundes of the Seaverne) ought of ancient usage to
deliver their lawes and customes to such townes, when need requires, yet
in this case they are in noe wise bound to do it, because they say they
are not of the same condition; for there are some townes which hould of
our Lord the Kinge of England and his heires without any mesne Lord; and
to such we are bound, when and as often as need shall be, to certifie of
our lawes and customes, chiefly because we hold by one and the same
tenure; and nothing shall be taken of them in the name of a reward,
except only by our common towne clerke, for the wryting and his paynes,
as they can agree. But there are other markett townes which hold of
diverse lords of the Kingdome, wherein are both natives and rusticks of
auncient tyme, who paie to their lord corporall services of diverse
kinds, with other services that are not used among us, and who may be
expelled out of those townes by their lords, and may not inhabit in them
or be restored to their former state, but by the common law of England.
And chiefly those and others that hold by such forreine service in such
townes, are not of our condition; neither shall they have our lawes and
customes but by way of purchase, to be performed to our
capitall-bailiff, as they can agree between them, at the pleasure and to
the benefitt of the citty aforesaid."

Towns were extremely jealous of their purity in this respect, a fact
which may be illustrated in another way. Thus no person of servile
condition was allowed to be a freeman of the city of London. If, after
admission, he was ascertained to be of such condition, he forfeited his
rights. During the mayoralty of John Blount, Thomas le Bedelle, Robert
le Bedelle, Alan Undirwoode, and Edmund May, butchers, lost their
franchises, because they acknowledged that they held land in villeinage
of the Bishop of London and dwelt outside the liberty. On July 18, 11
Rich. II., it was ordained that no one should be enrolled as an
apprentice or received into the freedom of the city by way of
apprenticeship unless he first swore that he was a freeman and not a
native, and wh