[Appendix A(80) 1792 Report of Commissioners of Inquiry]

N° 80.

The EXAMINATION of ROBERT HEYWOOD, Esquire, Member of the House of Keys, taken at Douglas, in the Isle of Man, the 5th Day of October 1991,

Examined by the Duke of Atholl,

This examinant ant saith, That he has known that since the abolition of the Great Inquest the wastes and commons of this land have suffered considerable damage by setting fire to the dry ling, which he has seen burning for several miles extent, and by the improper mode of cuting turf. It was the duty of the Great Inquest to present encroachments upon the Lord's wastes and commonsa. The Great Inquests were charged twice a year, and made presentments eiher ex officio, or as often as they were applied to for that purpose: It was also the duty of the Great Inquest to, prevent the improper state of the fences of lands adjoining the commons and wastes.

Cross-examined by the Keys.

That the Great Inquest decided in matters of right respecting ways; watercourses, and boundaries, and took evidence out of court respecting those matters, and made presentments between party and party respecting private nuisances. It was the duty of the Great Inquest when any one wished to include any part of the wastes or commons, and had obtained a licence so to do, to view the land intended to be inclosed, and make their Report to the Lord's officers respecting the propriety or impropiety of such inclosure; and if their Report was in favour of the inclosure, the Governor and the Lord's officers fixed the rent to be in future paid for the same, That he has known a halfpenny per annum collected by the forester from the inhabitants for turning their cattle upon the Lord's wastes and commons,

Re-examined by the Duke of Atholl.

There is not at present, that he knows of, any means of preventing the encroachments and depredations upon the Lord's wastes and commons,

Cross-examined by the Keys,

That to his knowledge the forester took to his own use the sheep which, by the law of the land, were deemed to have strayed upon the Lord\u2019s wastes or commons. He knows, that since the Revesting Act, the Duke of Atholl bas appointed a forester, and he himself held that office since 1765.

ROBERT HEYWOOD,

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2021