Elsdon : Manorial And Township Institutions

The affairs of the townships and manors were each regulated by their own courts known as the court leet and court baron respectively. Hodgson recorded that these courts were invariably held at Elsdon in or about the first week after Michaelmas at the time he was writing in the early 19th century (Hodgson 1827, 87).

The jurisdiction of the Elsdon court extended to the parish of Corsenside and the chapelry of Holystone as well as Elsdon parish (i.e. the full extent of the former lordship of Redesdale). A century later, a Court Leet and Baron was still held by the Duke of Northumberland (in his capacity as lord of the manor of Redesdale) under the presidency of his steward in every tenth year at the Bird in the Bush inn at Elsdon. The boundaries of the ancient fair were also ridden. A description of proceedings in the court, witnessed in 1910 and 1920, is provided by H. Pease (1924, 130):

The jurors elect a foreman. They take the oath after their foreman as follows: ‘to keep secret the King’s Counsel, their own and their fellows: to present no person out of envy, hatred or malice, nor to spare any man or conceal anything out of fear, favour or affection, or any hope of reward or gain, but to present the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help them God!’ The Steward then informs them of the duty and powers of the jurors of the Court Leet, and further of their duty as homagers of the Court Baron.

Constables, finally, are elected for the various wards of the Lordship. And in right conclusion after the hearty old English fashion all the jurors are entertained to dinner by the Lord’s bailiff while the duke’s piper plays them in to the tune of ‘Chevy Chase’.