English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

, an estover is an allowance made to a person out of an estate, or other thing, for his or her support. The word estover can also mean specifically an allowance of wood that a tenant is allowed to take from the commons, for life or a period of years, for the implements of

husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...

, hedges and

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...

s, and for

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

History

The word derives from the French ''estover'', ''estovoir'', a

verb A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...

used as a

substantive In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an object or subject within a phrase, clause, or sentence.Example ...

meaning "that which is necessary". This word is of disputed origin; it has been referred to the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''stare'', to stand, or ''studere'', to desire. The Old English word for estover was ''bote'' or ''boot'', also spelled ''bot'' or ''bót'', (literally meaning 'good' or 'profit' and cognate with the word ''better''). The various kinds of estovers were known as house-bote, cart or plough-bote, hedge or hay-bote, and fire-bote.

Anglo-Saxon law Anglo-Saxon law (, later ; , ) was the legal system of Anglo-Saxon England from the 6th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. It was a form of Germanic law based on unwritten custom known as folk-right and on written laws enacted by Histo ...

also imposed "bot" fines in the modern sense of compensation.The legal phrase ''&'' n. ''scillingas to bote'', "and ''n.'' shillings as compensation" often followed after other fines imposed for the same offense, and is the origin of the modern English phrase, "to boot"
Anglo-Saxon dooms from 560-975
/ref> These rights might be restricted by express covenants.

Copyhold Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ...

ers had similar rights over the land they occupied and over the waste of the manor, in which case the rights are known as

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

of estovers. Burrill in his dated ''A law dictionary and glossary'' published in New York (1871) states:

Notes

References

* * {{EB1911, wstitle=Estovers, volume=9 , page=801 English legal terminology Wood English forest law

History

See also

Notes

References