Legal Definitions - drift of the forest

The term drift of the forest is a historical legal concept referring to a specific administrative practice concerning common lands.

Historically, it was a regular, often annual, examination conducted by forest officials. During this process, all livestock (such as cattle, sheep, or pigs) grazing within a designated forest or common land area would be rounded up and driven to a central, enclosed location. The primary purpose of this "drift" was to:

• Verify ownership: Determine who owned each animal.
• Confirm common rights: Ensure that only individuals with legal rights to graze animals on the common land were doing so.
• Prevent overuse: Check that commoners were not exceeding the number of animals they were permitted to graze, thereby protecting the shared resource from depletion.
• Remove unauthorized animals: Identify and remove any animals belonging to individuals who did not possess common rights, or animals that were not permitted to graze in that specific area.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of "drift of the forest":

• Example 1: Preventing Overgrazing

  Imagine a medieval village where several families hold common rights to graze their cows in a shared woodland pasture. Each family is permitted to graze a maximum of ten cows to prevent the land from becoming barren. If forest officials suspect that some families are secretly grazing more than their allotted number, they would initiate a drift of the forest. All the cows from the common land would be gathered into a central pen. Officials would then systematically count and identify the cows belonging to each family, quickly revealing any instances where a family had exceeded their grazing quota. This action would ensure the sustainable use of the shared resource for all commoners.

• Example 2: Identifying Unauthorized Livestock

  Consider a large common forest that borders the private estate of a wealthy lord who does not possess grazing rights within that particular common. If the lord's shepherds allow their sheep to wander into the common forest, competing for pasture with the commoners' animals, a drift of the forest would be conducted. Forest officers would round up all the sheep found within the common land. During the inspection, the lord's sheep, identifiable by their distinct markings or lack of commoner's branding, would be identified as unauthorized and removed from the common, upholding the exclusive grazing rights of the commoners.

• Example 3: Resolving Ownership Disputes and Lost Animals

  Suppose a farmer loses several pigs that stray into the vast common forest, mixing with the herds of other commoners. There might also be ongoing disputes among commoners about the ownership of certain unmarked piglets. A scheduled drift of the forest would provide a formal mechanism to address these issues. All pigs from the common would be driven to an enclosure. During this process, commoners could inspect the gathered animals to identify their lost pigs, and officials could mediate any disputes over ownership, ensuring that all livestock were correctly attributed to their rightful owners and returned.