Warren and Warrant
The adjective free in free warren does not refer to the lack of enclosure surrounding the precincts of the warren, but rather to the fact the "liberty" of hunting derives from a warrant of the sovereign. That is,
The term "warrant" occurs very early in constitutional documents: it is found in the Assize of Clarendon and the Assize of the Forest, both in the reign of Henry II., but in neither case in its modern meaning. The original meaning seems to have been more akin to guarantee (q.v.), warranty or security; and to some extent the term implies something in the nature of a guarantee or representation by the person issuing the warrant that the person who acts on it can do so without incurring any legal penalty.
All of the terms warrant, warrantor, and warranty are used in Henry II of England's Assize of the Forest (a.k.a. Assize of Woodstock) in 1184:
- Article 2. Item, he has commanded that no one shall have bows, arrows, dogs, or hounds in his forests, unless has the warrant of the king or of some other man who can be his warrantor.
- Article 9. Item, the king forbids all clergymen to commit any offences touching his venison or his forests. He strictly orders his foresters that, if they find such men committing offences, they shall not hesitate to lay hands on those men in order to hold them and put them under attachment; he himself will give full warranty.
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Famous quotes containing the words warren and/or warrant:
“But it thought no bed too narrow—it stood with lips askew
And shook its great head sadly like the abstract Jew.”
—Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989)
“I’ll sing you a new ballad, and I’ll warrant it first-rate,
Of the days of that old gentleman who had that old estate;
When they spent the public money at a bountiful old rate
On ev’ry mistress, pimp, and scamp, at ev’ry noble gate,
In the fine old English Tory times;”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1890)