FOLKLAND, The land of the folk, or the people of England in Anglo-Saxon times; the public domain. All land private title to which was not attested by charter was folkland or pub• lie land. It eemprised the wbolc area of England that had not been assigned to individuals or el i111 1111.111itieS at the first allotment, and that was not subsequently divided into estates of book land. It constituted in England a permanent souree of revenue, for it could not, be alienated without the consent of the National Council, differing in this respect from the ',tainc lands of oilier Germanic tribes; thus the Lombards had public or State lands, but the pleasure of the King determined their disposal, while in England the King himself could not appropriate a part of the folkland without the consent of the Coun cil. The English folkland had only an analogy, and not a similarity, to the common lands of the township in the mark system of the Teutonic races. The land could be let, lent, or leased; but this alienation extended only to the right possessed by the holder. The ownership con
tinued to reside in tire State. and the individuals who held portions, for which they paid rent and service, held only for life. The holders of folk land were liable to special burdens. payable di rectly to the State, and royal officers adminis tered the jurisdiction. Such were the char acteristics of the folkland down to the time of King Alfred. From his time the records contain less and less frequently the clause expressing the consent of the National Council to the alienation of the folkland. Gradually teat body became only witnesses of the transaction, which finally receied their mere attestation). In time the folkland became hardly distinguishable from the royal demesne. Consult: Stubbs, Constitutional History of England (Oxford. 1874-78) ; Taylor, Thr Origin and Growth of the English Constitu. lion (New York, IS98) ; Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons (London, 1836).