BOOK IV.

HE third book has explained the various andmanifold varieties of veins and stringers. Thisfourth book will deal with mining areas and themethod of delimiting them, and will then pass on tothe officials who are connected with mining affairs 1 .

Now the miner, if the vein he has uncoveredis to his liking, first of all goes to the Bergmeisterto request to be granted a right to mine, thisofficial’s special function and office being to adjudi-cate in respect of the mines. And so to the first man who has discoveredthe vein the Bergmeister awards the head meer, and to others the remainingmeers, in the order in which each makes his application. The size ofa meer is measured by fathoms, which for miners are reckoned at six feeteach. The length, in fact, is that of a man’s extended arms and handsmeasured across his chest; but different peoples assign to it different lengths,

x The nomenclature in this chapter has given unusual difficulty, because the organisa-tion of mines, either past or present, in English-speaking countries provides no exactequivalents for many of these offices and for many of the legal terms. The Latin terms inthe text were, of course, coined by the author, and have no historical basis to warrant theiradoption, while the introduction of the original German terms is open to much objection, asthey are not only largely obsolete, but also in the main would convey no meaning to themajority of readers. We have, therefore, reached a series of compromises, and in the maingive the nearest English equivalent. Of much interest in this connection is a curious exoticsurvival in mining law to be found in the High Peak of Derbyshire. We believe (see noteon p. 85) that the law of this district was of Saxon importation, for in it are not onlymany terms of German origin, but the character of the law is foreign to the olderEnglish districts and shows its near kinship to that of Saxony. It is therefore of interestin connection with the nomenclature to be adopted in this book, as it furnishes about theonly English precedents in many cases. The head of the administration in the Peak was theSteward, who was the chief judicial officer, with functions somewhat similar to theBerghauptmann. However, the term Steward has come to have so much less significancethat we have adopted a literal rendering of the Latin. Under the Steward was the Barmaster,Barghmaster, or Barmar, as he was variously called, and his duties were similar to those ofthe Bergmeister. The English term would seem to be a corruption of the German, and asthe latter has come to be so well understood by the English-speaking mining class, we havein this case adopted the German. The Barmaster acted always by the consent and with theapproval of a jury of from 12 to 24 members. In this instance the English had functionsmuch like a modern jury, while the Geschwornen of Saxony had much more widely extendedpowers. The German Geschwornen were in the main Inspectors ; despite this, however, wehave not felt justified in adopting any other than the literal English for the Latinand German terms. We have vacillated a great deal over the term Praefectus Fodinae, theGerman Steiger having, like the Cornish “ Captain,” in these days degenerated into a foreman,whereas the duties as described were not only those of the modern Superintendent orManager, but also those of Treasurer of the Company, for he made the calls on sharesand paid the dividends. The term Purser has been used for centuries in English mining forthe Accountant or Cashier, but his functions were limited to paying dividends, wages, etc.,therefore we have considered it better not to adopt the latter term, and have compromisedupon the term Superintendent or Manager, although it has a distinctly modern flavor. Theword for area has also caused much hesitation, and the “ meer ” has finally been adoptedwith some doubt. The title described by Agricola has a very close equivalent in the meerof old Derbyshire. As will be seen later, the mines of Saxony were Regal property, andwere held subject to two essential conditions, i.e., payment of a tithe, and continuousoperation. This form of title thus approximates more closely to the “ lease ” of Australiathan to the old Cornish sett, or the American claim. The fundgrube of Saxony and Agricola’sequivalent, the area capitis —head lease—we have rendered literally as “ head meer,”although in some ways “ founders’ meer " might be better, for, in Derbyshire, this was calledthe finder’s ” or founder’s meer, and was awarded under similar circumstances. It hasalso an analogy in Australian law in the “reward” leases. The term “measure” has themerit of being a literal rendering of the Latin, and also of being the identical term in the same

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