Thepassageoccursinacaserelatingtoancientdemesne，butthestatementismadequitebroadly，andtheterm’socmen’isusedwithoutanyqualification。AsthereweremanysocmenoutsidetheKing’spossessionsonthelandoflayandspirituallords，suchusagemaybetakenasproofthatthepositionofallthesepeoplewasmoreorlessidentical。Andsoinourinquiryastothecharacteristictraitsofsocagegenerallywemaystartfromtheancientdemesne。Further，weseethatthesocman’stenureisdistinguishedfromfreetenure，socmenfromfreeholders。Inthelawbooksofthetimethefreebutnon-militarytenurehastobecharacterisednotmerelyassocage，butasfreesocage：thisfactwillgiveusasecondclueinanalysingthecondition。
Therearetwoleadingfeaturesinancientdemesnesocage：itiscertainintenureandservice，anditisheldbythecustomofthemanorandnotbyfeoffment。Thecertaintyofthetenureseverstheclassofsocmenfromthevillains，andistobefoundaswellinthecaseofsocmenoutsidethecrowndemesneasinthecaseofsocmenonthecrowndemesne。Whatistobesaidofthesecond。trait？Itseemsespeciallyworthyofnotice，becauseitcannotbesaidtobelongtofreeholdgenerally。AstoitsexistenceonancientdemesnelandIhavealreadyhadoccasiontospeak，anditcanhardlybedoubted。Iwilljustrecalltothereader’smindthefundamentalfacts：thatthe’littlewritofright’wastoinsurejusticeaccordingtothecustomofthemanor，andthatourdocumentsdistinguishinasmanywordsbetweenthecustomaryadmittanceofthesocmanandthefeoffmentofthefreeholder。Thismeans，thatincaseoflitigationtheonehadwarrantyandchartertoleanupon，whiletheotherhadtoappealtothecommunaltestimonyofhisfellow-suitorsinthecourtofthemanor，andinlaterdaystoanentryonthecourt-roll。Freeholdappearedascharteredlandbook-land，whilesocagewasintruthcopyholdsecuredbycommunalcustom。42*Thenecessarysurrenderandadmittancewasperformedinopencourt，andthepresenceoffellow-tenantswasasmucharequisiteofitastheactionofthelordorhissteward。
Ifwelooknowtothesocmenoutsidetheancientdemesne，weshallfindtheirconditionsocloselysimilar，thatthedocumentsconstantlyconfusethemwiththetenantsoftheancientdemesne。
ThefreemenundersokeintheeastofEnglandhavebestkeptthetradition，buteventheirrightisoftentreatedasamerevariationofancientdemesne。43*Forthisreasonweshouldbefairlyentitled，Ithink，toextendtothemthenotionofcustomaryfreehold。Thereisdirectevidenceinthisrespect。Inextentsofmanorssocmenareoftendistinguishedfromfreeholders。44*True，asalreadysaid，thatintheking’scourts’freesocage’cametoberegardedasoneofthefreeholdtenures，andassuchwhennotontheancientdemesnewasprotectedbythesameactionswhichprotectedknight-serviceandfrankalmoign；butwehaveonlyhereanotherproofoftheimperfectharmonybetweenlegaltheoryandmanorialadministration。Whatservesinthemanorialdocumentstodistinguishthe’socman’fromthe’freeholder’isthefactthattheformerholdswithoutcharter。45*Wearenaturallyledtoconsiderhimasholding，atleastoriginally，byancientcustomandcommunaltestimonyinthesamesenseasthesocmenofancientdemesne。Inmostcasesonlythenegativeside，namelytheabsenceofacharter，ismentioned，butthereareentrieswhichdisclosethepositiveside，andspeakoftenantsorevenfreetenantsholdingwithoutcharterbyancienttenure。46*Itistobeadded，thatwefindsuchpeopleincentralandwesterncounties，thatisoutsideoftheDanelagh。InDomesdaytheirpredecessorswereenteredasvillains，buttheirtenureisneverthelessnotonlyafreebutanancientone。
Itmustalsobeaddedthatitisnotonlyfreesocmenthatonefindsoutsidetheancientdemesne；bondsocmenarementionedaswell。Nowthisseemsstrangeatfirstsight，becausetheusualandsettledterminologytreatsvillainsocageasapeculiarityofancientdemesne，Mynotionisthatitisnot’bond’thatqualitiesthe’socmen，’butviceversa。Toputitinadifferentway，thedocumentshadtonameaclasswhichheldbycertaincustom，althoughbybaseservice，andtheyaddedthe’socman’toqualifythe’bond’orthe’villain。’