Waif and stray was a legal privilege commonly granted by the Crown to landowners under Anglo-Norman law. It usually appeared as part of a standard formula in charters granting privileges to estate-holders, along the lines of "with sac and soc, toll and team, infangthief and outfangthief" and so on. [1]
A waif was an item of ownerless and unclaimed property found on a landowner's territory, while a stray referred to a domestic animal that had wandered onto the same land. Both terms originated from Anglo-Norman French. A grant of waif and stray permitted the landowner to take ownership of such goods or animals if they remained unclaimed after a set period of time. In late medieval England, the management of waifs and strays required the coordination and cooperation of lords and the local communities they presided over. [2]
In later centuries, the expression "waifs and strays" came to be used as metaphors for – and ultimately became synonymous with – abandoned or neglected children. [3]
See also
References
- ^ Arnold-Baker, Charles (2001). The Companion to British History. Routledge. p. 1222. ISBN 9780415185837.
- ^ Claridge, Jordan; Gibbs, Spike (January 2022). "Waifs and Strays: Property Rights in Late Medieval England". Journal of British Studies. 61 (1): 50–82. doi: 10.1017/jbr.2021.125. ISSN 0021-9371.
- ^ Plotz, Judith Ann (2001). Romanticism and the Vocation of Childhood. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 37. ISBN 9780312227357.
