James on The Mess of Dillegrout @GB2d @pillsburylaw

Robert A. James, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, has published The Mess of Dillegrout at 26 Green Bag 2d 41 (2022). Here is the abstract.

Anglo-American land law is now founded on free socage tenure, where rights superior to any other landlord are held in exchange for purchase money or other property. A vestigial exception in the UK is the grand serjeanty tenure, which was largely abolished but is still relevant to services rendered to the King or Queen on certain holidays and ceremonies. This article reviews the grand serjeanty services in general and then focuses in detail on the service of providing a bowl of chicken stew at the coronation. The history of the origin, ownership and performance of this rite, and the recipe for the dish itself, are cited as "a window into a world that is hard to see on any other day of the calendar." A supplement to the article describes another serjeanty tenure, that of the King's Champion, who did play a role in the May 6, 2023 coronation of King Charles III--the only service at that ceremony relating to real property ownership. Note: This work is (or will be) published by the Green Bag (www.greenbag.org), which hopes you will find it useful.