'Forest Law, as once administered, was perhaps the worst example of
class legislation ever known to the English Constitution--it was a
deliberate violation of the rights of the many for the gratification
of the few--the same act which was venial in the gentleman became
unpardonable when committed by the villein.
'For example, a common man who slew a deer was guilty of felony and
might be capitally convicted, whereas a nobleman riding through the
King's Forest was allowed to kill a stag or two for his refreshment,
on the understanding that he did so in the sight of a ranger, or if
no ranger was present, provided that someone blew a horn for him,
"that he seem not to steal the deer"
'… The severity of the law coupled with the inadequacy of the
executive government produced their natural result. The people
resented the harsh treatment they were subjected to, and broke the
unpopular regulations or evaded the irksome restrictions whenever
they could, which was not seldom.
'Many who under a wiser régime would have remained good citizens
became outlaws merely out of a spirit of opposition, and in
consequence, these huge tracts of forest, whose recesses were hardly
ever visited even by the forest officers, and whose boundaries were
hardly known to anyone else, became the stronghold of the lawless
and disaffected, as well as the refuge of the unfortunate.'