But the kings possessed many separate _hams_ or estates in their domain, in each of which food and other material for their use were collected by their serfs.

They moved about with their suite from one of these to another, consuming all that had been prepared for them in each, and then passing on to the next.

The king himself made the journey in the waggon drawn by oxen, which formed his rude prerogative.

Such primitive royal progresses were absolutely necessary in so disjointed a state of society, if the king was to govern at all.

Only by moving about and seeing with his own eyes could he gain any information in a country where organisation was feeble and writing practically unknown: only by consuming what was grown for him on the spot where it was grown could he and his suite obtain provisions in the rude state of Anglo-Saxon communications.