Waif and stray

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.

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.