History and Duties of the Sheriff

The term sheriff is a contraction of the words "shire reeve". A shire is a geographic region within a kingdom or land. While a reeve is a person, or office, charge with ensuring the peace and the handling of the administrative duties that keeps that region running smoothly.

The first Sheriffs date back to 500 CE in Anglo-Saxon England. Unlike today’s picture of a police officer who will take you off to jail, these sheriffs depended on the folk to “arrest” the criminals. If a crime was committed, the free members of that tribe would raise the “hue and cry” so as to call all other free men to give case and apprehend the criminal. As there were no jails back then, the accused would be brought before the sheriff who would hear the evidence and decide either guilt or innocence as well as deem what shild should be paid for his crimes.

In 1085 CE, the Norman King William added another duty to the Sheriff’s job description, Tax Collector and Census Taker. King William needed someone to raise funds and a method to keep track of what was raised. These censuses where then entered into the Doomsday Bok. King James, in 1199, then entrusted his Sheriffs with raising, training and maintaining a military force for the protection of not only the shire, but also the crown itself.

The Sheriff still is responsible for ensuring the peace and thewful conduct of the tribe, as well as keeping the daily functions running smoothly. As we all live within a host society, such as the USA or Canada, and not in our own sovereign lands, the use of the “hue and cry” is reduced. The tax collection and census records are still the responsibility of the Sheriff. At gatherings, he must collect the “gate fees”, which allow us to fund these functions, and regular Aet Bannungs, or announcements, are published to the tribe and entered into the Doomsday Bok to keep a record of any new laws or events that have occurred.

The Military duties of the Sheriff today are nowhere near what they were in 1200 CE. We do not have a true army in the sense of our ancestors or our host countries. What we do have is the desire to honor our ancestors and their ways. Each man trains with traditional weapons, alone and with the tribe. The focus, however, is on self improvement, respect and the defense of our families and ourselves, much as the Eastern martial artists of today do.

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