Shire

In English law. A county. So called because every county or shire is divided and parted by certain metes and bounds from another. Co. Litt. 50a.

— Kuights of the shire. See Knight.

— Shire-clerk. He that keeps the county court. -Shire-man, or Scvre-man. Before the Conquest, the judge of the county, by whom trials for land, etc., were determined. Tomlins; Mozley & Whitley.

— Shire-mote. The assize of the shire, or the assembly of the people, was so called by the Saxons. It was nearly if not exactly, the same as the scyregemote, and in most respects corresponded with what were afterwards called the "county courts." Brown.

— Shire-reeve. In Saxon law. The reeve or bailiff of the shire. The viscount of the Anglo-Normans, and the sheriff of later times. Co. Litt. 168a.