The relationship between tenant and lord which tied a man's sheep to his lord's fold. The purpose was to ensure that the lord's land was manured by the sheep. It was termed a consuetude, a custom - one most frequently found in East Anglia - which a lord could extract from a free man. The Latin term was consuetus ad faldam = tied to the fold, where consuetus meant something stronger than simply custom: an obligation, but one owed by a free man. -
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.