Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	estate_n	say_a	tenement_n	3,026	5	11.0305	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40814	An account of the Isle of Jersey, the greatest of those islands that are now the only reminder of the English dominions in France with a new and accurate map of the island / by Philip Falle ...	Falle, Philip, 1656-1742.	1694 (1694)	Wing F338; ESTC R9271	104,885	297

strong for they are all of Stone The meaner sort are of the common Stone of the Island Houses of Gentlemen and rich Merchants are usually faced with smooth wrought Stone either fetched from Chauzé the small French Island mentioned before which also supplies St. Malo or digged out of Mont-Mado which is a rich inexhaustible Quarry of Excellent Stone in the N. of the Island The Chauzé Stone inclines to a Blue the Mont-Mado to a reddish Gray somewhat like the common Porphyry Either of them make a handsome shew These Buildings will last 2 or 3 Hundred Years and would surpass what I have seen in other Countries were the Contrivance and Furniture within answerable to the Strength and Beauty without But our People value themselves more upon what is solid and lasting than upon what is only ornamental Of which this Reason may be given that the Tenure of Houses and Lands here is not for Life or a certain Term of Years only but in perpetuùm So that a Man being perfectly Master of what he possesses no wonder if he takes care that his Layings-out and Improvements be made in such a way as that they may not only last his own Time but may pass also to his Posterity who are to enjoy the Tenement after him The chief Seats in the Island are the Mannors of St. Oüen Samarés Trinity c. The Language is French All publick Preaching and Pleading is in that Tongue and tho' I cannot say that we speak it with the same Purity and Elegancy which they do in France yet if it be considered what Jargon is used in some Provinces of that Kingdom as in Dauphiné Provence Languedoc Gascogne Bretagne c. one will the less wonder that a few uncouth Words and Phrases should still be retained in This and the neighbouring Islands So bad as it is 't were in my opinion safer and more advisable for English Gentlemen to send their Sons hither to learn the Language tho' at the hazard of carrying back a Barbarism or two than to send them as they usually do into France where they are exposed to the Artifices of Men that lie in wait to deceive and from whence they seldom return but with Minds so alienated from the Customs Laws and Religion of their Country that the publick Mischief which results there-from can never be compensated by a few fine Words which they bring home Tho' French be the common Language of the Island there are few Gentlemen Merchants or Principal Inhabitants but speak English tolerably Trade is the Life of an Island And our People accordingly had before the War with good Success applied themselves to the Improvement of it They were become owners of good Ships with which they traded not only into England and France but likewise into Spain Portugal Holland Norway into the Baltick-Sea and into the English Plantations in America But the Neighbourhood of St. Malo that famous Retreat of French Corsaires has ruined our Navigation The constant and standing Manufacture of this Island is that of Stockings tho' that be also brought down very low since the War They are wrought of English Wooll whereof a certain Quantity is by Concession of Parliament allowed to be exported yearly and manufactured in these Islands I have heard that 6000 some say 10000 Pair have been weekly made in JERSEY which were bought up every Saturday at St. Helier by the Merchants who dispersed them afterwards into all Parts of Europe From England we are supplied with all Kind of Mercery and Grocery-ware Houshold-stuff fine Iron-works Leather c. for which we bring in ready Mony to a considerable Value Estates here cannot be great since 't is not easie for a Man tho' never so industrious to enlarge his Patrimony in a Country so full of People and where Land is seldom worth less than 30 years Purchase And the equal sharing of both real and personal Estates betwixt Sons and Daughters which in England is call'd Gavelkind and is the Ancient Use of this Island destroys many a fair Inheritance amongst Us by mincing it into so many little Parcels which in the next Generation that is perhaps 20 Years after must be subdivided again into lesser Portions and so on till an Estate is almost dwindled into nothing Real Estates here consist either in Lands or Rents but generally the latter which are for the most part constituted thus The Proprietor of a Tenement lets it out to another for so many Quarters of Wheat to be paid every Michaelmas for ever Yearly This is called a Rent which may be paid in specie from the said Term of Michaelmas till St. Lawrence's Day next following After which it must be paid in Mony according to a certain Rule or Standard set by the Royal Court which always meets upon that Day and from an Account that is laid before it of the several Rates which Corn has been sold at in the Market every Saturday throughout the Year determines and fixes the Price of the Rents that remain unpaid And so the way of reckoning an Estate with us is not by Pounds but by Quarters of Wheat Therefore when 't is ask'd what Estate a Man hath the Question with us is not How many Pounds as in England but how many Quarters of Wheat he is worth yearly The yearly value of a Quarter of Wheat seldom exceeds 12 Livres French Mony currant in this Island which is about 18 Shillings English But in cheaper and more plentifull Years 't is hardly worth 9 Livres which is less than 14 Shillings This makes Estates variable and uncertain since they must rise or fall according to the Price that Corn bears each Year in the Market Another way of creating a Rent is this A Man that has an Estate and wants Mony and cannot or will not borrow any sells a Summ of Wheat upon himself that is he chargeth himself and his Heirs for ever with the Annual Payment thereof And these Rents have been so multiplied that 't is thought there is more Wheat due on that account every Year in this Island than can grow upon the Island in two Years All Bonds are not Personal as in England but real and carry an express Hypotheca or Mortgage upon the Estate both real and personal of the Debtor In this Island are many very Ancient Families not only among the Seigneurs and Gentlemen of the first Rank but even among those of Inferior Quality several of whom can reckon a Descent which in some other Countries very good Gentlemen would be proud of It appears by Names and Ancient Records that most of the Families of this Island are come out of Normandy or Bretagne Tho' from K. John's time downwards some are found of English Extraction Gentlemen that have Seigneuries or Fiefs in this Island are usually call'd by the Names of them Thus Sir Charles de Carteret Seigneur of St. Oǔen is with us called Monsieur de S. Oǔen and so of others