voluntary Grant by Copy hath no lawfull interest in the Manor but onely an usurped title his Grant shall never so bind the right owner but that upon his entry hee may avoide them otherwise wee should make Custome an agent in a wrong which the Law will never suffer and yet if the Lord of a Manor by his Will in writing deviseth that his Executor shall Grant Copy hold estates Secundum consuetudinem Manerii for the payment of his debts c. and they make voluntary Grants accordingly these Grants are good notwithstanding the Executor hath no interest in the Manor nor is Dominus pro tempore If a Disseinor of a Manor dieth seized notwithstanding his heire come in by ordinary course of descent yet because the Tort commenced by his Ancestor is still inherent to his estate if any Copihold estate be granted by the heire it may be avoided by the Disseinor immediatly upon his recovery or upon his entry and so if the Disseinor infeoffe a stranger of the Manor notwithstanding the Feoffee come in by title yet no grant made by him of Copyhold-Land shall ever binde the Disseined no more than a Grant made by the Disseinor himselfe If Tenant in Tayle of a Manor discontinueth and dieth and after the discontinuance Granteth Copyhold estates the heire recovering in a Formidon in the Discender may avoid these Grants for though the Discontinue come in under a just title yet his interest being determined by the death of the Tenant in Tayle the continuance of the possession is a Tort to the heire and Acts done by Tort-scisors tending to the dis-inheritance of the right owners Custome will never so strengthen but they may be adnihilated So if a man seized of a Manor in right of his wife Alieneth this Manor and dieth any Grant made of Copyhold estates after his death may be avoided by the feme upon her entry or upon her recovery in a Gui in vita If a Manor be Granted pr. aut vie and Cestay que vie dyeth and the Grantee continueth still in the Manor and maketh Grants by Copy these shall not binde the Grantor of the Manor for immediately upon the death of Cestay que vie the Grantee was but a Tenant at sufferance and had no Manor of Lawfull interest for a Writ of Entry ad terminum qui preter sit lieth against him as against Deforceor And so if a Tenant for life of a Manor maketh a Lease for yeares of the same Manor and dieth Copyhold estates granted by the Lessee after the death of the Tenant for life are voideable by the first Lessor If a Lessee for yeares of a Manor granteth a Copyhold in Reversion and before the Reversion eschue the terme is expired the Grant is void and so I take the Law to be if the Lessee surrendreth his terme and then before his Lease should have ended in point of limitation the Reversion falleth yet the Grantee shall not have it If a Lease be made for yeares of a Manor the Lease to be voide upon the breach of a certaine Condition if the Condition be broken and afterwards the Lessee before the entry of the Lessor granteth estates by Copy these Grants shall never exclude the Lessor for presently upon the breach of the Condition the Lease is voyde but had the Manor beene granted for life in Tayle or in Fee I thinke Law would have fallen out otherwise for before entry the Franck-Tenement had not beene avoided and wheresoever a man may enter and avoide any estate of Franck-Tenement upon the breach of a Condition the Law adjudgeth nothing to be in him before entry and he may waive the advantage which hee might take by the breach of the Condition if he will and therefore notwithstanding the accruer of the title of the Grantor yet before this title be executed by entry the Grantee hath such a lawfull interest that what estate soever hee granteth by Copy in the interim shall stand good against the Grantor And so if an Infant infeoffe me of a Manor though hee may enter upon me at his pleasure yet Grants made by me by Copy before his entry shall never be defeated by any subsequent entry And the same Law is of Grants made by a Villayne purchaser of a Manor before the entry of the Lord or of Grants made after an alienation in Mortmayne before the Lord Paramount hath entred for a forfeiture If a Parson after Institution and before Induction a Manor being parcell of his Gleab Lands Grants Lands by Copy and after is inducted this admitting of the Copyholders is no binding act for though as to the spiritualties he be a compleate Parson presently upon the institution yet as to the temporalities he is not compleat before Induction So if a Parson be admitted instituted and inducted but doth not subscribe to the Articles according to the Statute of 13. Eliz. and granteth Lands by Copy as before This Grant shall not conclude the succeeding Incumbent because his Admission Institution and Induction were wholly voide in themselves but had the Parson beene deprived for crime or heresie or for being meere Laicus although he be declared by sentence to be uncapable of a Benefice and so his presentment voide ab initio yet because the Church was once full untill the sentence declaratory came for though the deprivation shall relate to some purposes yet because the Presentment is not in it selfe voide surely a relation shall never be so much favoured as to avoid a Copyhold estate in this kinde So much of Grants made by the Lords themselves In Grants made by Copyholders as the Law respecteth the quality of the Copyholders estate so doth it respect both the quality of his person and quantity of his estate The quality of person for whosoever is uncapable of disposing of Land at the Common Law cannot without speciall Custome passe away any Copyhold The quantity of his estate for no Copyholder can possibly passe away more than is in him and therefore if there be joynt Tenants of a Copy-hold one cannot aliene the whole But if there be two joynt Tenants of a Manor and a Copyholder escheateth one of them may grant this Copyhold and his Companion shall never avoide any part of it If a Copyholder for life the remainder over in Fee to a stranger surrendreth in Fee and the Lord admits accordingly yet an estate for life onely passeth So if the Lord of a Manor granteth a Copyhold for life where an estate in Fee is warrantable and the same Grantee surrenders in Fee to the use of a stranger and the Lord admits him secundum officium sursumredditionis I thinke no Fee passeth for though the Lords admittance may prima facie seeme to amount to a confirmation of the estate surrendred the Reversion resting in him to dispose of according to the Custome as where a Lessee for yeares at the Common Law maketh a Feoffment in Fee and maketh a Letter of Attorney to his Lessor to deliver
this shall ever binde the Feme and her heires and yet she is not sui juris but sub potestate viri because the Custome of the Manor is the chiefe basis upon which stands the whole fabricke of the Copyhold estate and therefore what Custome doth confirme to a Copyholder the Law will ever allow and never seeke to avoid it in respect of any such imperfection in the Grantors persons and the quantity of the Lords estate is no more respected than the qualitie of his person for if his interest be lawfull be his estate never so great or never so little 't is not materiall for be it in Fee or be it in tayle or dower or as Tenant by courtesie for life or for yeares as Guardian or as Tenant by Statute or as Tenant by Elegit or at will the least of these estates is a sufficient warrant to the Lord to Grant any Copyhold esheated unto him for as long time as the Custome doth allow the ancient Rents and Services being truely reserved and these Grants shall ever binde them that have the Inheritance or Franck-Tenement of the Manor as well as offices granted for life by the chiefe Justice of the Common Pleas whose office is but at will shall ever conclude the succeeding Justice The reason of the Law is this A Copyholder upon voluntary Grants made by Copy doth not derive his estate out of the Lords estate onely for then the Copy-holders estate should cease when the Lords interest determineth Nam cessante primitivo cessat derivativus but the life of the Copy-holders estate is the Custome of the Manor and therefore whatsoever befalleth the Lords interest in his Manor be it determined by the course of time by death by forfeiture or other meanes yet if the Lord were Legitimus Dominus pro tempore how small so ever his estate was that is enough for the same Custome that fixeth a Copyholder instantly in his land upon his admittance will likewise preserve and protect his interest to the end in such manner that though the Lords interest faileth yet his shall never fall to ground being upheld by such a proppe such a pillar unlesse perchance the Copy-holder offer violence to his Founder in breaking the Custome If the Lord granteth a Copyhold and after doth sever this Copy-holder from the Manor by granting the inheritance to a stranger though now one of the chiefe pillars of a Copyhold estate is wanting viz. to be parcell of the Manor yet because the Land at the time of the Copy-holders admittance had this necessary incident this severance being a matter ex post facto cannot amount to the destruction of the Copyhold espicially being the sole act of the Lord himselfe If a Manor be granted upon Condition and before the Condition is broken the Land is granted by Copy then the Manor become forfeited and the Feoffer entreth yet the Copyhold estate remaineth untouched because lawfully established by Custome and yet all meane estates and charges whatsover granted by the Feoffee at the Common Law were voidable upon the entry of the Feoffer for wee have a ground in Law that when an entry is made for breach of a Condition the party to all intents and purposes is in the same plight that he was in at the time of the making of the estate If a man seized of a Manor in Fee dieth seized having issue a daughter and his wife being privement inseâ—nt with a sonne and the daughter granteth Lands by Copy this Grant shall stand good against the sonne for the daughter was Legitimâ— Domina pro tempore So if the Feoffee of a Manor upon Condition to infeoffe a stranger the next day maketh a voluntary Grant by Copy this shall binde and yet his interest was to have but small continuance If a Manor be Granted with a feme in Francke marriage and there is a divorce had causa paercontractus so that now the interest of the Manor is now granted to the feme onely and by relation the marriage is void ab initio yet because the Baron was Legitimus Dominus pro tempore any Copyholders estates granted before the divorce remaine good So if a man espouseth a feme seignioresse under the age of consent and after she doth disagree though the marriage by relation was voide ab initio yet Copyholds granted before disagreement shall never be avoided causa qua supra If the Lord of a Manor committeth felonie or murder and proces of Outlawry be awarded against him after the Exigent hee granteth Copyhold estates according to the Custome and then is attainted these Grants are authenticall though by relation the Manor was forfeited from the time of the Exigent awarded So if the Lord had beene attainted by Verdict or Confession any Grant by Copy after the Felony or murder committed shall stand good notwithstanding the relation If the Lord of a Manor acknowledge a Statute and then granteth Lands by Copy and after the Manor is delivered to the Cognisee in extent the Grant cannot by this be impeached And if the Lord of a Manor taketh a wife and after maketh Copyhold estates according to the Custome and dieth though the feme hath this Manor assigned unto her for her Dower yet cannot shee avoide these Copyhold estates because the Copyholders are in by a title Paramount the title of the feme viz. by Custome But paradventure if the heire after the death of his Ancestor before the Assignment made unto the feme for her Dower had granted Lands by Copy the feme might avoide these Grants because instantly upon the death of the Baron her title received his perfection and nothing more was wanting to the confirmation of her interest but though the quantity of the Lords estate in the Manor be not respected yet the quantity of his estate in the Copyhold is regarded For if a Copyholder in Fee surrender to the use of the Lord for life the Remainder over to a stranger or reserveth the Reversion to himselfe if the Lord will Grant this by Copy in Fee whatsoever estate the Lord hath in his Manor yet having but an estate for life in the Copyhold no larger estate shall passe then hee himselfe hath Quia nemo potest plus juris in alium transferre quam ipse habet and further observe that sometimes the Law respecteth the quantity of the Lords estate in the Manor for what Acts so ever are not confirmed by Custome but onely strengthned by the power authority and interest of the Lord have no longer continuance than the Lords estate continueth and therefore it is held that if a Tenant for life of a Manor granteth a licence to a Copyholder to alien and dieth the Licence is destroyed and the power of alienation ceaseth As for the quality of the Lords estate in the Manor that is much more now respected than either the qualitie of his estate or the qualitie of his person for if the Lord or he who soever it be that maketh a
the Bailiffe of the Manor is to have the Wardship of the Copyhold heire being under the age of fourteene such a Guardian shall neither be admitted nor pay a Fine because he is but a partnor of the profits and that not in his owne right but in the right of him to whom he is Guardian If the Copyhold Lands of a Bankerupt be sold according to the Statute of the 13. Eliz. cap. 7. the Vendee shall be admitted and pay a Fine If a Villaine purchaseth a Copyhold the Lord of the Villaine may enter and seize it and the Lord of the Manor shall admit him and have a Fine If a Copyhold be granted upon Condition and the Condition be broken and the Granter entreth hee shall not be admitted neither pay a Fine because upon the breach of the Condition and the entry he is to all intents in Statu quo prius as if no grant at all had beene made If a Copyholder in Fee surrendreth for life reserving the Reversion and the Lessee for life dieth the Copyholder shall not be admitted to his Reversion neither shall he pay a fine because the Reversion was never out of him If a Copyholder be disseised and then entereth upon the Desseisor or recovereth by plaint in the nature of an Assize he shall not be admitted neither shall he pay a Fine for he continueth still Tenant by Copy notwithstanding the disseisin but where by a plaint a Copyhold is recovered upon the accruer of a new Tytle where he that recovereth was never admitted nor paid Fine there upon his recovery an admittance is requisite and a Fine is due as if a Copyholder dieth seised a stranger abateth and the heire recovereth by plaint in the nature of an Assize of Mort d'auncester upon this recovery hee shall be admitted and pay a Fine If I take a wife Copyhold in Fee though by this inter-marriage there accrueth a present interest to me yet because I am seised non jure proprio but jure alieno therefore I shall not be admitted neither shall I pay a Fine The same Law is Vid. Plowden com 4 18. b. if she be a Termor of a Copyhold for though the terme by the inter-marriage be so vested in me that I may dispose of it without controule yet because before disposer I am possessed of it but in the right of my wife therefore I shall neither be admitted nor pay a Fine If a Copyhold be surrendred for life the remainder to a stranger though the admittance of Tenant for life be sufficient to invest the estate in him in the Remainder yet upon the death of Tenant for life hee in the Remainder shall be admitted and pay a Fine So if a Copyhold be granted to three habend success vie whereby Custome successive is in force if any one dieth he that next succeedeth shall be admitted and pay a Fine If two Coparteners or Tenants in Common of a Copyhold be and the one dieth and the other hath all by discent hee shall be admitted and shall pay a Fine But if two joynt-Tenants be of a Copyhold one dieth the other shall have all by the survivorship without admittance or paying Fine because joynt-tenants to all intents and purposes are seised per my per tout If two severall Copyholders joyne in a Grant of their Copyhold by one Copy or if one Copyholder having severall Copy-holds granteth them by one Copy yet the Grantee shall pay severall Fines for they shall inure as severall Grants Co. 4 fo 27. b. But if two joynt-Tenants two Tenants in Common or Tenant for life and hee in the Remainder joyne in the Grant of a Copy-hold one Fine onely is due and it shall inure as one Grant onely so if a surrender be made and after a common Recovery is had by plaint in the nature of a Writ of entry in Le post for the better assurance one Fine onely shall be paid And thus much of Fines I come now in the next place to Forfeitures wherein I will chiefely rely upon these foure points 1. What Acts amount to a Forfeiture 2. What persons are able to forfeit 3. What persons are able to take benefit of a Forfeiture 4. What Acts amount to a confirmation of an estate forfeit SEC LVII OF Acts which amount to Forfeiture some are Forfeits eo instante that they are committed some are not Forfeits till presentment Offences which are apparant and notorious by which the Lord by common presumption cannot chuse but have notice are Forfeitures eo instante that they are committed as if by speciall Custome upon the discent of any Copyhold of Inheritance the heire is tyed upon three solemne Proclamations made at three severall Courts to come in and be admitted to his Copyhold if he faileth to come in this failer is a forfeiture Ipso facto So if a Copyholder be sufficiently warned to appeare and he faileth this is a forfeiture Ipso facto But if he be hindred by sicknesse or by over flowing of waters or if he be much in debt and feare to be arrested or if hee be a Bankerupt and keepeth his house then his default is no forfeiture If a Copyholder in the Court be called and summoned to be sworne of the homage and refuseth this is a forfeiture Ipso facto So if a Copyholder be sworne of the homage and then refuseth to present the Articles according to his Oath this is a forfeiture Ipso facto So if a Copyholder will sweare in Court that he is none of the Lords Copyholder this is a forfeiture Ipso facto But if a Copyholder in presence of the Court speaketh unreverent words of the Lord as that the Lord exacteth extorteth unreasonable Fines and undue-Services this is fineable only but no forfeiture and if he saith in Court that he will devise a meanes no longer to be the Lords Copyholder this is neither cause of fine not forfeiture for peradventure the meanes that hee intended was lawfull viz. by passing away his Copyhold Et ubi sensus verborum est multiplex verba semper sunt accipienda in meliori sensu If the Steward sheweth a Court roll to a Copyholder to prove that his Land is holden by Copy and that the Copyholder saith he is a Freeholder and sheweth a Deed pretending thereby to procure his Land to be Freehold and teareth in peeces the Court-Roll this is a forfeiture Ipso facto So if the Lord Co. 4. fo 27. b. upon the admittance of a Copyholder the Fine by the Custome of the Manor being certaine demandeth his Fine and the Copyholder denieth to pay it upon demand this is a forfeiture ipso facto So if a Copyholder will sue a Replevin against the Lord upon the Lords lawfull distresse for his Rent or Services this is a forfeiture Ipso facto But if the Copyholdder be in doubt whether it be due or not and therefore intreateth the Lord that the homage may inquire the truth this is no forfeiture
be no strange thing to place their lands under the rancke of the Lords demesnes But to deliver my minde more freely in this point I thinke that howsoever according to the strict rules of Law these Copy-holds are parcell of Lands demesnes yet in propriety of speech if propriety can be in impropriety they are the more aptly called the Copy-holders demesnes for though the Franke tenement be in the Lord by the Common Law yet by the custome the inheritance abideth in the Copy-holders and it is not denied if a Copy-holder be impleaded in making tytle to his Copy-hold he may justly plead quod est seisitus in Dominico suo with this addition secundum consuetud Manerii Therefore I conclude that howsoever the Common Law valueth the tytle of the Copy-holder yet he hath such an interest confirmed unto him by Custome that the Lord having no power to resume his Lands at your owne pleasure they are though improperly called yet peradventure truly accounted the Lords demesnes and that in the eye of the world howsoever it be in the eye of the Law that these Lands alone can properly challenge the name of the Lords demesnes if any Lands in the possession of inferior Lords may properly challenge that name which the Lord reserveth in his owne hands for the maintenance of his owne Boord or Table be it his waste ground his arable ground his pasture ground or his medow be it his Copy-hold which he hath by escheate by forfiture or by purchase or be it any part of his Freehold Land of which I must speake a word by the way not to prove that it is demesne for manifesta probatione non indigentes but to shew you in what sense it is taken and how farre it extendeth SEC XV. A Freehold is taken in a double sense either 't is named a Freehold in respect of the state of the Land or in respect of the state of the Law SEC XVI IN respect of the state of the Land so Copyholders may be Freeholders for any that hath any estate for his life or any greater estate in any Land whatsoever may in this sense be termed a Freeholder SEC XVII IN respect of the state of the Law and so it is opposed to Copy holders that what Land soever is not Copyhold is Freehold and in this sense I take throughout this Discourse SEC XVIII THe name of Freeholders extendeth not onely unto Lands held per servitium militare as it did by th' ancient Lawes of Scots Skens de verb. sign tit milit and amongst whom Freeholders were knowne by the name of milites but it reacheth likewise to lands holden per servitiū Socae whether in libero Socagio or in villano Socagio Liberum Socagium is where any Tenant holds of any Lord by paying yearely a certaine summe of money in lieu of tillage and such like services and not by escuage and this is termed sometimes common Socage Socagium villanum is where the ancient services of carrying the Lords dung into the fields Stat. 37 H. 8. Cap. 20. It is so called of plowing his ground at certaine dayes of plashing his hedges and such are not turned into money but remaine still unaltered and if you doubt that such Land as is held per villanum Socagium cannot come within the compasse of Freehold Land for your satisfaction reade Bracton lib. 2. cap. 8. num 8. Hactenus de primo defunctionis membro ad secundum properemus pauca de servitiis Domino debitis periractemus Services in individuo are manifold in specie threefold 1. Corporall services 2. Annuall services 3. Accidentall services Corporall services are of two sorts Services of Submission services of Profit SEC XIX SErvices of Submission are homage and fealty which are certaine Ceremonies used among tenants whereby they submit themselves unto their Lords and binde themselves by solemne oath or by faithfull promise from that day forward to become the Lords men for life for member for terrene honour or adminimum to owe unto him faith for the Lands which they hold of him Both these Ceremonies are used at the first entrance or admittance of any Tenant and both tend to one end viz. to inforce every Tenant to acknowledge and confesse himselfe Tenant unto his immediate Lord yet they differ in many materiall points SEC XX. IN regard of their severall manner of performance for in doing fealty the Tenant taketh a solemne oath in doing homage only giveth his faithfull promise and thence it is that fealty is accounted the more sacred service though homage be the more humble service and performed with farre greater reverence than fealty in many respects for in doing homage the Tenant kneeleth in doing fealty he standeth in doing homage the Tenant must remaine uncovered in doing fealty he may remaine covered in doing homage the Lord kisseth his Tenant in doing fealty he kisseth him not Lastly in doing homage the Tenant promiseth to become the Lords man for life for member and terrene honor In doing fealty he onely sweareth to become the Lords faithfull Tenant the reason of this difference I learne to be this Skens de verb. signum Homage because homage especially concerneth service in warre properly appertaineth unto Knights service but fealty chiefely concerneth service at home and properly appertaineth to Socage tenure and though now 't is held that a Tenant by Socage may doe homage and that homage ex se maketh Socage tenure and not Knights service yet originally homage was invented for Tenants by Knights service and such as were bound by their tenure to attend their Lords in the warres but fealty was primarily devised for Tenants in Socage and such as were bound by their tenure to manure the Lords ground and carefully to discharge all rurall affaires and this agreeth with the ancient Lawes in Scotland for amongst them none were accounted Freeholders but onely Tenants by Knights service and consequently none but they could doe homage and therefore marvell not why in doing homage the Tenant promiseth to become the Lords man for life for member for terrene honor in doing fealty hee onely sweareth to become the Lords faithfull Tenant 2. They differ in regard of the persons to whom they are performed and that two wayes In respect none is capable of receiving homage but the Lord in person but the Lords Steward or his Bailiffe is capable to receive fealty in the Lords behalfe 2. In respect that a Lord who hath but an estate for his life in his Seigniory cannot receive homage but such a Lord may receive fealty 3. They differ in regard of the persons to whom they are performed and that two wayes 1. In respect th t no Copyholder is capable of doing homage but he is of doing fealty witnesse common experience 2. In respect that a Tenant for life or yeares is unable to doe homage for t is a ground in Law that none can doe homage but tenant in fee-simple or ad
These Guardians termed amongst the Civilians Tutores a Praetore dati are commonly called Guardians pur nurture and thus in words we somewhat differ in matter nothing 3. We have Tutorem ligiâ—tâ—mum viz. where the interest doth de jure belong unto any without the nomination of a private person or the appointment of any publique Officer and this Guardian is twofold either ligitimus jure naturae or ligiâ—imus jure Comuni ligitimus jure naturae as where the Father or the Mother hath the Wardship of their heires apparent be it heire male or female Ligitimus jure comuni and that Guardian is twofold either Guardian in Chivalrie or Guardian in Soccage Guardian in Chivalry is where any Tenant seized of Land holden by Knights service dieth his heire male under the age of fourteene and unmarried then shall the Lord have the Ward both of the Lands and body of this heire male unto the age of 21. because the Law intendeth that before that age the heire is unable to performe Knights service according to the tenure but the heire female shall be in Ward no longer than to the age of sixteene because the heire female though shee her selfe be unable to performe Knights service yet at sixteene she is able to take a husband who in her behalfe may doe Knights service and therefore at those yeares shee shall be out of Ward nay sometimes shee shall be out of Ward before sixteene and that is either where shee is married at the death of her Ancestor or where shee is any whit above fourteene when her Ancestor dieth in neither of these Cases shall she be in Ward at all for though the Stat. of W. 1. cap. 11. giveth unto the Lord two yeares next ensuing the fourteenth yet that is to be understood where shee is under the age of fourteene and unmarried at her Ancestors death and not otherwise This for Guardian in Chivalry Guardian in Socage is where any one seized of Socage Lands dieth his heire under the age of fourteene then the next friend unto the heire to whom the inheritance cannot descend shall have the Ward of the heires body and of his Land untill the age of fourteene as if the Land descendeth unto the heire by the fathers side then the mother or next cosin of the mothers side shall have the Ward and if the Land descendeth to the heire by the mothers side then the father or next cosin on the fathers side shall have the Ward To conclude observe this difference betweene Guardian in Chivalry and Guardian in Socage that theÌ„ one receiveth the commodities of the Land to his owne use without giving any account th' other onely to the use of the heire to whom he shall be accountable whensoever it shall please the heire to call him to account after th'age of foureteene Thus much concerning Wardships a word concerning Herriots SEC XXIV HErriot or Harriot commeth of the Latine word herus Dominus because it is a duty appropriated to the Lord or it is derived from the Saxon word here exercitus because in the Saxons time when the name of Herriot was first knowne Herrior signified nothing else but a tribute given to the Lord for his better preparation towards warre as a horse trapped or a speare or armour or a sword or some suchlike Military weapon and therefore in this sense importing a thing appertaining to the warre and being due unto the Lord by reason of this service which Tenants owe unto their Lords many warlike imployments Vide Lamb. in hâ—s explication of Saxons words tit Herriot it may very fitly be derived from hence This their Herriot among the Saxons little differed from our Reliefe at this day howsoever now they differ ex diameâ—ro But let us examine the nature of our Herâ—iots at this day and not search into the nature of their Herriots in those dayes for that were to examine the nature of Reliefes not Herriots Britton thus speaketh A Herriot is a Render Britton cap. 69. made at the death of a Tenant to his Lord of the best beast found in the possession of the Tenant deceased or of some other according to the ordinance and assignment of the party deceased to the use of the Lord which toucheth not the Land at all nor the heire nor his inheritance neither hath any coÌ„parison to a Relief for it proceedeth rather of grace and good will than of right and rather from villaines than freemen to this effect speaketh Fleta Fleta lib. 4. cap. 28. Herriottum est quaedam praestatio ubi tenens liber vel servus in morte sua dominum suum respicit de meliori averio suo vel de seeundo meliori quae quidem praestatio magis fuit de gratia quam de jure nullam habet comparationem ad relevium eo quod heredi non continget quia factum antecessoris This our Herriot is twofold Herriot Service Herriot Custome Herriot Service is that Herriot which is never due without speciall reservation and is seldome reserved upon any lesse estate than an estate of inheritance Herriot Custome is that Herriot which is never due upon speciall reservation but is challenged upon some particular Custome and is usually payd upon an estate for life and for yeares as well as upon an estate of inheritance Touching the originall of these Herriots doubtlesse they are not of that antiquity which the name doth promise for though among the Saxons the name of Herriot was knowne yet the nature of both these Herriot Services and Herriot Custome was utterly unknowne untill the comming of the Normans who immediately upon the Conquest changed the name of the Saxons Herriot and termed it by the name a of Reliefe leaving notwithstanding some dâ—fference betwixt them for where the Saxons Herriot consisted usually in the payment of some military weapon our Reliefe in those dayes consisted wholly in the payment of a certaine summe of money and presently after the Normans had thus wholly altered the name and somewhat altered the nature of the Saxons Herriot then upon the parcelling of their lands unto inferior Tenants they invented this new kinde of service unknowne amongst the Saxons and termed it by the name of the Herriot Service afterward upon the infranchisement and manumission of certaine villaines these Herriot Customes were given to the Lords as a continuall future gratulation so that originally as Britton and Fleta well note they were granted meerely ex gratia but now time hath effected it that they are challenged ex debito Thus much of Herriots a word of Reliefe SEC XXV REliefe is a certaine summe of money which every Freeholder payeth unto his Lord Glâ—â—v lib. 7. cap 9. being at full age at the death of his Ancestor which in effect foundeth all one with these words of Glanvil Haeredes majores statim post decessum antecessorum suorum possunt se tenere in haereditate sua licet Domini possint feodum suum cum herede in
habent sicut animalia vagantia quae sunt Domini Regis propter privilegium marium the reasons why Deodands are forfeited to the King is this Deodands were originally invented for the pacifying of Gods wrath and the appeasing of Gods anger and these things thus forfeited were according to the true intendment of the Law to be sold and money distributed among the poore and therefore upon whom could the Law have better conferred this benefit or rather imposed this charge then upon the King who representeth Gods person upon the earth and whom the Law presumeth will deale more justly and truely nay more liberally and bountifully with the poore in this kinde than any inferior Lord who peradventure out of his uncharitablenesse peradventure out of want will be so farre from adding any thing to that which is due that hee will rather unjustly substract part or unconscionably detaine the whole Since therefore these Forfeitures of goods neither adde to the perfection of a Manor neither are incident unto every Manor to spend any further time about a subject so superfluous would ill beseeme this small Treatise wherein the scope and end I ayme at is this onely to present to your view what things soever are necessarily requisite to the essence of every Manor and what Services soever are incident unto every Manor and thus much concerning Forfeitures a word concerning Escheats SEC XXVIII EScheates cometh of the French word Echear excidere are termed excadentiae which imports Lands fallen into the Lords hand for want of heire generall or speciall to inherit them but before the Lord enter into an Escheate in this kinde the homage ought to present it and being presented proclamation ought to be made to give notice to the world that if any man come in and justly claime he shall be received the homage then finding it cleare intitle the Lord as to Lands Escheated Besides this ordinary sort of Escheate there is another sort of Escheate and that is where any Freeholder committeth Felony and is attainted the King shall have animum diem vastum and then it commeth unto the Lord as an Escheate thus much concerning the nature of Services in generall and there are so many particular Services in individuo that I might insist in millions more but feare of incurring the censure of being over tedious restraineth the forwardnesse of my hand yet sithence occasion is so favourable to me I will presume so much upon your patience as to lay open the severall remedies which the Law hath provided for the obtaining of those severall Services before mentioned if perchance they be wrongfully deceived by the Tenants and for method sake I will begin with corporall Services SEC XXIX IF any Freeholder refuseth to do homage or fealty which are corporall Services of submission or to mend high wayes repaire decaied Bridges or similia which are corporall Services tending to the publique profit of the Common-weale or to discharge the office of a Carver a Butler a Brewer or such like or to payle the Lords Parke to tyle the Lords Houses or to thatch his Barnes or similia which are corporall Services tending to the private profit of the Lord If I say any Freeholder refuseth to do any of these Services being bound unto them by his Tenure then may the Lord lawfully distreine his cattle or his goods and detaine them untill satisfaction be given by performing such Services as the Law doth require and the same remedy which the Law hath provided for Corporall Services is likewise provided for Annuall Services SEC XXX FOr if any Freeholder refuseth to pay any annuall Rent or to discharge any annuall payment according to his Tenure then may the Lord lawfully distreine and in a Replevin brought by the Tenant may avow the distresse and justifie the taking But no action of debt will lye for these annuall Services no more than for Corporall Services for it is a ground in Law that as long as the Rent continueth of any estate or Franke tenement no action of debt lyeth for the arrearages of the Rent nor for any other Service whatsoever and therefore if a Lease for life be made reserving rent the Lessor cannot maintaine an action of debt for the arrearages of this Rent as long as the estate continueth but presently upon the determination of the estate an action of debt lyeth for the arrearages of the Rent incurred before the time of the determination but what hath the Law provided no other remedy for those annuall Services then a distresse Surely no before seisein none but after seisein once gained 't is at his election either to distreine or to bring an Assize and thus much touching remedies for corporall and annuall Services SEC XXXI ACcidentall Services are gotten by many differing meanes By seisure onely as the Wardship of the heires body together with the Waives Estraies Wreckes Deodands and such like forfeitures of goods 2. By th' entry onely as the Wardship of the heires Land together with Lands forfeited to the Lord either upon the breach of some condition or upon an alienation in Mortmaine 3. By Seisure or Distresse as Herriot Services contrary to the opinion of some who held them gaineable by Distresse only not by Seisure or action as Herriot Customes for upon the eloignement of the best beast the Lord may maintain an action of detinue against the heire 5. By entry or action as Lands forfeited to the Lord by the cessing of his Tenant or Escheat accruing unto the Lord either upon the attaindeur or death of his Tenant without heire in the first the Lord may enter or maintâ—ine a Writ of Cessavit in the secord the Lord may enter or maintaine a Writ of Escheate 6. By Distresse or Action as Reliefes and Amerciaments For Reliefes the Lord may distreine or bring an action of debt neither doth this any whit impugne the former ground that as long as the rent doth continue c. because indeede Reliefe is the fruit and approvement of Services rather than any service and for Amerciaments the Lord may either distreine or bring an account of debt other remedy the Law hath provided against strangers for detaining of these duties from the Lord as to insist in one if a stranger will deraine the Wards body or the Wards land from the right Lord a writ de recto de custodia terrae heraedis lyeth against the stranger but to meddle with strangers were to wander out of the little Common weale and therefore to keepe my selfe within my bounds and limits I will here conclude touching the two materiall causes of a Manor viz. Demesnes and Services a word touching the efficient cause of a Manor and then I will end the definition of a Manor The efficient cause of a Manor is expressed in these words of long continuance for indeede time is the mother or rather the nurse of Manors time is the soule that giveth life unto every Manor without which a
Manor decayeth and dyeth for t is not the two materiall causes of a Manor but the efficient cause knitting and uniting together those two materialll causes that maketh a Manor Hence it is that the King himselfe cannot create a perfect Manor at this day for such things as receive their perfection by the continuance of time come not within the compasse of a Kings Prerogative and therefore the King cannot grant Freehold to hold by Copie neither can the King create any new custome nor doe any thing that amounteth to the creation of a new custome and therefore a composition made betweene the King and his Tenant where he hath Herriot custome to pay 10. li. in Levie thereof every time it falleth is no binding composition for this amounteth to the creation of a new custome Et haec omnia similia sunt temporum non regum seu principum opera which fully verifieth the old saying Plus valet vulgaris consuetudo quam regalis concessio this is the sole cause why the King cannot create a perfect Manor at this day and this is the chiefe cause why a common person cannot create a perfect Manor but not the sole cause for there is this cause farther a perfect Manor cannot subsist without a perfect tenure betweene very Lord and very Tenant but a Common person cannot create a perfect tenure and consequently cannot create a perfect Manor before the Stat. of Quia emptores terrarum if any Tenant seized of Land in Fee simple had infeoffed a stranger he might have reserved what services hee thought fit or had he reserved no services yet the Law would have imployed a perfect tenure betweene the Feoffor and the Feoffee for the Feoffee was to hold off the Feoffor by the same services that the Feoffor held over on his Lord Paramount but since this Statute If a Tenant seised of Land in Fee infeoffeth a stranger neither by the expresse reservation of the Feoffor nor by the implyed reservation of the Law can there bee a perfect tenure created at this day betweene the Feoffor and the Feoffee for the Feoffee shall hold immediately of the Lord Paramount not of the Feoffor and further as the King can doe nothing which amounteth to the creation of a new custome so a common person can doe nothing which amounteth to the creation of a new tenure and therefore if there be Lord and Tenant by 10. s. rent and the Lord will confirme the estate of a Tenant Tenend by a Hawke a paire of gilt spurres a Rose or similia this is a voyd confirmation otherwise had it beene if the Lord had confirmed the estate of the Tenant Tenendum per 5. s. that had beene a good confirmation because it tendeth onely to the abridgement of an old tenure and not to the creation of a new and as it is with a confirmation so it is with a composition upon the reason of this ground it is that if the Lord of a Manor purchase forraine land lying without the Precincts and bounds of the Manor he cannot annex this unto the Manor though the Tenants be willing to doe their Services for this amounteth to the creation of a new tenure which cannot be effected at this day And therefore if a man having two Manors and the Lord would willingly have the Tenants of both these Manors to doe their sute and service to one Court this is but lost labour in the Lord to practise any such union for notwithstanding this union they will be still two in Nature howsoever the Lord covet to make them one in Name and the one Manor hath no warrant to call the Tenants to the other Manor but every act done in the one to punish the offenders in the other is traversable yet if the Tenants will voluntary submit themselves to such an innovation and the same bee continued without contradiction time may make this union perfect and of two distinct Manors in nature make one in name and use and such Manors peradventure there are thus united by the consent of the Tenants and continuance of time but the Lords power of it selfe is not sufficient to make any such union causa qua supra But if one Manor holdeth of another by way of Escheate these two Manors may be united together fortior enim est disposâ—tio legis quam hominis But in this that I exclude common persons from being able to create a tenure I may seeme to impugne many authorities which hold at this day that a tenure may bee created by a common person for to cleare this colour of contradiction know that tenures are two fold First imperfect as where a man maketh a Lease for yeares or for life or a gift in tayle here is an imperfect tenure betweene the Lessoâ— and the Lessee the Donor and the Donee and this imperfect tenure I confesse may be created by a common person at this day Secondly perfect betweene very Lord and very tenant in Fee and such a tenure a common person could never create since the Stat. of Quia Emptores terrarum and consequently a common person cannot create a perfect Manor sithence for without a perfect tenure a perfect Manor cannot subsist Thus much touching the definition of a Manor thus much I say touching the two materiall causes together with the efficient cause A word of another cause of a Manor which appeareth not in the definiâ—ion so manifestly as the other causes doe this is a cause which among the Logicians is termed Causa sine qua non and that is a Court Baron for indeede that is the chiefe prop and Pillar of a Manor which no sooner faileth but the Manor falleth to ground if wee labour to search out the antiquity of these Court Barons we shall finde them as ancient as Manors themselves For when the ancient Kings of this Realme who had all the lands of England in Demesne did conferre great quantities of land upon some great personages Vide Lamb in his explication of Saxon words verbo Thanus Bacon in his elements of the Law fol. 41. 42. 43. with liberty to parcell the land out to other inferiour Tenants reserving such duties and Services as they thought convenient and to keepe Courts where they might redresse misdemeanors within their Precincts punish offences committed by their Tenants and deside and debate controversies arising within their jurisdiction and their Courts were termed Court Barons because in ancient time such personages were called Barons and came to the Parliament and sate in the upper house but when time had wrought such an alteration that Manors fell into the hands of meane men and such as were farre unworthy of so high a calling then it grew to a custome that none but such as the King would should come to the Parliament such as the King for their extraordinary wisedome or qualitie thought good to call by writ which writ ran hac vice tanâ—um yet though Lords of Manors lost their names of Barons and
but a Prescription may both by the Comon-Law and the Civill and therefore where the Statute 1. H. 8. saith that all actions popular must be brought within three yeares after the offence commi ted whosoever offendeth against this Statute and doth escape uncalled for three yeares he may be justly said to prescribe an immunity against any such action 2. A Custome toucheth many men in generall Prescription this or that man in particular and that is the reason why Prescription is personall and is alwayes made in the name of some person certaine and his Ancestors or those whose estate he hath but a Custome having no person certaine in whose name to prescribe is therefore called and alledged after this manner In such a Borough in such a Manor there is this or that Custome And for Vsage that is the efficient cause or rather the life of both for Custome and Prescription lose their being if Vsage faile Should I goe about to make a Catalogue of severall Customes I should with Sisiphus saxum volvere undertake an endlesse piece of worke therefore I will forbeare since the relation would be an argument of great curiosity and a taske of great difficulty I will onely set downe a briefe distinction of Customes and leave the particulars to your owne observation Customes are either generall or particular generall which are part of the Common law being currant through the whole Common-wealth and used in every County every City every Towne and every Manor Particular which are confined to shorter bounds and limits and have not such choyce of fields to walke in as generall Customes have These particular Customes are of two sorts either disallowing what generall Customes doe allow or allowing what generall Customes doe disallow as for example sake By the generall Customes of Manors it is in the Copiholders power to sell to whom he pleaseth but by a particular Custome used in some places the Copyholder before he can inforce his Lord to admit any one to his Copihold is to make a proffer to the next of the blood or to the next of his Neighbours ab oriente solis who giving as much as the partie to whom the Surrender was made should have it so on the other side by the generall Customes of Manors the passing away of Copyhold land by deede for more than for one yeare without licence is not warranted yet some particular customes in some Manors doe it so by the generall Customes of Manors Presentments or any other act done in the Leete after the moneth expired contrary to the Statute of magna Charta and 31. E 3. are voyd yet by some particular Customes such acts are good and so in millions of the like as in the sequell of this discourse shall be made manifest And therefore not to insist any longer in dilucidating this point let us in few words learne the way how to examine the validitie of a Custome For our direction in this businesse wee shall doe well to observe these sixe Rules which will serve us for exact tryall 1. Customes and Prescriptions ought to be reasonable and therefore a Custome that no Tenant of the Manor shall put in his Chattell to use his common in Campis seminatis after the Corne severed untill the Lord have put in his Chattell is a voyd Custome because unreasonable for peradventure the Lord will never put in his Chattell and then the Tenants shall lose their profits so if the Lord will prescribe that he hath such a Custome within his Manor that if any mans beasts be taken by him upon his Demesnes damage Fesant that he may detaine them untill the owners of the beasts give him such recompence for his harmes as he himselfe shall request this is an unreasonable Custome for no man ought to be his owne Judge 2. Customes and Prescriptions ought to be according to common right and therefore if the Lord will prescribe to have of every Copyholder belonging to his Manor for every Court he keepeth a certaine summe of money this is a voyd prescription because it is not according to common Right for hee ought for Iustice sake to doe it Gratis but if the Lord prescribe to have a certaine Fee of his Tenants for keeping an extraordinary Court which is purchased onely for the benefit of some particular Tenants to take up their Copyholds and such like this is a good prescription and according to common right 3. They ought to be upon good consideration and therefore if the Lord will prescribe that whosoever passeth through the Kings High way which lyeth through his Manor should pay him a peny for passing this prescription is voyd because it is not upon a good consideration but if hee will prescribe to have a peny of every one that passeth over such a bridge within his Manor which bridge the Lord doth use to repaire this is a good prescription and upon a good consideration So if the Lord will prescribe to have a fine at the marriage of his Copyholder in which Manor the custome doth admit the husband to be Tenant by the curtesie or the feme Tenant in Dower of a Copyhold this prescription is good and upon a good consideration but in such Manors where these estates are not allowed the Law is otherwise 4. They ought to be compulsary and therefore if the Lord will prescribe that every Copyholder ought to give him so much every moneth to beare his charges in time of warre this prescription is voyd but to prescribe they ought to pay so much money for that purpose is a good prescription for a payment is compulsary but a gift is Arbitrary at the voluntary liberty of the giver 5. They ought to be certaine and therefore if the Lord will prescribe that whensoever any of his Copy-holders dye without heire that then another of the Copyholders shall hold the same lands for the yeere following this prescription is voyd for the incertainty but if the Lord will prescribe to have of his Copy-holders 2. d. an Acre Rent in time of warre foure pence an Acre this prescription is certaine enough 6. They ought to be beneficiall to them that alledge the prescription and therefore if the Lord prescribeth that the custome hath alwayes beene within the Manor that what distresse soever is taken within his Manor for any common persons cause is to be impounded for a certaine time within his pound this is no good prescription for the Lord is hereby to receive a charge and no commoditie but if the prescription goeth further that the Lord should have for every beast so impounded a certaine summe of money this is a good prescription If we desire to be more fully satisfied in the generall knowledge of prescriptions and Customes wee shall finde many Maximes which make very materiall for this purpose amongst which I have made choyse of these three as most worthy of your observation 1. Things gained by matter of Record onely cannot be challenged by prescription and
therefore no Lord of a Manor can prescribe to have fellons goods fugitives goods Dâ—odands and such like because they cannot bee forfeited untill it appeare of Record but waves estraies wreckes and such like may be challenged by prescription because they are gained by usage without matter of Record 2. A custome never extendeth to a thing newly created and therefore if a Rent be granted out of Gavelkind-land or Land in Borough-English the rent shall descend acorcording to the course of the Common Law not according to the Custome If before the Statute 32. H. 8. Lands were deviseable in any Borough or City by speciall Custome A Rent granted out of these Lands was not deviseable by the same Custome for what things soever have their beginning since the memory of man Custome maintaines not If there be a Custome within a Manor that for every house or cottage two shillings fine shall be paid if any Tenant within these liberties maketh two houses of one or buildeth a new house hee shall not pay a fine for any of these new houses for the Custome onely extendeth to the old So if I have Estovers appendant to my house and I build a new house I shall not have Estovers for this new built house upon this ground It hath beene doubted if a man by Prescription hath course of water to his Fulling-mill hee converting these into Corne-mills whether by this conversion the Prescription is not destroyed in regard that these Come-mills are things newly created but because the qualitie of the thing and not the substance is altered therefore this alteration is held insufficient to overthrow the Prescription for if a man by Prescription hath Estovers to his house although they alter the Roomes and Chambers in the house as by making a Parlor where there was a Hall vele converso yet the Prescription stands still in force and so if by Prescription I have an ancient Window to my Hall and I convert this into a Parlor yet my neighbours upon this change cannot stoppe my Window Causa qua supra 3. Customes are likewise taken strictly though not alwayes literally There is a Custome in London that Citizens and Freemen may devise in Mortmayne A Citizen that is a Forreiner cannot devise by this Custome An Infant by the Custome of Gavelkind at th'age of fifteene may make a Feoffment yet he cannot by the Custome make a Will at that age to passe away his Land to make a Lease and a Release which amounteth to a Feoffment If there be any Custome that Copyhold-Lands may be leased by the Lord vel per Supervisor vel deputatum supervisoris This Custome giveth not power to the Lord to authorize any by his last Will and Testament to keepe a Court in their owne name and to make Leases Secundum consuetudinem Manerii but these Customes have this strict construction because they tend to the derogation of the Common Law yet they are not to be confined to literall interpretation for if there be a Custome within any Manor that Copyhold Lands may be granted in Feodo simplici by the same Custome they are grantable to one and the heires of his body for life for yeares or any other estate whatsoever because Cui licet quod majus non debet quod minus est non licere so if there be a Custome that Copyhold Lands may be granted for life by the same Custome they may be granted Durante viduitate but not e converso because an estate during Widdowhood is lesse than an estate for life Before the Statute of 32. H. 8. Lands in certaine Boroughs were devisable by Custome By the same Custome was implicite warranted authorizing Executors to sell Lands devisable Now with your patience I will onely point at the manner of pleading of Customes I finde a foure-fold kinde of Prescribing 1. To prescribe in his Predecessors as in himselfe and all those whose estate hee hath 2. To prescribe generally not tying his Prescription to place or person as where a Chiefe Justice prescribeth that it hath beene used that every Chiefe Justice may grant Offices or where a Sergeant prescribeth Quod talis habetur consuetudo that Sergeants ought to be impleaded by originall Writ and not by Bill 3. To Prescribe in a place certaine 4. To Prescribe in the place of another The first sort of these Prescriptions a Copyholder cannot use in regard of the imbecillity of his estate for no man can Prescribe in that manner but onely Tenants in Fee simple at the Common Law The second sort of these may be used sometimes by Copyholders in the pleading of a generall Custome but in alleadging of a particular Custome a Copyholder is driven to one of the last and as occasion serveth he useth sometimes the one sometimes the other If he be to clayme Common or other profit in the soyle of the Lord then he cannot prescribe in the name of the Lord for the Lord cannot prescribe to have Common or other profit in his owne soyle but then the Copyholder must of necessity prescribe in a place certaine and alleadge that within such a Manor there is such a Custome that all the Tenants within that Manor have used to have Common in such a place parcell of the Manor but if he be to claime Common or other profit in the soyle of a stranger then he ought to prescribe in the name of his Lord saying that the Lord of the Manor and all his Ancestors and all those whose estate he hath were wont to have a Common in such a place for himselfe and his Tenants at will c. SEC XXXIV THus much of Customes I come now home to Copyholders and in the third place I hold it the best course to dilate upon the manner and meanes of granting Copy-holds wherein I will onely rely upon these five parts 1. Vpon the person of the Grantor 2. Vpon the person of the Grantee 3. Vpon the Grant it selfe 4. Vpon the thing Granted 5. Vpon the Instruments through whose hands as through Conduit-pipes the Lands are Gradatim conveyed to the Purchasor And first of the person of the Grantor Sometimes the Lord himselfe is Grantor sometimes a Copyholder In voluntary Grants made by the Lord himselfe the Law neither respecteth the quality of his Person nor the quantity of his Estate for be hee an Infant and so through the tendernesse of his age insufficient to dispose of any Land at the Common Law or non compos mentis an Idiot or a Lunatique and so for want of common reason unable to traffique in the world or an Out-law in any personall action and so excluded from the protection of the Law or an Excommunicate c. and so restrained ab omnium fidelium communione or at least à Sacramentorum partitipatione notwithstanding these infirmities and disabilities yet he is capable enough to make a voluntary grant by Copy for if a feme seignioresse take Baron and they two joyne in a voluntary Grant by Copy
he useth to hold a little rod in his hand which he delivereth to the Steward or Bayliffe according to the Custome of the Manor to deliver it over to the party to whose use the Surrender was made in the name of Seisin and from thence they are called Tenants by the Verge In some Manors in stead of a wand a straw is used and in other Manors a glove is used Et consuetudo loci semper est observanda A Surrender where by a subsequent Admittance the grant is to receive his perfection and confirmation is rather a manifesting of the Grantors intention than of passing away any interest in the possession for till Admittance the Lord taketh notice of the Grantor as Tenant and he shall receive the profits of the Land to his owne use and shall discharge all Services due to the Lord but yet the interest is in him but secundum quid and not absolutely for he cannot passe away the Land to any other or make it subject to any other incumbrance than it was subject to at the time of the surrender neither in the Grantee is any manner of interest invested before admittance for if hee enter he is a trespasser and punishable in trespasse and if he surrender to the use of another this surrender is meerely void and by no matter ex post facto can be confirmed for though the first surrender be executed before the second so that at the time of the admittance of him to whose use the second surrender was made his surrenderer hath a sufficient interest as absolute owner yet because at the time of the surrender he had but a possibility of an interrest therefore the subsequent admittance cannot make this act good which was void ab initio but though the Grantee hath but a possibility upon the surrender yet this is such a possibility as is accompanied with a certainty for the Grantee cannot possibly be deluded or defrauded of the effect of his surrender and the fruits of his Grantee for if the Lord refuse to admit him he is compelable to do it by a Sub paena in the Chancery and the Grantors hands are ever bound from the disposing of the Land any other way and his mouth ever stopped from revoaking or countermanding his surrender But peradventure if a Copyholder languishing in extremity surrendreth out of Court to the use of his Cosin in consideration of consanguinitie or to the use of his sonne in consideration of naturall love and affection and after recovereth his health before presentment this surrender is revocable or countermandable but if it be granted upon valuable consideration as for the discharge of debts or for a summe of money paid though it be made out of Court yet it is as binding as any surrender whatsoever made in Court And thus much for a Surrender a word of a Presentment SEC XL. THe Presentment by the generall Customes of Manors is to be made at the next Court day immediately after the surrender but by speciall Custome in some places it will serve at the second or third Court And it is to be made by the same persons that tooke the surrender and in all points materiall according to the true tenure of the surrender And therefore if the surrender be conditionall and the Presentment be absolute both the Surrender Presentment and Admittance thereupon are wholly void But if the Conditionall surrender be presented and the Steward in entring of it omitteth the Condition yet upon sufficient proofe made in Court the surrender shall not be avoided but the Roll amended and this shall be no conclusion to the partie to plead or give in evidence the truth of the matter If I surrender out of Court and die before Presentment if Presentment be made after my death according to the Custome Co. 4. fo 39. b. this is sufficient so if hee to whose use the surrender is made dieth before Presentment yet upon Presentment made after his death according to the Custome his heire shall be admitted and so if I surrender out of Court to the use of one for life the Rendrour and the Lessee for life dieth before Presentment yet upon Presentment made he in the remainder shall be admitted And so if I surrender to two joyntly and one dieth before Presentment the other shall be admitted to the whole The same Law is if those into whose hands the surrender is made dye before Presentment upon sufficient proofe in Court that such a surrender was made the Lord shall be compelled to admit accordingly and if the Steward the Bailiffe or the Tenants into whose hands the surrender is made refuse to present upon a Petition or a Bill exhibited in the Lords Court the party grieved shall finde remedy But if the Lord will not doe him right he may both sue the Lord and them that took the surrender in the Chancery and shall there finde reliefe Thus much of Presentments A word of Admittance SEC XLI ADmittances are threefold 1. An Admittance upon a voluntary Grant 2. An Admittance upon Surrender 3. An Admittance upon a Discent Involuntary Admittances the Lord is an instrument for though it is in his power to keepe the Land in his owne hands or to dispose of it at his pleasure and to that intent may be reputed as absolute owner yet because in disposing of it he is bound to observe the Custome precisely in every point and can neither in Estate nor Tenure bring in any alteration in this respect the Law accounts him Customes instrument If the Custome doth warrant an estate onely Durante viduitate and the Lord admits for Life this shall not bind his heire or successor because Custome hath not sufficiently confirm'd it So if the Lord faile in reserving verum antiquum redditum as if he reserveth ten shillings where the usuall rent Customably reserved is twenty shillings this may be a meanes to avoide the admittance and the Law is very strict in this point of reservation for though the ancient accustomable rent be reserved according to the quantity yet if the quality of the rent be altered the heire may avoid this Grant for if the ancient rent from time to time hath been twenty shillings in Gold and the Lord reserveth it in Silver this variance of the qualitie of the rent is in force to destroy the Grant so if the ancient rent hath beene accustomably paid at foure Feasts in the yeare and the Lord reserveth it at two Feasts So if two Copyholds Escheate to the Lord the one of which hath beene usually demised for twentie shillings rent th' other for ten shillings rent and he granteth them both by one Copy for one rent of thirty shillings this is not good and so if a Copyhold of three acres Escheates which hath beene ever granted for three shillings rent and the Lord granteth one Acre and reserveth pro rata one shilling rent verus antiquus reddit is not reserved but if a Copyhold of sixe
Acres which hath ever beene demised for sixe shillings rent Escheateth to two Coparteners and one granteth three Acres reserving thre shillings pro rata this is a perfect reserving In Admittances upon surrender the Lord to no intent is reputed as owner but wholly as an instrument and the party admitted shall be subject to no other charges or incombrances of the Lord for he claimes his estate under the party that made the surrender and in the plaint in the nature of a Writ of entry in the per it shall be supposed in the per by him not by the Lord and as in admittances upon surrenders so in admittances upon descents the Lord is used as a meere instrument Co. 4. fo 27. b. and no manner of interest passeth out of him and therefore neither in the one nor in the other is any respect had unto the quality of his estate in the Manor for whether hee hath it by right or by wrong it is not materiall these admittances shall never be called in question for the Lords Title Co. 1 fo 140. b. because they are judiciall acts which every Lord is enjoyned to execute Besides in admittances upon Surrenders the Lord being accounted nothing but a necessary instrument it followeth that he hath a bare Customary power to admit secundum formam effectum sursum reddendi therefore if there be any variance betweene the admittance and the surr either in the person in the estate or in the tenure or in any other collaterall points the Lord doth onely transferre an estate according to the surr and his authority if it can take such effect As if I Surrender to the use of I.S. and the Lord admits I.N. this admittance is wholly voide and notwithstanding this admittance the Lord may afterwards admit I. S. according to the effect of his authoritie but had he admitted I. S. and I.N. joyntly then the admittance had beene void for the one and good for the other like the Case of a Devise where a Devise of a terme is made to I. S. and the Executors agree that I. S. and I.N. shall have this terme Co. 4 fo 28 this consent is voide to I.N. for after the consent of the Executors I. N. is in by the Devise Yet some are of opinion that if I surr to the use of I. S. in Fee and the Lord admits I. S. together with his eldest sonne and heire apparent that this is an estate by Estoppell to I.S. and that he shall onely claime joyntly with his sonne because hee might have refused an admittance in this manner but I can hardly be brought to thinke that this admittance giving a present interest in theson who by surrender was to have no interest till the death of his father should be any such estopell If I surr to the use of I.S. for life and the Lord admits him in Fee an estate for life onely passeth Co. 4. fo 29. So if I surr without mentioning any certaine estate because by implication of the Law estate for life onely passeth though the Lord admit in Fee no more doth passe than the implication of Law will warrant If I surr with the reservation of a rent and the Lord admits not reserving any rent or reserving a lesse rent than I reserved upon the Surrender this admittance is wholly void but if the Lord reserveth a greater rent then is the reservation void only for the surplusage and the admittance so far currant as it agreeth with my surrender If I surrender upon Condition and the Lord omits the Condition the admittance is wholly void but if my surrender be absolute Co. 4. fo 25. and the Lords admittance be conditionall the Condition is void but the admittance in all points else is good The reasons of these diversities are these where an Authority is given to any one to execute any act and he executeth it contrary to the effect of his authority this is utterly voyd but if hee executeth his authority and withall goeth beyond the limits of his warrant this is voyd for that part onely wherein he exceedeth his authority These admittances upon Surrender differ from admittances upon Discents in this that in admittances upon surrender nothing is vested in the Grantee before admittance no more then in the Voluntary admittances but in admittances upon Discents the heire is Tenant by Copy immediately upon the death of his Ancestor not to all intents and purposes for peradventure he cannot be sworne of the homage before neither can hee maintaine a plaint in the nature of an Assize in the Lords Court before because till then he is not compleate Tenant to the Lord no further forth then the Lord pleaseth to allow him for his Tenant And therefore if there bee Grandfather Father and Sonne and the Grandfather is admitted and dyeth and the Father entreth and dyeth before admittance the Sonne shall have a plaint in the nature of a writ of Ayell and not an Assize of Mort d'auncestor so that to all intents and purposes the Heire till admittance is not compleat Tenant yet to most intents especially as to strangers the Law taketh notice of him Co. 4. fo 23. as of a perfect Tenant of the Land instantly upon the death of his Auncestor for he may enter into the Land before admittance take the profits punish any trespasse done upon the ground Surrender into the hands of the Lord to whose use he pleaseth satisfying the Lord his fine due upon the Discent and by estoppell hee may prejudice himselfe of his inheritance for if an Estrange come and surrender to the use of him and his Wife before admittance hee shall ever claime joyntly with his Wife and never be taken as sole Tenant and the Lord may avow upon him before admittance for any arrearages of Rent or other Services and last of all Co. 4. fo 22. b. upon an actuall possession there shall be possessio fratris before admittance for if a Copyholder in Fee have issue a Sonne and a Daughter by one Venter and a Sonne by another venter and dyeth seised and his Sonne by the first Venter entereth into the Land and dyeth before admittance the Daughter shall inherit as Heire to her brother and not the Sonne by the second Venter as Heire to his Father and many times the possession of a Guardian or a Tearmer without an actuall entry or any claime made by the Heire will make a possessio fratris As if a Copyholder in Fee having issue a Sonne or a Daughter by one venter and a Sonne by another Venter by Licence of the Lord maketh a Lease for yeares and dyeth and the Sonne of the first Venter dyeth before the expiration of the Terme being neither admitted nor having made any actuall entry or any claime Yet this possession of the Lessee is sufficient and the Reversion shall discend to the daughter of the first Venter and not to the sonne of the second Venter But if the
by the act of the party some are determinable by death some by collaterall meanes By death as estates granted during the life of the Grantor of the Grantee or of a Stranger By collaterall meanes as estates granted quia diu fuerit innupta to a Widdow qùia diu remanserit vidua or to a Minister quamdiu Sacerdotium exercuerit Of Francke tenants created by the act of the Law some are Francketenants simpliciter some secundum quid simpliciter as the estates of a tenant in Dower of a tenant by the courtesie of an occupant a tenant in taile after possibility of issue extinct secundum quid as the estates of a tenant by Statute Merchant Stat. Staple Elegit who though they are to have the Land but for so many yeares as will give a plenary satisfaction to their debts yet by the Stat. of Westmin 2. they may mainetaine an Assize which no other tenant having but a Chattell can have All Chattells are either certaine or incertaine of Chattells certaine some are in themselves certaine some are made certaine by relation to a certainty Certaine in themselves as where Lands are granted for 20. 30. or 40. yeares Certaine by relation to a certainety as where Land is granted for so many yeares as I. S. hath acres of Land Of incertaine Chattells some are incertaine in their commencement some incertaine in their determination In their commencement as where a Guardian hath an estate during the minority of the heire all these estates either by the generall or by the particular Customes of Manors are of Copyholds aswell as of Freeholds in what manner soever an estate in Fee simple is warranted by the Custome Co. 4. fo 23. most inferior estates are by implication likewise warranted All Francke tenants created by the act of the party the estate of an occupant and all Chattells whatsoever without any other particular Custome are hereby warranted But the Law is otherwise Co. 4. fo 22. a. of estates in Dower by the courtesie by Statute Merchant Statute Staple or Elegit for as long as such a Copyhold by the Custome of the Manor grantable in Fee simple continueth in the Copyholders hands it is not lyable to any of these estates but if once it commeth to the Lord by Escheate forfeiture or by other meanes so long as it remaineth reunited to the Manor it is in the nature of a Freehold and shall be subject to the charges and incumbrances as Land at the Common Law and howsoever by implication these estates are not allowed in Copyholds continuing in the Copyhold possession yet by particular Custome the Wife may bee Tenant in Dower the Husband Tenant by the Curtesie a stranger Tenant by Stat. Merchant Stat. Staple or Elegit of a Copyhold resting in the Copyhold aswell as if it rested in the Lord whether an estate tayle or an estate Tayle after possibility of issue extinct which hath a necessary depending upon an estate Taile may by any particular Custome bee allowed that I may dispute but cannot determine for it is vexata quaestio much controverted but nothing concluded I will briefely touch the reasons alledged on both sides They which are against the validity of Intailes by speciall Custome doe chiefely urge these two reasons that no estates tayles were before the Stat. de donis conditionalibus but all Inheritances were Fees conditionall and the Statute being made 13. E. 1. which is within the memory of man it cannot be that any speciall Customes have any Commencement since the Statute for then a Custome might begin within time of memory which is altogether repugnant to the rules of Custome Two great inconveniencies would ensue if a Copyholder might be Intailed by speciall Custome because neither fine nor Common recovery can barre it so that he hath such an estate that he cannot of himselfe without the assent of the Lord dispose of it either for the payment of his debts for thē advancement of his wife or preferment of his yonger sonnes SEC XLVIII THe maine reasons insisted upon in defence of intailing Copyholds are these 1. In divers Manors they have beene from time to time not onely reputed as Tenants in tayle but in every mans mouth termed by that name 2. A Formed on in the Descender lyeth of a Copyholder which Writ none can bring but Tenant in tayle 3. A remainder limitted upon such an estate in such Manors hath beene allowed and therefore is no Fee conditionall for upon a Fee whether absolute or conditionall a Render can by no meanes depend 4. It is a common usage there by a Recovery to docke intayles of Copyhold or to defeate these estates by presentment that the Copyholder hath committed a forfeiture and so the Lord to seize and then to surrender it to the purchaser and therefore there is not that inconvenience which is supposed in the Copyhold scilicet want of power to dispose of such an estate without the Lords consent 5. Much inconvenience would depend upon this if Copyholds might not be intailed for it would tend to the subversion and destruction of many mens estates which from time to time they have enjoyed without contradiction and therefore for the quiet of the Common-wealth how necessary it is that Copyholds should be intayled let any man judge Thus much of the severall estates of the Copyhold A word of their severall qualities incident to severall estates SEC XLIX WHat qualities soever are necessarily incident to estates at the Common Law are incident to estates by Custome In illustrating this I will confine my selfe to the discussing of these two points 1. What words will create Copyholds of inheritance and what Copyholds of Franck-Tenant 2. How Copyholds of inheritance shall descend Touching their creation Copyholds of inheritance Co. 4. fo 2◠and Copyholds of Franck-Tenement are created by the same words that Inheritance and Franck-Tenement at the Common Law are created by If a Copyhold be granted to a man and to his heires males or heires females If to a man sanguini suo hereditabili If to a Deane and Chapter or to a Major Commonalty without any expresse estate or without a limitation of some inferior estate In all these Grants a perfect estate in Fee passeth And so peradventure if I surrender a Copy-hold to a man and his heires and he reciting this estate re-surrendreth in the same manner to me that I surrendred to him not making any mention of my heire yet this recitall seemeth sufficient to passe a good Fee-simple So if I surrender unto you as large an estate as I. S. hath in his Manor of D. and he hath a Fee-simple in his Manor it is somewhat probable that an estate in Fee simple should passe by reason of his relation without the word heires If a Copyhold be surrendred to a man semini suo haereditabili de corpore or to a man haeredibus ex ipso precreatis or to a man in Franck-marriage with his wife in
these Grants an estate tayle passeth in the first without the word heires in the second without the word body in the third without either If the King by his Steward granteth a Copyhold to a man and to his heires males or heires females no Fee-simple passeth because the Lord never intended to passe such an estate If a Copyhold be Granted to an Abbot and to his heires an estate for life onely passeth So if I Grant a Copyhold to a man in Fee-simple ac sanguini suo imperpetum or sibi assign suis impeâ—pectum yet the word heires wanting no greater estate than for life passeth The same Law is if a Copyhold be granted to a man and to his heires as long as I. S. shall live this is onely an estate per anter vie a rend limitted upon this estate is good But if a Copyhold be granted to a man and to his heires as long as such a tree shall grow in such a ground this is a good Fee and a render limitted upon it is void If a Copyhold be granted to I. S. and I. N. haeredibus they are joynt Tenants for life and no inheritance passeth unto either because of the uncertainty for want of this word suis but if a Copyhold be granted to I. S. onely haerend a good Fee-simple passeth without the word suis If a Copyhold be granted to a man haered bus an estate tayle doth not passe for want of the words de corpore And if a Copyhold be granted to a man liberis aut puer suis de corpore an estate taile doth not passe for want of this word heires for what estates soever are intayles since the Statute De donis Conditionalibus were Fee-simples Conditionall but this could be no Fee-simple conditionall before the Statute without the word heires and therefore no intayle since the Statute And for the same reason if a Copyhold be granted to a man and to the issues males of his bodie an estate for life onely passeth If a Copyhold be granted to a man without expressing any certaine estate by implication of Law an estate for life onely passeth and if I grant a Copyhold to three habendum successive they are joynt Tenants unlesse by speciall Custome the word successive make their estates severall Thus much touching the creation of Copyhold estates SEC L. THe discents of Copyhold of inheritance are guided and directed by the rules of the Common Law as well as the creation of Copyhold estates If a Copyholder in Fee-simple having issue a sonne and a daugher by one venter and a sonne by an other venter dieth and the sonne by the first venter entreth and dieth the Land shall discend to the daughter Quia-possessio fratris de feodo simplici facit sororem esse haeredem But if a Copyholder in tayle have issue a son and a daughter by one venter and a son by another venter dieth and the sonne by the first venter entreth and dieth the sonne of the second venter shall inherit If a man having issue a sonne and a daughter by one venter and a sonne by another venter the eldest sonne purchaseth a Copy-hold in Fee and dieth without issue the daughter shall have the Land not the yonger sonne because he is but of the halfe blood to the other If a man hath a Copyhold by discent from his mothers side if he die without issue the Land shall goe to the heires of the mothers side and shall rather escheate than goe to the heires of the fathers side but if I purchase a Copyhold and die without issue the Land shall goe to the heires of my Fathers side but if I have no heires of my fathers side it shall goe to the heires of my mothers side rather than escheate If there be Father Vnckle and Sonne and the sonne purchaseth a Copyhold in Fee and dieth without issue the Vncle shall inherit and not the Father because an inheritance may lineally discend but not ascend If there be three brothers and the middle brother purchaseth a Copyhold in Fee and dieth without issue the eldest shall inherit because the worthiest of blood If there be two Coparteners or two Tenants in Common of a Copyhold and one dieth having issue the issue shall inherit and not the other by the survivership but otherwise it is of two joynt Tenants Should I give way to my Penne and write of this Theame till I wanted matter to write on I should make a large Volume in dilating this one point therefore I will contract my selfe intreating you to supply by your private cogitations what I have either willingly or unwittingly passed over in silence onely take this caveat by the way Though all qualities necessarily incident to estates at the Common Law are likewise incident to Copyhold estates yet the Law is not so of collaterall qualities without speciall Custome Co. 4. fo 22. a. and therefore a Copyhold shall be no assets to the heire A discent of a Copyhold shall not toll an entry A surrender made by Tenant in tayle admit a Copyhold may be intayled or by a Baron of a Copyhold which he hath in right of his wife shall make no discontinuance because these are collaterall qualities and not necessarily incident Thus much of the severall estates of Copy-holds together with their severall qualities incident to their severall estates I come now in the first place to examine how Copyholders are to impleade and be impleaded SEC LI. A Copyholder cannot in any Action reall or that savoureth of the realty or hath a dependance upon the realty implead or be impleaded in any other Court but in the Lords Court for or concerning his Copy-hold but in actions that are meerely personall he may sue or be sued at the Common Law If a Copyholder be ousted of his Copyhold by a stranger he cannot implead him by the Kings Writ but by Plaint in the Lords Court and shall make protestation to prosecute the sute in the nature of an Assize of novell disseisin of an Assize of Mort D'ancestor of a Formedon in the Discender Reverser or Remainder or in the nature of any other Writ as his cause shall require and shall put in pleg de prosequend If a Copyholder be ousted by the Lord he cannot maintaine an Assize at the Common Law because he wanteth as Franck-Tenant but he may have an action of trespasse against him at the Common Law for it is against reason that the Lord should be Judge where he himselfe is a party If in a plaint in the Lords Court touching the tytle of a Copyholder the Lord giveth false judgement he cannot maintaine a Writ of false judgement for then he should be restored to a Francke-Tenant where he lost none No Copyholder of base Tenure in ancient Demesne can maintaine a Writ of droit close or a Writ of Monstravêrunt but Tenants of Francke-tenure in ancient demesne can A Copyholder that may cut downe Timber trees by Custome by
Copy without the admittance and ordinary allowance of the Lord. The Statute of 16. R. 2. cap. 5. which maketh it a forfeiture of Lands Tenaments and Hereditaments to the purchasor of Excommunications Bulls c. in the Court of Rome against the King c. extendeth not to Copyhold because it would be prejudiciall to the Lord to have the King so farre intereressed in his Copyhold without his consent The Stature of 2. H. 5. ca. 7. of Heretiques extends not to Copyholds for though the Lord of a Manor is yearely to receive a benefite in having the Lands after the yeare and the day forfeited unto him yet because the King is a sharer in this for feiture therefore Lands by Copy are not comprehended under the generall words besides the Statute speaketh of the Kings having annuum diem vastum of these Lands forfeited for heresie as in Lands forfeited for felony whereby it appeareth that the meaning of the Statute is that such Lands onely should be forfeited in which the King by the ordinary course of the Law should have An nuum diem vastum if the Tenant of them had committed felony but such lands are not Lands by Copy for if a Copyholder committeth felony his Copyhold is presently forfeited to the Lord therefore Copyholds are out of the generall purview of this Statute SEC LIV. THe Statute of 27. H. 8. ca. 10. of Vses toucheth not Copyholds because the transmutation of possession by the sole operation of the Statute without allowance of the Lord or the Agreement of the Tenant would tend to the prejudice both of the Lord and of the Tenant and the branch of the same Statute which speaketh of Joyntures toucheth not Copy-holds because Dowers of Copyholds are warranted by speciall Custome onely and not by the Common Law or by the generall Custome The Statute of 31. of H. 8. ca. 1. 32. H. 8. cap. 32. by which joynt-Tenements and Tenants in Common are compellable to make partition by a Writ de partitione faciend As Coparteners at the Common Law touch not Copyholds because this alteration of the Tenure without the Lords consent may sound to the prejudice of the Lord. The Statute of 32. H. 8. ca. 28. which confirmeth Leases for 21. yeares or three Lives made by Tenants in tayle or by the husband and wife of the Lands of the wife touch not Copyhold for the Statute speaketh of Leases made by Deede onely so that the intent of the Statute is to warrant the Leasing of such Lands only as are Grantable by Deede but such are not Copyhold-lands for though they may by Licence of the Lord be demised by Indenture yet in their owne name they are demiseable onely by Copy and therefore out of the generall purview of the Statute for the same reason the same Statute cap. 34. which giveth an entry to the Grantee of a Reversion upon the breach of a Condition by the particular Tenant toucheth not Copyholds SEC LV. THe Stat. of 17. E. 2. cap. 10. which giveth the Wardships of Idiots Land unto the King toucheth not the Idiots Copyhold for thereby great prejudice would accrue to the Lord. But the Statute of Marton cap. 1. which giveth damages to a feme upon a Recovery in a Writ of Dower Co. 4. fo 30. b. where the Baron dieth seised extendeth to Copyhold So that the Statute of Westm 2. cap. 3 and the three severall branches of the same Statute 1. The one which giveth the Cui in vita upon a discontinuance made by the Baron 2. The second which giveth the receit unto the feme upon the Barons refusall to defend the wives title 3. And the third which giveth a quod ei deforceat to particular Tenants extends to Copyhold So that the Statute of 31. H. 8. ca. 13. of Monaster which provideth for the avoidance of doubling of estates And the Statute 32. H. 8. cap. 9. against Champertie and buying of Litigious Titles and chap. 28. which giveth an entry in Liew of a Cui in vita Co 4. fo 26. extendeth all to Copyholds because these Statutes are beneficiall to the Common-wealth and not at all prejudiciall to the Lord in the alteration of Tenure estate Service c. So the Statute of 4. H. 7. cap. 24. of Fines extendeth to Copyholds for if a Copyholder be disseised and the Desseisor levieth a Fine with proclamations and five yeares passed without any claime made this is a barre both to the Lord and to the Copyholder So if a Copyholder make a Feoffment in Fee and the Feoffee levieth a Fine with proclamation and five yeares passe the Lord is barred but if a Copyholder levie a Fine and five yeares passe the Lord is not barred for the Fine levied the Copyhold having no Franck-Tenant is utterly voide And whereas it hath beene doubted that this Statute should not extend to Copyhold but the Lord should hereby receive grand prejudice Co. 9. fo 105. a. for he should not onely lose the Fines upon alienations or descents and the benefit of forfeiture but should withall be in hazard to be barred of his Franck-tenant and inheritance To that I answer if the Lord receive any such prejudice it is through his owne default for not making claime for in regard of the privitie in estate that is betweene him and the Copyholder he may make claime as well as the Copyholder himselfe Et vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt Thus have I shewed under what Statutes Copyholds are comprehended I come now in the seventh place to speake of Fines SEC LVI A Fine is a summe of money paide to the Lord of the Mannor for an Income into any Lands or Tenements In some Manors Fines are certaine in some incertaine Fines of Copyholds By speciall Custome Copyholders are to pay Fines upon Licences granted unto them to demise by Indenture but by generall Custome they are to pay Fines onely upon admittances If the Lord having a Copyhold by Escheate forfeiture or other meanes maketh a voluntary admittance a Fine is due unto the Lord. If a Copyholder surrendreth to the use of a stranger and the Lord admitteth a Fine is due to the Lord. So if a Copyhold descendeth and the Lord admitteth the heire where by the Custome of the Manor the wife is to have Dower and the husband is to be Tenant by the curtesie of a Copyhold either of them shall be admitted and shall pay a Fine to the Lord. If a Copyhold be granted du rante vie and the Grantee dieth living Cestuy que vie and a stranger entreth as a generall occupant he shall be admitted and shall pay a Fine And so if a Copyhold be granted to one and his heires durante vie and the Grantee dieth and his heire entereth as a speciall occupant where by the Custome of the Manor a Copyhold may be extended upon the extent the party shall be admitted and shall pay a Fine Where by the Custome of the Manor
If the Fine by the Custome of the Manor be incertaine though a reasonable Fine be assessed yet because no man can provide for an incertainty the Copyholder is not bound to pay it presently upon demand but shall have convenient time to discharge it if the Lord limit no certaine day for payment thereof and if within convenient time it be not discharged this is a forfeiture without presentment But if the Fine be unreasonable though it be never paid it is no forfeiture and it shall be determined by the opinion of the Justices before whom the matter dependeth either upon a demurre or in Evidence to the Jury upon the confession or proofe of the yearely value of the Land whether the Fine be reasonable or not for if the Lords might Assesse unreasonable Fines at their pleasures then most estates by Copy which are a great part of the Kingdome and which have continued time out of minde might now at the will of the Lords be defeated and destroyed which would be very inconvenient If the Lord demandeth his Rent and the Copyholder denieth to pay it this is a forfeiture Ipso facto So if the Copyholder saith that hee wanteth money to discharge the Rent and therefore intreateth the Lord to forbeare untill he be better provided unlesse the Lord giveth his consent this non payment is a forfeiture Ipso facto For a Copyholder knowing his day of payment is to provide against the day but if the Lord commeth upon the Copyholders ground and demandeth his Rent and neither the Copyholder himselfe nor any other by his appointment is there present to answer their demand though this be a deniall in Law of the Rent yet this is no forfeiture But if the Lord continueth in making demand upon the ground and the Copyholder is still absent this continuall deniall in Law amounteth to a deniall in fact and maketh the Copyholders estate subject to a forfeiture without presentment If a Copyholder for life suffereth a Recovery by plaint in the Lords Court as Copyhold of the inheritance this is a forfeiture Ipso facto But if he surrender in Fee this is no forfeiture because it did not passe by Livery If a Copyholder committeth waste voluntarily or permissive this is a forfeiture Ipso facto Voluntary as if hee plucketh downe any ancient built house or if he buildeth any new house and then pulleth it downe againe or if he ploweth medow so that thereby the ground is made worse or loppeth the trees or selleth the lopping or if he cutteth downe any fruit-trees for fuell having other wood sufficient this and the like voluntary waste are forfeitures Ipso facto Permissive as if he suffereth his house to decay or fall to ground for want of necessary reparations or if hee suffereth his medowes for want of mending his banckes to be surrounded so that it becomes Rushy or worth nothing or his arrable ground so to be surrounded that it is become unprofitable These and the like permissive wasts are forfeitures Ipso facto And thus much of Acts which are forfeitures eo instante that they are committed A word of those Acts which are said not forfeitures till presentment SEC LVIII ANd such are those offences which by common presumption the Lord cannot of himselfe have notice of without notice given as if a Copyholder committeth felony or treason So if a Copyholder be Out-lawed or excommunicate that the Lord may have the profits of his Copyhold Land a presentment is necessary So if a Copyholder goeth about in any other Court to intytle any other Lord unto his Copyhold or if hee alieneth by Deede these and the like ought to be presented If a Copyholder maketh a bargaine and sale of his Copyhold and it is not in-rolled according to the Statute this is no forfeiture no more than a Feoffment without Livery because nothing passeth So if a Copyholder maketh a Feoffment of all his Lands in Dale and maketh Livery in his Charter Lands no part of his Copyhold-Land is thereby forfeited but if Livery be made in any part of the Copyhold Lands all his Copyhold Lands are forfeited If a Copyholder by Deede of bargaine and sale inrolled according to the Statute doth bargaine and sell all his Lands in Dale having both Copyhold and Freehold his Copyhold is not thereby forfeited for the Law will construe this to extend to his Freehold onely rather than by any over large constructionâ— make a forfeiture in this kinde And if a Copyholder by Deed inrolled bargaineth or selleth all his Copyhold Lands in Dale or all his Lands in Dale generally having no Freehold Lands this is a forfeiture Thus I have shewed you what Acts amount to a forfeiture Now I will shew you what persons are able to forfeit SEC LIX A Man of non sanae memoriae an Idiot or a Lunatique though they be able to take a Copyhold yet they are unable to forfeit a Copyhold because they want common reason nay common sense So an Infant that is under the age of foureteene is unable to forfeit his Copyhold because he wanteth discretion and till then hee is to be in Ward to the next of his kindred to whom th' inheritance cannot descend or to the Lord or the Bayliffe of the Manor as the Custome shall warrant So a feme covert by any Act she can doe of her selfe cannot possibly forfeit her Copyhold because she is not sui juris sed sub potestate viri but if shee doe any act which amounteth to a forfeiture by the consent of her husband this is in her a forfeiture An Infant at the age of discretion may forfeit his Copyhold not by offences which proceede from negligence or ignorance but by such as proceede from contempt If an Infant come not in to be admitted according to the Custome at three solemne proclamations made at three severall Courts or if he will suffer his houses to goe to ruine or his ground to be surrounded these Acts savouring of negligence onely are no forfeitures So if an Infant Copyholder sueth a Replevin against the Lord upon a distresse lawfully taken or if hee alieneth by Deede or the like these Acts relishing of ignorance onely are no forfeitures But if he denieth from time to time to pay the Lord the Rent or committeth voluntary waste notwithstanding often warning given him by the Lord these Acts proceeding from malice and contempt are forfeitures and so if he comitteth felony or treason If a Guardian of a Copyholder committeth waste hee shall forfeit the Wardshâ—ppe onely not the inheritance of the Copy-hold If Cestuy que use of a Copyhold committeth waste he shall not forfeit the Copy-hold If the husband committeth waste in Copyhold Lands which he hath in the right of his wife Co. 4. fo 27. a. this is a forfeiture of the wives Copyhold But if a stranger committeth waste without the consent of the husband this is no forfeiture though the wife consenteth If a Diffeisor of a Copyhold committeth
minimum tenant in tayle SEC XXI BVt a Tenant for life or yeares Brudnal and Yoxley 5. H. 7. The Justices of the Common Place 10. H 6. held that Lessee for years cannot doe fealty are both able to doe fealty according to Littletons rule that fealties are incident to every tenure except tenures in Franck-almoigne and tenants at will contrary to some erronius opinions they differ in regard that homage can be but once done unto one Lord by the same Tenant and therefore 't is agreed that if Lands descend unto me which is holden of I. S. by homage and I doe unto him homage and after other Lands descendeth unto me by another Ancestor which is holden of the same Lord by homage I shall not doe homage againe but fealty onely because I cannot twice become the Lords man but the selfe-same Tenant may severall times doe fealty unto the selfe-same Lord and therefore if a Copyholder surrendreth Whiteacre unto me for his Whiteacre I should doe fealty unto the Lord. If after another surrendreth unto me Blackeacre I shall doe fealtie likewise unto the same Lord. And thus much for services of Submission SEC XXII SErvices of Profits are of two sorts tending to the publique profit of the Common-weale as when the Lord injoyneth his Tenant to amend high wayes to repaire decayed bridges or similia 2. Tending to the private profit of the Lord as where the Tenant is injoyned to be the Lords Carver Butler or Brewer or is tyed to payle the Lords Parkes to tyle the Lords Houses to thatch the Lords Barnes and similia And thus much for corporall services Annuall services are in number infinite in nature all one for they all tend to th' increase of the Lords Coffers and are reserved in their duties as well for Copyhold Land as Freehold-Land though in the Saxons time and long after the Conquest they were never or seldome reserved for Copyhold-Land but onely for Freehold-Land I will not enumerate many particulars of annuall services for that were as endlesse as numbring the sands of the Sea onely this I say that those annuall services which here come within the compasse of my meaning consist all in Render none in Feasance for those annuall services as well as accidentall services which consist in Feasance I comprehend under corporall services thus leaving both corporall services and annuall I bend my course towards accidentall services which before I begin to particularize observe these two things by the way 1. That accidentall services differ from corporall and annuall services in this that most accidentall services are incident to the Fee and are due wiâ—hout speciall reservation of the Lord but most corporall services and all annuall services are due upon speciall reservation and are not incident unto the Fee 2. That service is taken in a double sense in strictiori sensu and in latiori sensu In strictiori sensu and in that sense the Feudists define servitium fore munus obsequii clientelario c. that duty which the Tenant oweth unto his Lord either in performing some corporall function or in discharging some annuall payment In latiori sensu and so it signifieth any duty whatsoever accruing unto the Lord by reason of his Seigniorie and in this sense these accidentall services following which prima facie may seeme better to ranke under the title of jurisdictions or rather under the name of the fruits of a Manor may very fitly be reduced to this kinde of services The services I ayme at and which I meane to treate of particularly in this place are these following 1. Wardships 2. Herriots 3. Reliefes 4. Amerciaments 5. Forfeitures 6. Escheates Now touching every one of these apart and first with Wardships SEC XXII VVArshipp est custodia heredis infra aetatem existentis Polidore Virgil saith that this was novi vectigalis genus excogitatum to helpe Hen. 3. being oppressed with much poverty by reason hee received the Kingdome greatly wasted by warres of his Ancestors and therefore needing extraordinary helpe to uphold his estate the use of Wardships was set abroach But the 33. Chapter of the grand Customary maketh mention of this to have beene used among the Normans immediatly after the erection of Manors and that the use of Wardships was a foote before H. the thirds time as appeareth manifestly by Glanvil who writeth very largely in many places in his Booke Fleta lib. 5. cap. 5. and lived in H. the seconds time Guardians are either termed Custodes or Curatores Custodes a lege curatores ab homine as Fleta speaketh The Civilians make three sorts of Guardians Tutor testamentarius 2. Tutor a-Praetore datus 3. Tutor legittimus This in every point agreeth with our Common Law so wee have Tutorem testamentarium viz. where a man possessed of certaine goods and chattells demiseth these unto his child and withall committeth the care of his childs body and disposition of his substance unto some friend this committee is Tutor testamentarius unto whom belongeth the care and custody of the childs body and the disposition of his substance untill hee accomplish the full age of foureteene yeares and then immediatly hee shall be out of Ward for his body but his goods may be kept longer for as for them they shall remaine in the trustees hands so many yeares as the Testator appointed by his last Will and Testament for though it be not in the Fathers power to restraine the libertie of his childs bodylonger then to the age of 14. yet the disposing of his goods he may commit to any for as long time as himselfe shall thinke expedient So by the Stat. 32. and 34. H. 8. If a man be seised of Socage Lands not holden of the King in Capite hee may by his last Will and Testament commit the ordering of Theoglands to what friend soever for as many yeares as shall seeme most convenient and that friend is Tutor testamentarius otherwise it is of Lands holden by Knights service for it is not in any mans power by his last Will and Testament to deprive the Lord of that duty which de jure belongeth to him and therefore if a Copy-holder dieth his heire under the age of fourteene In regard that this priviledge of appointing the heires a Guardian for their Copyhold Land untill he accomplish the age of fourteene de jure appertaineth unto the Lord. It seemeth that the father cannot prejudice the Lord in this kinde by appointing him another Guardian by his last Will and Testament haec de Tutore testamentario 2. Wee have Tutorem a Praetore datum viz. where a man deviseth goods unto his childe and appointeth him not Guardian then it is in the Ordinaries hand to commit the ordering of the Infants goods unto some trustie friend unto the age of foureteene at what time the Infant himselfe may chuse a Guardian for it is a rule in the Civill Law Invito curator non datur and this Committee est Tutor a Praetore datus