Other examples occur at Swanage in Dorset and Stogursey in West
Somerset.
BOROUGH ENGLISH
Before proceeding to describe the methods of cultivation employed, it is
desirable to glance at a custom which, there is reason to suppose, is
connected with that remote period when the English were not _de jure_
masters of the soil, but occupied the position of colonists, who either
expropriated the original inhabitants or entered upon possession of land
as _res nullius_, to which they had established no solid claim by
prescription. We have already referred to that valuable repertoire of
national customs, so judiciously edited as to merit the higher praise
_in_valuable--the Year-Books. The reports of the pleas in the Common
Bench for 1293 include the following:
"One A. brought a writ of entry against B., saying, 'Into which he had
not entry except by such an one who had tortiously, &c, disseised his
father Robert.' And he laid the descent thus: 'From Robert descended the
right, &c, to Adam the present demandant, as his youngest son and heir,
according to the custom of such a place, &c.'
"_Asseby_: 'Sir, we tell you that Adam has an elder brother named N.,
who is legitimate and is alive, and whom they have omitted. Judgment of
the omission.'
"_Sutton_: 'Sir, even if he had made a quit-claim to him, yet that could
not be a bar to us, because by the custom of the country the youngest
shall have his inheritance, wherefore there is no need to make mention
of him.
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