CHAPTER IV.

COPYHOLDS.

LIT. §§ 73, 74, 78. Tenant by copy of court roll is, as if a man be seised of a manor within which manor there is a custom, which hath been used time out of mind of man, that certain tenants within the same manor have used to have lands and tenements, to hold to them and their heirs in fee simple, or fee tail, or for term of life, &c. at the will of the lord according to the custom of the same manor.

And such a tenant may not alien his land by deed, for then the lord may enter as into a thing forfeited unto him. But if he will alien his land to another, it behooveth him after the custom to surrender the tenements in court, &c. into the hands of the lord, to the use of him that shall have the estate, in this form, or to this effect.

A. of B. cometh into this court, and surrendereth in the same court a mease, &c. into the hands of the lord (in manus domini), to the use of C. of D. and his heirs, or the heirs issuing of his body, or for term of life, &c. And upon that cometh the aforesaid C. of D. and taketh of the lord in the same court the aforesaid mease, &c. To have and to hold to him and to his heirs, or to him and to his heirs issuing of his body, or to him for term of life, at the lord's will, after the custom of the manor, to do and yield therefor the rents, services and customs thereof before due and accustomed, &c. and giveth the lord for a fine, &c. and maketh unto the lord his fealty, &c.

Tenants by the verge are in the same nature as tenants by copy of court roll. But the reason why they be called tenants by the verge, is, for that when they will surrender their tenements into the hands of their lord to the use of another, they shall have a little rod (by the custom) in their hand, the which they shall deliver to the steward or to the bailiff according to the custom of the manor, and he which shall have the land shall take up the same land in court, and his taking shall be entered upon the roll, and the steward or bailiff according to the custom shall deliver to him that taketh the land the same rod, or another rod, in the name of seisin; and for this cause they are called tenants by the verge, but they have no other evidence but by copy of court roll.

Read Digig
on Real Crof

CHAPTER V.

USES AND TRUSTS.1

SECTION I.

USES BEFORE ST. 27 HEN. VIII. C. 10.2

KEILW. 42, PL. 7 (1502). Vavasour, J., said that the subpœna commenced in the time of Edward III.; but this was always against the feoffee upon confidence himself, for against his heir the subpœna was never allowed until the time of Henry VI., and in this point the law was changed by Fortescue, C. J.

un diseoffee ST. 1 RICH. III. (1483), c. 1. Forasmuch as by privy and unknown

feoffments, great unsurety, trouble, costs, and grievous vexations daily grow among the King's subjects, insomuch that no man that buyeth any lands, tenements, rents, services, or other hereditaments, nor women that have jointures or dowers in any lands, tenements, or other hereditaments, nor men's last wills to be performed, nor leases for term of life, or of years, nor annuities granted to any person or persons for their services for term of their lives or otherwise be in perfect surety, nor without great trouble and doubt of the same, because of the said privy and unknown feoffments: (2) For remedy whereof, be it ordained, established, and enacted, by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and by the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by authority of the same, that every estate feoffment, gift, release, grant, leases and confirmations of lands, tenements, rents, services, or hereditaments, made or had, or hereafter to be made or had by any person

1 On Equity Jurisdiction in general, see Langdell, Eq. Pl. §§ 36-45; Digby, Real Prop. (1st ed.) 244-247; (2d ed.) 285-287; (3d ed.) 276-279; Haynes, Outlines of Eq. 6-20.

2 On Uses before the Statute, see also Digby, Real Prop. c. 6; Leake, Digest Land Law, 99-102.

8 66

'The experience and practice of uses were not ancient, and my reasons why I think so, are these four: First, I cannot find in any evidence before King R. II. his time, the clause ad opus et usum, and the very Latin of it savoureth of that time; for in ancient time, about Edw. I. and before, when lawyers were part civilians, the Latin phrase was much purer, as you may see partly by Bracton's writing, and by ancient patents and deeds, and chiefly by the register of writs, which is good Latin, whereas this phrase ad opus et usum, and the words ad opus, is a barbarous phrase, and like enough to be the penning of some chaplain that was not much past his grammar, where he had found opus and usus coupled together, and that they did govern an ablative case; as they do indeed since this Statute, for they take away the land and put them into a conveyance." Bacon, Uses, 22.

I and

Ts are seised in fee to the use of ot. I.

sle having no fronted the rent to Alice <aft)
notice of the
rise
thereof (4) and ge
enfeof

a

one Stalfleuny. Then

the colui releases to him. Thuvite interests coalesce in Stalfreny.

Defore it. Alice would have legal nt. social she would get judament

But after St. Jease passed altite

int of resture to Italf benny, and be facing price it, stalpfenny also consiralled

イ

ulice

Anonymous

a makes a from to it to his
That feroffers medke a gift. evechaut malice,

to it to his own use.
without

cestui (a) in fee.
to a stronger in tail

to the

use of the

home cabe seised to the use of another, execft he who can execute an estate to the ceslie which stall be forfect in law. This a ten. in se issue have foundra) Tex in tail: shall not be seised to his the fist use but to his own

tail cannot doble

use.

or persons being of full age, of whole mind, at large, and not in duress,
to any person or persons; and all recoveries and executions had
or made, shall be good and effectual to him to whom it is so made, had or
given, and to all other to his use, (3) against the seller, feoffor, donor, or
No provision
grantor thereof, (4) and against the sellers, feoffors, donors, or grantors,
his or their heirs, claiming the same only as heir or heirs to the same for divisor
sellers, feoffors, donors, or grantors, and every of them, (5) and against
all other having or claiming any title or interest in the same, only to
the use of the same seller, feoffor, donor or grantor, sellers, feoffors,
donors or grantors, or his or their said heirs at the time of the bargain,
sale, covenant, gift or grant made, (6) saving to every person or persons
such right, title, action or interest, by reason of gift in tail thereof
made, as they ought to have had, if this Act had not been made.

X to J. DAJ.B. in flee
use of zv. n. V
"good

to use Rent

[Reported Year Book 14 Hen. VIII., 4, pl. 5.]

ONE J. S. sued a replevin for his cattle tortiously taken.

The use us good cothe heartf

to Alice who The defendant avowed for that J. D. and J. B. were seised of a

marries

Rent ploughland of land in their demesne as of fee to the use of R. N. by the original. being fed.

feoffment F. R., &c., and being so seised granted an annual rent out of the said ploughland to A. by the name of Alice, wife of R. to hold during the term of her life with a clause of distress, and afterwards Alice' Grains cous married the defendant, before the taking, and for so much in arrear he Conveyance avowed the taking, &c.

To which the plaintiff said that J. D. and J. B. were seised to the e win.se. use of W. N. and being so seised granted the said rent to the said A. leases to him as alleged, she then having notice of the use, that the said J. D. and

J. B. enfeoffed one Halpenny in fee whereby he was seised, and being
so seised, and Alice also being seised of the rent, the said W. N. by his
deed released all his right to the said Halpenny to him and his heirs
forever absque hoc that J. D. and J. B. were seised to the use of R. N.
as the avowant has alleged, &c., and prays judgment if this avowry, &c.
FITZ-HERBERT, J. First it is to be seen to whose use the grantee
shall be seised.1 I think he shall be seised to the first use, notwithstand-
ing he had no notice, for uses are at common law and not by the stat-
utes of Richard, and a use is but a trust and confidence which feoffor
puts in his feoffee according to the estate which was at common law,
for if a woman seised of land at common law will upon a communica-
tion of marriage enfeoff one, if he does not perform the trust, the law

1 Only so much of the opinion of the court as relates to this point is given. The
translation is taken from Professor Ames's pamphlet on Uses and Trusts before the St.
of 27 Hen. VIII.

wheficiary.