222 THE USE OF THE LA&quot;\V. 



inherit the land that the father had, although it were a 

 child by the second wife, before any daughter by the first. 

 The third rule about descents. That land purchased so by 

 the party himself that dieth is to be inherited ; first, by 

 the heirs of the father s side ; then, if he have none of that 

 Descent. part, by the heirs of the mother s side. But lands des 

 cended to him from his father or mother are to go to that 

 side only from which they came, and not to the other side. 

 Those rules of descent mentioned before are to be under 

 stood of fee-simples, and not of entailed lands, and those 

 rules are restrained by some particular customs of some 

 Customsofcer- particular places; as, namely, the custom of Kent, that 

 tam places. every male of equal degree of childhood, brotherhood, or 

 kindred, shall inherit equally, as daughters shall, being 

 parceners ; and in many borough towns of England, and 

 the custom alloweth the youngest son to inherit, and so the 

 youngest daughter. The custom of Kent is called gavel- 

 kind. The custom of boroughs, burgh English. 



And there is another note to be observed in fee-simple 

 inheritance, and that is, that every heir having fee-simple 

 land or inheritance, be it by common law or by custom of 

 either gavelkind or burgh English, is chargeable so far 

 forth as the value thereof extendeth with the binding acts 

 of the ancestors from whom the inheritance descendeth ; 

 and these acts are collateral encumbrances, and the reason 

 of this charge is, qui sentit commodum, sentire debet et in- 

 Every heir hav- commodum sive onus. As for example, if a man bind him- 

 ing land is^ se if an( j n i s heirs in an obligation, or do covenant by writing 

 binding acts of ^ or nmi anc ^ ms ne i rs &amp;gt; or do grant an annuity for him and 

 his ances- his heirs, or do make a warranty of land, binding him and 

 tors if he be hi s heirs to warranty, in all these cases the law chargeth 

 the heir, after the death of the ancestor, with this obliga 

 tion, covenant, annuity, and warranty, yet with these three 

 cautions : first, that the party must by special name bind 

 himself and his heirs, or covenant, grant, and warrant for 

 himself and his heirs, otherwise the heir is not to be touched. 

 Dyer, 114. Secondly, that some action must be brought against the 

 heir whilst the land or other inheritance resteth in him 

 unaliened away : for if the ancestor die, and the heir, before 

 an action be brought against him upon those bonds, cove 

 nants, or warranties, do alien away the land, then the heir 

 is clean discharged of the burden, except the land was by 

 fraud conveyed away of purpose to prevent the suit intended 

 Dyer, 149. against him. Thirdly, that no heir is further to be charged 

 Plowd. t | ian t h e va i ue O f the land descended unto him from the 



