16 



with English, producing a singular literary mosaic, very much so. As to 

 my mind the quaintness of the entries is very much mixed up with the 

 actual form, I shall, as a rule, reproduce them with their verbal and 

 literal peculiarities, leaving my readers the not difficult task of supplying 

 for themselves the deficiencies and noting the grammatical errors where 

 they occur. 



However, it is not my intention at present to do more than transcribe such 

 specimens of the entries as will perhaps suffice to give some idea of how Court 

 was kept " tempore Elizabeth!." A line drawn over a word or syllable will 

 indicate the omission of one or more letters. In the original the precise 

 letters omitted are generally indicated by the shape and position of the 

 flourish, but here it will not be possible to do more than employ one 

 general form, a straight line to serve for all. 



The form of the heading of the record of the law day for Weymouth in 

 the year 1582 was as follows : 



Weymouth ) Curia legalis cum visu ffranc pleg unacu cur Manii dome 



Regine ibm tent viij die octobris, &c., coram Robto Keyte generos jeputat sen, 

 nobillo viro henrico com penbroch preclar ordinis garter mil capitall Sene^call 

 Rine burg pd Tempore hugonis Rendall et willim dotterell adtunc Balli burgi 

 pd elect. 



The entries then follow, but before attending to them it would be well to 

 reproduce a very curious " Charge to the jury " to be found in one of the 

 Town books of about this date, devoted to the insertion, for the use 

 of the Court, of numerous common forms of procedure, indictments, 

 indentures, oaths, &c., as well as the proceedings of the Corporation after 

 the union. 



FOB KEPINGE OP COURTE. 



SEWTERS. Inprimis ye shall enquire for all thoes psones which owe sute to 

 this Lawe day, whether they be here or not. And ye shall understand that 

 theire is twoo sewtes. Sewte royall which is intendant to this lete, and weste 

 service which is intendant to the Korte baron to the sewte Royal, that is to say 

 to Appeare and attende here at this lete, all and every such psone is bounden as 

 is resident within the ffranchise and the Jurisdiction of this Lawe daie and hath 



byn uprising and downe Lying there by the space of mj* daies and iiij nights 

 and passeth the age of xij yeres and here he ought to be sworne to the kinge if 

 he be nott alreddy sworne, and as it is very expedient and necessarie that ye 

 that are ancient and wise men shold do your attendance here for the redress and 

 punishment of suche enormyties and misdemynors as ye shalbe charged to 

 enquire of and also as ye by your discrete wisedomes shold thinke mete to be 

 redressed, so it is very mete that the yonge men shold be here also as well 

 to take theire othe of allegyance to the kings highenes if they be not alreddy 

 sworne, as also to here suche things as shalbe gyven you in charge to thentent 

 that they may evidently see and pcey ve what things be punysheable, and that 

 the punishment of malefactors maybe such a terror to the youthe that they 

 shall be affrayde to offend in the like, and then no doute that feare of the Lawe 

 and the transgressing thereof so planted in them in youthe muste nedes con- 



