19 



The Allin family seems to have been an unruly one, for in October of the 

 previous year we find the following 1 : 



" Att this Sessions of the peace Richard Allin alias Belpitt the younger for 

 that he being returned for one of the Grand Jury and being psent in the Courte 

 refused to bee sworne of the same Jury in contempte of the same Courte is 

 fined by the Courte at x li." 



" Item pntantTqcl Rogerus Chipp publice dixit in plena. Cur haec scandalosa 

 Anglicana verba The Towne hath wronged me et ideo amerciabat p Cur adiij. s, 

 sed affer ad iiijd." 



A Juror is also presented for revealing the secrets of the prison house. 

 " Item presentant Joheni Senior quia consilium sociorum Juratorum non vela- 

 vit sed revelavit, v s." 



The way in which the titles of the Jurors vary according to the changes 

 of Government is worth noting. During the reigns of Elizabeth and 

 James the juratores are described as " Pro Domino Rege (or Regina) ;" 

 during the greater part of the first year of Cromwell's usurpation we find 

 instead " Pro Re-publica ;" but in October of that year the records are kept 

 in English, and then we have the translation " for the Commonwealth." 

 During the interval between the demission of Richard Cromwell, and the 

 Restoration, the Jurors are " for the keepers of the Libertie of England ;" 

 but on October 1st, 1660 we find the entries again in Latin, and the phrase 

 "pro domino Rege." 



There exists in a book of Records of the 18th, Eliz, so complete an 

 account of an action on plea of debt that it is, I think, qTiite worth insert- 

 ing here. It commences June 26th, 1876, with this entry : 



" Owinus Raynolds de Waymouth et Melcombe regis in comitat Dorset yeo- 

 man queritur de Thoma Cliff de villa et eom pd mercatore de plito convencois 

 &c etde plito quod reddat>i]quadraginta et quinque solidos et quatuor denarios 

 quos ei debet etinjuste detinet &c." 



There was also a second action against him for a larger amount. It was 

 the custom of the Court to allow four defaults of appearance. These 

 having been in his case exhausted a fifth was allowed him, "ex gratia Cur." 

 This leniency was doubtless due to the fact that Owen Raynolds was 

 Mayor at the time, but it was of no avail ; the unhappy Thomas could not 

 face his creditors. We next find the following entry : - 



" Thomas Cliff quamvis exactus non venit nee compuit^nec aliquid dicit in 

 Barram accois debi pd Owini Raynolds. Super quo dcua Owinus prsestitit 

 sacrum suum corporale qd dcus Thomas debet pfato Owino debitu pd. Ideo 

 considerat est qcl dcus Owinus recupet versus dcum Thorn debitusm suum pd 

 ad xlv s iiii d st ex misis et custag ad s.s. x s ijd. Ideo fiat executio pro levari 

 facias &c." 



On the 21st August the action of the Sergeants at Mace is reported as 

 follows : 



Ad hanc cur servient ad clavam returnaverunt pcept de levari faciend ei s 

 direct viz, quod ipsi virtute pcepti qd levari f ecerint de bonis et catallis 

 infranominati Thomaoe Cliff. . . . "una measam vocat a Table Bord, una cista 

 vocat an Hand cheste, una cathedra, una calcitra plumaria vocat a pillowe, una 



