THE STATUTE OF FRAUDS. 17 



earnest, say one shilling, and the seller puts tlie 

 shilling into his pocket, either party can enforce 

 tlio bargain. This method of ratifying a bargain 

 is not uncommon in northern fairs, the shilling 

 being spent in a glass or two of ale. Such spend- 

 ing will not invalidate the bargain, if the seller 

 has appropriated the shilling, for of course he can 

 use the shilling, after it has come into his posses- 

 sion, as he pleases. 



There remains the third and last exception to Summary 

 the Statute of Frauds, the note or memorandum exception, 

 of the bargain signed by the party to be charged. 

 It is usual, nowadays, after a bargain lias been 

 struck about a horse, for some note to be taken, 

 which mentions whether the horse is warranted 

 or not. The subject of warranty is something 

 quite apart from sales. A horse may be sold any 

 number of times without warrant}^ and in fact 

 horses are only occasionally warranted when sold, 

 and in the case of hiring and letting, when horses 

 are sometimes warranted to be free from disease 

 and quiet for the purpose hired. A mere war- 

 ranty note may not satisfy the Statute of Frauds. 

 It may be that the note after sale is a receipt ; if 

 so, and it contained the names of the parties and 

 the price, it would necessarily be a note within 

 the meaning of the statute : but as the money would 

 be paid before the receipt was given, the only 

 questions that would probably arise between the 

 parties would be questions on the wan-anty. Some- 



1,. c 



