154 SALMON-FISHERY OF SCOTLAND, 



exinaple, convey " the lands and estate of , with houses, 



biggings, muirs, mosses, woods, fishings, grazings, parts and 

 pertinents," that is, the lands and estate, with the houses, muirs, 

 mosses and woods upon the estate. The words are mere unne- 

 cessary tautology, which make a sort of parade in legal jargon, 

 and convey nothing which a right to the estate would not itself 

 carry. No man would be so absurd as to say that the " houses, 

 muirs, and woods," mean woods, muirs, and houses upon other 

 properties ; and it would be just as absurd to maintain that any 

 one word in the clause has a more extended meaning than the 

 rest ; or that while all the other words of the clause were con- 

 fined m'^^m the bounds of the estate, such word ought to extend 

 leyond the bounds of the estate, even if unsupported by any 

 possession. If constructions were put on words contrary to 

 common sense, there would be no end to the confusion in which 

 rights would be involved. This construction of the word ^isca- 

 tionihus, as meaning the fish in the streams that are within the 

 bounds of the grant, is confirmed by the institutional writers 

 on the Scotch law. Thus, according to 



Stair — 



" Cum aucupationibus, jjiscffl^wni'SMs, signify privilege to kill fowls, 

 fishes, and wUd beasts on the Fiae's own ground." 



Bankton — 



" The proprietor of the ground may no doubt fowl and fish 



THEREON." 



Erskine — 



" The right of hunting, fishing, and fowling within one's own 

 GROUND, naturally arises from one's right of property thereiu." 



Pertinents, again, are, in every instance, regulated by the pos- 

 session. Indeed it would be an utter impossibility, in any case, 

 to know what sort of a pertinent was meant under the general 

 word pertinents, or to discover the undescribed pertinent, if any 

 such there was, much more to establish a right to it, save by 

 the possession. The word may, as we said, be used as a title 

 for prescription, but in any other view it is absolutely useless. 

 Accordingly, we believe there is not a single instance on record 



