GAV 
n. VIII. ©. 26. all gavel-kind lands in Wales are made 
eas to the heir, according to the courfe of common 
law ; wneeey it appears, that this tenure was aa in that 
principality ; and was probably of Britifh origin 
In an ancient book of records in Chrif- ak Cante 
of the time of Henry VIII. our Saxon anceftors are 
rine to have held alk their ian either I el writing or without; 
rit were called dockh bed ea ners were men, whom 
ond were call ed foikland, the 
and pofieffed ad 
id 
v 
pot, in thofe days, defcend on 
valike ; which, in Saxon, was called andefefn 5 and, in 
Kent, to Jhift land; whence came the cu m gavelicind. 
the reafon why it was retaine e 
pce was, ao the people of Ken 
fion ould n t be induced to farrender to the 
In the reign of Fien. 
forty perfons in the 
any other ae than t 
wards altered upon the ae of feveral Kentifh gentlemen, 
with regard to great part of the land of that county, fo as 
to: be defcendible to the eldett fon, eagle to the courfe 
of common law; by 31 IT]. though the 
cuftom to devife ee land {till remains ; and all lands 
in Kent fhall be taken to be g avel- ae has thofe which 
are ds ifzavelle, 
lackttone relies on the n 
pre egnant proof that aes in Ae 
Saxon liber rty. It-is well known that the Kentifh men 
vigoroufly ftruggled to preferve their ancient liberties, and 
thefe { thruggles were attended with fuccefs. And as it is prin- 
cipally in Kent that we find the cuftom of en we 
may fairly Sadie that this was a a-part of thofe liberties ; 
agreeably to Mr. Seiden’s opinion, that gavel-kind, before 
the Norman conquelt, was the general cuftom of the 
realm 
— 
he di hinguithing properties of this tenure are various 
fome of the princip al are thefe: the lands, held under this 
denomination of gav io kind, which is an ancient focage tenure, 
defcend equally, and are divided, fhare and fhare alike, 
among all the male children ; and, in defe& of thefe, among 
the females. ‘They are of age, or qualified to take the 
ands upon them, at fifteen ;. and may ae Bhve, vend, or 
alienate the fame to any per or on, withou fent of any 
ord: and eye here ay ised father S land, though 
aaa do ony, mur ing to the maxim, 
‘ The father ae bor cs ae a : an sigh > Tt has 
vever, that 1 in matters of treafon, which itrike 
and government, even gavel- 
s are forfeitable, and always w were. ‘he tenants 
in gavel-kind are to do fealty, and to be in the 
next a-kin, who is not next heir after them, till fifteen years 
of age; to pay acknowledgment to the lord for the lands, 
Gave -kind is faid to be cy a fpecies of a focage tenure, 
y the cuitom the country ; the lands being 
holden-by fuit of court ad fealty, which is a fervice in its 
nature certain, Wright, 213.) And therefore by a char- 
ter of king John, Hubert, sac hbih :0p of Canterbury, was 
authorized to exchange the gavel-kind tenures holden of the 
vL. XV. 
-_ 
oa 
GAV 
fee of Canterbury, into tenures by knight’s fervice ; and by 
the above-mentioned atute of 31 Hen It. <3. op dii- 
— in Kent, they are dir edte d to be defcendible, 
es other rE a which were never holden b 
m ae which the tenants in 
— h as cannot be con- 
it to be father maths chee that tenures in free focage are in 
general of a nobler original than is affigned by Littleton, or 
after him by the bulk of common lawyers. BI. Com. 
V. it 
The cuftom of gavel-kind is not altered, though a fine 
be levied of the lands at-c a Fa ;becaufe it is a cuftom 
that runs with the land. (68 ey A wife fhall be endow- 
ed of gavel-kind land, of a moiety of the land of which her 
hufband died feifed, during her © widow heed. ' (Co. Litt. 
3) And it has been adjudged, that a widow cannot have 
election to demand her aie s or dower at common law, fo as 
o avoid the cuftom, v8 which fhe fhall 7 al ae # 
nid a fecond hu (Moor. 2 ae) 
ba rER. The hufband “hhall be tenant a ie cutely half 
oi gel sce sees . the wife, during the tim ti- 
rried, ut having any iffue by his a ; ae 
if he ae he “hall forfeit his tenancy by the curtefy. 
Co. Lit. 3.) If the hufband had iffue by his wife, he fhall 
be tenant by the curtefy of the whole. land ; and though he 
marry he fhall not forfeit histenancy. (Mich. 21 Car. B.R. 
I va ena 649. 
in fee granted out of gavel-kind lands fhall defcend 
in ae toall the heirs male, as t have 
(2 Lev. 138. re Lk 
Kent, it fhall be ae that t they are gavel-kind ; 
contrary doth not appear. (2 Sid. By Hale, 
gavel-kind law is the law of Kent, re is never pleaded, but 
prefumed ; ; and it has been held that the fuperior courts m 
take ia of gavel-kind generally without pleading ; though 
not of the fpecial cuftom of devifing it, which ought eee 
pied Cel. (1 Med. 98. Cro. Car. 465. ae 
236. 
othe? cel: kind defcent of lands in Ireland was an 
dent to the cut 
with its 
againft the latter ma cafe Ann. 5 Jac. 1. (Dav. Rep. 28.) B 
in the reign of queen Ann the seer of weakening the Ro- o- 
man Catholic intereftin Ireland was the caufe of an Irifh 
ftatute to make the lands of papifts defcendible according to 
xe gavel-kind cuftom, unlefs the heir conformed within a 
limited time. (See Rob. on Gavelkind, c. 17.) However 
now, by an i ftatute of he prefent ine de (417 7 and 18 Geo. 
ITI.c. 4g. efcent of the lands of papitts is again re- 
oo to the ourfe of the common law. (1 Inft. 176. 
inci- 
i. 
” GAVELKOVEN, in ae ' a town of Germany, 
in Lower Bavaria; 20 miles $i. of Landfhut. 
GAVEI LER, in Mining, fgnifce bar-mafter or bai- 
liff of a mineral liberty or “ an officer who collects 
the cope, tolls, or dues of the king, or lord of the 2 i om 
ed a eral needs enturers ; to whom alfo He gives 
their mines, accordin ng to the eftablifhed laws a 
ns of the field or diftri¢ét. See Minne. 
GAVELLING, its the a& of freeing a mine, or obtain- 
ing the right to w vovk it, by pay ing. ¢ es accuftomed fees to 
the gaveller or matter, aes e obtained from the 
mine to be ae as is the cu ee ee nee s field in Der 
byfhire, or.in money, as is ree in forme diftricts. 
4X G 
AVELLO, 
