458 JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
and Coialtie of the saide Boroughe to make Defaulte of Payment 
of the sayde Recompence & satisfaccon and resiste to paye the 
same as is before reserved, That then the Lorde, Lords, Owner 
Owners Tenants Fermo*™ and Occupiers of suche Lande or Grounde 
that is agrieved therew*® and to whom the Recompence & Satis- 
faccon ought to be paied shall and maye Lawfullie comence affyrme 
& take his or theire action of Debte by the course of the Comon 
Lawe against the Maiot and Comynaltie of the saide Boroughe for 
the Tyme being and their Successo™ for recoverie of the same in 
any Courte of this Realme at the will and Pleasure of the ptie 
grieved, and the like Proces therevpon to be hadd, as in accon of 
debte at the Comon Lawe grounded upon Contract or Specialtie 
hathe vsed to ben hadd, in whiche no Wager of Lawe Essoyne or 
Protection shalbe allowed. 
Provyded allwies and yt is further Inacted by this present 
Pliament and by the authoritie of the same, that the said water 
shall not be conveyed throughe the House Garden or Orcharde of 
any pson or psons or throughe anye Parte thereof w*out Com- 
posicon to be firste hadd with the Owners and Occupiers of the 
saide Howses Gardens and Orchardes_ Provided alwaies that this 
Acte nor any Thing herein conteyned shall extende to gyve Libertie, 
as aforsaid to bring the saide Water or anye Parte thereof owte of 
his auncient Course to or for any Intente or Purpose menconed in 
this Acte, vnlesse everie suche pson and psons as are Owners of 
any Mylle or Mylles scytuate and standinge vpon or nere the saide 
Rtyver of Mewe als Mevye shalbe first compounded withall as afore- 
said, yf the sayede Milles shall by the bringinge of the said water 
or any Parte thereof ynto the saide Towne of Plymowth be im- 
payred or hyndered. 
It is curious to note the moderate way in which the dearth of 
water is spoken of in the Act as compared with the exaggerations 
of Westcote, Prince, and their followers :—There is ‘for the moste 
Parte of the yere, none, or at the leaste verey litle fresshe water 
within a mile”—and again “then a Myle or sometyme more, as the 
dryeth is.” The mile refers of course to the streams at Pennycome- 
quick and Lipson, which flowed then as now, and can have under- 
gone little change. There has been a suggestion that the Water 
Act must have been obtained by Drake because it refers to scouring 
the harbour endangered by the washings from the tinworks. This 
is wholly inadmissable. The harbour was Sutton Pool, then in 
the hands of the town, for the proper care and order of which 
regulations had been made well nigh a century before Drake was 
born; while there are yet extant a very full and precise set of 
orders for the “‘good kepyng of the poole & waterside under the 
