“The King to the Sheriff, Health.[475] _N._ complains to me, that _R._ has, unjustly and without a Judgment, disseised him of his free Tenement, in such a Vill, since my last Voyage into Normandy;[476] and, therefore, I command you, that if the aforesaid _N._ should make you secure of prosecuting his claim, then, you cause the Tenement to be reseised, with the Chattels taken on it, and that you cause him with his Chattels to be in peace,[477] until the Pentecost; and, in the mean time, you cause twelve free and lawful Men of the Neighbourhood to view the Land, and their names to be imbreviated; and summon them, by good Summoners, that they be then before me, or my Justices, prepared to make the Recognition; and put, by gage and safe pledges, the aforesaid _R._, or his Bailiff,[478] if he be not to be found, that he be then there to hear such Recognition, and have there, &c. Witness, &c.” [Footnote 475: Vide F.N.B. 394.] [Footnote 476: Sc. 1184. If the present Treatise was written in 1187, the remedy of novel disseisin stood limited to three years, which, of course, was every day lengthening until a new Æra was fixed.] [Footnote 477: Affirmed by Statute of Merton, c. 37. (2 Inst. 235.)] [Footnote 478: Vide Note 3. p. 225.] CHAP. XXXIV. But Writs of Novel Disseisin are varied in different modes, according to the diversity of the Tenements in which Disseisins are committed. But if any Dyke[479] should be raised or thrown down, or the Pond[480] of any Mill be destroyed, to the injury of any person’s Freehold, and such offence has been committed, within the time limited by the King’s Assise, then, according to the subject matter, the Writs are varied in the following manner—— [Footnote 479: _Fossatum._ This word occurs in Pliny. It seems to have been chiefly used by the old Lawyers in two senses—1. as denoting a camp, or intrenchment—2. as meaning a ditch, dyke, or moat. But it was not always confined to these significations—as the reader will perceive on turning to the Ancient Glossaries, particularly to that very valuable one given to the world by Spelman.] [Footnote 480: _Stagnum_, Sir Edward Coke informs us, “doth consist of Water and Land, and, therefore, by the name of _Stagnum_, or a pool, the water and land shall pass also.” (Co. Litt. 5. a.)] CHAP. XXXV. “The King to the Sheriff, Health.[481] _N._ complains to me, that _R._, unjustly, and without a Judgment, has raised a certain Dyke in such a Vill, or thrown it down, to the nuisance of his Freehold, in the same Vill, since my last Voyage into Normandy—And, therefore, I command you, if the aforesaid _N._ should make you secure of prosecuting his claim, then, that you cause twelve free, &c. to view such Dyke and Tenement, and cause their names to be imbreviated. And summon, by good Summoners, &c.” as before. [Footnote 481: Vide F.N.B. 408. 409.] CHAP. XXXVI.