Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 2, Page 442

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Volume 2, Page 442

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[001] may repudiate anything in his adversary's record, nor may he add to or subtract
[002] anything from it to the damage of his adversary, for if this were allowed this
[003] absurd consequence would follow, that he could remove whatever good points his
[004] opponent had made on his own behalf and change them for the worse. He may add
[005] to or subtract from his own record as recited by the county court, but he cannot
[006] repudiate the whole of it or those matters which form the substance of the dispute
[007] or the main points relative to his opponent's contentions. By way of illustration:
[008] if one claims land on the seisin of his ancestors by words leading to the duel and
[009] names the time of king Richard and that [his ancestor] took¹ esplees to the value
[010] of twenty shillings, he may deny this at another county court and say that he
[011] claimed on the seisin of his ancestors from the time of king John, and thus alter
[012] his record;² or that he claimed from the time of both kings Richard and John,
[013] and thus add to his record; or that he took esplees to the value of five shillings
[014] and thus subtract from his record. [He ought to prove this at once, by one who
[015] heard and understood, who is ready to prove it by his body at once if the court so
[016] awards.] Thus one may alter his own record, add to it and subtract from it,
[017] because his opponent will suffer no damage thereby since such things hardly affect
[018] the substance of the matter.

The duty of the sheriff.

[020] The sheriff's duty, when someone complains of an unlawful taking [and] detainer
[021] against gage and pledges, is [when he has received the king's writ, which is this:
[022] ‘The king to the sheriff, greeting. We order you to cause to be replevied to such a one
[023] without delay the beasts which such a one took and unlawfully detains, as he says, and
[024] afterwards cause him to receive lawful judgment therein, lest we hear further
[025] complaint for default of justice. Witness etc.’ or [if] it is on someone's querela
[026] without writ, having first taken from him sureties for prosecuting,] ³to go in his own
[027] person, if he can attend to the matter himself, or if he cannot, to send his serjeant, to
[028] the place where the beasts are said to be detained, and immediately on his arrival to
[029] demand the view of the said beasts, [no matter where they are impounded, ⁴and if
[030] someone denies him the view, or lays violent hands upon him on that account, let
[031] him raise the hue and cry at once, and with the hue and cry arrest the wrongdoers,
[032] as men manifestly opposed to the king's peace, and cast them into gaol until the king
[033] declares his will in the matter,] and [cause] the said beasts,⁵ [if they can be found;
[034] ⁶if they cannot be found, because they have been driven elsewhere

Notes

1. ‘cepit’

2. Infra iv, 171

3. No capital ‘In’ in any MS.

4. No capital ‘Et’ in any MS.

5. Continued infra 443, at n. 4

6. No capital ‘Si’ in any MS.