Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 4, Page 108

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Volume 4, Page 108

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[001] to be of another nature and cease to be writs of right, or if at the outset they were
[002] not writs of right and by the count,¹ or by specification, have begun to be such, as
[003] said above.² If there are several tenant parceners holding an undivided whole, let
[004] mention be made of all. And so of a warrantor vouched. If there are several parceners
[005] and several days have passed and several essoins, we must see what was done
[006] on each day by an inspection of the rolls, both of essoins and of pleas, in order to
[007] ascertain who has had essoins, and how many, and who has not.³ Also that ‘languor’
[008] has not preceded. Also that he who essoins himself of bed-sickness has first had an
[009] essoin of difficulty in coming. But suppose that one essoins himself of bed-sickness
[010] when he ought to essoin himself of difficulty in coming; in that case the essoin of
[011] bed-sickness is turned into an essoin of difficulty in coming, since both lie but in
[012] proper order, and he who does a greater thing⁴ does a lesser. But conversely, if one
[013] has essoined himself of difficulty in coming when he ought to essoin himself of bedsickness,
[014] it is of no value and does not excuse the absentee.⁵ Similarly if one essoins
[015] himself of the Holy Land or of beyond the sea when he ought to essoin himself of
[016] difficulty in coming. ⁶ The essoin of beyond the sea is turned into the essoin of difficulty
[017] in coming, when it lies,⁷ [as where] one essoins himself ‘of Ireland’ as if it
[018] were of beyond the sea; that essoin is turned into a simple essoin of difficulty in
[019] coming, as before Martin of Pateshull in the Bench in the seventh year of king
[020] Henry, [the case] of Gilbert Marshall and Cecily his wife and Alan of Hyde, who
[021] vouched William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, to warranty, who essoined himself
[022] ‘of Ireland.’⁸ It was turned⁹ into [an essoin of difficulty in coming], and afterwards
[023] he defaulted because another essoin of difficulty in coming on another day was not
[024] allowed.

How essoins of bed-sickness and of difficulty in coming are returned in order.

[026] The essoins having been judged, both of difficulty in coming and of bed-sickness,
[027] let the essoins of bed-sickness first be returned, in this way: [They are returned
[028] first because they are taken first. But if an essoin of difficulty in coming is joined
[029] with an essoin of bed-sickness, let the essoin of difficulty in coming be returned first,
[030] and let the essoiner be called and the essoin returned, whether a tenant parcener
[031] essoins himself or the demandant himself. If the demandant and a [tenant] parcener
[032] essoin themselves of difficulty in coming at the same time, let the demandant's
[033] essoiner be told to await the fourth day, should some [of the parceners] default,¹⁰

Notes

1. Supra 99

2. Supra 91, 98, 105

3. Supra 102

4. ‘maius,’ as supra 62

5. Supra 94

6. New sentence

7. Om: ‘Item esto quod’

8. B.N.B., no. 1611; no roll extant

9. ‘et fuit attornatum,’ as roll

10. Infra 110