Bracton: Thorne Edition: English. Volume 4, Page 341

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Volume 4, Page 341

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[001] none of it, and if he holds it all, whether he holds in his own name or another's: [in
[002] another's], as in wardship or in gage, at will or for a term of years. The writ then falls,
[003] because the action does not lie against him but against him in whose name he is in
[004] seisin. If he holds in his own name, we must then see whether he holds for a term of
[005] life or as of fee, in which case he is allowed the view if he claims it, [that is], that the
[006] demandant show him how much land he claims and by what boundaries, and for this
[007] reason a delay will be given him, that, having had the view, he may know¹ whether
[008] he holds the land as a whole or not, as above in the tractate on making the view.² [This
[009] is true unless the demandant can at once show how much with certainty, by doing
[010] what amounts to the same thing, as where he says ‘I claim so much land by such
[011] boundaries,’ or ‘so much land of which your ancestor died seised as of fee,’ or thus:
[012] ‘I claim the advowson of the church of St. Peter,’ when there are two churches in the
[013] same city, namely, St. Peter's and St. Paul's, as above more fully in the tractate on
[014] making the view.]³

When he has had the view.

[016] When the tenant has had the view or what amounts to it, he may know whether he is
[017] bound to answer the tenant and his writ or is not, according as he holds the whole
[018] thing, in his own name or another's, or holds nothing thereof or only a part, for if he
[019] does not hold the whole he cannot lose what he does not have, and thus the writ falls,
[020] [but not the action] unless the demandant can show that the tenant holds the whole
[021] in demesne and in service, unless the tenant can show the contrary, that he holds it
[022] neither in demesne nor in service, in which case a wager may be made if the parties
[023] are prepared to run the risk, either that the tenant lose the thing claimed or the
[024] demandant his claim forever,⁴ but this will be their own voluntary act and not that
[025] of the court. And note that when the tenant has once put forward an exception of this
[026] kind, he cannot later put forward another like it, lest the matter be protracted excessively,
[027] and he may be forced to show what he has in possession, lest the writ fall
[028] again because of the lie.⁵ [which applies] to all exceptions directed to nullifying the
[029] writ.

He must describe the thing claimed, what and of what kind, whether it is a movable or an immovable; the description must be definite.

[031] In this action by writ of right, as in every other action by which a corporeal thing is
[032] sought, the demandant must describe what and what kind of

Notes

1. ‘scire,’ as below

2. Supra 180-90

3. Supra 184

4. ‘imperpetuum amittat’

5. ‘propter,’ as infra 343