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tenants names; and the entries so made shall be reputed and taken of such force and validity, as that, in case the bills of sale should happen to be lost, the record is sufficient to make good the title." "And when any lands are to be divided between tenant and tenant, the same shall be done by the setting quest; and it is considered that no traverse should be granted upon the verdicts or returns of the setting quests, as upon other juries at common law."

The act of settlement absolutely and irrevocably confirms these estates of inheritance, which are descendible from ancestor to heir, according to the Manks laws before stated, subject to the annual-rents to the lord, and to the fines due to him upon death or alienation*, and also to the fines on any unredeemed mortgage of five years standing, at the end of which period the mortgagee becomes the lord's tenant; but the mortgager has power of redemption within twenty-one years from the date of the mortgage. The act declares all mortgages null and void, which shall not be recorded within six months next after their execution.

With respect to the obtaining payment of any principal or interest which may be due on mortgage, the most summary redress may be obtained by application to the deemster, who, after the ordinary summons and hearing, will either order the interest to be levied out of the mortgagor's effects, or order possession of the mortgaged premises to be given to the mort

* The fines were permanently established, at the general fining which took place a short time previous to the passing of the act in 1645.

gagee forthwith, to hold until payment of principal, interest, costs, and charges, according to the terms of the mortgage deed. And in case the premises be of that description called. purchased lands, or cottages, or intacks, if the mortgage deed be in the usual form of a bond and security, the deemster may order the principal, interest, costs, and charges, to be levied out of the mortgaged premises. But. under a common mortgage this cannot in an ordinary way be done. Nor can the mortgagee, in any case when the premises consist of quarter-land of inheritance, have other relief for recovery of his mortgage money, than an order or judgment to possess the premises as before mentioned; and being so possessed, it is his duty to let the premises from year to year by public auction to the highest bidder, and to apply the rents in reduction and discharge of the mortgage.

Relating to estates which are recognized under the denomination of intacks, cottages, mills, &c. they are, by the act of settlement, chargeable with debts, and may be alienated by gift, grant, demise, will, or assignment; but by the statute of 1777, such property (although still liable to the debts of the owner) shall not be deemed personal effects or chattels, so as to be considered assets in the hands of executors, or subject to be claimed by right of consanguinity, or next of kindred, in exclusion of the heir at law.

From these premises it appears, that nothing can be more simple or easily defined than the modern Manks tenures, which are totally un

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shackled with, and unrestrained by fictitious suits or records, similar to English fines or recoveries; by abstruse family settlements, for no entail can be created of hereditaments within the isle, beyond the life of the grantee, or the heirs of persons in esse*; by feofments with livery of seisin; by lease and release; or the subtle and intricate learning of reversions and remainders, which forms so essential and abstruse a part of the English code.

The common conveyance of a Manks freehold, is a deed signed by the parties in the presence of two witnesses, in the nature of an English bargain and sale, not indented, and without seal or stamp, neither of which are necessary to any deed executed in the island, except instruments of a public nature, and letters of attorney to be used out of the island, in which case the government seal is requisite; and it is usual and advisable for the parties to acknowledge the deed before a magistrate, who verifies it to be their act under his hand. With this formality it is received in any court of justice in the island, without the necessity of producing witnesses to prove the execution; but, in the neighbouring kingdoms, before a Manks deed can be received in evidence, it is necessary that the hand-writing of the parties should be proved in court.

With respect to wills in writing, there is no law that prescribes any particular form of execution, excepting that two witnesses are re

*The deemsters and keys, after solemn argument in 1745, declared, that they knew no law in the Isle of Man, by which estates tail could be created.

quisite respecting territorial property; but by the statute of 1777, no nuncupative will shall be valid that is not proved by the oaths of two witnesses, and that the testamentary words, or the substance thereof, be committed to writing within ten days after the making and publishing of the nuncupative will. Regarding the rights of husband and wife to freeholds or quarter-lands of inheritance; by the common law of the island, if a woman marries a man who is seized of a freehold of inheritance, and survives her husband, she shall be entitled to one moiety of the estate, dum sola et casta vixerit; and by act of Tynwald*, she is entitled to a moiety of the husband's purchased lands absolutely, in case she survives him, and may dispose of this moiety, even in his lifetime, to such of her children as she shall think proper, or to her husband, but to no other person; but this right of dower may be barred by settlement before marriage, and by joining in any sale or mortgage during marriage. And in case a man marries an heiress, and survives, he shall be entitled to one moiety of the estate acquired by descent, so long as he remains a widower, and to a moiety of his wife's land, acquired by purchase, absolutely; and he is solely entitled to the receipt of the rents and profits during the coverture. It is further provided by the common law, that an heiress so married hath no power to sell or lease her estate, without being joined in the act by her husband; and, in like manner, a husband can

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A. T. 1777.

not sell or make a perfect lease of his estate, without the consent of his wife, so as to prejudice her right in case of survivorship. And. should a man marry a second wife, having issue by the first, the second wife shall enjoy, after his decease, only one fourth part of his estate of inheritance during her widowhood; but if there is no issue living by the first wife, the second shall be entitled to a moiety.

Under this head of tenures, it may be observed, that as the Manks have for ages been adjudged to owe allegiance to the Crown of England, they were, even before the revesting act, capable of inheriting lands in any part of his Majesty's dominions.

With respect to the commons and wastelands of the island, which are the property of the Duke of Atholl, and are of very considerable extent, when any part of them are granted to a tenant, it is done in the following manner: Upon application to the lord, or his seneschal, for a parcel of the commons, or waste-grounds, he may, as a matter of favour, grant a license in the name of the person so applying, allowing him to enclose, with a proviso in the license, requiring the great inquest of the sheading or district, where the common is situated, to view and sanction the enclosure, in case there shall be no legal impediments, and certify the length and breadth thereof. With this authority, the inquest are convened to the premises; and upon view and admeasurement of the land, it is their duty to certify on the back of the license, the quantity, and, if in no respect prejudicial to the public in any

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