button to main menu  Clarke's Survey of the Lakes, 1787

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Page 159:-
The trewes were kept in the form of a country court; six jurymen were chosen out of Scotland by the Lord-Warden for England, and six by the Scottish Warden out of England, which together made a jury of twelve. The form of the oath administered to them was:- You shall clean no bills worthy to be fouled; you shall foul no bills worthy to be cleaned, but shall do that which appeareth with truth, for the maintenance of the peace, and suppressing of attempts. So help you God.
They had a law amongst them, that if the defendant would swear the charge laid against him was false, he was cleared; and this law is yet retained by the Scots, though exploded in every code of law besides; both upon a supposition that no man will swear against himself, and that an oath thus extorted is inconsistent with the liberties of mankind. The oath was horrible, and runs this:

The Oath.

"You shall swear by heaven above you, hell beneath you, by your part in paradise, by all that God made in six days and seven nights, and by God himself, you are whart out sackless of art, part, way, witting, ridd, kenning, haveing or recetting of any of the goods and chattles named in this bill. So help you God."

The Plaintiff's Oath.

"You shall leile price make, and truth say, what your goods were worth at the time of their takeing, to have been bought and sold in a market, taken all at one time; and that you know no other recovery but this. So help you God."
Mr Bell goes through the whole proceedings at a day of trewes, but being, as I said before, nearly the same as is at present made use of in our courts of judicature, I shall omit the greatest part of it.
  Debatable Land
  dun cow

The debateable ground, as I said before, was a kind of entercommon between the two kingdoms, whereon the subjects of each claimed a right of depasturing their cattle, but not to have them levant and couchant thereon; it was about eight miles long, and four broad, and was inhabited by a dangerous set of thieves and plunderers. The story of King James's favourite cow is well known, that not liking her accommodations in England, she found her way back to Edinburgh! which the King said he did not so much wonder at, as how she got through the debateable ground without being stolen. It is remarkable, she was the only one of that King's followers that ever tried the experiment.
  border reivers
Notwithstanding the appointment of the Lord Wardens, and their power to quell disturbances, frequent incursions were made by both kingdoms, and many prisoners taken, which were ransomed at prices according to their abilities, and the takers had the ransom. To illustrate this , I shall insert the copy of a letter wrote by Sir Thomas Wharton, (afterwards Lord Wharton) deputy Warden of the West Marches, to King Henry the VIII. after the battle of Solway Moss.
Copy of a letter from Sir Thomas Wharton to the King's most Excellent Majesty, the 10th December 1543.
'Please your most excellent Majesty to be advertised, that your gracious and most noble letters, of the date at your Highness's Honour at Hampton Court the last day of November, was delivered unto me at Newcastle, the 4th of December, being repaired thither with divers noblemen and gentlemen, Scottish prisoners, according to the Right Honourable my Lord of Hertford's letters of commandment unto me so to do: Humbly advertising your Majesty, that the contents of your Highness's said gracious and most noble letters, shewed by me, and read in that part to the gentlemen your Highness's servants and humble subjects there, pre-
sent,
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