were different from those of West Gothland—and of this there is no evidence—we must arrive at the conclusion that a by was a community, and a thorpe a member of it or an offshoot from it or some similar community. We must remember also that it is not to the Saxon laws of Wessex, or even to the laws of Kent, that we should naturally look to find the early prototype of some ancient institution in Lincolnshire, but to laws of Danish or Scandian lands, such as the ancient laws of West Gothland, which, happily, have been preserved. In these laws the vita, or right of proof, belonged as here stated:
- Between the asserter of common proprietorship and the asserter of individual ownership, to the former.
- Between the King and the Bishop, the Bishop.
- Between the lænder (occupant of the spare lands of the by) and the Bishop, the lænder.
- Between the bondi (or peasant proprietor) and anyone else, the bondi.
- Between the by and the thorp, the by.
- Between the alleged heritor and the alleged purchaser, the heritor.
- Between the owner of the bol (homestead) and the owner of the utskipt (close), the owner of the bol.
- Between the land (the province) and the hæræd (hundred), the land.
- Between the hæræd and the by, the hæræd.[1]
It should be noted also in reference to these rights to having the proof that the disputant who asserted the common proprietorship of anything in dispute had the right of proof before the asserter of individual ownership of the same. The rule in regard to communities, large and small, was in the following order: (1) The province; (2) the hundred; (3) the by or village; (4) the thorp. In Lincolnshire there were all these organizations. Lindsey, Holland, and Kesteven were its provinces; its
- ↑ ‘The Westgota-lag,’ quoted by Jenks, English Hist. Review, xi. 512.
