Justification to disregard article regarding names on deeds
[p. 222 translation] The justifications for scriveners to ignore the article that
they should put their names on each deed
First of all, we say that at the time when the said article was drawn up,
the custom or the usage then was to write on each kind of deed and writing
'Dat' London' ' or 'Don' a Lonndres', except only charters of lands and
tenements granted outside London which, however, were to have the date
when the lands and tenements were granted; and a [ ?] plan was then worked
out by the wise men of the kingdom, and it has always since been used to
remove the date of the grants (fn. 1) in the majority of all kinds of deeds and
writings with the intention of alleging the date of the grant when it will be
more suitable for the party [ ?] bringing an action. And, in that the writing
of our names must be contrary to this kind of alleging—in a case where the
alleging will take place outside the region (fn. 2) where one of us lives—the
aforesaid article, that we should put our names on each deed, was never
used or carried out to our knowledge and, for that reason it seems, in our
humble estimation, that the said article is neither effectual nor necessary
to be used.
Item, many deeds are delivered by us to various people, unsealed in
our presence and [we need not sign our names] because it is possible that in
our absence someone might wish, for a fraudulent reason, to seal the deed
in the name of another party to the deed, without the actual party knowing
and, because of the writing of our names, we would be, called to vouch for
the party who made the deceit, to testify to such wickedness done of which
we could have no knowledge.
Item [we need not sign our names because] it could happen that someone, for a deceitful and fraudulent purpose, might wish to have a certain
deed written in the name of another person, asserting that he is that person
when in fact he is not and, in order to accomplish such fraud, he might
wish to have the deed sealed in our presence, we knowing nothing of the
deceit or the person; and afterwards it could happen that this kind of deed
could be brought into court and [?] become the subject of litigation and,
on the strength of the writing of our names, we could be called to vouch for
the party who made the deceit before a judge, or other person, to testify to
such fraud, in which case we could not know the truth concerning the
identity of the person, or about the deceit.
Item [we need not sign our names because] it could happen, through
deceit or through malice, that someone could forge our signatures on
scurrilous and biased deeds [ ?] drawn up and written by other people, to
our slander and disadvantage.
Item [we need not sign our names because] it could happen, through
deceit or through malice, that someone might wish, in order to slander us,
to erase a certain word in some deed written by one of us, and forge another
word according to the sense of the same deed, in abuse of the deed and of
he who wrote it, on account of the writing of his name there when he was
not at all to blame.
Item [we need not sign our names because] it could happen that someone might wish to deny that a deed is his, when in fact it is his deed and was
sealed in the presence of one of us; and in this matter we could be called,
and required in court, to testify as to the truth before a judge, or other
person, because of the writing of our name, and we would know very well
about the truth and the testimonies; and notwithstanding this testimony
as to the truth, it could be decided by contrived inquiry, or malicious
informing, that it is not his deed when in fact it is, which verdict would be
very slanderous and degrading to us and therefore to our detriment.
Item [we need not sign our names because] it could happen that our
names are written on a certain deed, as in ordained by the above-mentioned
article, and someone through malice and enmity might wish to erase and
carefully remove the name to damage us or, alternatively, someone might
wish, through his position of superior power, not to allow us to write our
names on deeds written by us and so, by default of writing our names, we
could incur the penalty ordained for this to our great damage and detriment.
Item [we need not sign our names because] it seems to us that our
entire handwriting, and that of our servants, in each deed which is not to
be counterfeited, is quite sufficient [to identify us] in that the handwriting
of us and our servants is and will be well known among us at all times
afterwards. [pp. 223–78 blank]
[p. 279 transcript] vicesimo Quarto die Aprilis 1615