man's goods, after paying his debts and funeral expenses, were divisible into three equal parts, one of which went to his children, another to his wife, and the third was at his own disposal. In Scotland, the right of bequest still continues restricted to personal property, not extending to inheritable or real property, which comprebends lands, tenements, fixtures, and what are termed "heirship movables." The Wills Act in England, 1 V. c. 26, has made all property devisable, real and personal, and the jurisdiction pertaining thereto has been since transferred from the ecclesiastical courts to the Court of Probate.

WITENA-GEMOT, a convention or assembly of great men, in the Anglo-Saxon age, to advise and assist the king, and answerable to our parliament.

WOUNDING. To constitute a wound, there must be a separation of the whole skin; a separation of the cuticle only is not sufficient, Reg. v. M'Loughlin, 8 C. & P. 635.

WRIT, in general, is the queen's precept in writing, issuing out of some court to the sheriff, or other person, and commanding something to be done touching a suit or action, or giving commission to have it done.

WRIT OF RIGHT (now abolished), a judicial process to establish a claim to property against a possessory title, in which the defendant must allege some seisin of the lands and tenements to himself, or else in some person under whom he claims; and then derive the right from the person so seised to himself. Except the case of Toit v. Bagwell, in 1826, there are few examples in the last century for prosecuting any real action for land by writ of right, or otherwise than by action of trespass or ejectment, which are the usual modes of settling the title of lands.

Y.

YARD, the British standard measure of length. The length of the imperial yard, as fixed by statute in 1824, is, compared with that of a pendulum vibrating seconds in the latitude of London, at 62° Fahrenheit, in a vacuum at the sea-level, in the proportion of 36 inches to 39 1393 inches.

YEAR is a well-known period of time, consisting of 365 days; for though in bissextile, or leap-year, it consists of 366, yet by 21 H. 3, the additional day in the leap-year, together with the preceding day, shall be accounted for one day only. With few exceptions, all Christian nations commence the year on the 1st of January; but as recently as 1752, even in England, the year did not legally commence till the 25th of March. In Scotland, at that period, the year began on the 1st of January. This difference caused great practical inconvenience; and January, February, and parts of March often bore two dates, as is frequently found in old

records, as 1711-12. These inconsistencies, however, are removed by 24 G. 2, c. 23, which discontinues the Julian calendar, and introduces the New Style, by enacting that the 1st of January shall be reckoned the first day of the year, throwing out eleven days in that year, from the 2nd of September to the 13th, with a saving of ancient customs. Both half-years and quarters are usually divided according to certain feasts and holidays, rather than a precise division of days; as Lady Day, Midsummer Day, Michaelmas Day, and Christmas Day. In these cases, such divisions of the year by the parties are regarded by the law, and therefore, though a half-year's notice to quit is necessary to determine a tenancy from year to year, yet a notice served on the 29th of September, to quit on the 25th of March, being half a year's notice according to the above division, is good, though it contains less than one hundred and eighty-two, namely, one hundred and seventy-eight, days.

YEAR AND A DAY. A term that anciently determined a right, or worked a prescription in many legal cases.

YEW is derived from a Greek word " to hurt," and before the invention of guns, our ancestors made bows with this wood, for the annoyance of their enemies; and, therefore, took care to plant the trees in churchyards, whereby they might be better seen and preserved by the people.-Blount. But a more probable use for the churchyard yew is that it furnished green branches in imitation of palms, to be borne on Palm Sunday.

YORK, custom of, by which the widow of an intestate claimed one-third part of the effects of her deceased husband, after the payment of his debts.

YULE, in Scotland and the North of England, the term used by country people for Christmas. The author remembers the observance of the custom in Yorkshire, of laying a large leg. called a yule log, on the fire on Christmas-eve, to burn through the night.

Z.

ZYTHUM. A drink made of corn, used by the ancient Gauls; so called from the seething or boiling it, whence cider had its name. Cowel.