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The Early Development of the Laws of the Anglo-Scottish Marches 39
treason as well as of military disputes - was intended to bring its jurisdiction,
within its own limitations, into line with that of the march day courts, or
perhaps even to supersede the latter, since march law went into abeyance in
times of open war. It is also possible that the procedure used in a court of arms
had an effect on that employed at march sessions. A mutilated document of
about 1343 refers to protocols drawn up by notaries public, possibly to record
breaches of truce. 52 But although by the late fourteenth century the use of
written bills to initiate personal actions had long been customary in English and
Scottish common law courts, and it may be assumed that the borderers were
familiar with their use, there is nothing that can be construed as even suggesting
their employment at march days before 1380, and no certain reference before
1397. 53 In October of that year, however, as part of the arrangements made
for a day of truce to be held by the duke of Lancaster and the earl of Carrick
in the following March, it was agreed that before Christmas Scottish plaintiffs
should send 'thair Billes indented of thair Playntes' to Roxburgh castle (then
in English hands), while aggrieved Englishmen should send their bills to Kelso
abbey. These written plaints would then be sent on to the keepers of the
truce - officials sometimes identical with and sometimes complementary to
the wardens of the marches - who would take pledges from those accused in
them, to ensure their appearance at the forthcoming march day. 54
The fact that this measure should have been adopted 'for cause of mar playn
and hastie Redresse' may indicate that it was a novelty, intended to improve
march-day procedure at a time when the kings of England and Scots were both
anxious to keep peace on their borders. That the innovation took the form it
did may nonetheless have been at least partly due to the influence of the court
of arms, which undoubtedly used such bills. In the case of Lovell v. Morley in
1395 the defendant objected to answering when no written plea was submitted,
'for by the custom of the court every plaintiff ought to set down his cause in
writing'. Five years later, a charge of treason before the constable and marshal
at Newcastle was made by a 'bille ou libelle\ and so, judging by its formulaic
character, was the defendant's response. 55 Be that as it may, the precedent
of 1397 was to be built on. In 1425 plaintiffs at march days were invited to
produce 'proofs and informations' to support their claims and demands, 56
and regulations made in July 1429 indicate that such 'profes' could take the
form of authenticated documents. 57 Indeed on the latter occasion they were
specifically required for maritime cases. The principle recorded in 1249 that
cross-border offences were justiciable only on the march had survived, and
52
SCI/42, no. 19 - calendared in Bain, Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, iii, no. 1033,
and again in Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, G.G. Simpson and J.D. Galbraith, ed., v
(Edinburgh, 1986), no.798.
53
Rymer, Foedera, vii, 276-78.
54
Rymer, Foedera, viii, 17-18.
55
British Library, Add. MS 9021, fos. 101, lOlv, 124-25.
56 Rotuli Scotie, ii, 253.
57 Rymer, Foedera, x, 431.