“Assumpsit (“he has undertaken,” from Lat., assumere), a word applied to an action for the recovery of damages by reason of the breach or non-performance of a simple contract, either express or implied, and whether made orally or in writing.“
Britannica 11.
“[S]omeone undertakes (assumpsit) to do a certain thing, and does it so badly that harm rather than benefit results. … [Assumpsit] is an action, not for a promise broken, but a promise badly kept. The damage must result from a positive act, not an omission; it lies, not for not doing, but for not doing well.”
R E Allen, Socrates and Legal Obligation (Minneapolis, Minn. : Univ. of Minnesota Pr., 1984), p. 99. Google Books.
appraisement
“The court leet was like a town meeting. All freemen could take part in it. It enacted by-laws, elected constables, bailiffs, and other local officers, set up stocks and pillory, and sentenced offenders to stand there, for judicial and legislative functions were united in this court leet. It empanelled its jury, and with the steward of the manor presiding as judge, it visited with fine or imprisonment the thief, the vagrant, the poacher, the fradulent dealer.
“Side by side with the court leet was the court baron, and equally free institution in which all the freehold tenants sate as judges determining questions of law and of fact. This court decided all disputes between the lord and his tenants concenrning such matters as rents, or trespass or escheats. Here actions for debt were tried, and transfers of land were made with the ancient formalities.”
John Fiske, Old Virginia and Her Neighbours, Volume 2 (Cambridge, Printed at the Riverside Press, 1900), p. 137. Google Books.
distraint. The seizure of someone’s property in order to obtain payment of money owed, especially rent.
Compact Oxford English Dictionary
“The semi-annula fair whichteh city of Annapolish was empwered to have gave rise to the holding of a court of “pypowdry”(so called from the dusty feet of those attending the fair), where, as its name signifies, justice could be had “as speedily as dust can fall from teh foot.” At this court trials were had immediately in order that those attending the markets who were required to resort to law to to answer legal actions might not suffer from the law’s delay.”
Clayton Colman Hall, Baltimore: Its history and Its People, Volume 1 (Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1912), p. 619. Google Books.
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