The very remarkable distinction between the manner in which English and
Welsh witnesses take the book at the time when they are sworn, has often
struck me. An English witness always takes the book with his fingers under,
and his thumb at the top of the book. A Welsh witness, on the contrary,
takes it with his fingers at the top, and his thumb under the book. How has
this singular difference arisen? I am inclined to suggest that originally
the oath was taken by merely laying the hand on the top of the book,
without kissing it. Lord Coke (3 _Inst._ 165.) says, "It is called a
corporal oath, because he toucheth with his hand some part of the Holy
Scripture." And Jacob (_L. D._, "Oath"), says it is so called "because the
witness, when he swears, _lays his right hand upon_, and toucheth the Holy
Evangelists." And Lord Hale (2 _H. P. C._ 279.) says, "The regular oath, as
is allowed by the laws of England, is 'Tactis sacrosanctis Dei
Evangeliis'," and in case of a Jew, "Tacto libro legis Mosaicae:" and, if I
rightly remember, the oath as administered in the Latin form at Oxford
concludes: "Ita te Deus adjuvet, tactis sacrosanctis Christi Evangeliis."
In none of these instances does kissing the book appear to be essential.
Whereas the present form used in the Courts is, "So help you God, kiss the
book;" but still the witness is always required to touch the book with his
hand, and he is never permitted to hold the book with his hand in a glove.
When then did the practice of kissing the book originate? And how happens
it that the Welsh and English take the book in the hand in the different
manners I have described?