_Borough-English_ (Vol. iv., pp. 133. 214. 235. 259.).--Watkins'
_Copyholds_ furnishes in its appendix a list of the customs of different
manors, and therein specifies those which are subject to the custom of
Borough-English. With regard to there being any instance on record of
its being carried into effect in modern times, there must not be a
mistake between the custom which now exists, and that which some authors
assert was the origin of it. The custom is, that the youngest son
inherits in exclusion of his eldest brothers; this is exercised, or it
could not exist. But the custom to which reference has been made, as
having been stated by some authors to be the origin of the existing
custom of Borough-English, is not mentioned by Littleton as such. He
gives a different reason, namely:
"Because the younger son, by reason of his tender age, is not so
capable as the rest of his brethren to provide for himself."
And Blackstone adduces a third from the practice of the Tartars, among
whom, on the authority of Father Duhalde, he states that this custom of
descent to the youngest son also prevails, and gives it in these
words:--
"That nation is composed totally of shepherds and herdsmen; and
the elder sons, as soon as they are capable of leading a pastoral
life, migrate from their father with a certain allotment of
cattle, and go to seek a new habitation. The youngest son,
therefore, who continues latest with the father, is naturally the
heir of his house, the rest being already provided for. And thus
we find that among many other northern nations, it was the custom
for all the sons but one to migrate from the father, which one
became his heir. So that possibly this custom, wherever it
prevails, may be the remnant of that pastoral state of our British
and German ancestors, which Cæsar and Tacitus describe."