England with those that are known to have existed in the lands from which they migrated is important. for it is only reasonable to suppose that tribal settlers brought with them to England their old rules of family inheritance, whatever they may have been. These ancient laws of inheritance enable us to trace, with some degree of certainty, the settlement of people of different tribes or races in various parts of our country. It is certain that old customs, especially those of inheritance, were very persistent, and are exemplified by the survival until the present day of many ancient manorial usages. Various customs of inheritance on the Continent can be traced back to the most ancient legal codes which arose out of the primitive folk-laws, and some of these still exist. In only two of them is a distinction made between movable and immovable property—viz., in the Thuringian law and in the Salic law. Some of the early Thuringians were located on the lower Elbe,[1] near some of the Angles, and in the Thuringian law land was inherited only by males of the male stem, while personalty went first to sons, and failing these, to daughters. In the Salic law sons preceded daughters in succession, and daughters were excluded from succession to land, although they shared with sons in movables.[2] Among the Angles and the Saxons on the Continent male inheritance was the rule. Among the Goths and Frisians daughters appear from an early period to have shared the inheritance with the sons.
The early writer on the laws and customs of England, Henry de Bracton, who lived in the thirteenth century, tells us that England in his day differed from other countries in regard to the following of old customs. He says: ‘Whereas in almost all countries they use laws and written right, England alone uses within her boun-
