twithstanding their othe, would in no
wyse fynde a bill to be true, nor fyll any Scottis man upon an
Englishman's complaynte unles the Englishman could fynde an inhabitant of
Scotlande, that would avow openly to the inquest, or secretlye to the
warden, or some of the inquest, that the complaynte was treue, and the
partie complayned upon culpable thereof, otherwise althoughe the matter
was ever so notoryously knowne by the Englishman, their evydence would not
serve to secure a conviction."

It frequently happened, on the occasion of these meetings, that "bogus"
bills were presented, a custom which gave the officials a great deal of
unnecessary labour. The commissioners, in referring to this reprehensible
practice, remark that "it hath been perceived of late that, since the
order was begun by the Warden to speire, fyle, and deliver, upon their
Honour, that some ungodly Persons have made complaint, and billed for
Goods lost where none was taken from them, and so troubled the Wardens,
causing them to speire and search for the Thing that was never done."[41]
It was therefore statute and ordained that all persons guilty of this
offence should be delivered to the opposite warden to be punished,
imprisoned, and fined at the discretion of the same warden whom he had
troubled.

Another formidable difficulty with which the wardens had to contend on
these occasions, was in estimating the value of the goods for which
redress was claimed. In making up a bill the complainant was strongly
tempted to put an absurd value on the gear, or cattle, which had been
stolen from him. Had he always got as much as he claimed he would soon
have been enormously enriched by the loss of his property! The
commissioners were therefore under the necessity of drawing out a scale of
charges for the guidance of the warden courts. The following are the
prices fixed by this tribunal:--"Every Ox, above Four Year old, Fourty
Shillings Sterling; every Cow, above Four Year old, Thirty Shillings
Sterling; and every Young Cow, above Two Years old, Twenty Shillings
Sterling; every other Beast, under Two Years old, Ten Shillings Sterling;
every old Sheep, Six Shillings Sterling; and every Sheephogge, Three
Shillings Sterling; every old Swine, above One Year old, Six Shillings
Sterling; every young Swine, Two Shillings Sterling; every Goat, above One
Year old, Five Shillings Sterling; every young Goat, Two Shillings
Sterling; and every Double Toope to be valued after