lx            Early Maryland County Courts.

            drinking in their “housing cups” three barrels of beer at a funeral, and by hir
            ing a boat to fetch the drink for this same “ merry meeting”; and whether the
            36 yards of black “Ribining” would help to disguise Lee's “rejoyceing hart”
            with a “dolorous countenance”. The jury rendered a verdict for Pope, the
            administrator, but before the court met again six weeks later a will made by
            Lenton was found, and with this in hand, under which Lee was appointed one
            of the “assistants” to the widow in handling her husband's estate, Lee again
            brought suit. On this occasion the plaintiff asked a jury trial, and as “assis
            tant “, won a verdict in his favor (pp. 193-195, 207, 213).
              It is not possible to extend further this already lengthy survey of the contents
            of these court proceedings of Charles, Kent, Talbot and Somerset counties.
            A cursory examination of the old records, however, will show that many entries
            throwing an interesting light upon the social and economic life of Maryland
            for the third quarter of the seventeenth century have not been commented upon
            at all in these introductory notes. These county court records will prove to be
            invaluable source material for the student of colonial customs.