Hi, Myron. "Turf and Twig" was a most ancient - ancient, as in often the centuries before most could read or write - means of transferring title to land. Seisen was the ancient term for right to possession and peaceable enjoyment of a tract of land. In fact, the term should be turf OR twig, since either of those, or a bough or limb, constituted symbolic evidence of delivery to the buyer by the seller of the right to possession of that buyer. The acceptance by the buyer of that piece or wood or handful of dirt was evidence thatthe seller intended to convey possession and the buyer intended to take and maintain possession of the land as a freehold estate. That mechanism of transfer quite usually took place on the property, and it was said that absent either the buyer or seller, the transfer was ineffective. There are a few examples of turf and twig transfers in the records of the early colonies, especially in VA. Now, for centuries, our warranty deeds customarily have included a covenant of seizen, that being a warranty by the grantor/seller that no one other than the grantor parties to that deed claimed or could legitimetly claim any right to possession. From: Myron E. Williams To: Paul Drake Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 7:40 PM Subject: "by twig and turf" .... In browsing the NEHGS Register..., I encountered this phrase with respect to conveying possession of real estate. From the context I gather it means "without a deed" or some such. Is that correct? Myron -- ---------------------------------------- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 1741 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Try www.SPAMfighter.com for free now!