Q: "by will and doom" (1672)

[Baker, John]

        My guess is that it refers to the decision and judgment of the
collector.  Here's what Black's Law Dictionary says about "doom":

doom, n. Hist. 1. A statute or law. 2. A judgment; esp., a sentence in a
criminal matter. 3. Justice; fairness. 4. A trial; the process of
adjudicating.
"The word 'doom' is, perhaps, best translated as 'judgment.' It survived
in occasional use until the fourteenth century. Wyclif's translation of
the Bible, rendering the verse, 'For with what judgment ye judge, ye
shall be judged,' as 'For in what dome ye demen, ye schuln be demed.'
The distinction which we make to-day between the legislator, who makes
the law, and the judge, who interprets, declares and applies it, was not
known to our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. The dooms were judgments in the
sense that they were declarations of the law of the people." W.J.V.
Windeyer, Lectures on Legal History 1 (2d ed. 1949).


        A reference to this judgment as a "doom" would have been archaic
in the 17th century.  "Will and doom" strikes me as a bit too obscure to
deserve its own entry in the OED.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Joel S. Berson
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 4:47 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Q: "by will and doom" (1672)

I don't know whether it might mean "freely or by compulsion.".  What I
infer is that, if the owner or consignee of the goods cannot produce
evidence of its value, or the valuation appears false, then the
collector may assign a value that he determines (in order to collect
duties).  (Of course, the litigious New Englander then was likely to sue
the collector if he thought the valuation was unreasonable!)

But my question is more -- is this something that ought to be in the
OED?  Can "we" find more than just the handful of cites that Google
turns up -- perhaps in legal works of the 17th-18th century?  Such as
Admiralty Court records, when the litigious New Englander did sue the
Collector?

Joel

At 1/26/2007 04:32 PM, you wrote:
>Seems to me the phrase would mean something like "freely or by
>compulsion."  Would that make sense?
>
>--Charlie
>_______________________________________________
>
>---- Original message ----
>
> >Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:08:36 -0500
> >From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> >Subject: Q:  "by will and doom" (1672)
> >
> >What about the phrase "by will and doom"?  It is not in OED3, but
> appears to have been used with some understood meaning (but mysterious

> to me!) in legal documents in Massachusetts.  (The phrase shows up,
> but only a small number of times, via Google.)
> >
> >If any Invoyce or Bill of Parcels shall be falsified, concealed,
> or not produced ... it shall be lawful for the Treasurer or Collector
> ... to Rate all such Goods, or the Owner, or other Agent for the same,

> by Will and Doom, according to their best discretion.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >Joel
>
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