Bounding Charter

Bounding Charter, in the Scots law, is a charter which describes the lands by their boundaries. It gives right to everything within the bounds, but it prevents the acquisition by possession of any piece of property outside the bounds, even although the charter contains a clause of parts and pertinents. This rule, however, does not apply to servitudes, which can be acquired beyond the limits of a bounding charter, nor to such an incorporeal right as salmon-fishing. If the boundary be the sea or the seashore, the right is extended or limited as the sea permanently recedes or advances. If, again, it be a stream, the property may be subject to alteration, either extended by Alluvion (q.v.), or the gradual and imperceptible variation of the channel; or the stream may cease to be the boundary, in consequence of some violent change. But if the property described in the charter is bounded by walls, the walls, as a general rule, will not be held as included in the grant; and where it is intended that a wall is to be mutual, this must be expressed. When the grant is described both by boundaries and by measurement, the boundaries determine its extent, although containing a larger quantity of ground than the measurement. See CHARTER, CONVEYANCE, GRANT, and TITLE.