What is "court hand"

Court \Court\ (k[=o]rt), n. [OF. court, curt, cort, F. cour, LL. cortis, fr. L. cohors, cors, chors, gen. cohortis, cortis, chortis, an inclosure, court, thing inclosed, crowd, throng; co- + a root akin to Gr. chorto`s inclosure, feeding place, and to E. garden, yard, orchard. See Yard, and cf. Cohort, Curtain.]

1. An inclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by different building; also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.

   The courts of the house of our God.
   --Ps. cxxxv.

2. And round the cool green courts there ran a row Of cloisters.
   --Tennyson.

   Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.
   --Macaulay.

   2. The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or other dignitary; a palace.

   Attends the emperor in his royal court.
   --Shak.

   This our court, infected with their manners, Shows like a riotous inn.
   --Shak.

3. The collective body of persons composing the retinue of a sovereign or person high in authority; all the surroundings of a sovereign in his regal state.

   My lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door would speak with you.
   --Shak.

   Love rules the court, the camp, the grove.
   --Sir. W. Scott.

4. Any formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign; as, to hold a court.

   The princesses held their court within the fortress.
   --Macaulay.

5. Attention directed to a person in power; conduct or address designed to gain favor; courtliness of manners; civility; compliment; flattery.

   No solace could her paramour intreat Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.
   --Spenser.

   I went to make my court to the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle.
   --Evelyn.

6. (Law)

   1. The hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered.

   2. The persons officially assembled under authority of law, at the appropriate time and place, for the administration of justice; an official assembly, legally met together for the transaction of judicial business; a judge or judges sitting for the hearing or trial of causes.

   3. A tribunal established for the administration of justice.

   4. The judge or judges; as distinguished from the counsel or jury, or both.

      Most heartily I do beseech the court To give the judgment.
      --Shak.

7. The session of a judicial assembly.

8. Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.

9. A place arranged for playing the game of tennis; also, one of the divisions of a tennis court.

   Christian court, the English ecclesiastical courts in the aggregate, or any one of them.

   Court breeding, education acquired at court.

   Court card. Same as Coat card.

   Court circular, one or more paragraphs of news respecting the sovereign and the royal family, together with the proceedings or movements of the court generally, supplied to the newspapers by an officer specially charged with such duty. [Eng.]
   --Edwards.

   Court of claims (Law), a court for settling claims against a state or government; specif., a court of the United States, created by act of Congress, and holding its sessions at Washington. It is given jurisdiction over claims on contracts against the government, and sometimes may advise the government as to its liabilities. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   Court day, a day on which a court sits to administer justice.

   Court dress, the dress prescribed for appearance at the court of a sovereign.

   Court fool, a buffoon or jester, formerly kept by princes and nobles for their amusement.

   Court guide, a directory of the names and adresses of the nobility and gentry in a town.

   Court hand, the hand or manner of writing used in records and judicial proceedings.
   --Shak.

   Court lands (Eng. Law), lands kept in demesne, -- that is, for the use of the lord and his family.

   Court marshal, one who acts as marshal for a court.

   Court party, a party attached to the court.

   Court rolls, the records of a court. See Roll.

   Court in banc, or Court in bank, The full court sitting at its regular terms for the hearing of arguments upon questions of law, as distinguished from a sitting at nisi prius.

   Court of Arches, audience, etc. See under Arches, Audience, etc.

   Court of Chancery. See Chancery, n.

   Court of Common pleas. (Law) See Common pleas, under Common.

   Court of Equity. See under Equity, and Chancery.

   Court of Inquiry (Mil.), a court appointed to inquire into and report on some military matter, as the conduct of an officer.

   Court of St. James, the usual designation of the British Court; -- so called from the old palace of St. James, which is used for the royal receptions, levees, and drawing-rooms.

   The court of the Lord, the temple at Jerusalem; hence, a church, or Christian house of worship.

   General Court, the legislature of a State; -- so called from having had, in the colonial days, judicial power; as, the General Court of Massachusetts. [U.S.]

   To pay one's court, to seek to gain favor by attentions. ``Alcibiades was assiduous in paying his court to Tissaphernes.''
   --Jowett.

   To put out of court, to refuse further judicial hearing.

Court hand (or common law hand) was a style of handwriting used in medieval English law courts. Originally used by the official courts, it later came into use by professionals such as lawyers and clerks. "It is noticeably upright and packed together with exaggeratedly long ascenders and descenders, the latter often and the former occasionally brought round in sweeping crescent shaped curves".

The hand took its name from the fact that it was particularly associated with formal records of the courts of Common Pleas and King's (or Queen's) Bench, although its use was not confined to them. In the 17th and 18th centuries the writing became increasingly stylised, to the point that it was virtually illegible to any reader unfamiliar with its conventions. The hand was banned from English law courts in 1731 by the Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act (4 Geo. II, c. 26), which required that, with effect from 25 March 1733, court proceedings "shall be written in such a common legible Hand and Character, as the Acts of Parliament are usually ingrossed in ... and not in any Hand commonly called Court Hand, and in Words at Length and not abbreviated". Even in the 19th century, however, an ability to read court hand was considered useful for anyone who had to deal with old court records.