'A history of the Statute of Frauds in North Carolina, on the basis of reported de-cisions alone, would be quite brief. In Foy v. Foy, 3 N. C. 131 (Super. Ct. i8oi), Judge Taylor is reported to have decided that "our law is the same as in England before [the Statute of Frauds]." In Gwyn v. Wellborn, 18 N. C. 313, 318 (1835), Gaston,