thirlage Sc.
(ˈθɜːlɪdʒ)
[A metathetic variant of thrillage. Cf. thirl v.2]
† 1. Thraldom, bondage, servitude; also, thirl-service. Obs.
| 1513 Douglas æneis xi. iv. 61 This mysfortoun is myne of ald thirlage. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 170 The Romanis contending to saif thaim fra thirlage of barbar pepill. 1549 Compl. Scot. xi. 93 Ȝe sal lyf in mair thirlage nor brutal bestis. 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus Prol. 171 To hald thair Realme and land out of thirlage. 1578 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) App. 236, I haue the fred from all thirlage. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. i. 113 Gif any frie-halder..does to that ilk Ladie any service..or for her lifdayes does any thirlage. |
† b. A lien on land or property; mortgage. Obs.
| 1578 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) III. 100/2 The said vmquhile erll of Mar..spendit and debursit.., besydis the thirlage of his awin Leving, and the rentis of his proper dependance for the advancement of our souerane Lordis seruice. |
2. Sc. Law. A condition of servitude or state of obligation, in which the tenants of certain lands, or dwellers in certain districts, are bound to restrict their custom to a particular mill, forge, or the like. In later times, spec. the obligation to grind their corn at a particular mill (orig. that of the lord or his assignee), and pay the recognized consideration (multure), or at least to pay the dues in lieu thereof.
In early times there were other forms of thirlage, e.g. the obligation on tenants to get all their ironwork done at a particular forge or smithy: see thirl n.2 1, quot. 1564.
| 1681 Stair Inst. Law Scot. xvii. §15. 348 The chief and most frequent Servitude in Scotland is Thirlage, or a restriction of Lands to Milns, wherein the Miln is Dominant, and the Lands astricted are servient. 1773 Erskine Inst. Law Scot. ii. ix. §18 Thirlage is that servitude by which lands are astricted or thirled to a particular mill, to which the possessors must carry the grain of the growth of the astricted lands to be grinded. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 396 Thirlage is a grievous bondage; and its pernicious influence on the improvement of the country is severely felt, in every place where it prevails. 1812 Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 5 A recent law, by which the servitude of thirlage, or bondage to any particular mill, may be legally commuted. 1820 Scott Monast. xiii, Those of the Sucken, or enthralled ground, were liable in penalties, if, deviating from this thirlage,..they carried their grain to another mill. |
b. The multure exacted under this system.
| 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 396 At every mill, the present amount of the thirlage is by far more than an adequate value for the labour, to which it is supposed to be the price. 1898 Crockett Red Axe (ed. 4) 235 The smile of a shrewd miller casting up his thirlage upon the mill door when he sees the fields of his parish ripe to the harvest. |