THIRLAGE. 



praaice. wKicl. t.a» oeon g'ven by the author of the ongina^ 

 A.rncultural Si.r»fy of Eaft Lothian, n the latter diftr.ft 

 of%untn', may not be umnt.-rofting to ..-,n curious .nquirer. 

 It is concoircd'thatther.-, in former times, corn was reduced 

 into meal, as in ancient Rome, by a hand '.m\\, which was 

 called a gufn, ; and which was ufed in the nmote parts ot 

 the Highlands of Scotland long after the yoar 1745. 



It is certain, however, that the water machme called the 

 miU, for the grindin-ofcats into meal, is of high antiquity in 

 the fame country ; a'^nd as it was introduced before the period 

 of record, it may he fairly faid "caput inter nubiliacondit. 

 Hut from the ancient name of one of tlie duties, bwvrjbp, 

 which will be afterwards explained, the mill would feem to 

 be of Saxon original. „• n- , 



It feems alfo natural, that a perfon who ponefied a itrcam 

 of water upon his cilate, (hould be invited by his neigh- 

 bours to be at the expence of ercfting a mill upon this 

 ftream ; and that they, on the other hand, (liould th:rle, that 

 is, aftrici and bind their lands, in all time coming, to ule ai.d 

 frequent this mill with their corns, and to pay a certain pro- 

 portion of the meal according to the univerfal mode then 

 pradifed of paying in kind for the grinding of it. 



Ancientiv, it is contended, there is reafon to beheve, the 

 iniUs were at firfl erefted upon ecclefiaftical lands, and be- 

 longed to the clergy. 



It is Hated, that there are three different fpecies of this 

 fort of fervitude known and acknowledged in the law of the 

 above country ; but of thefe, two only belong properly to 

 rural economy ; however, in order more thoroughly to under- 

 Aand the fubjedl, tlic whole may be fliortly explained. 



It is noticed, that the firft and the Ughteft fpecies of 

 thirlage, is called the thirlage of grhuialle grain, and it means 

 tliat the tenants and poflefTors of the aftricled lands (in the 

 law of the above country the fcrvient tenement) fhall be 

 obliged to refort to the mill (the dominant tenement) to 

 which thefe lands have been aftrifted, with all the oats and 

 barley they (hall ufe for food, and there pay certain dues 

 for the grinding of them. 



Th'; fecond, and the oppreflive thirlage, is, it is faid, called 

 the thirlage of growing corn. By this covenant of thirlage, it 

 is ftated, that every ounce of corn produced upon the fervient 

 lands, let the quantity be ever fo great, mull be brought to 

 the dominant mill, and there manufaftured into meal, and 

 the covenanted or accuftomed duties paid. 



It is fuggefted, that the only limitation that this fevere 

 thirlage admitted of, was in favour of feed and of horfe 

 com. 



Sometimes a fpecial covenant was made, by which the 

 poffenors of the fervient lands paid what was called dry 

 multure ; that is, they paid a quantity of corn to purchafe 

 tlie freedom of going to market with the remainder in the 

 fame ftate ; and where conftant immemorial ufage has fanc- 

 tioned this cuilom, the courts of law generally, it is faid, 

 have fo far mitigated the feverity of this fpecies of thirlage, 

 as to find, that the proprietor of the dominant mill can de- 

 mand no more than that quantity of dry multure, which the 

 immemorial ufage has eftabliftied. Such decifions are aflerted 

 to be grounded upon the principle of a prefumed contradl, 

 of which the record or memory has been loft betwixt thefe 

 parties, whereby the one agreed to pay, and the other to 

 receive, the commutation fixed by the ufage. 



The third and laft fpecies of thirlage h, it is obfei-ved, 

 called the thirlage of in-vraa et illata, and belongs properly 

 to urban tenements : the meaning of it is, that corn, wher- 

 ever produced, if brought for confumption within the bound- 

 aries of the dominant mill, mull be carried to the mill and 

 manufaftured there, and pay the accullomcd duties. 



It is ftated that this fpecies of thirlage exifted in mod 

 of the boroughs of the above country ; and that the mill 

 generally belongs to the incorporation, wliere the borough 

 holds direftly of the crown, or what are called royal 

 boroughs. But where a borough holds of a fubjeft fuperior 

 (the lord of the manor), the mill generally belongs to the 

 fuperior, and the accuftomed duties are paid to hii.i, or to his 

 tenant in the mill. 



It is to be obfcrved, the writer fays, that in all thefe 

 tliirlages, it was the land of the fervient tenement that was 

 bound ; and that although it fliould pafs by purchafe 

 through twenty different hands, every purchafer, and all 

 his people upon thefe lands, were equally bound to fre- 

 quent tiie dominant mill. 



It is further noticed, that there were alfo three different 

 fpecies of duties paid at the dominant mill ; as, firft, the 

 multure [tmdtura, grinding) ; fecondly, the beinnock (loaf) ; 

 and, thirdly, the kna-ucjlnp. 



It is remarked, that the firft of thefe duties belonged to 

 the heritor and proprietor of the mill ; and feems evidently 

 to have been the iine or premium, originally fettled, as the 

 inducement for his being at the expence of ere&ing the 

 mill, and for fupporting the machinery of it in future. The 

 bannock v.-as the duty paid to the miller ; and the hnavejhip 

 the duty paid to the under fervants in the mill. 



It is ftated, that the quantity of meal paid under the 

 name of multure, varied confidcrably in different counties, 

 and even at different mills. It has been known as Wgh as 

 the eleventh boll, and fometimes as low as the twenty- 

 fecond boll ; and in one particular inftance fo fmall as the 

 thirty-fecond : but it may be taken, on the average, at 

 nearly the feventeenth boll. 



The other duties were alfo various ; but they may, it is 

 fuppofed, be taken jointly as equal to the half, or from that 

 to three -fourths of the multure. 



But wholly independent of thefe feveral duties, the pof- 

 feffors of the fervient tenement were, ■ix is faid, bound to 

 perform certain perfonal fervices to the mill and its append- 

 ages : for inftance, when the dam-dyke, or the rampart 

 that direfts the ftream of water from the river to the mill 

 wanted repair, or when the aquedufts to and from the mill 

 required to be fcoured, the people of the fervient tenement 

 muft turn out and perform thefe works. When the roof 

 of the houfe in which the mill ftood decayed, they muft 

 find thatch for making that repair, and they muft put it on. 

 When grind-ftones were wanted, or an axle, or any other 

 part of the machinery that required a heavy carriage, they 

 muft go with their horfes and carriage to the neareft place 

 (whatever might be the diftance) to bring thefe articles to 

 the mill. 



But this fpecies of thirlage, it is believed, never was 

 known in the above county ; or that at leaft, if it was, it 

 has long fince been forgot. Befides, it is noticed, that 

 there was another circumftance peculiarly fortunate, which 

 put it in the power of moft of the landed proprietors of 

 that county, without difficulty, to emancipate their tenants 

 from the thirlage even of grindable grain, namely, that the 

 landlord almoft univcrfally was proprietor both of the domi- 

 nant and fervient tenement ; and that as he aftrifted his 

 tenants to his own mill by a covenant in the leafe, progref- 

 fively as the leafes of the mills expired, the landlords in 

 general emancipated their tenants from every Tpecies of 

 thirlage, at a converfion of twenty fhillings per plough, 

 which was paid by the tenant?; and he and his fervants were 

 left at perfeft freedom to refort to any mill, where they 

 could get their work beft done, and at the loweft rate. 

 The cafe, however, it is remarked, was widely different 



