On 15/11/15 17:20, Chris Dickinson wrote: > On Sunday, 15 November 2015 12:43:29 UTC, MB wrote: >> On 15/11/2015 07:46, Chris Dickinson wrote: >>> From an online index: >>> >>> 1670 >>> >>> "A note of the rent paid to Lord Wharton yearly by these undernamed >>> Description for freelidge of Common on Whitimore called Dean and Ullock Common which rent is called "Moore Farine" or free Harnie for Whitmoore, 9 June 1670 [gives names of those paying rent]" >>> >>> >>> Can anyone clarify? 'Freelidge of Common' is, I assume, a generic term for the rent paid to use the common. But the other two 'Moor Farine' and 'free Harnie'? Are they specifying local usage, and if so what? >>> >>> Thank you >>> >>> Chris >>> >> >> >> The OED has 'Freelidge' as an alternative spelling of 'Freelage' which >> was the Freedom of a Borough or Heritable Property (Scottish term). >> >> I can't see 'Freelidge of Common' in any old newspapers but 'Freelidge' >> appears quite often as 'Freelidge Stone' mainly in the Carlisle area. >> Marking some sort of boundary. > > > Thank you. The online OED quotes this: "1777 J. Nicolson & R. Burn Hist. Westmorland & Cumberland I. 488 A yearly rent..paid..for freeledge of common upon East Grain and Middle Grain in Langdale fells.", which is clearly the same usage as here. > > Many placenames (such as acrewalls or dyke) in this area are to do with the physical boundaries between the inner area used for growing crops in summer, and the outer area used for grazing. An early 19th century OS map shows 'Dean Common' with Acrewalls Lonning (lonning = right of way) as its northern boundary. > I wonder if it's the same etymology as haylage. -- Hotmail is my spam bin. Real address is ianng at austonley org uk