- skip - Brewer’s

Burlaw or Byrlaw

.

A sort of Lynch-law in the rural districts of Scotland. The in habitants of a district used to make certain laws for their own observance, and appoint one of their neighbours, called the Burlaw-man, to carry out the pains and penalties. The word is a corrupt form of byr-law, byr=a burgh, common in such names as Derby, the burgh on the Derwent; Grimsby (q.v.), Grims-town.

 

previous entry · index · next entry

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

previous entry · index · next entry

Burden of a Song
Bure
Bureaucracy
Burglar [burg-larron]
Burgundian
Burial of an Ass
Buridan’s Ass
Burke
Burkers
Burl, Burler
Burlaw or Byrlaw
Burlesque
Burlond
Burn
Burn
Burning Crown (A)
Burnt
Burnt Candlemas Day
Bursa (a bull’s hide)
Burst
Bury the Hatchet