[bur-gij] 
| 1. | (in England) a tenure whereby burgesses or townspeople held lands or tenements of the king or other lord, usually for a fixed money rent. |
| 2. | (in Scotland) tenure directly from the crown of property in royal burghs in return for the service of watching and warding. |
| bur·gage (bûr'gĭj) n. A tenure in England and Scotland under which property of the king or a lord in a town was held in return for a yearly rent or the rendering of a service. [Middle English, from Old French bourgage, from Medieval Latin burgāgium, from Late Latin burgus, fortified town, of Germanic origin; see burgess.] |
burgage
in Normandy, England, and Scotland, an ancient form of tenure that applied to property within the boundaries of boroughs, or burghs. In England land or tenements within a borough were held by payment of rent to the king or some other lord; the terms varied in different boroughs. Among English feudal tenures, burgage ranked as a form of socage, the holding of land in return for agricultural or economic services. In Scotland the landlord was always the king; and in feudal times tenures were held in return for military service in the burgh garrison. In Scotland burgage remained a distinctive tenure until modern times, requiring a particular form for the transference of titles until 1874.
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