Byrlaw

Byrlaw (also BIRLAW or BURLAW), the name given to a sort of popular jurisprudence formerly in use in Scotland, in villages, and among husbandmen. Sir John Skene, writing in 1597, when the system was in full force, defines byrlaw as 'leges rusticorum, de re rustica latæ—laws made by husbandmen, concerning neighbourhood to be kept among themselves.'—Reg. Majest. lib. iv. As the byrlaw was enacted by the common consent of the villagers or neighbours, so it was administered by judges chosen by them from their own ranks. These judges were commonly called 'byrlaw men,' a name which is still applied in some parts of Scotland to an arbiter, oddsman, or umpire. The courts which they held were called 'byrlaw courts,' and took cognisance of disputes between neighbour and neighbour. Byrlaw seems to be an interesting survival of the system of the ancient Aryan village community, or, at least, an illustration of the principle of visnet, voisnage, or neighbourhood, on which many early institutions were founded. The word is derived from the A.S. burh, 'borough.'