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Week sixty: INSUCKEN (probability 27854), by David Sutton

INSUCKEN is an adjective that means relating to a SUCKEN, which in Scots law is the district or population thirled to a mill; THIRLAGE was a form of servitude by which the grain produced on certain lands had to be ground (or at least paid for) at a certain mill. It is one of the many rather obscure words that we owe to Scots law, the Scottish jurisdiction having many unique institutions and characteristics not found in English law.

A few further examples are:

CAUTIONRY	the act of giving security for another
EXECUTRY	movable or heritable estate and effects
GRASSUM	a lump sum paid in addition to rent by a person taking a lease of landed property
INDUCIAE	the time limit within which (after a citation) the defendant must appear in court or reply
NOVALIA	waste lands newly reclaimed; this is a plural
PICKERY	petty theft
REDDENDO	service to be rendered or money to be paid by a vassal

Scots law even has a special word for connivance at one's wife's adultery, LENOCINIUM. Whether Scots husbands are particularly given to conniving at their wives' adultery I could not say, but, fanciable though Scots women undoubtedly are, it's probably best not to rely on it.

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