A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1471-1698
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Mal(e)-, Mail(l)-fre, a. Also: maile-, meal- and -free. -frie. [Male n.1] Rent-free.Also hous mail(l) frie.(1) 1471 Acts Lords Auditors 10/2.
[To] joyse the tak … male fre for the formale pait be him 1495 Acts Lords of Council I. 401/1. 1535 Selkirk B. Ct. 201 b. (3 Dec.).
Malfre 1580 Edinburgh Testaments VIII. 344.
The hous quhilk he presentlie duellis in male frie(b) 1498–9 Acts Lords of Council II. 308.
Mailefrie for al the dayis of his lyfe 1502 Dunferm. B. Rec. I. 126. 1531 Bell. Boece II. 170/15. 1582 Kirkcudbr. B. Rec. 177. 1585 Edinb. B. Rec. IV. 408. 1612 Rec. Convention of Royal Burghs II. 364. 1626 Edinb. B. Rec.VII.5. 1633 Banff Ann. II. 169.
Mailfrie 1638 Rutherford Lett. (1891) 551.
For we have sitten long mail free 1698 Aberd. B. Rec. IV. 322.
They therfore allow the petitioners the use of the forsaid correction house … maill free(c) 1655 S. Leith Rec. 100.
To dwell into … meal free(2) 1589 Rec. Convention of Royal Burghs I. 301.
[That] all … liegis bringing wictuall [to Pittenweem] … be seruitt hous maill frie thairof 1629 Kirkcudbr. Min. Bk. 230.
They shall keep him hous mail frie
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"Mail-fre adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Apr 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/maill_fre>
