Definition
Rental bolls is a term from Scots law referring to a form of tithe (in Scotland called "tiend") that has been commuted, liquidated, and fixed as a set quantity of grain — specifically, a defined number of bolls of corn payable annually. Rather than fluctuating as a fractional share of crop output, the tiend obligation was settled into a stable, measurable annual payment in kind. The boll was a traditional Scottish dry measure used for grain; fixing tiends in bolls converted an uncertain ecclesiastical levy into a predictable rental obligation.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Rental" refers to the act of renting or an amount paid as rent; "boll" refers to the rounded seed capsule of a plant, particularly cotton or flax.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Webster's defines "boll" as the rounded capsule of plants such as cotton or flax, and "rental" as a schedule or account of rents, or an amount paid as rent.
Neither the modern nor historical common meaning of either word prepares a reader for this compound term. In the Scots law context, "boll" carries its older sense as a unit of dry grain measure — not a seed capsule — and "rental" describes a settled, fixed-charge obligation rather than a conventional landlord-tenant payment. The combination is a term of art with no intuitive ordinary-language equivalent.
Why It Matters in Research
This term is essentially confined to historical Scots law sources dealing with ecclesiastical property, tiends, and the Scottish system of church revenues. Researchers encountering "rental bolls" in historical documents or in digest indexes are unlikely to find it in English common law sources at all; the concept has no direct English law equivalent and does not appear in the mainstream English legal tradition.
The primary navigation trap is the word "rental." A researcher using subject indexes organized around rent or landlord-tenant law will be misdirected. Rental bolls is not a lease instrument or tenancy concept — it is a commutation of a quasi-tax (the tiend) into a fixed grain payment. The correct research context is Scottish ecclesiastical and agricultural history, tiend law, and the history of church-state property arrangements in Scotland.
Chronologically, this term belongs to the pre-modern Scots law period when tiends (the Scottish equivalent of English tithes) remained a significant source of ecclesiastical revenue and were subject to ongoing legal settlement and commutation. Following the Teinds Acts and the broader reorganization of Scottish church finances in the nineteenth century — particularly in the wake of the Disruption of 1843 and subsequent statutory reforms — the practical significance of rental bolls as a living legal concept diminished sharply. Researchers working on post-Victorian Scottish legal sources are unlikely to encounter it as an operative term.
Both source dictionaries cite Bell's Dictionary of the Law of Scotland as their authority, suggesting this entry derives from a single historical source rather than broad doctrinal consensus. A researcher wanting depth should go directly to Bell.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary and Rapalje & Lawrence offer nearly identical definitions, both citing Bell's Dictionary of the Law of Scotland. This convergence indicates the term had a settled, if narrow, meaning within its Scots law context, but it also reveals the limits of coverage: both entries function as brief glosses rather than substantive treatments. Neither source explains the commutation process, the legal mechanism by which tiends were "liquidated and settled," or the historical circumstances giving rise to the practice. The definitions confirm the term's meaning but do not illuminate its legal operation or procedural significance.
No English common law dictionaries in the standard corpus are expected to carry this term, which underscores its jurisdiction-specific character. Researchers should treat the Bell citation as the authoritative primary reference rather than relying on the secondary glosses in Black's or Rapalje & Lawrence.
Jurisdictional Note
Rental bolls is exclusively a Scots law term. It has no recognized equivalent in English, Irish, or American law. Scots law's treatment of tiends developed along a distinct historical path from English tithe law, and the grain-boll commutation mechanism reflects Scottish agricultural and ecclesiastical practice specifically.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
The Law Mind Tax Encyclopedia, tax_104: Gross Income — Rental Income and Expenses. Note: the connection is tangential. That entry addresses modern income tax treatment of rental receipts and is included here only as a conceptual bridge for researchers asking whether payments received as rental bolls would constitute taxable income in a modern context. Rental bolls as a historical Scots law instrument is not directly addressed there.