A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Cumerlach, n. Also: cumberlache, cumelag, cumlaw. [Of obscure origin, but presumably Gaelic.] A fugitive serf belonging to a monastery.The origin and meaning of cum(h)erb, associated with cum(er)lach in the quotations, is also obscure.1126 Reg. Dunfermline 17.
De fugitivis qui vocantur Cumberlache … Praecipio quatenus cito Cumerlach reddantur ecclesie … de Dunfermelyn … et cumerlache sui a tempore Edgari regis usque nunc cum tota pecunia sua ubicunque inveniantur 1153–60 Carnegie Lett. & Chart. 533.
[Commanding that the church of Rostinoth may justly hold all] cumelagas et cumherbas, [and all their fugitives] c 1170 Facs. Nat. MSS. I. 19.
Mando … ut in cuiuscunque uestrum terra aut potestate Abbas de Scon aut eius seruiens inuenire poterit Cumlawes et Cumherbes ad terras abbatie de Scon pertinentes, eos iuste absque dilatione habeat a 1200 Reg. Dunfermline 37.
Praecipio firmiter ut ubicunque monachi de Dunfermelyn aut servientes eorum cumerbas et cumerlachos suos invenire poterint eos juste habeant
