BOTE
bote (boht).Hist. 1. A compensation or profit; esp., an allowance of wood; ESTOVER(1). — Also spelled bot; boot. cartbote. See plowbote. firebote. See housebote. haybote. See HAYBOTE. hedgebote. See HAYBOTE.
housebote. An allowance of wood from the estate used to repair a house or to burn in the
fireplace. — Also termed firebote.
plowbote. An allowance of wood for the construction and repair of farm equipment. — Also
termed cartbote.
wainbote. An allowance of wood for the repair of wagons.
- A compensatory payment for causing an injury. Cf. BOTELESS.“Bot (relief, remedy, compensation) was set at a certain number of shillings in case of wounding, a higher number if the wound injured not only flesh but also bone; indemnity had to be higher if the bone was broken. And so it went with other injuries.” Charles Herman Kinnane, A First Book on Anglo-American Law 215 (2d ed. 1952).
Godbote. A church fine paid for offenses against God.
hadbote.Hist. Amends for an affront to or violence against a person in holy orders. — Also
spelled had-bot.
kinbote. See manbote.
maegbote (mag-boht). Bote paid to the relatives of an injured person. manbote. Compensation for killing someone. — Also termed kinbote.
theftbote. The acceptance of a payment from a thief in exchange for an agreement not to prosecute; COMPOUNDING A CRIME. • The payment might be either a bribe or a return of the stolen goods themselves. This was a form of compounding a felony.
“Another offence of this class is theftbote or composition with a thief by which the person robbed takes his goods again and by contract suppresses the robbery and defrauds justice. This crime is punishable by fine and imprisonment.” 1 Sir Robert Chambers, A Course of Lectures on
the English Law: 1767–1773 448 (Thomas M. Curley ed., 1986).
- A tenant’s right to use as much wood from the estate as necessary for fuel, fences, and other agricultural operations. • Bote in this sense is an earlier form of estovers. 4. The repair of bridges, highways, and public works. 5. An assessment levied to fund such repairs.[Blacks Law 8th]