burghal

Gainsborough, though not a chartered borough, was probably one by prescription, for mention is made of burghal tenure in 1280.

On an account roll of Framlingham Castle of 1324 there is an entry of “rent received from the borough,” also of “rent from those living outside the borough,” and in all probability burghal rights had existed at a much earlier date, when the town had grown into some importance under the shelter of the castle.

In Syria, it is the custom of every family to lay up a year’s provisions of all the necessaries of life, in store-rooms attached to the house; these provisions consist of melted butter in jars for cooking rice, wheat, burghal, etc. 

Of the benefits arising from this diet and regimen, the robust natives of the villages give ample proof; their every-day meals consist principally of bread, fruit, vegetables, rice or burghal, and cold water; with a little cup of coffee and a pipe of mild tobacco after meals to promote digestion.

The Bishop’s Castle was for centuries a central point around which the burghal and national life crystallised.