Soulscot

Alternative forms

• soul-scot, soul-shot

Origin

From , *sawle-schat, from , sāwelsċeatt, equivalent to .

Full definition of soulscot

Noun

1. (ecclesiastical law, historical) A funeral payment, formerly made at the grave, usually to the parish priest in whose church service for the departed had been said; a mortuary.
• 1839, J. F. Pennie, Britain's Historical DramaO, by my soulscot, I do love to tell My stories with the haste I often count, At drowsy night, my Paternoster belt.
• 1955, J. W. F. Hill, Tudor & Stuart Lincoln (page 32)He will pay his brotherhood yearly, and soulscot on the death of a brother or sister, except for reason of poverty; ...
• 2007, R. N. Swanson, Indulgences in Late Medieval EnglandThe vagaries of the records bar any firm calculation of membership figures – especially as receipts include money for 'soulscot', presumably made on behalf of the dead.
• 2010, Joyce Tally Lionarons, The Homiletic Writings of Archbishop Wulfstan... churchscot, a render paid annually in grain; lightscot, candles or oil for lighting church lamps; plough-alms, assessed at a penny per plough; and soulscot, a payment in return for burial in a church graveyard.