Ceorl

Carl, Churl. Sax. [L. Lat. ceorlus, cirlus, cirli9(M8,'\ A freeman of inferior rank, chiefly employed in husbandry; a husbimdman; (Lat. rusticus, paganu8,) Spelmauy voc. Ceorlus, LL, Inoe, cc. 88, 42, 62, cited ibid. A tenant at will of free condition, among the Anglo-Saxons, who held land from the thane, on condition of rents and services. Cotuell, voc. Churle. 1 Reeves' Hist, Eng. Law, 6. The ceorls are mentioned in the earliest Saxon codes, and in the later charters, under the names of cassati, mdnentes, and tributarii, 1 Spencers Chancery, 50, 61, and notes. Churlj one of the forms of this word, (and probably pronounced curl, with the ch hard,) has, like the correspondmg term vt7lain, among the Normans, become a term of reproach. Spelman ubi sup,