BURGH-BOTE signifies a contribution towards the building or repairing of castles, or walls, for the defence of a borough or city.
By the law of king Athelstan, the castles and walls of towns were to be repaired, and burgh-bote levied every year within a fortnight after roga-tion days. No person whatever was exempt from this service; the king himself could not exempt a man from burgh-bote: yet, in after times, exemptions appear to have been frequently granted; inasmuch, that, according to Cowel, the word burgh-bote came to be chiefly used to denote not the service but the liberty or exemption from it.