Definition for BUT'LER-AGE

BUT'LER-AGE, n.

A duty of two shillings on every tun of wine imported into England by foreigners or merchant strangers. It was a composition for the privileges granted to them by King John and Edward I., and originally received by the crown; but it has been granted to certain noblemen. It was called butlerage, because originally paid to the king's butler for the king. – Blackstone. Encyc.

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