“ The word “mail,” properly applied to this form of chain-armour, is also used of armour generally, whether plate or chain, and is also transferred to the horny defensive coverings of animals, such as the tortoise, crab, &c. (see Arms and Armour) . (2) (O. Eng. mál, speech; probably the same as O. Saxon mahal, assembly; in meaning connected with O. Norse mále, stipulation) , a Scots law term meaning rent, tax. “Mails and duties” are the rents, whether in kind or money, of an estate. In English the word only survives in “blackmail” (q.v.) ”