1) Coal brought south from Railey in Durham.
This obscure term occurs in the north of the county from the fifteenth century: 1457-8 In exp. carr. ad Rale pro carbon’, vijs viijd, Fountains Abbey
1473 Pro viij quarti et j bus. carbonum voc. ralycole, York
1485 in carbonibus de Rale, Ripon
1603 Everye tenant … shall everye yere lead me a loade of of coels from Raylye pitts, Brandsby . Similarly, in 1538, Leland stated that Most of the Coale that be occupied about the Quartars of Richemount Toune be fetched from Rayle Pitts toward … Akeland and such references are confirmation that ‘Rale’ was a place. One editor suggested that the coal was brought south from Relly near Durham but it seems more likely that it came from Railey in the same county. Coal-mines were in operation there as early as 1385 according to Victor Watts, and in 1460 a week’s production at ‘Raly’ amounted to 1,800 corves.