In English iaw. An expression frequently used in coal-mine leases and agreements for the same. It signifies a fixed or dead, i. e., certain, rent, as distin-guished from a rent or royalty varying with the amount of coals gotten, and is payable although the mine should not be worked at all, but should be sleeping or dead, whence the name. Brown
Source: Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
