SYSTEMS OF LAND ASSESSMENT IN SCOTLAND BEFORE 1400 Alexis Rachel Easson ...

369 Pages·2009·17.39 MB·English

SYSTEMS OF LAND
ASSESSMENT IN SCOTLAND BEFORE 1400
Alexis Rachel Easson
Presented for the Degree
Doctor Philosophy
of of
University Edinburgh
of
1986
i.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page No.
iii
ABBREVIATIONS
iv
ABSTRACT
DECLARATION
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
vii
CHAPTER ONE. INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER TWO. THE HOUSE
27
CHAPTER THREE. THE DAVACH
45
CHAPTER FOUR. THE PENNYLAND 101
CHAPTER FIVE. THE OUNCELAND 131
CHAPTER SIX. THE ARACHOR 172
CHAPTER SEVEN. THE PLOUGHGATE 197
CHAPTER EIGHT. CONCLUSION 266
APPENDIX I. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF THE HOUSE IN DALRIADA 279
APPENDIX II. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF DAVACHS BEFORE 1400 280
APPENDIX III. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF DAVACH PLACE-NAMES 281
APPENDIX IV. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF PENNYLANDS BEFORE 1600 282
APPENDIX V. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF PEIGHINN PENNYLAND
PLACE NAMES 283
APPENDIX VI. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF OUNCELANDS/DAVACHS
BEFORE 1600 284
APPENDIX VII. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF ARACHORS BEFORE 1400 285
APPENDIX VIII. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF PLOUGHGATES BEFORE
1400 286
APPENDIX IX. DISTRIBUTION MAP OF OXGANGS BEFORE 1400 287
APPENDIX X. DAVACHS LISTED IN DOCUMENTARY SOURCES
BEFORE 1400
288
APPENDIX XI. DAVACH PLACE-NAME S 297
ii.
-
Page No,
APPENDIX XII. PENNYLANDS LISTED IN DOCUMENTARY
300
SOURCES BEFORE 1600
317
APPENDIX XIII. PEIGHINN/PENNYLAND PLACE-NAMES
APPENDIX XIV. OUNCELANDS/DAVACHS LISTED IN DOCUMENTARY
321
SOURCES BEFORE 1600
LISTED IN DOCUMENTARY SOURCES
APPENDIX XV. ARACHORS
326
BEFORE 1400
APPENDIX XVI. PLOUGHGATES LISTED IN DOCUMENTARY SOURCES
329
BEFORE 1400
335
APPENDIX XVII. RENDERS LEVIED FROM DAVACHS BEFORE 1400
APPENDIX XVIII. RENDERS LEVIED FROM PENNYLANDS BEFORE 1400 338
APPENDIX XIX. RENDERS LEVIED FROM ARACHORS BEFORE 1400 340
APPENDIX XX. RENDERS LEVIED FROM PLOUGHGATES BEFORE 1400 341
344
BIBLIOGRAPHY
/
iii.
ABBREVIATIONS
Adv. Lib. Advocates Library Collection
AgHR Agricultural History Review
CG Crtth Gablach
EcHR Economic History Review
EHR English Historical Review
NLS National Library Scotland
of
NTFS Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
POAS
Proceedings the Orkney
of
Antiquarian Society
PRIA Proceedings the Royal Irish
of
Academy
SRO Scottish Record Office
TGSI Transactions the Gaelic Society
of
Inverness
of
VCH The Victoria County History
of
England
WHR Welsh History Review
Other to the list 'Abbreviated
abbreviations of
used conform
Titles' in SHR. 42 (1963).
iv.
ABSTRACT
The land
earliest recorded system of assessment of
(or
in Scotland is the house
other property) system of
Dalriada. By the time documentary
seventh-century
sources
become from 1100 the house
more readily available c. unit
to have disappeared between 1100
appears almost and
c. and
1400 documentary the
c. record reveals existence of
multifarious units of land assessment in Scotland. The
principal units recorded during this the
period were
davach, the the
the
pennyland, ounceland, arachor and the
The however, is
ploughgate. situation, not as complex
it first
The basic framework for land
as appears.
assessment
Scotland, the
over most of except south-east, can actually
be traced to the house in
system as recorded seventh-century
Dalriada.
As their derivation the land
regards various units can
be
grouped into two broad those terminology
classes, whose
implies
those to have had
an agrarian meaning and which appear
fiscal
a meaning. Regardless their derivation their
of and
diverse
origins, tend to the influences
which reflect of
different different times, by 1100
cultures at c. or soon
thereafter the fulfilling in
all units were a similar role
In
they
society. an agricultural sense created a structured
framework developed.
within which settlement and arable
Fiscally they base for the
provided a organisation of such
fundamental
prerequisites of early societies as military
taxation. Both in their
service and capacity as agricultural
V"
fiscal the land found
and as units various assessments
in Scotland before 1400 formed integral the
an part of
agricultural, economic and military organisation of
that
society.
vi.
I declare that this thesis is
entirely my
that it has been
own work, and no part of
in the form in
previously published which
it is
now presented.
0
vii.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Amongst the friends help
many colleagues and whose
have been invaluable in the
and encouragement writing
this thesis I indebted to
of am particularly my supervisor
Professor G. W. S. Barrow for his
support and guidance
throughout to Dr. 3. Bannerman for the interest he
and
has in the inspiration I have
shown my work and
gained
from discussions him. I
with am similarly grateful to
Professor 3. MacQueen
Mr. I. Fraser the School
and
of
Scottish Studies both for discussion
of
of various aspects
thesis for help the identification
of my and with of place-
names.
I to the help the the
wish acknowledge of staffs of
Scottish Record Office, the National Library Scotland
of
the Library the University Edinburgh.
and of of
I to the S. E. O.
am grateful who provided a major
Scottish
to finance this to the
studentship study and
Scottish History
Department financial
who gave assistance
to
attend relevant
conferences.
Thanks are also due to Mrs 0. Williamson for the
typed this
precision and speed with which she manuscript
for the kindnesses has the
as well as many. she shown over
I like to thank Dr. N. Stroud for
years. would also
the
preparing maps.
Finally, I debt to
owe an enormous of gratitude my
family, to my parents and grandparents for their help, to
husband for his
my constant support and encouragement and
to daughter for her
understanding beyond
my which goes well
that four-year
of an average old.
1.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
In tenure
any society where ownership and of
.
land fundamental the land
are study of assessment
for levying basic
systems which were used such
necessities of government as military service and
taxation is to
obviously vital an understanding of
that This thesis to the
society. attempts uncover
found in Scotland from the
older systems earliest
(the
house in the to
recorded unit) seventh century
those in least the
use, or at still recorded, at end
the fourteenth In the between
of century. period
1100 1400 documentary the
and record reveals
different
existence of various units of assessment,
the being davachs,
major ones pennylands, ouncelands,
It is these
arachors and ploughgates. with units, as
the house that this thesis
well as with earlier unit,
is Some to have belonged to the
concerned. appear
same system of assessment, some were simply sub-
divisions larger
of a unit, while others represented
totally different An is to
systems. attempt made
the if the to
establish relationship, any, of units
one another.
Beneath the
large,
nucleated villages and open
fields in the
some parts of countryside of early-
Scotland the dispersed
medieval and
settlements
their fields in
with enclosed others the land
0
2.
framework
assessment systems provided a structured
developed. As
within which settlement and arable
in too in fiscal
well as an agricultural sense so a
these important
sense units occupied an position acting as
base for the fundamental
a organisation of such prerequisites
taxation.
of early societies as military service and
Although time the land
perhaps at one subject of
the
assessment was considered preserve of antiquarian
have
specialists, recent years witnessed a revival of
interest in it have become increasingly
as scholars
the the to
aware of wider applications of subject many
diverse historical It is important, topic
problems. an
for but for
not only social organization also political
history. Part the
of cohesion of early societies
depended their
upon assessment systems and such
important for
systems obviously constituted an prop
It is important to know
royal government. also what
kings doing they land
were really when were granting
in davachs how land they
or ploughgates, much were
in fact for these issues
giving, are pre-judicial
to the kingship.
whole question of
The land
study of assessments can also make a valuable
towards the different
contribution a greater understanding of
the
ethnic and cultural origins of various peoples who
to form the kingdom Scotland
eventually came of and go
towards determining their
relative positions of
some way
influence. The distribution
power and of assessments