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Merk Lands
A markland or merkland () is an old Scottish unit of land measurement. There was some local variation in the equivalences; for example, in some places eight ouncelands were equal to one markland, but in others, such as Islay, a markland was twelve ouncelands. The markland derived its name from the old coin, the Merk Scots (cognate with German mark and various other European coinages, see Mark (money)), which was the annual rent paid on it. It was based on this, rather than its actual area. Originally a Scots mark or merk was 13s 4d (160 pence), but the Scottish coinage depreciated against the English, and by the 18th century a Scots merk was worth only 131/3d sterling – one-twelfth of its original value. Although such coins were abolished by the Acts of Union 1707, some stayed in circulation for decades, and the names themselves remained in common use for centuries. See also * Obsolete Scottish units of measurement ** In the East Highlands: *** Rood *** Scottish acre = 4 roods ...
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Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent Islands of Scotland, islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its Anglo-Scottish border, only land border, which is long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,439,842. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the most populous of the cities of Scotland. The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to the thrones of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, forming a personal union of the Union of the Crowns, three kingdo ...
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Rood (Scots)
The rod, perch, or pole (sometimes also lug) is a surveyor's tool and unit of length of various historical definitions. In British imperial and US customary units, it is defined as feet, equal to exactly of a mile, or yards (a quarter of a surveyor's chain), and is exactly 5.0292 meters. The rod is useful as a unit of length because integer multiples of it can form one acre of square measure (area). The 'perfect acre' is a rectangular area of 43,560 square feet, bounded by sides 660 feet (a furlong) long and 66 feet (a chain) wide (220 yards by 22 yards) or, equivalently, 40 rods by 4 rods. An acre is therefore 160 square rods or 10 square chains. The name ''perch'' derives from the Ancient Roman unit, the '' pertica''. The measure also has a relationship with the military pike of about the same size. Both measures date from the sixteenth century, when the pike was still utilized in national armies. The tool has been supplanted, first by steel tapes and later by electr ...
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Farthing (British Coin)
The farthing (from Old English ''fēorðing'', from ''fēorða'', a fourth) was a British coin worth one quarter of a penny, or of a pound sterling. Initially minted in copper, and then in bronze, it replaced the earlier English farthing. Between 1860 and 1971, the farthing's purchasing power ranged between 12p and 0.2p in 2017 values. The farthing's reverse bore an image of Britannia until 1937, when a wren was introduced. As with all British coins, the obverse bore the image of the reigning monarch. The farthing ceased to be legal tender in the United Kingdom on 1 January 1961. History A British copper farthing succeeded the English farthing after England and Scotland were united into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, although not immediately. Under Queen Anne, a small number of pattern farthings were struck, but none for circulation, as so many English farthings from previous reigns were still available. Some British copper farthings were struck in the reigns of G ...
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Halfpenny (British Pre-decimal Coin)
The British pre-decimal halfpenny (pronounced ), once abbreviated ''ob.'' (from the Latin 'obulus'), is a discontinued denomination of sterling coinage worth of one pound, of one shilling, or of one penny. Originally the halfpenny was minted in copper, but after 1860 it was minted in bronze. In the run-up to decimalisation, it ceased to be legal tender from 31 July 1969 (although halfpennies dated 1970 were minted as part of a final pre-decimal commemorative set). The halfpenny featured two different designs on its reverse during its years in circulation. From 1672 until 1936 the image of Britannia appeared on the reverse, and from 1937 onwards the image of the Golden Hind appeared. Like all British coinage, it bore the portrait of the monarch on the obverse. "Halfpenny" was colloquially written ''ha'penny'', and "''d''" was spoken as "a penny ha’penny" or ''three ha'pence'' . "Halfpenny" is a rare example of a word in the English language that has a silent ' f'. Befo ...
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Pennyland
A pennyland () is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames. Skene in ''Celtic Scotland'' says: : "in the eastern district there is a uniform system of land denomination consisting of ' dabhachs', 'ploughgates' and 'oxgangs', each 'dabhach' consisting of four 'ploughgates' and each 'ploughgate' containing eight 'oxgangs'. :"As soon as we cross the great chain of mountains separating the eastern from the western waters, we find a different system equally uniform. The 'ploughgates' and 'oxgangs' disappear, and in their place we find 'dabhachs' and 'pennylands'. The portion of land termed a 'dabhach' is here also called a 'tirung' or 'ounceland', and each 'dabhach' contains 20 pennylands." The Rev. Dr Campbell of Broadford on Skye says: :"the system of land measure which prevailed in the Western Isles, and then took root in Argyll was neither Pictish nor ...
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Ounceland
An ounceland () is a traditional Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and Hebrides. In Eastern Scotland, other measuring systems were used instead. It was equivalent to 20 pennylands or one eighth of a markland. Like those measurements, it is based on the rent paid, rather than the actual land area. It was also known as a "tirung" (from Scottish Gaelic: tìr-unga), or a ''dabhach'' (same as daugh), which is a term of Pictish origin, also used in the east of Scotland too, but for a different measurement. The “ounceland” is thought to be of Norse origin, so it is possible that Norse (‘ounceland’) and native systems (''dabhach'') were conflated in the west. Quotes Skene in ''Celtic Scotland'' says: :"As soon as we cross the great chain of mountains separating the eastern from the western waters, we find a different system equally uniform. The ‘ploughgates’ and ‘oxgangs’ disappear, and in their place we find ‘ dabhachs’ and ‘ penny ...
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Davoch
The davoch, davach or daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic '' dabhach''. The word ''dabh'' or '' damh'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also refer to a "tub", so may indicate productivity. It was called the ''arachor'' in the Lennox. It is thought that the measurement is of Pictish origins, and is most common in the north east, and often absent in the south of Scotland. It is particularly common in various placenames to this day, often in the form "Daugh of Invermarkie" etc. The name "Haddo" is also a corruption of “Hauf Daugh”, or half-davoch, in turn a translation of “leth-dhabhach”. Scottish land measurements tended to be based on how much livestock they could support. This was particularly important in a country where fertility would vary widely. In the east a davoch would be a portion of land that could support 60 cattle or oxen. MacBain reckoned the davoch to be “e ...
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Ploughgate
The carucate or carrucate ( or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could tillage, till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms of tax assessment. England The carucate was named for the carruca heavy plough that began to appear in England in the late 9th century, which may have been introduced during the Viking invasions of england, Viking invasions of England.White Jr., Lynn, The Life of the Silent Majority, pg. 88 of Life and Thought in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Robert S. Hoyt, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 1967 It was also known as a ploughland or plough (, "plough's land") in the Danelaw and usually, but not always, excluded the land's suitability for winter vegetables and desirability to remain crop rotation, fallow in crop rotation. The tax levied on each carucate came to be known as "carucage". Though a carucate might nominally be regarded as an area of ...
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Oxgang
An oxgang or bovate (; ; ; ) is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England as early as the 16th century sometimes referred to as an oxgait. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15. An oxgang is also known as a ''bovate'', from ''bovāta'', a Medieval Latinisation of the word, derived from the Latin ''wikt:bos#Latin, bōs'', meaning "ox, bullock or cow". Oxen, through the Scottish Gaelic word ''damh'' or ''dabh'', also provided the root of the land measurement 'daugh'. William Forbes Skene, Skene in ''Celtic Scotland'' says: : "in the eastern district there is a uniform system of land denomination consisting of 'daugh, dabhachs', 'ploughgates' and 'oxgangs', each 'dabhach' consisting of four 'ploughgates' and each 'ploughgate' containing eight 'oxgangs'. :"As soon as we cross the great chain of mountains [the Grampian Mountains (Scotland), Grampian Mountains] separating the North Sea, ea ...
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Acre (Scots)
A Scottish or Scots acre () was a land measurement used in Scotland. It was standardised in 1661. When the Weights and Measures Act 1824 was implemented the English System was standardised into the Imperial System and Imperial acres were imposed throughout the United Kingdom, including in Scotland and indeed throughout the British Empire from that point on. However, since then the metric system has come to be used in Scotland, as in the rest of the United Kingdom.. Equivalent to: * Metric system ** 5,080 square metres , 0.508 hectares * Imperial system ** 54,760 square feet. This is approximately 1.257 acres (English). See also * Acre * Obsolete Scottish units of measurement ** In the East Highlands: *** Rood *** Scottish acre = 4 roods *** Oxgang (''Damh-imir'') = the area an ox could plough in a year (around 20 acres) *** Ploughgate (''?'') = 8 oxgangs *** Daugh The davoch, davach or daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with mo ...
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Scottish Highlands
The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of ' literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands. The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for th ...
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Ounceland
An ounceland () is a traditional Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and Hebrides. In Eastern Scotland, other measuring systems were used instead. It was equivalent to 20 pennylands or one eighth of a markland. Like those measurements, it is based on the rent paid, rather than the actual land area. It was also known as a "tirung" (from Scottish Gaelic: tìr-unga), or a ''dabhach'' (same as daugh), which is a term of Pictish origin, also used in the east of Scotland too, but for a different measurement. The “ounceland” is thought to be of Norse origin, so it is possible that Norse (‘ounceland’) and native systems (''dabhach'') were conflated in the west. Quotes Skene in ''Celtic Scotland'' says: :"As soon as we cross the great chain of mountains separating the eastern from the western waters, we find a different system equally uniform. The ‘ploughgates’ and ‘oxgangs’ disappear, and in their place we find ‘ dabhachs’ and ‘ penny ...
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