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Medieval Scotland 
 
PUBLISHED BY 
 
 JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW, 
 publishers to the anibersiig. 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON AND NEW YORK. 
 London, • - Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, 
 
 Kent and Co., Limited. 
 Cambridge, • Macmillan and Bozues. 
 Edinburgh, • Douglas and Foulis. 
 
 MDCCCXCII. 
 
i.— The Stirling Standard Stoup in the Custody of the Burgh of Stirling. 
 
 •Standard Choppin or Half- Pint in the Custody of the City of Edinburgh. 
 
Mediaeval Scotland 
 
 CHAPTERS ON AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, 
 FACTORIES, TAXATION, REVENUE, TRADE, 
 COMMERCE, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 
 
 BY 
 
 R. W. ^COCHRAN-PATRICK 
 
 LL.D. Glas., LL.B. Cantab., B.A. Edin. 
 FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES ; FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF 
 ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND ; FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF 
 ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND 
 
 GLASGOW 
 JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS 
 £ttblislurs to the Stnibrrsitj) 
 
 1892 
 
BOSTON COLLEGE LKKflKY 
 CHESTNUT. HILL. MAM.' 
 
 C7 
 
 304998 
 
\ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 These chapters, with two exceptions, originally 
 appeared in the Glasgow Herald as a series of 
 articles on Early Scotland : and I am much in- 
 debted to the proprietors of that paper for their 
 courteous and liberal permission to reprint them. 
 Two articles which appeared in that series, one 
 on the Currency and the other on the Early 
 Mining Industries, are already in a permanent 
 and extended shape in the Introductions to the 
 Records of the Coinage of Scotland and Records 
 of Early Mining in Scotland, and have not been 
 reprinted. 
 
 Two chapters, one on Fisheries and the other on 
 Weights and Measures, now appear for the first 
 time. In connection with the latter I have to 
 express my thanks and obligations to the Lord 
 Provost and Municipal Authorities of Edinburgh, 
 and to the Provost and Municipal Authorities of 
 
vi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Stirling, for permission to engrave the interesting 
 ancient national standards still in their custody ; 
 and to the City and Depute-City Clerks of Edin- 
 burgh ; Mr. Galbraith, the Town Clerk of Stirling ; 
 Mr. Ferguson, the Town Clerk of Linlithgow ; 
 Mr. Annan, the Town Clerk of Lanark ; Mr. A. 
 Smith, Lanark, and Mr. A. Johnston, London, 
 for much valuable information and assistance in 
 connection with the subject. 
 
 R. W. COCHRAN-PATRICK. 
 
 WOODSIDE, BEITH, 
 
 December ; 1 891. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Agriculture, - i 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Agriculture, - - - - - -15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Manufactures, ------ 30 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Manufactures, ------ 48 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Fisheries, - - - - - 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Taxation and Revenue, - - - 77 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Trade and Commerce, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Weights and Measures, - 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS TO THIS CHAPTER — 
 
 The Stirling Standard Stoup, in the Custody 
 
 of the Burgh of Stirling, - iii 
 
 Standard Choppin, or Half-pint, in the 
 
 Custody of the City of Edinburgh, - iii 
 
 Standards of the Ell in the Custody of the 
 
 City of Edinburgh, - - - - 158 
 
 Stirling Standard Jug, preserved by the City 
 
 of Edinburgh, - - - - - 172 
 
 Appendix, - - - - - - - 173 
 
 Notes, - - - - - - - 183 
 
 - 104 
 
 - 151 
 
 Index, 
 
MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 In treating this subject it may be convenient to 
 divide the past into certain periods, and deal with 
 each separately, showing as far as possible the 
 methods of cultivation used, the various crops 
 raised, the value received for them, the relations 
 between owners and occupiers, and the burdens 
 imposed in the shape of rent (or payments and 
 services in lieu of rent) for the use of the land. The 
 taxes raised for national and local purposes and laid 
 on land will be dealt with hereafter. 
 
 The divisions proposed are (i) the Pre-historic 
 period, coming down to about the close of the 
 seventh century ; (2) the Celtic period, coming- 
 down to about the close of the twelfth century ; (3) 
 
2 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 the Early Feudal period, coming down to the reign of 
 James I.; and (4), lastly, the Later Feudal period, 
 closing with the union of the two kingdoms in 1 707. 
 
 It is necessary to bear in mind concerning the two 
 earlier periods that we are dealing then with four, at 
 least, distinct races, of different origin, different 
 degrees of civilization, and having in many cases 
 different customs. Few things amongst a semi- 
 civilized people are so unchangeable as agricultural 
 customs, and, where the soil and climate permit, 
 they carry to the lands of their settlement the habits 
 of the land of their origin. We may expect, for 
 example, to find the Dalriadic Scots following the 
 Hiberno-Scottish practices, the Norsemen the Nor- 
 wegian, and so on. Consequently we cannot safely 
 infer that the same state of progress existed all over 
 the country. On the contrary, we find in every 
 period that some parts of the country, peopled by 
 energetic races, were soon far in advance of the 
 others, and that, even among these, considerable 
 differences in agricultural progress are found. To 
 give a complete picture of every part of the country 
 would involve a mass of details which would be out 
 of place on the present occasion, and for the earlier 
 periods indicated above would be almost impossible 
 from lack of evidence. All that is attempted is to 
 give some data which may show points of contrast 
 between the days we live in and the days gone by, 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 3 
 
 and may stimulate some to study for themselves the 
 records of the past. 
 
 Commencing with the first of these periods, which 
 extends from an unknown antiquity down to the 
 seventh century, we are in a position to affirm that 
 at the dawn of history, when the Roman invasion 
 took place, agriculture was practically unknown. 
 The earliest historical notices we have of Scotland 
 disclose a state of society apparently without any 
 knowledge of tillage. Caesar distinctly says that the 
 inhabitants did not resort to the cultivation of the 
 soil for food, but were dependent upon their cattle 
 and the flesh of animals slain in hunting. And so 
 late as the third century Dion Cassius, according to 
 his abridger, Xifiline, confirmed the fact that the early 
 Caledonians lived up to that date only by pasturage 
 and the chase. 
 
 How long this condition of things existed we have 
 no means of ascertaining. Our knowledge of the , 
 Romano-British period, and the three centuries im- 
 mediately succeeding it, is so scanty that it is 
 impossible to dogmatize in the absence of trust- 
 worthy evidence. Were conjecture admissible when 
 dealing with historical matters it might be surmised 
 that the Romans would hardly have occupied the 
 country so long as they did without introducing 
 cropping of some kind. But there is no direct 
 evidence of it, so far at least as Scotland is con- 
 
4 
 
 MED LEVA L SCOTLAND. 
 
 cerned. " Querns," the ancient stone handmills, 
 have been found in the crannogs of Ayrshire, and 
 charred grain (bere and oats) in the Broch of Dun- 
 beath. But these may have been left by the last 
 inhabitants, possibly in comparatively recent times. 
 The famous miracle of S. Ninian about the leeks 
 would show that earden herbs were known and cul- 
 tivated in the beginning of the fifth century. But 
 the only life we now have of the apostle of Galloway 
 was written by Ailred in the twelfth century, though 
 he professes to write from a very ancient original, 
 and may have recorded a traditional fact. When we 
 come to Adamnan's life of S. Columba we are 
 entitled to believe that agriculture of a certain sort 
 was practised (at least amongst the Dalriadic Scots) 
 in the seventh century, if not actually during the 
 saint's life, a hundred years earlier. It is related by 
 his biographer that Columba, when in Iona, having 
 taken from a cottar some bundles of twigs to wattle 
 a house, sent him in return six measures of barley, 
 which, though not sown till the 13th of June, were 
 reaped in the beginning of August. Various other 
 agricultural operations are noticed in the same work. 
 Ploughing and sowing occur in the 45th chapter of 
 the second book ; harvest work in the 29th chapter 
 of the first book ; corn-grinding in the 22nd chapter 
 of the first book ; and one of the last earthly deeds of 
 the saint was to bless the barn of the family of Iona, 
 
A GRICl 'L TURK. 
 
 5 
 
 and two heaps of winnowed corn which were in it. 
 According to Dr. O'Donovan, cereal crops were 
 known in Ireland long previous to the introduction 
 of Christianity ; and the Scots of Dalriada may 
 have brought their agricultural knowledge with them. 
 
 Joceline, in his life of S. Kentigern (or Mungo), of 
 Glasgow, records a miracle which shows that oxen 
 were used for ploughing ; for he relates how the 
 holy man, not having any cattle, would have had to 
 let his land lie fallow had not a stag and a wolf 
 miraculously come out of a wood and ploughed nine 
 acres for him. But again in this case Joceline wrote 
 centuries after Mungo slept with the other 654 saints 
 in the cemetery of" Glasghu' : ; and probably the cor- 
 rect historical inference is that oxen were used for 
 agricultural tillage in the twelfth century, when the 
 life was written. 
 
 We may, therefore, reasonably conclude that on 
 the introduction of Christianity into Scotland agri- 
 culture was practised, though we cannot fix the 
 exact period of its introduction. Neither can we 
 say much regarding the methods practised nor the 
 results obtained. But it is highly probable that the 
 system which we find in operation in the immediately 
 succeeding period existed from a much earlier time, 
 and was the immediate development of pre-historic 
 rural economy. 
 
 During the Celtic period our knowledge of agri- 
 
6 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 cultural methods is still very defective, though we 
 learn something of the state of land tenure and culti- 
 vation from occasional notices in the earlier chronicles 
 now made accessible, and from the close analogy 
 which exists between the customs of the various 
 branches of the Celtic race. We find that at this 
 period, for example, the social unit both of the Gaelic 
 and Cymric peoples was not the individual or the 
 family, but the tribe. The territory of the tribe (the 
 Irish tuath) was held partly in severalty (by the rig 
 and flaths in Ireland) and partly in common by the 
 rest of the community. In Celtic Scotland a some- 
 what similar state of matters is found. The tribes 
 occupied their territories in the following manner : — 
 The arable tribe land was distributed at certain 
 intervals among the free tribesmen. The pastoral 
 tribe land was held in common. The inheritance 
 land was held by the headmen as individual 
 property by blood descent. Of these chiefs there 
 were two sorts, one getting their position by descent, 
 the other by accumulations of property. They 
 cultivated their estates either by bond men or by 
 free tenants on a tenure, of which steelbow (or stuhf) 
 is a survival. Strangers in blood to the tribe often 
 joined a sept, and received a portion from the chief, 
 giving in return their sword-service and customary 
 dues. Besides the tribe land and the inheritance 
 land, each clan gave a portion of its territory for the 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 7 
 
 support of the office-bearers, the Toisech, the Tanist, 
 the File, and the Brehon, and, after the introduction 
 of Christianity, to the Saggart or priest. The home- 
 stead was composed of a dwelling-house, ox stall, 
 hog sty, a sheep pen, and a calf-house, and was 
 surrounded by an earthen rampart, and called 
 usually a Rath. Constant reference to these is made 
 in early Scottish charters. Thus in the Chartulary 
 of Scone we have a grant to the Abbey of the 
 Church of Logymahedd, with the Rath " qua est 
 caput comitatus." In the Chartulary of Moray we 
 have a notice of the Rath of Kingussie. In the 
 Chartulary of Arbroath we find the Rath of the 
 territory of Katerlyn mentioned. This homestead 
 or Rath was the unit of which the aggregate made 
 up the tribe. 
 
 These tuaths or tribes are found with us both 
 among the Northern Picts and the Dalriadac Scots 
 of the W estern Highlands. The notices in the 
 ancient tract quoted by Mr. Skene, the Amra- 
 Choluim-Chilli, show that in the time of Columba 
 these tribal settlements existed amongst the Dalriads 
 and the heathen Picts. For example, we find the 
 land north of the Clyde occupied by three tribes — 
 the Cinel Gabran, Cinel Angus, and the Cinel Lorn. 
 The Cinel Gabran occupied Kintyre, Arran, and 
 Bute, and had 560 homesteads, with 20 houses each ; 
 the Cinel Angus possessed Isla and Jura, and had 
 
8 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 430 homesteads ; and the Cinel Lorn peopled the 
 district of that name, and had 420 homesteads. 
 
 We find traces of tribes also in Galloway. In the 
 charter-room of the Marquess of Ailsa at Culzean 
 there is a confirmation in 1276 of a charter by Neil 
 of Carrick to Roland of Carrick, of " Kenkenol," or 
 the riofht of beincr head of the tribe or kin. The 
 tenants of these tribes paid their rent in services or 
 in kind, for it must be remembered there was no 
 coined money in Scotland till the time of David I. 
 And of these burdens in lieu of rent there were at 
 this time four, viz. — Cain, Conveth, Feacht, and 
 Sluaged. The first two were payments in kind, the 
 others were personal service. We find these 
 frequently mentioned in the chartularies and in early 
 charters. Thus King David granted to the Church 
 of Glasgow the tithe of his " Can " of Strathgrif, 
 Cunningham, Kyle, and Carrick. 
 
 Can or Cain was a portion of the produce of the 
 land, and was rendered in grain from arable farms, 
 and in stock from pasture land. It was paid by the 
 occupiers of the soil to the owner in every part of 
 Scotland down to the feudal period, and long after 
 where feudal tenure did not prevail. 
 
 Conveth was founded on the original right which 
 the leaders of the Celtic tribe had to be supported by 
 their followers, and it finally became a fixed contri- 
 bution on each plough-gate of land. In the Chartu- 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 9 
 
 lary of Scone we find a grant from Malcolm IV. to 
 the abbey at the Feast of All Saints, for their conveth, 
 of i cow and 2 pigs, some meal and oats, 10 hens, 
 200 eggs, 10 bundles of candles, 4 lb. of soap, and 
 20 half-meales of cheese. In the Western High- 
 lands this rent was called the " Cuddicke," and is 
 mentioned in the Western Islands late on in the 
 fifteenth century, and is found later still in Atholl. 
 It is sometimes also called " Cony 021" under which 
 form it occurs in a contract between the Bishop of 
 the Isles and Lauchlan M'Lean of Dowart in 1580. 
 A somewhat similar rent, called " Sorryn" was of 
 old exacted in Galloway. 
 
 The " Feacht" and " Siuaged" were obligations of 
 personal service to follow the head of the tribe in 
 expeditions and wars, and in Scotland were laid on 
 the davoch of land. These ancient Celtic obliga- 
 tions appear in later times to be what is called in old 
 charters " Scottish service," or " expedition and 
 hosting." 
 
 Such were the obligations of the occupiers and 
 tillers of the ground from the earliest dawn of 
 authentic record down to the close of the Celtic 
 period in the eleventh century. 
 
 Coming now to the earlier feudal period, we glean 
 our chief information as to the state of rural economy 
 mostly from the chartularies and registers of the 
 great religious houses. From these we can gather a 
 
10 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 tolerably exact account of the state of agriculture 
 from the eleventh to the close of the thirteenth 
 centuries. During this period we cannot trace any 
 legal enactments, but there is no doubt that the force 
 of custom, in itself almost stronger in rude nations 
 than that of law, existed, and stereotyped what men 
 were to do with regard to the cultivation of the soil. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that the monks were 
 the great promoters and encouragers of agriculture. 
 One of the earliest sources of knowledge we have is 
 a rental of the possessions of the Abbey of Kelso, 
 drawn up in 1290. 
 
 From it we find that in each principal district there 
 was a " grange," or abbey homestead. It was 
 usually under the charge of a lay brother of the con- 
 vent, or sometimes of one of the monks, and included 
 the store-house for the implements, the byres for 
 cattle, the home of the " carles" and the granary 
 of the domain, or " mains." The carles (nativi, or 
 serfs) were really bondmen, who belonged to the 
 land and went with it. Outside the " grange " dwelt 
 the " cottarii" or cottars, occupying a hamlet, or 
 " town," with from one to nine acres each of land, 
 for which they paid a money rent and certain 
 services. Then came the " husbandi" or " malars" 
 or farmers, renting a <l husbandland." This husband- 
 land was generally two oxgates of land, each 13 acres, 
 " where plough and scythe could gang." Four 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 I i 
 
 husbandmen occupied together a plough-gate, equal 
 to 104 acres, and had a common plough to which 
 each contributed two oxen. These were neighbours, 
 and strict rules of good fellowship were laid down, 
 and, when necessary, enforced by the " birley men " 
 chosen by themselves. 
 
 As early as 1185 there were enclosed fields for 
 cultivation, for in that year Robert Avenel gave to 
 the monks of Melrose certain lands in Upper Esk- 
 dale, and the privilege of hunting and hawking 
 without prejudice to the enclosures. 
 
 When we come to consider the return from land 
 during this period we have to deal with the im- 
 portant factor of money payments as well as services 
 and payments in kind. And we also find a very 
 great advance in civilization and in the methods of 
 agriculture. The monastic chartularies and rentals 
 give some idea of the burdens then imposed on 
 tenants. One example may serve as a sort of guide. 
 On the barony of Bolden the monks had twenty- 
 eight husbandlands. Each paid eighty sterlings or 
 silver pennies annually as silver rent, and the 
 following services besides, viz., the whole family gave 
 four days' reaping in harvest, one day carrying peats, 
 a man and a horse to and from Berwick once a year, 
 an acre and a half's ploughing and one day's harrow- 
 ing, a man at sheep-washing and one at sheep- 
 shearing, and one day's work with a waggon at 
 
12 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 harvest time. Besides these, each farmer had to 
 take the abbot's wool to the abbey and pay a reek- 
 hen at Christmas. In addition to the 28 prin- 
 cipal farmers there were 36 cottars, r miller, and 4 
 brewers. Each of the cottages had half an acre of 
 land. The cottars rendered certain services and paid 
 in whole 668 sterlings. The mill rented for 8 merks, 
 and the four brew-houses paid 120 sterlings yearly. 
 
 We find that they produced oats, wheat, barley, 
 pease, and beans. There is very little mention of 
 rye. Lint paid teind in the reign of William the 
 Lion in Moray. Oats were the main crop, furnishing 
 both meal and malt. Much larger quantities were 
 grown than might be expected. In 1300 the 
 cavalry of Edward of England, returning from 
 Galloway, when near Dornoch, in Dumfriesshire, 
 passed through the growing crops of a proprietor 
 there, who claimed damages for 80 acres of oats 
 injured. The claim was admitted, and a sum of 
 5,760 sterlings paid him as damages, or at the rate of 
 72 per acre. Barley malt is very rare, and high in 
 price. In 1300 oats and oat malt were 42 sterlings 
 a quarter, and barley malt 52 ; wheat was 84 
 sterlings the quarter, beans 60 sterlings, and pease 
 33 sterlings. The usual price for a chalder of oats 
 was a merk (160 sterlings) though sometimes it rose 
 as high as 240 sterlings ; while that of barley was a 
 merk, though sometimes it fell to 120 sterlings. 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 13 
 
 Cheese was made in considerable quantities at an 
 early period. Malcolm IV. granted to the monks of 
 Melrose a place at Cumbesley to build a dairy for 
 100 cows. 
 
 We need only refer to one more authority of this 
 sort for the same period. In the venerable Chartu- 
 lary of Melrose there are many most interesting- 
 incidental notices throwing light on rural affairs down 
 to the death of Alexander III. We find strict rules 
 laid down for the protection of growing corn and hay 
 meadows. We find wheat cultivated, and wheaten 
 bread used on holidays. Roads — in some cases at 
 least suitable for wheel vehicles — as appears from the 
 penalty for trespassing on private roads, being fixed 
 at a penny for a four-wheeled and a halfpenny for a 
 two-wheeled waggon — were frequent, and wheeled 
 conveyances in common use. Mills driven by wind 
 or water were used for grinding corn, though the old 
 " quern " still held its own in some districts. 
 
 With regard to stock, it appears from a record in 
 the same chartulary that the monks in 1247 bought 
 from Patrick of Dunbar his stud of horses and brood 
 mares for 8,000 silver pennies, a very large sum in 
 those days. Of sheep the abbey had immense 
 flocks. Three flocks of wedders, of 500 each, were 
 pastured near Hart's-head in Haddington. From 
 Roland of Galloway they had pasturage for 700 ewes 
 with their followers of two years, for 49 cows 
 
14 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 similarly attended, a bull, 40 oxen, 8 horses, and 
 4 swine with their followers for three years. In 
 Wedale they grazed 7 score cattle and 500 sheep, 
 and on Primside 400 sheep. 
 
 Minute and careful arrangements are laid down 
 for the folds and fanks, the shepherds, separation of 
 pastures, removal of stock at various times of the 
 year, etc. The shepherds in some cases had mov- 
 able lodges with them. 
 
 In this period we find for the first time positive 
 laws relating to the land and agriculture. In the 
 year 12 14 bondsmen were to begin to plough and 
 sow 15 days before the Feast of the Purification. 
 And, to encourage agriculture, Alexander II. in the 
 same Parliament ordered every person who pos- 
 sessed more than four cows to rent land and plough 
 it with the cattle ; and those who had fewer cattle 
 were to till it by hand labour, under certain pains 
 and penalties. 
 
 And in a fragment of uncertain date it is laid 
 down that if a tenant puts " gule " (a noxious weed 
 not unknown at the present day) in the land he is to 
 be punished as if he had led an enemy into the 
 country — that is apparently with death. Should it 
 be owing to the carelessness of a bondager, he shall 
 pay a sheep for every plant of it, and clean the land 
 besides. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 We are now in a position to get some idea of the 
 prices of the various agricultural products. In 1259 
 Fordun relates that there was a crreat famine in 
 Scotland, so that the boll of meal sold for 48 sterlings 
 or silver pennies, evidently a very extreme price. 
 In 1296 the army of Edward of England wasted 
 and destroyed certain crops, the property of the 
 Priory of Coldstream. The damage was estimated 
 by the monks at 4cS quarters of wheat, each quarter 
 priced at 60 silver pennies ; 40 quarters of rye, at 
 48 silver pennies ; 56 quarters of barley, at 60 silver 
 pennies ; 80 quarters of oats, at 24 silver pennies. 
 Sheep were estimated at 8 sterlings ; oxen and cows, 
 at 36 each; pigs, at 10; work horses, at 60 each. 
 To make up the loss certain amounts of wheat, beans, 
 and malt were sent by the English King, and the 
 monks valued his wheat at 120 sterlings the quarter, 
 
i6 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 the beans at 92 sterlings, and the malt at 84 ster- 
 lings. In a tack by the Abbot of Aberbrothock in 
 1 3 14 a cow is valued at 60 silver pennies, and an 
 ox, in 131 7, at 80 silver pennies. 
 
 A very important change in the relationship 
 between owners and occupiers of land also begins 
 now to make its appearance. Leases or written 
 agreements, giving to the cultivators a legal security 
 for a defined period on certain conditions, are much 
 earlier than is commonly supposed. They occur in 
 the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, were well known 
 in the fourteenth, and the common custom, in civil- 
 ized Scotland, in the fifteenth and sixteenth. In 
 1 190, Alan, son of Walter the Stewart, approved a 
 lease by the monks of Kelso to his men of Inner- 
 wich of certain lands for thirty- three years. Many 
 others are mentioned in the chartularies. One 
 occurs in 1312, entered into between the Abbot of 
 Scone and Hay of Leys. The abbot sets the lands 
 of Balgarvie for thirty years, the rent at first being 
 160 silver pennies, rising 80 sterlings per annum for 
 six years ; 480 sterlings from the seventh to the 
 twelfth year ; 640 from the twelfth to the twentieth ; 
 and 800 sterlings from the twentieth to the thirtieth. 
 The tenant was to erect his buildings, and to have 
 power to sublet. In all these cases the money rent 
 was in addition to the usual and customary suits and 
 services. Somewhat later we find the Crown lands 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 17 
 
 managed by commissioners, whose reports are pre- 
 served in the Register House from 1480. Leases 
 were granted for three, five, seven, thirteen, and 
 nineteen years. The new lease was generally given 
 two years before the expiry of the old one. A 
 " grassunv' 1 of one year's rent was paid for the lease, 
 and in some cases another year's rent as entry money. 
 
 Some very curious and interesting early leases are 
 preserved in a rental book of the Abbey of Cupar, 
 extending from 1443 to 1538. The leases usually 
 last from five to seven years, though some are for 
 longer periods, as nineteen years, and some are for 
 life. The rents were payable in money, service, 
 and kind. The tenants could sub-let small portions 
 to labourers. The cottars were bound to have 
 enclosures for kail, apparently for sanitary reasons. 
 Strict rules were laid down for cutting peats, irrigat- 
 ing pastures, reclaiming marsh land, and the rotation 
 of crops. Every tenant was to " win the land fra 
 guld." a In 1462 manure seems to have been 
 regularly employed on the barley fields. In a lease 
 of 1558 Robert Alexander was promised all the 
 dung from the stables, with the ashes and dust from 
 the convent workshops and courts, for manuring his 
 land. After 1468 the leases contain provisions for 
 planting trees, such as ash, sauchs, 3 and osiers. 
 
 Broom plantations were made for the "conies/' and 
 were under the charge of a special officer of the 
 
 B 
 
i8 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 abbey. The woods also were protected, and placed 
 under a forester. In 1475 the leases contain clauses 
 that the tenants were to be respectable in their 
 clothing — a provision made by Act of Parliament in 
 1429, which prohibited farmers from wearing ragged 
 garments. 
 
 The proprietor then made and repaired the 
 houses, but the tenant seems to have kept them up 
 during his lease. A house and three acres of land 
 were let in 1453 at a yearly rent of 120 sterlings. 
 Another, with four acres, at 192 sterlings and the 
 services of two reapers. Security was in some 
 cases taken for the rent, and also for the just fulfilment 
 of the conditions. Tenants were fined by the abbot 
 for destroying the wood, and had also to keep up 
 and restore fences. From one of the extracts it 
 would appear that husbandmen and cottars were 
 regulated by different customs. In the lease of the 
 Grange of Balbrogy, in 1468, it is stipulated that 
 those holding the middle ploughgate 4 should answer 
 to the monastery in the law of husbandmen, but 
 regarding fuel they shall stand as cottars. Another 
 lease, in 1466, has the curious provision that the 
 tenant, John Barbur, who was evidently suffering 
 from some disease, probably leprosy, should, after 
 the first year's sowing, depart from his wife and 
 family to a place suitable for his infirmity, and not 
 thereafter return to any suspected communication 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 19 
 
 with the place. In 1468 another lease contains 
 provisions for draining the moss of Syoks, by a 
 sufficient aqueduct. This same tenant of Syoks, 
 one Die Scot, had a lease for five years, with this 
 curious provision " that if he shall not be sober and 
 temperate, preserving more strictly a kindly inter- 
 course with his neighbours and relatives," his lease 
 was to be of no avail. Another tenant, John 
 Crochat, in 1470, is obliged to promise on oath to 
 preserve a kindly and lawful neighbourhood. After 
 an Act of Parliament in 1472, regulating the rota- 
 tion of crops, we find John Spark, tenant of little 
 Perth, is taken bound to adhere to the state regula- 
 tions in sowing wheat, pease, rye, and beans, failing 
 which he is to forfeit his lease. 
 
 The " cuningar," or rabbit warren was under the 
 charge of a special officer, who in 1475 was one 
 Gilbert Ray. A lease of two acres of ground, with 
 pasturage, free of rent, was given to him for looking 
 after the vermin. A curious provision is inserted in 
 some of the leases about 1478. Walter Dog gets a 
 lease of Kyncrech in that year, and one of the con- 
 ditions is, " he shall never murmur abbot nor con- 
 vent about his lease," or else freely "gie it our." 
 Probably the fathers had been having complaints. 
 In 1541 a fowler appears, who was allowed to kill all 
 sorts of wild fowl on condition that he delivered them 
 to the abbey, receiving certain payments for each. 
 
20 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Ordinary disputes were settled by oversmen, or 
 " birley men," in each district. The monastery had 
 a ground officer on each estate, to see that the con- 
 ditions of the tacks were punctually and faithfully 
 carried out. 
 
 The moorland tenants were bound to keep dogs 
 to hunt the wolves, which seem to have committed 
 great ravages on the flocks. 
 
 The land was divided into u in field" land, that is, 
 arable, and " out field" or unreclaimed. " Shepherd- 
 land" seems to have been generally hill pasturage, 
 to which the sheep were sent at suitable seasons. 
 
 Leases were forfeited by conviction for theft, 
 adultery, reset of stolen goods, by encouraging too 
 many cottars, by unneighbourly or intemperate con- 
 duct, by failure of proper rotation of crops, by allow- 
 ing weeds, and by non-payment of rent or services. 
 
 Various Acts of Parliament were introduced for 
 the purpose of encouraging agriculture during this 
 period. In 1366 we find a statute forbidding the 
 horses of followers of the king's officers doing 
 damage to the crops or growing hay under severe 
 penalties, and in 1481 the same statute was re-en- 
 acted and confirmed. Great damage being done to 
 the crops by rooks, Parliament in 1424 ordered the 
 young crows to be destroyed ; and if any nests were 
 found undestroyed at Beltane, 5 the trees on which 
 they were were to be cut down, and a fine of 60 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 2 I 
 
 pence imposed on the owner of the trees. This Act 
 was extended in 1457 to all kinds of destructive 
 birds. Another Act of 1424 provided that every 
 labourer was either to be the joint owner of an ox 
 fit to go in the plough, or, if not, he was to dig seven 
 square feet of ground every day, or to pay a fine 
 equal to the full value of an ox. Two years later 
 another Act was passed requiring every tenant who 
 was the owner of a plough team of oxen to sow 
 yearly at least a firlot' 5 of wheat, half a firlot of pease, 
 and forty beans ; or failing, to forfeit 1 20 pence. 
 Similarly, owners of land, in their own occupation, 
 were to sow in proportion, or be fined 480 pence 
 in default, and a similar sum for each of their tenants 
 who neglected to sow his proportion. 
 
 A very important Act was passed in 1449. In 
 order to encourage agricultural tenants, it was then 
 enacted that whoever had a written lease could not 
 be interfered with or put out of his holding if he 
 fulfilled the conditions of his agreement, even 
 though the land was sold. A special clause was 
 inserted providing that tenants on Church lands 
 falling to the Crown should not thereby be dis- 
 turbed. By another Act of the same date every 
 farmer was prohibited from having stacks of corn in 
 his yard after 25th December of each year ; and a 
 further provision in 1452 ordered all grain to be 
 threshed before the end of May. 
 
22 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 We get some insight into the state of agriculture 
 during the later feudal period from a rental of the 
 Bishopric of Aberdeen in 151 1. 
 
 From this it appears that the average rent of a 
 ploughgate of land in that district was £3 7s. 9d. of 
 silver mailt or money rent ; one year's rent as 
 " grassum " ; 2od. for commuted services, 1 firlot of 
 oats, 1 firlot of malt, 1 firlot of meal, ^ of a mart, 1 
 sheep, -{7 of a kid, 5 capons, 5 fowls, 4 moor-fowl, 
 and 1 pig from the mill, with 2 stones of cheese 
 from each pastoral holding. The crofters were 
 bound to build one rood of the fold for every 
 cow possessed. Each paid 9s. 9d. of silver mailt, 
 1 firlot of barley, and 10 fowls. Tenants were 
 bound to build, but in some cases were allowed the 
 cost. 
 
 Similar provisions are found on a barony in the 
 same district in 1532. The ploughgate of land 
 was usually let to four tenants, each sending two 
 oxen to help to drag the common plough. Each 
 plough paid on the average 32 bolls of victual, or a 
 money rent of from £2 to £3 Scots besides services 
 and customs, use and wont. 
 
 It is difficult to rive an accurate idea of the value 
 of agricultural produce during this period, owing to 
 the unsettled state of the country, the not infrequent 
 occurrence of years of exceptional scarcity, and the 
 constant changes in the value of money. From the 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 23 
 
 Act. Dom. Auditorum 7 (1466 to 1494) we get a wide 
 range of prices. Meal varies from 10s. to 20s. the 
 boll; 8 oats, from 2s. to 11s. the boll; pease, about 
 13s. 4d. the boll ; sheep range from 3s. to 6s. 8d. 
 each ; cows and oxen, from 20s. to 40s. each ; and 
 horses, from £2 to £10 each. The will of Giles 
 Blair, Lady Row, executed in 1530, gives some idea 
 of Ayrshire prices at that time. Her 61 cows are 
 valued over head at 2 merks 9 each ; oxen, at 30s. 
 each ; sheep, at 5s. each ; bere and meal, 12s. the 
 boll ; and oats, 6s. the boll. 
 
 At a later date the judicial records of Renfrew- 
 shire show the prices of agricultural produce to be as 
 follow : — 
 
 Bere, the boll, 1687 £7 12 6 Scots. 
 
 Oats „ „ 9 12 o ,, 
 
 Oatmeal „ „ 7 16 2 „ 
 
 Butter, the cwt., 1687 21 4 o ,, 
 
 Cheese, the stone, 1696 4 13 o 
 
 Wool, the stone, 1698 4 o o ,, 
 
 Cows, each, 1687 17 19 o „ 
 
 Sheep „ „ 300,, 
 
 The Parliamentary enactments relating to agri- 
 cultural holdings from the reign of James II. to the 
 close of the national independence of Scotland are 
 both numerous and important. 
 
 In 1457 tenants were required to plant trees near 
 their steadings ; hedges round their fields ; and 
 broom, for what purpose is not stated. A series of 
 
24 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Acts commencing in 1503 prohibited oxen, horses, 
 or other gear pertaining to the plough from being 
 pounded or distrained for debt, if the debtor had 
 any other goods or lands. It was made illegal in 
 1535 to assess any part of the payment of special 
 grants made by Parliament to the Crown on tenants 
 or labourers of the ground. Owing to the injury 
 done to the corn, hay, and enclosures of poor tenants 
 by riders coming to do their military service, it was 
 enacted in 1540 that no one except the great barons 
 should come on horseback to the trysting place of 
 the king's army. A great dearth of victual took 
 place in the year 1562, and in 1563 Parliament 
 ordered all persons of whatever degree to thresh 
 their corn and sell it at once ; and any stacks found 
 standing on the 10th of July were to be confiscated. 
 This Act was to last for the crops of 1563, 1564, 
 and 1565. The maiming of cattle and the cutting 
 or injuring of ploughs or ploughing gear, and the 
 destruction of growing corn or wood were punished 
 with death by an Act of 1587. 
 
 The duties of farm servants were laid down by an 
 Act of 162 1. After reciting the evils which had 
 arisen from agricultural labourers either refusing to 
 be hired at all without " great and extraordinary " 
 wages, or engaging only from Martinmas to Whit- 
 sunday, and then " casting themselves loose " from 
 their engagements a t a time when much farm-work, 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 25 
 
 such as cutting peats, etc., had to be done, it was 
 provided that no farm servant should leave his 
 employment at Whitsunday unless he could prove 
 he was feed 10 to some other situation ; and if not he 
 was to be compelled to return to the farm and serve 
 for such wages as had formerly been agreed on. In 
 1645 a Frenchman applied to Parliament for leave to 
 introduce the cultivation of Indian corn into this 
 country, but the result of his experiment is not 
 recorded. Grain and cattle were permitted to be 
 exported by an Act of r662. And between 1685 
 and 1 703 various enactments occur encouraging the 
 cultivation of pease and beans, regulating winter 
 herding, prohibiting butchers from having more than 
 one acre as grazing, under penalty of a fine of ^100 
 and forfeiture of the cattle grazed, and for improving 
 crops by applying lime to the fields. 
 
 In the beginning of the seventeenth century we 
 get a good idea of the rural economy of the time 
 from a rental of the Gordon estates, taken in 1600, 
 and printed by the Spalding Club. 
 
 The agricultural holdings are generally about two 
 ploughgates each and set to eight tenants. A small 
 silver maill was paid ; but the bulk of the rent (called 
 ferme) was rendered in kind — viz., certain bolls of 
 oatmeal and bear, besides " customs," such as the 
 " reek-hen," a mart, poultry, etc. Professor Innes, 
 in his " Legal Antiquities," has summed up and 
 
26 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 averaged the rent for every ploughgate in the parish 
 of Bellie as £2 8s. for silver maill, 20 bolls of ferme 
 victual, \\ bolls of multure, bear, etc., besides 
 customs and carriages. 
 
 The leases were usually from five to six years, 
 though it is highly probable these varied according 
 to the class of tenants. At a somewhat later period 
 we find several distinct classes of rural occupiers. 
 These were the " Tacksmen," or tenants with leases ; 
 next in importance were the " Bowers/' who farmed 
 milk " kye " and their grass, and the " Steel Bowers," 
 who received stock and cattle along with their farms. 
 After these come the " Pendiclers," who had a small 
 quantity of land, generally held from the chief tenant 
 or tacksman ; and " Cottars," who had a house and 
 portion of land, and who worked with the farmer, 
 but had no cattle, and got their tillage work done by 
 the tenant. The " Crofters " differed from cottars 
 in that their arable land was not subject to the 
 tenant's pleasure, and they had their cattle herded 
 and pastured with the tacksman. Lastly, we find 
 the " Dryhouse Cottars," who had nothing but a hut 
 and a kailyard. 
 
 We get a still later glimpse of agricultural life in 
 the seventeenth century, and in a different part of 
 the country, from the Corshill Baron court book, 
 recently printed by the Ayr and Galloway Archaeo- 
 logical Association. This record began prior to 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 27 
 
 1590, and continues down to 1 7 1 9, but the earlier 
 portion has been lost, and the existing roll begins in 
 1666. The court was constituted by the Laird 
 of the Barony of Corshill, in Stewarton parish, 
 Ayrshire, the whole tenants and feuars lawfully 
 summoned, the " Bailie " appointed by the Baron 
 (who presided as judge), the " Baron Officer " and 
 the " Dempster," who pronounced the " doom " of 
 the court. The Officer was appointed by the Baron, 
 u with consent of the tennentis of the ground." The 
 Laird and the Bailie, " with consent of the ground," 
 appointed also certain persons as " birleymen," 11 
 whose duty was to keep good neighbourhood and 
 solve disputes referred to them. The court in cer- 
 tain cases also fixed on two " honest men," to whose 
 judgment disputants agreed to defer. Tenants who 
 were absent were fined for their contumacy, in one 
 case as high as £<\ Scots. 
 
 The greater portion of the cases dealt with 
 belonged to the every-day life of an agricultural 
 community. The miller complained about those who 
 abstracted the corn from the mill to which they were 
 U thirled," 1- ' and the offenders had to pay the " mul- 
 tures," 13 with 6s. 8d. Scots in addition as expenses. 
 Sub-tenants who had taken pasturage from the tenants 
 sometimes refused to pay the " grass maill," and 
 were brought up and ordained to pay. The " mer- 
 chant at the Kirk" (of Stewarton) continually 
 
28 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 complained that he was not paid his just debts, 
 and got decrees in his favour. Janet Harper pur- 
 sued Margate Stirling in that she took away peats 
 out of the moss which belonged to the said Janet. 
 Disputes about bargains, about the quality of stock 
 or crop sold, about fences, about the damage done by 
 cattle breaking into crop land, and such like matters 
 seem to have chiefly occupied the attention of the 
 court. From time to time Acts were made and 
 promulgated by the Bailie with consent of the 
 tenants, such as against any one breaking fences or 
 trees, or stealing fruit or cutting broom, or steeping 
 lint in running water, or killing " reid " u fish, or 
 shooting hares, or wild fowl, or burning moss out of 
 season. The court also regulated weights and 
 measures, and, from time to time, imposed as a 
 school rate 22s. out of every ^100 Scots of valua- 
 tion. In one case they compelled the payment of 
 arrears of school fees. u Flyting" 15 women who 
 annoyed their neighbours were brought up and 
 smartly dealt with. Occasionally more serious crimes 
 occur. Margaret Bryson in Beith stole James 
 Wylie's bonnet, and was fined 50 pennies Scots. 
 George Harbiesone " aggressed " and fell upon Hugh 
 Bicket in Hareshaw, and " for blood and battery and 
 breaking of his leg " had to pay ^50 Scots, of which 
 the aforesaid Hugh got ^45 " for the cureing of his 
 leg." For " molesting the clerk " of the court, John 
 
AGRICULTURE. 
 
 2 9 
 
 Picken was fined summarily ^5. The shoemaker 
 got into trouble for abusing Sir David Cunningham, 
 yr. of Corshill, " at ane very heigh rate," and calling 
 him names, " with many grievous oaths and sic like," 
 for which he had to pay £20 Scots. 
 
 Throughout the whole of this period agriculture 
 was in a very bad state. The crops were poor, the 
 cultivation miserable, and prices very bad. The 
 improvements which were soon to take place lie out- 
 side the period we are dealing with. The origin and 
 progress of these improvements are extremely 
 interesting, and we may return to them on some 
 future occasion. 
 
 In conclusion, and reviewing the whole history 
 of agriculture from the dawn of authentic record to 
 the Union, the most prosperous times were un- 
 doubtedly the reigns of Alexander II. and III. The 
 wars of independence and the unhappy intestine 
 feuds which disturbed and convulsed the whole 
 country retarded the growth of every sort of progress, 
 and agricultural interests were among the first to 
 suffer. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 To those who believe that the national greatness of 
 this country depends in no small measure on the 
 prosperity of its manufacturing and commercial 
 industries, it will not be without interest to trace the 
 origin and growth of these amongst ourselves. And 
 the most prominent point in the history of early 
 Scottish manufactures is the persistent national desire 
 to promote and develop them. Often the means 
 adopted seem to our ideas to be erroneous, and very 
 often they fail. But the object aimed at was never 
 lost sight of. From the days when William the 
 Lion founded his royal burghs with practically ex- 
 clusive monopolies of manufactures and commerce 
 in order to encourage trade, to the times when 
 James VI. crowded the Statute Books with Acts of 
 Parliament for the same purpose, the one idea was 
 to stimulate by every means commercial enterprise. 
 
MAN UFA CTURES. 
 
 31 
 
 It would be impossible within the compass of the 
 present work to give in detail the rise of manufactures 
 in each burgh or district. All we propose is to note 
 the various steps which were taken from time to time 
 by public authority to promote commercial interests, 
 and to trace as far as possible the results achieved. 
 
 During the prehistoric ages our knowledge of the 
 arts and industries of the early tribes is extremely 
 limited. It would be rash to assume that absolute 
 barbarism prevailed in every part of the country and 
 at all periods. Every now and then some relic of 
 the forgotten past turns up which shows a technical 
 skill and artistic knowledge which can hardly be re- 
 conciled with the commonly received notions of the 
 state of the primitive inhabitants of this country. 
 Celtic traditions point to the very high antiquity, 
 and to a very remarkable development, of native 
 industries. Fifteen centuries before the Christian 
 era, Tigherumas Mac OUaig was the first, according 
 to these venerable legends, to put colours into cloth 
 and ornamental borders to garments. The catalogue 
 of the possessions of Ailill and Medbh given in the 
 ancient tale of the Tain Bo Chuailgue enumerates 
 raiment of crimson, blue, black, green, yellow, 
 speckled, grey, and striped and other colours not 
 easily identified. The costumes of the chiefs 
 described in the same story also display a wonderful 
 variety of manufactured stuffs. Conchobar Mac 
 
32 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Nessa wore a crimson five-folding fuan or tunic with 
 a shirt of cloth of gold. Another warrior, Munremur 
 Mac Gercin, was attired in a dark long-wooled cloak 
 and a shirt of striped silk. A margin Mac Ecelsalach 
 shone conspicuous among the clans in a blue five 
 bordered shirt, with carved clasps of white bronze 
 (findruine) and buttons of gold, and "a cloak 
 mottled with the splendour of all the most beautiful 
 colours." From the Brehon Laws and the Book of 
 Rights, published by the Celtic Society in 1847, Pro- 
 fessor Eugene O'Curry has made out the complete 
 process of the manufacture and dyeing of the textiles 
 used by the ancient Celts. Embroidery and needle- 
 work were also carried to a high pitch of perfection. 
 S. Columb Cille had an embroideress named Coca, 
 as is recorded in the Feilire Aenghuis, who rests in 
 Cille Choca (now Kilcock) in Kildare. 
 
 Whatever we may think of these traditions, it is 
 impossible to doubt the evidence of existing relics. 
 From the perishable nature of the materials it would 
 be an occurrence of the most extreme rarity to find — 
 except, perhaps, in the soil and climate of Egypt — 
 textile fabrics in existence even of a period much 
 later than those claimed by the Celtic annals. But 
 when we look at some of the sculptured stones and 
 at the work on many of the gold and silver orna- 
 ments of the prehistoric ages, and, above all, at the 
 illuminations on some of the early Celtic manuscripts 
 
MANUFACTURES. 
 
 33 
 
 such as the Book of Kells, executed probably in the 
 sixth or seventh century, we must admit an intel- 
 lectual culture far in excess of what might have been 
 expected. It is remarkable that the Scots of Dalri- 
 ada do not seem to have brought with them from 
 their Ulster homes arts and culture which undoubt- 
 edly flourished there, though probably at a later 
 period than that assigned by their traditions. And 
 it is still more curious that the same race remained 
 inert and unmoved by the various influences which 
 in other parts of Scotland began to stimulate com- 
 mercial enterprise. On the other hand, the Saxon 
 settlers, if they did not leave a high civilization 
 behind them, possessed a capability for future de- 
 velopment, which soon began to tell on national 
 progress. Of the state of the native Caledonian 
 tribes we can say very little. But whenever these 
 various races began to be blended in one nationality, 
 and settled down under a recognized government, 
 the latent energies immediately, though gradually, 
 came into activity, and ultimately have risen into the 
 first rank. 
 
 Probably the oldest existing specimen of early 
 Scottish textile manufacture is a garment preserved 
 in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh, 
 which was found many years ago in a prehistoric 
 grave in Orkney. It is impossible to assign a date 
 
 to it, as from the extreme rarity of such finds we have 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 no means of comparison. Even when history begins, 
 a long period elapses before any notice is taken of 
 manufactures of any kind. During the century and 
 a half of peace and prosperity which closed w r ith the 
 death of Alexander III. there is some ground for 
 believing that textile manufactures existed to a 
 certain extent in this country. In the " Leges Bur- 
 gorum," or laws of the burghs of Scotland, we find 
 the 22nd law prohibiting any one but a burgess from 
 making cloth or dyeing it. Part of this ancient code 
 dates back to the reign of David I. In the original 
 Cartulary of Glasgow, a volume of venerable anti- 
 quity, written in a hand of the thirteenth century is 
 a little capitular, giving the privileges of the burghs 
 at that period. The second of these provides that 
 no one without the burgh shall presume to make 
 cloth, on pain of the king's amercement unforgiven — 
 an enactment probably of the reign of William the 
 Lion. In the charter granted by the same king 
 to the city of Perth all manufacture of cloth in the 
 sheriffdom is prohibited except by those who were 
 burgesses of that royal and favoured town. Similar 
 provisions exist in the charters granted during the 
 same reign to Aberdeen and the burgh and shire of 
 Inverness. And it is to this period and to the policy 
 of William the Lion that we must date the exclusive 
 privileges of the burghs which can be traced down to 
 a very much later time. 
 
MA NUFA CTURES. 
 
 35 
 
 In 1398 cloth exported to foreign parts was to 
 pay 2s. of custom in the pound. Woollen cloth was 
 to be measured by the rig 16 and not by the selvidge 17 
 in 1469. 
 
 The weavers of Edinburgh received a seal of 
 cause 1S in 1475. In 1491 six weavers were tried by 
 the magistrates of Dunfermline. Woollen cloth 
 manufactured in Scotland was exported to Amster- 
 dam in 1495. The " Walkers " 19 of Edinburgh were 
 incorporated in 1500. The Convention of Royal 
 Burghs sitting at Edinburgh in 1529 ordered that 
 " na manner of walcar nor wobster 20 mak ony claith 
 of thar avvin to sell agane." In 1473 the importa- 
 tion of cloth from England was prohibited, the 
 reason assigned being that the Scotch only got 
 cloth, which they could make at home, for their 
 salmon and other fish, instead of gold and silver as 
 formerly ; and ten years later a duty of 4 oz. of 
 standard silver was imposed on every " serplath " 21 of 
 cloth brought into the country by the merchants. 
 In 1540 the Parliament of Scotland enacted that in 
 every burgh there should be a qualified man chosen 
 to seal all cloth in token of its good quality ; and if 
 any cloth of inferior sort was found, half of the 
 goods of the offender were to be forfeited to the 
 King, and the other half to the burgh. It would be 
 interesting to know if any of these old seals, 
 probably of lead, are still in existence. In the 
 
36 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Parliament of 1567 it was provided that the old 
 Acts anent " wobsters," " walkers," and makers of 
 white cloth were to be put in force, with this 
 addition, that care was to be taken that the cloth 
 was not " flokkit," or, in other words, with the nap 
 raised or improperly thickened. In order to pro- 
 mote woollen manufactures and to give employment 
 to poor persons it was forbidden in 1581 to export 
 wool out of the country. 
 
 Shortly after this period James VI. made a strong- 
 effort to improve native industries, and among other 
 expedients three skilled workmen from the Low 
 Countries named John Gardin, Philip Fermant, and 
 John Banko were brought to Scotland for the 
 purpose of establishing a textile manufactory. 
 They were engaged to remain in the country for 
 five years, and were to be accompanied by thirty 
 attendants, including a skilled "litster" or dyer. 
 They were to manufacture as good cloth as was 
 made in Flanders, Holland, or England, and of the 
 same patterns and quality ; and they were further 
 bound to teach Scottish born apprentices all the 
 secrets of their trade. Nicolas Vduart, burgess of 
 Edinburgh, was appointed overseer of the factory, 
 and was ordered to see that the strangers had 
 everything provided for them, including a wright to 
 set up their looms. Each piece of cloth of satis- 
 factory quality was to be stamped, and to have a 
 
MANUFACTURES. 
 
 37 
 
 seal of lead attached to it. They were to manufacture 
 ' 1 serges," 22 " growgrams," 23 " bombesies," 24 "stem- 
 mingis," 25 M beyis," 2(3 fustians, bed covers, and other 
 fabrics ; they were to have a proper place in Edin- 
 burgh, and other principal towns, for selling their 
 goods on market days ; all necessary materials for 
 their machinery were to be supplied free ; they were 
 to be exempt from all taxation and public burdens, 
 and were to have, if they required, a church and 
 minister of their own. In spite of this care for their 
 spiritual welfare the strangers were evidently not 
 beyond the supervision of the clergy of the " gude 
 toon" of Edinburgh. For in 1588 it is recorded in 
 the records of the burgh that " be ressoun of the 
 difference in materis of relligion betuix the kirk and 
 the twa Flemyng wobsters," they were to end their 
 work between the date of the entry (8th May) and 
 1 st September next to come, and in the meantime to 
 confer with the ministers " anes at the leist ilk owlk 
 in the ile of the kirk " ; and if they did not make 
 their peace with the Kirk they were to depart the 
 realm on the date named. The town of Edinburgh 
 paid them ,£68 6s. 8d. for their travelling expenses, 
 which was afterwards repaid the burgh by the Laird 
 of Dairsie and Mr. Arch. Wilkin, and finally given 
 to the Trinity Kirk for making repairs on it. 
 
 The Convention of Royal Burghs recommended 
 in 1570 that the exportation of wool outwith the 
 
38 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 realm should be forbidden by an Act of Parliament, 
 but in 1578 the same body determined that no 
 impediment should be put in the way of those who 
 export to Norway " schone, 27 salt, malt, or linen 
 cloth," in order that they might bring back timber. 
 The desire to restrain any foreign traffic in wool was 
 a very strong point at this period with the mercantile 
 interest in Scotland. The Convention at Linlithgow 
 made an Act prohibiting the export of wool under a 
 penalty of 500 merks. James Fleming, sometime a 
 burgess of Perth, was reported to the Convention of 
 Royal Burghs as " amassing in sundry pairts of the 
 realme ane intolerable quantity of wool " to transport 
 to Flanders, and all magistrates were commanded to 
 prevent ships carrying it. It is evident, however, 
 that this policy was not unanimous. In 1600 the 
 city of Edinburgh, being accused of slackness in the 
 matter of restraining the export of wool, produced to 
 the Convention an instrument "be awyse of men of 
 men of law " showing that this policy would be 
 eventually very prejudicial to the burghs, but the 
 burghs would not be persuaded and persisted in 
 their action. However, the Privy Council, on the 
 5th of February, 1600, took the matter up and 
 annulled and discharged the pretended Act as a 
 usurpation of the Royal authority, and gave free 
 license to all merchants to export wool and linen 
 cloth and to import all sorts of English cloth, up to 
 
MA NUFA CTURES. 
 
 39 
 
 the i st December following. The Scottish Parlia- 
 ment provided by an Act in 1601 that unless the 
 burghs availed themselves of the privileges formerly 
 granted to them for the manufacture of textiles 
 before the next term of Michaelmas they should lose 
 the immunities promised, and the King should then 
 have the right of granting such to anyone. 
 
 At an extraordinary sederunt of the Privy Council 
 on the 24th of July the Bailies of Edinburgh ap- 
 peared to answer to a charge made against them by 
 the strangers lately brought into the country from 
 Flanders for improving the cloth manufacture that 
 they were neither " intertaneit nor putt to the werk," 
 and " that they were sinderit, 28 quhilk wald be a grit 
 hinder to the perfectioun of the said werk," and the 
 Bailies were ordered to keep them together in Edin- 
 burgh, notwithstanding any ordinance set down by 
 the Commissioners of burghs anent separating the 
 strangers and planting them severally in other 
 towns. And until they were set to work Edinburgh 
 was to provide them with meat and drink and to be 
 proportionately relieved by the other burghs. 
 Another Act of the Estates in February, 1601, is 
 referred to in the minute of 14th February of the 
 Convention of Burghs, but it is not to be found 
 in the Record Edition. Apparently it provided 
 that twenty more craftsmen, " makeris of claith and 
 lauboureris of woll " should be brought from abroad, 
 
40 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 and the burghs accordingly agreed to uplift 12,000 
 merks towards the expense. On the 2nd of June 
 the Privy Council demanded a definite answer from 
 the Convention, to be given not later than the 9th of 
 July, as to when they would be prepared to set 
 up cloth making. Accordingly, the Convention, 
 having directed commissioners to proceed to France, 
 Flanders, and England on the 30th of July, heard a 
 report from Andrew Hunter, who had gone to 
 Norwich, that he had hopes of agreeing with one 
 Gabriel Bischop, clothmaker there, to come to Scot- 
 land, and also from Thomas Fischer, who had gone 
 to France, that he had not been successful. A 
 committee was appointed to make a final arrange- 
 ment, and they had, on the 10th of July, a long con- 
 ference with Bischop, and agreed with him to come 
 to Edinburgh and set up a cloth manufactory there. 
 Hunter had also procured the services of certain 
 Dutch weavers from Leyden, and they were divided 
 amongst the other burghs. Ayr took three of them 
 — George Baert, "plotter 29 and camber" 30 ; James 
 Claers, weaver ; and Arane Janson, " scherar." 31 
 Perth received Jacque de la Rudge, " camber and 
 spyner" 32 ; Jacob Petersen, " scherar" ; and Abigail 
 Vanhort, " spyner woman " ; and Claus Losseir, 
 Cornelius Dermis, and Henre de Turk went to 
 Dundee. The same day the Commissioners ap- 
 proved of the following articles being laid before 
 
MANUFACTURES. 
 
 41 
 
 Privy Council : — (First) that the burghs should 
 have power to put in force the Acts against the 
 export of wool ; (second) that no duty should be 
 imposed on cloth not transported out of the country ; 
 (third) that the magistrates of each burgh, and they 
 only, should have the control of the cloth made in 
 the burgh ; and (fourth) that Andrew Hunter should 
 not be troubled on account of his liabilities as sole 
 cautioner for Thomas Foulis and Robert Jousy. 
 
 A difference of opinion still existed between the 
 Kin^ and the burghs as to the best method of util- 
 izing the services of the strangers. The King 
 accordingly addressed a letter to the Convention 
 urging the Commissioners further to consider the 
 matter, but it does not appear what the result was. 
 
 From a minute of the Convention of Burghs on 
 the 2nd of February, 1605, it would appear that an 
 Act of Parliament had been passed on the 7th of 
 June giving an offer to the burghs to work the cloth 
 factories, though no mention is made of it in the 
 Record Edition of the Acts. The burghs declined 
 the offer on the double ground that they had no more 
 interest in cloth manufacture than any other part of 
 the realm, and that they had sustained great losses 
 by the former attempts to set it up ; but they agreed 
 to give their " fortefecatioun and concurrence " to 
 anyone who would undertake the work. 
 
 The next notice to be found of these foreigners is 
 
42 
 
 MEDI/E VA L SCOTLAND. 
 
 in 1609, when they were established in the Canon- 
 gate of Edinburgh, and were being still molested by 
 the magistrates ; but, on appeal to the Privy Council, 
 they were exempted from their interference. During 
 the remainder of the reign of James VI., who con- 
 sistently and perseveringly took every opportunity of 
 promoting and improving native manufactures, con- 
 siderable progress seems to have been made in the 
 woollen industries. In 16 13 Scottish cloth, plaiding, 
 and kerseys 33 were exported to the Low Countries, 
 showing that home wants were not only fully sup- 
 plied, but a surplus left for foreign trade. 
 
 One of the first Acts of Charles I. in 1625 was 
 strongly to recommend the burghs of Scotland still 
 to continue establishing manufactories, and the same 
 advice was repeated in 1633. A further step was 
 taken in 1641, when a Royal Executive Commission 
 was created by Act of Parliament, specially for the 
 purpose of encouraging Scottish industries. After 
 reciting the various measures formerly taken for the 
 same purpose, and specially referring to the Acts of 
 Parliament of 1581 and 1597; of Privy Council of 
 May, 1597; July, 1600; November, 1601 ; Decem- 
 ber, 1 60 1 ; May, 16 12 ; October, 16 14; August, 
 1616 ; July, 1620; February, 1623; July, 1623, and 
 the Acts of Convention of June, 1605; November, 
 1625; and August, 1626, the Act declares that in 
 spite of all that had been done no considerable pro- 
 
MANUFA CTURES. 
 
 43 
 
 gress had been made " for want of cherishing, inter- 
 teenement, and right order of prosecutione thereof" ; 
 and accordingly gives and grants to certain persons 
 to be nominated by the Privy Council full powers to 
 give every encouragement to all sorts of manufac- 
 tories within the kingdom. These powers of the 
 Commissioners were very wide indeed. They could 
 summon before them anyone who could give any 
 information ; they could make rules and fix wages ; 
 and could compel idle and dissolute persons either 
 to work or go to the houses of correction, which were 
 to be erected if need be. They could also make 
 corporations, and grant to them all the privileges 
 formerly conferred. It was further declared that all 
 Spanish wool and other necessaries required for the 
 works should be imported duty free ; and that the 
 manufactured products should be free from custom 
 for fifteen years. The workmen were to be exempted 
 from all taxation, and were not to be interfered with 
 by anyone. In the Minutes of Parliament of 8th 
 September, 1641, a very important overture was 
 considered, and ordered to be given in to the Estates 
 to be advised upon. After reciting that the want of 
 manufactories within the kingdom occasioned great 
 poverty and loss, inasmuch as fifteen hundred 
 thousand pounds (Scots) were sent out of the country 
 yearly to buy foreign manufactured goods, and 
 caused besides various other evils, it was desired that 
 
44 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 in every shire a school should be erected in one or 
 other of the burghs, at the expense of the burgh, and 
 that every parish within the shire should send either 
 one or two boys, according to the valuation of the 
 parish, to be taught for seven years all sort of 
 "working cloth, or seys, 34 spinning, weaving, waaking, 
 litting, and dressing." Towards the expense of 
 maintaining and teaching the boys an assessment of 
 a merk from every chalder victual, or 100 merks of 
 valued rent was to be paid, one-half by the owners, 
 the other half by the occupiers. Every boy was to 
 be above ten years of age. This is probably the 
 earliest attempt at systematic technical teaching in 
 Scotland. 
 
 In 1645 th e privileges of manufacturers and their 
 workmen in being exempt from all military service 
 and public taxation were again ratified. In March, 
 1655, the Protector gave instructions to his Council 
 in Scotland to advance manufactories by every means 
 in their power, and to advise and report thereanent. 
 
 For a very long time (tradition says for several 
 centuries) Haddington had been the seat of a 
 woollen manufactory, established in a suburb called 
 the N ungate. During Cromwell's time an English 
 company, of which a Colonel Stansfield was the 
 principal partner, expended a large sum of money in 
 purchasing lands formerly belonging to the monastery 
 of Haddington, and erecting mills and machinery, at 
 
MANUFACTURES. 
 
 45 
 
 a place called New Mills. After the restoration 
 Colonel Stansfield was knighted, and in 1687 he was 
 barbarously murdered by his eldest son. The trial 
 was a very curious one, on account of the stress laid 
 by the King's Advocate when prosecuting on the 
 fact that the corpse of Sir Philip Stansfield had bled 
 when touched by the murderer. 
 
 About this time other woollen factories were esta- 
 blished at Bonnington, near Edinburgh, at Ayr, and, 
 in 168 1, at Glasgow, by James Armour, who had an 
 Act of Parliament in his favour permitting him to 
 import his raw material free of duty, allowing his 
 products to be untaxed for nineteen years, and grant- 
 ing his workers the usual exemptions from watching, 
 warding, and militia service. This was not, how- 
 ever, the earliest attempt to establish woollen manu- 
 factories in Glasgow. In 1648 the burgh appointed 
 John Johnstone to "speir 35 out" men fitting to be 
 employed, and to report. Next year a bargain was 
 made with James Bell to sell his " work loomes " and 
 make over his interest in the work to the town ; and 
 in 1650 " ane Inglis clothiar," apparently one Simon 
 Pitchersgill, was put in charge of the work at a salary 
 of ^45. Probably the venture was not very suc- 
 cessful, for in 1652 it was intimated by"touk 36 of 
 drume " that the factory would be let to the highest 
 bidder, and accordingly a new tack was granted to 
 James Hamilton , Thomas Allan, and John Neill. 
 
4 6 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 The old tenant, however, got it again in 1653, and in 
 1660 it was let to the weavers for seven years, at an 
 annual rent of £60. 
 
 During the years 1661-1673 several Acts of 
 Parliament came into force with the object of still 
 further stimulating and encouraging native in- 
 dustries. The raw materials of all manufactures 
 were freed from custom. The former Acts were 
 confirmed and extended. In each parish competent 
 persons were to be appointed to teach the poorer 
 children to fine and spin wool and to knit stockings. 
 An impost of 20 per cent, was laid on various com- 
 modities, such as ribbons, thread, etc., on the manu- 
 facturers first finding caution to produce an article as 
 good and as cheap as that imported, and to employ 
 native apprentices. All these privileges and en- 
 couragements were once more confirmed and 
 granted by another Act in 1681, and in the same 
 year the weavers of Glasgow were incorporated. 
 Through the exertions of the Duke of York, a body 
 of merchants were associated for the purpose of 
 setting up another textile factory at New Mills. 
 The work made a modest commencement with two 
 looms, but soon extended to twenty-five, and was 
 incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1693. Up to 
 this year the production had not been extensive, for 
 in 1683 General Dalyell and Graham of Claver- 
 house had to import cloth from England for their 
 
MAN UFA CTURES. 
 
 47 
 
 troops. The army clothing was obtained from that 
 country, though the New Mills Company offered to 
 make it as cheaply and of as good quality. But 
 after the Act of 1693 Parliament ordered all the 
 woollen cloth required for the army to be of home 
 manufacture. After that the company seem to have 
 prospered, and came very frequently under the 
 notice of Parliament. They were exempted from 
 supply in 1695 ; they obtained an Act against 
 foreign importation in 1696; another special Act in 
 their favour was prepared in 1 700, and they were 
 exempted specially from taxation in the years 1 704, 
 1 705, and 1 706. 
 
 From this period down to the Union the woollen 
 industry made considerable progress. Factories 
 were started in 1701 at Musselburgh, Glasgow, and 
 near Edinburgh. Shortly afterwards we find them 
 at North Mills, Aberdeen, and elsewhere. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 Turning now to the linen manufacture, we find, 
 from the "Assisa de Tolloneis," that, at the time of 
 Bruce, the custom on every 100 lb. of linen was one 
 halfpenny. No further notice of it is found in the 
 public records till 1573, when an Act of Parliament 
 was passed forbidding it to be exported. It seems 
 to have continued to make progress, and in the 
 Parliament of 1639 another Act was passed to en- 
 courage this rising industry. After reciting that 
 linen had now become " ane of the pryme com- 
 modities of this kingdome, wherby many people are 
 put to worke and money is brought within the same, 
 which, pairtly throughe the deceet used by the 
 bleicheres in lymeing thereof and pairtlie by the 
 uncertaintie of the breadth, is lyklie to come in con- 
 tempt abroade, to the great prejudice of this king- 
 dome," therefore it was forbidden for anyone to 
 
MANUFACTURES. 
 
 49 
 
 make or sell linen cloth of less breadth than one 
 ell if the price per ell was ten shillings or above, or 
 of less breadth than three-quarters of an ell if the 
 price was under ten shillings. Bleaching with lime 
 was forbidden under heavy penalties, and all linen 
 was to be presented in the market by the " selvedge 
 and not by the rige." 
 
 That the manufacture had made some progress is 
 shown by the imposition in 1661 of two ounces of 
 bullion for each 100 ells exported, and in the same 
 year another Act was passed to encourage the estab- 
 lishment of companies and societies for making linen 
 cloth stuffs. This Act provided that no stuffs should 
 be exported except made by such a society ; that all 
 their raw material should be free of duty for 19 
 years ; that they might make regulations for their 
 trade ; and that all vagabonds, idlers, and poor 
 children were to be instructed to fine and mix wool, 
 spin worsted, and knit stockings. 
 
 The Act to encourage trade and manufactures, 
 which was passed in 1681, lays down with great 
 minuteness the conditions of textile manufactures at 
 this period in Scotland. The provision as to the 
 breadth of cloth given in former Acts was repeated. 
 All linen was to be made up in pieces and half pieces, 
 the pieces to contain 24 ells. Druggets, fingram, 
 and plaiding were to be of the breadth of ^ and one 
 nail. Serges were to be 50 or 52 ells in the piece, 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 with a breadth of i ell and 2 inches. They were 
 not to be stretched in the rolling, and were to be 
 made up in folds 1 ell or ^ long. 
 
 An extraordinary regulation was made by the 
 Scottish Parliament in 1686. It was declared to be 
 a punishable offence for any person to be buried 
 except in linen dead clothes made in Scotland, under 
 a penalty of ^200 or ^300 if a nobleman. This 
 regulation actually remained in force till 1707. 
 
 A curious transaction took place in 1691. The 
 Convention of Royal Burghs on the 20th October 
 desired their thanks to be conveyed to the Earl 
 of Melville and the Master of Stair for " putting 
 a stop to a new project of erecting a linen manu- 
 facture within the kingdom." This "new project" 
 was that some Englishmen should set up a linen 
 manufactory which would interfere with the home 
 trade. Accordingly the burghs petitioned the Privy 
 Council to put the laws anent the manufacture in 
 force, and ordered a present of 2,000 merks to be 
 sent to the two Secretaries of State " for their good 
 services done," and £$0 as a gratuity to the Under- 
 Secretary for his trouble. From an entry in the 
 minutes of Convention in 1694 it would appear, 
 however, that the English company did set up their 
 factory after all. 
 
 Further regulations were made in 1693, and the 
 same year a manufactory was established in the 
 
MA A 7 UFA CTURES. 
 
 51 
 
 citadel of Leith with all the privileges accorded by 
 the laws, for the space of 2 1 years. They had very 
 arbitrary powers over their workmen, and could 
 retain them until they served out their time. They 
 had also a seal granted them to seal all their stuff 
 with, and their privileges extended to their bleaching 
 fields at Bonington, and later (1695) to Corstorphine. 
 They could make laws and regulations and appoint 
 a bailie to hold courts for the punishment of offences 
 committed by their workmen. The workmen and 
 others could claim exemption from certain public 
 burdens, such as billeting of soldiers, and moreover, 
 did not require to pay excise duties for any liquors 
 consumed by themselves. 
 
 In 1700 John Corse, of Glasgow, petitioned that 
 he might be allowed to have a linen manufactory 
 with all the privileges. Further Acts of Parliament 
 for measuring and sealing linen were passed 1700, 
 1 70 1, and 1703. The merchants of Edinburgh 
 petitioned against the wearing of linen in 1705 on 
 the ground that it interfered with the woollen manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 Of the silk textiles we have very scanty traces in 
 early Scottish history. In the time of David I. 
 hucksters were forbidden to buy silk except in fair 
 time. On account of the poverty of the kingdom, 
 and the expense of importing silk, it was forbidden 
 in 1471 to be worn except by knights, ministers, 
 
52 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 heralds, and persons worth £100 per annum of rent. 
 A Commission was appointed in 1579 to inquire 
 anent the art of silk manufacture. The result of 
 this was the establishment in Perth, in 1581, of a 
 considerable silk manufactory by a Robert Dickson. 
 Privilege was given him by Parliament to set agoing 
 a manufactory, and to bring into the realm and teach 
 the art of making and working silk as good as that 
 of France or Flanders, and to sell it cheaper. The 
 raw material required, and the drugs for dyeing the 
 fabric, were to be imported by him free of duty, and 
 the products of his factory were to be also untaxed. 
 He and his workmen, to the number of 100, were to 
 be exempt from all burdens, taxation, and imposi- 
 tions. And these privileges were to last for 30 
 years. There is no trace of any other silk manu- 
 factory till 1697, when two merchants, by name 
 Ormeston and Elliot, obtained a grant from the 
 Privy Council to enable them to establish a manu- 
 factory for the purpose of winding, throwing, twist-, 
 ing, and dyeing silk. 
 
 In 1703 a petition from the silk manufacturers was 
 presented to the Parliament of Scotland, but the con- 
 sideration of it was delayed until the condition of the 
 whole manufacture could be considered. 
 
 We do not propose to carry the history of textile 
 manufactures at this time later than the Union ; but 
 it is curious to compare the dismal prophecies that 
 
MANUFA CTURES. 
 
 53 
 
 were then made of the inevitable decline of Scottish 
 trade and commerce which was supposed to be the 
 certain results of that measure with the actual facts 
 of history. When the Act of Union was under the 
 consideration of the Scottish Parliament, the then 
 Lord Belhaven made a famous speech which pro- 
 duced a great impression on the country, and which is 
 still preserved in the libraries of the curious. Speak- 
 ing in a vein of prophecy, always a dangerous line for 
 a practical politician, he says, referring to the com- 
 mercial and manufacturing interests of the towns : — 
 " My Lord Chancellor, — When I consider this 
 affair of an union betwixt the two nations, as it is 
 expressed in the several articles thereof, and now the 
 subject of our deliberation at this time, I find my 
 mind crowded with a variety of very melancholy 
 thoughts. ... I think I see the royal state of 
 burghs walking their desolate streets, hanging down 
 their heads under disappointments ; wormed out of 
 all the branches of their old trade, uncertain what 
 hand to turn to, necessitated to become 'prentices to 
 their unkind neighbours, and yet, after all, finding 
 their trade so fortified by companies and secured by 
 prescriptions that they despair of any success therein. 
 . . . I think I see the honest, industrious trades- 
 man loaded with new taxes and impositions, disap- 
 pointed of the equivalents, drinking water in place of 
 ale, and eating saltless porridge." 
 
54 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 It is perhaps fortunate that though we are per- 
 mitted to prophesy, we are denied the power of 
 bringing our prophecies to pass. 
 
 Having treated of the early textile manufactures of 
 Scotland, we come now to the other branches. And 
 probably one of the earliest was that of salt. In the 
 reign of David I. salt works became objects of great 
 attention, and constant reference is made to them in 
 the Chartularies. That Kin^ Granted to the monks 
 of Kelso a salt work on the northern shore of the 
 Forth, and to the monks of Xewbattle one at 
 " Blackeland," and another at " Calentyr." From 
 the same King the Abbey of Cambuskenneth got a 
 salt pan, the monks of Holyrood a salt pan and 
 twenty-six acres of land at Airth, and the monks of 
 Jedburgh a salt work at Stirling. William the Lion 
 was the owner of several salt works, and bestowed 
 one on the Abbey of Aberbrothock. Roland of 
 Galloway gave the monks of Kelso a salt work on 
 the Solway, with liberty to take wood from his 
 forests for the pans. Duncan of Carrick made a 
 similar gift to the Abbey of Melrose from his lands 
 of Turnberry, in Ayrshire, and the same convent had 
 other salt pans near Ayr from Roger de Scalebroc. 
 In 1536 the price of salt was to be fixed by Royal 
 Commissioners along with the Provost of Edinburgh; 
 and the Magistrates in all coast towns were em- 
 powered to settle at what rate imported salt was to 
 
MANUFA CTURES. 
 
 55 
 
 be sold at. Various improvements were introduced 
 into the manufacture shortly afterwards. In 1 563 
 an Act of Parliament prohibited anyone from making 
 salt after the new method introduced by certain 
 strangers without special license for fifty years. No 
 salt could be exported from any salt work without a 
 written license, only granted on proof that six bolls 
 weekly from each pan had been reserved for home 
 consumption. At this period considerable quantities 
 of this article were imported from Spain and Brittany, 
 but in 1587 Lady Burleigh was granted for seven 
 years the privilege of making refined salt for salting 
 salmon and other fish which could not be salted 
 with u small salt," and thus the necessity for 
 using the foreign commodity was obviated. Fur- 
 ther improvements were introduced by Eustacius 
 Roche, a Fleming, and in consideration thereof he 
 received in 1599 a monopoly of the manufacture of 
 " great salt." In 1640 an Act was passed prohibit- 
 ing Sunday work in the salt pans, which was confirmed 
 in 1 66 1. 
 
 A curious account of this industry is given in the 
 report made to the Government of the Protector as 
 to the excise and customs in Scotland in 1656. From 
 that account we gather that the northern parts of 
 Scotland were then chiefly served with foreign salt 
 from France, and the western with English salt ; and 
 that the chief native supply came from the salt pans 
 
56 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 between St. Andrews and Stirling on the one side of 
 the Forth, and between Stirling and Berwick on the 
 other. The proprietors of these pans were usually 
 called " masters," and the workers " makers." The 
 latter received no wages, but contracted to supply 
 the masters with a certain amount of salt per pan, 
 and the overplus they kept for themselves. The 
 masters provided all the coals, and stored their pro- 
 portion of the salt in " garnels " 37 for exportation 
 chiefly to England or beyond the seas. The makers 
 sold their proportion to cadgers, who hawked it 
 about the country in creels on horseback for home 
 consumption. Tucker, who makes the report, gives 
 a very poor account of the workmen or makers. He 
 says that " besides their infinite povertye and miser- 
 ableness they are to be esteemed rather brutes than 
 rationals " ; and in another place speaks of their 
 "vilenesse" and " unworthinesse." The whole 
 amount of custom paid on home-made salt in the 
 year 1656 was only ^810. In 1661 Colonel Ludovic 
 Leslie and Colonel James Scott obtained a mono- 
 poly of the manufacture for twelve years, and in 1 68 1 
 all the salt works in Scotland were declared to be 
 public manufactories, and to be entitled to all the 
 privileges thereof. Robert Cuninghame, of Auchin- 
 barvie, had a grant in 1686, confirmed and extended 
 in 1693, for the purpose of making a harbour at 
 Saltcoats, on the Ayrshire coast, for the better ex- 
 
MANUFA CTVRES. 
 
 57 
 
 portation of the coal and salt "wherewith that 
 country abounds." Sir John Shaw, of Greenock, 
 introduced a new method of making salt, and in con- 
 sequence the privileges of a manufactory were 
 extended to him and his partners in 1696. Other 
 improvements were made by Mr. William Erskine, 
 who got similar privileges; and later on by Mr. 
 George Campbell, a merchant in Edinburgh. Salt 
 occupied a considerable share of attention during 
 the negotiations for the Union in 1706, and the 
 Duke of Athole protested against any duty being 
 laid on it by the contemplated measure. 
 
 Of the early fictile industries in Scotland our 
 knowledge is very limited. Rude pottery was un- 
 doubtedly made in considerable quantities even in 
 the prehistoric ages, and before the use of the 
 wheel was known. Occasionally specimens of a 
 later period have been discovered, but there is no 
 evidence of any extensive manufacture until com- 
 paratively modern times. " Duo godecta vytrea " 
 are recorded in 1291 as being contained in a chest 
 in the dormitory at Holyrood, but they may have 
 been of foreign origin. 
 
 In 1690 Sir George Hay of Nethercliff had the 
 gift of a license to make glass and iron in Scotland 
 for thirty-one years, which was confirmed by the 
 Scotch Parliament in 161 2. His work was estab- 
 lished at Wemyss in Fife. ''Braid" glass, or 
 
53 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 window glass, was made equal in quality to best 
 Danskine ; but bottles and other ware not being of 
 sufficient excellence, some specimens were brought 
 from England and deposited in Edinburgh Castle to 
 serve as patterns in point of quality. In 1621 the 
 Privy Council granted Hay a monopoly of the manu- 
 facture, but restricted the price to twelve pounds the 
 " cradle " or case. A tax of 5 per cent, on the value 
 was put on glass in 1655 ; and a little later an ounce 
 of bullion was to be brought to the Mint for every 
 twelve dozen of drinking glasses and glass bottles 
 exported. James Turner, a cabinetmaker in Edin- 
 burgh, " having with much labour, pains, and 
 expenses, attained to the skill and art of making of 
 cabinets, mirror glasses, and the like curious work," 
 the Deacon and Incorporation of the Wrights of 
 Edinburgh interrupted his factory, seized on his 
 tools, and fined him £20 sterling ; but the Privy 
 Council in 1678 and in 1685, and Parliament in 1695, 
 decreed that he should have full liberty to exercise 
 his work and trade without molestation from anyone. 
 Another glass manufactory was set up at Leith, to 
 which in 1689 the Privy Council granted the privi- 
 leges of a manufactory, and prohibited the introduc- 
 tion of foreign bottles into the country, only providing 
 that the Leith work should not charge more than 
 two and sixpence the dozen. In 1698 the manu- 
 factory at Wetnyss seems to have passed into the 
 
MANUFA CTURES. 
 
 59 
 
 hands of Lord Elcho, who received an Act of Parlia- 
 ment confirming the grant of the privileges of a 
 manufactory formerly made by the Privy Council, 
 and giving him a monopoly for nine years of certain 
 new kinds of glass never before made in Scotland 
 (viz., coach glasses and moulded glasses) unless 
 some other manufactory was started within two 
 years. It was specially provided that this grant was 
 not to prejudice the privileges formerly given to the 
 manufactory at Leith or to that at Aitchison's 
 Haven, which was established by William Morison, 
 of Preston Grange, in 1697, f° r tne making of all 
 sorts of glass, " as bottles, vials, drinking, window, 
 mirror, and warck glasses." Among the foreigners 
 who were engaged at Morison's work was a French- 
 man, Leblanc, who was skilled in the art of polishing 
 glass, an art never hitherto practised in Scotland. 
 The first glass work in Glasgow was started in 1701 
 by James Montgomery, who applied to the Privy 
 Council for a license to make bottles to supply the 
 West Country, seeing that the transit of such break- 
 able goods from Leith and Morison's Haven was 
 attended with vast charge and great hazard. He 
 proposed to use wood ashes and fern ash, of which 
 there was great abundance in the West Country, to 
 make, first, good white soap, and the rest into glass. 
 The Privy Council granted his request accordingly. 
 Robert Douglas, Leith, had a manufactory of porce- 
 
6o 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 lain and earthenware there in 1695, an d in 1703 an 
 Act was passed in favour of William Montgomery, 
 of Macbiehill, and George Linn, merchant in Edin- 
 burgh, who set up " a pot-house with kills, mills, 
 warehouse, and otherconveniences for making Lame, 38 
 Purslane, and Earthen Ware," and had brought 
 competent persons from abroad to teach the natives 
 the proper mode of manufacture, giving them not 
 only the ordinary privileges of a manufactory, but a 
 monopoly for fifteen years. 
 
 Soap was not an article manufactured in Scotland 
 at a very early period. What was used seems to have 
 been imported apparently from the Low Countries. It 
 is mentioned as part of the " conveth " of the Abbey of 
 Scone in 11 64, and the custom payable on each 
 " kyste or schryno 39 of sapo," as given in the Assisa 
 de Tolloneis was twopence. In 1619 a privilege 
 was granted to Nathaniel Uddart to make soap at 
 his works in Leith, and in 1621 the Privy Council 
 prohibited the importation of foreign soap, but fixed 
 the maximum price of the native manufacture at 
 ,£24 per barrel (of 16 stones) for green soap, and 
 £$2 per same barrel of white soap. This grant was, 
 however, very unpopular, and in consequence of the 
 numerous complaints made about it, the prohibition 
 against foreign importation was threatened to be 
 withdrawn unless a better article was provided at a 
 cheaper rate. This patent lasted twenty-one years, 
 
MA NUFA CTURES. 
 
 6j 
 
 and at its expiration another was granted to 
 Patrick Maule, of Panmure, " His Majesty's daily 
 servitor," for thirty-one years at a yearly rental of 
 ^20 sterling. He had at the same time a license to 
 fish and trade in the country and seas of Greenland 
 for materials necessary for his work. In 1695 an 
 Act of Parliament was passed in favour of Robert 
 Douglas (who is described in it as "a great pro- 
 moter of manufactories " for many years, and is 
 apparently the same individual formerly mentioned), 
 to enable him to get the privileges granted to manu- 
 factories for his soap work at Leith, which " had 
 much contributed to setting up the trade with Arch- 
 angel and Russia," and these privileges were accord- 
 ingly granted to him for nineteen years. A petition 
 was presented in 1700 by the same James Mont- 
 gomery, who erected the glass works in Glasgow, to 
 have the privileges of a manufactory extended to his 
 soap work there. 
 
 The manufacture of paper can claim a fairly early 
 origin in Scotland. In 1590, Peter Groot Heare, a 
 German, along with some partners, received a license 
 from the Privy Council to establish a paper work, 
 with all the privileges belonging to a manufactory, 
 for nine years after the 1st of August next. In 1675, 
 another work was set up at Dairy Mills, near Edin- 
 burgh, but very soon after it was burnt down. How- 
 ever, in 1679, it was going on and producing gray 
 
62 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 and blue paper of a better quality than had ever 
 been made before in this country. French workmen 
 were employed, but many Scots were instructed in 
 the trade. The proprietors were impeded in their 
 operations by a " faulty custom " in the country of 
 using good rags to make candlewicks. They accord- 
 ingly petitioned the Privy Council to prohibit rags 
 being used for this purpose, which they did. No 
 further notice of this work occurs in the public 
 records, but it was probably not successful, for in 
 1693 Nicolas Dupin petitioned the Privy Council for 
 permission to set up a paper manufactory. He was 
 supported in his enterprise by some Scotchmen in 
 London, who told him that there was no good writing 
 paper to be got in Scotland, those who had already 
 attempted the manufacture having failed. He claimed 
 to be able to make all sorts of fine paper as good or 
 better than any made beyond seas, and far cheaper ; 
 and he proposed, besides, to bring in some " ingeni- 
 ous outlandish workmen " to teach their art in the 
 kingdom. All his paper was to have the arms of 
 Scotland as the water mark ; and the company were 
 granted the same power over their instructed work- 
 men as the cloth factory at Newmilns had. This 
 company had an Act of the Scotch Parliament passed 
 in its favour in 1695. The Act having recited that 
 " it being" found that the water and air in several 
 parts of this kingdom are very fitt and may contribut 
 
MAN UFA CTURES. 
 
 63 
 
 much to the success of such a work/' empowered 
 Dupin and Denis Manes and their partners to be 
 incorporated by the name of " the Scots White 
 Paper Manufactory," with all the privileges and 
 immunities contained in the Acts for encouraging 
 commercial undertakings. 
 
 Sugar came into use in Scotland at a compara- 
 tively late period. There was a tax put on it in 
 1655, which shows it must have been known com- 
 monly before that time. In 1681 two sugar works 
 at Glasgow were declared to be manufactories under 
 the provisions of the Acts for encouraging manu- 
 factures. These works belonged to Frederick 
 Hamilton and John Corse and other partners, who 
 had an Act of Parliament in their favour, allowing 
 them, in addition to the usual immunities, to grant 
 " transires " without applying to the Custom House. 
 Another work was in operation in Leith in 1695, 
 and had the same privileges which were granted to 
 Glasgow, including that of making 18 tons of rum 
 yearly free of duty. Hugh and James Montgomerie, 
 merchants in Glasgow, had an Act of Incorporation 
 in 1696 for the purpose of starting another sugar 
 work in Glasgow (called "a suggarie") under the 
 style and title of " The New Sugar Manufactory of 
 Glasgow," with all the privileges of law, to endure 
 for nineteen years. Another sugar work was started 
 in Glasgow by Matthew and Daniel Campbell in 
 
6 4 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 1700, who also proposed to the Privy Council to 
 distil brandy and other strong waters. 
 
 In [686 the Estates of the Realm, " takeing to 
 consideration the great advantage that the nation 
 may have by the trade of founding lately brought in 
 to this kingdom by John Meikle for casting of bells, 
 cannons, and other such useful instruments" granted 
 him the rights, privileges, and immunities under the 
 Acts of 1 66 1 and 1681. 
 
 Cannons would not be of much use without gun- 
 powder, so we find that four years later Mr. James 
 Gordon applied for a license to make that com- 
 modity. Gordon was a merchant of London, as his 
 memorial sets forth, "who, by the blessing of God 
 has acquired the most necessary skill of making of 
 salt peter and Gunpowder," and desired " for the 
 generall benefite of his native Countrey . . . . to 
 prosecute the said good and beneficiall designe." 
 An Act was prepared and is recorded in 1690 
 (though it is doubtful whether it ever passed), grant- 
 ing the necessary permission, prohibiting any one 
 from importing gunpowder, and providing that every 
 barrel of the native manufacture should be sealed 
 with a seal to be provided by Gordon. He was 
 also empowered "to cause take up the bottoms of 
 floors, cellars, vaults, and other out houses such as 
 doucats, 40 old castells, Towers, fortalices, churches, 
 chappells, creeks, pitts and coaves, &c, in any place 
 
MAN UFA CTURES. 
 
 65 
 
 within the kingdome where peterish earth shall be 
 found, and to dispose thereof for the convenience of 
 the gunpowder manufactories." 
 
 The first notice we have in the public records 
 respecting gunpowder is in 1535, when the merchants 
 were ordained to import it. Some time previous to 
 1630 a patent had been granted for its manufacture 
 in Scotland, for in that year Parliament was 
 petitioned " that the persoun to whome the gift was 
 givin may ather convenientlie and tymouslie take 
 vpon him the dew performance or otherwayes that 
 his patent be recalled." The Earl of Linlithgow 
 was probably the person meant, as, when monopolies 
 were abolished in 1641, he was recompensed for the 
 outlay he had incurred on his powder-works. 
 Another gunpowder- work was established in 1695 
 by Sir Alexander Hope of Kerse and others. 
 
 In 1693 Parliament, taking into consideration the 
 great loss and inconvenience sustained by the lieges 
 by reason of the want of tradesmen for making 
 coaches, chariots, sedans, coach-harness, and other 
 fittings, empowered William Scott, cabinetmaker, to 
 set up a manufactory for the same, with all the 
 privileges belonging to it. James Lyell of Gairden 
 had " applyed himselfe for these many yeares for 
 improving of lint, hemp, and rape seeds for the 
 making of good oyl out of the grains within this 
 kingdom," and an Act in his favour was passed 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 MEDI/EVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 in Parliament in 1695. He also set up a manu- 
 factory " of rabbet and hair skins ... by 
 bringing them first into wooll and then into hatts, 
 which is now exported, and then returned in fforeign 
 hatts." Another oil work was established in 1700 
 by James Turner, but no further notice of it occurs 
 in the public records. 
 
 The rapid rise and continual growth of Scottish 
 manufactures after the Union belongs to a later 
 period of history, and does not come within the 
 scope of the present design. But enough has been 
 given to show the keen and anxious desire to en- 
 courage manufacturing industries which prevailed in 
 this country for more than two centuries before 
 the desired result was actually achieved. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FISHERIES. 
 
 Of old the Scottish Fisheries occupied an important 
 position among the national industries. The fishing 
 for salmon belonged to the Crown, and could not be 
 enjoyed by any subject without a special grant by 
 charter, though a right of salmon fishing followed a 
 general grant of fishing after forty years prescription. 
 David I. gave to the Abbey of Holyrood a right to 
 have one draw of a net for salmon, and in 1164 the 
 Abbey of Scone had two nets in the Tay, one at 
 u Kyncarrekyn," and the other at the "insula regis" \ 
 and one net in the Forth at Stirling. By a law 
 of the time of William I., the midstreams of all 
 salmon rivers were to be free for the length of a 
 three-year-old pig, rather a curious standard of 
 measurement. In the time of Alexander III. 
 salmon might be fished in all waters except those 
 flowing into the sea. No one could fish for salmon 
 
68 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 anywhere from Saturday night till sunrise on 
 Monday ; nor in " forbidden time," under the " old 
 penalty." Offenders against the salmon fishery laws 
 were liable to forty days' imprisonment, and anyone 
 thrice convicted suffered death. It was also for- 
 bidden to catch salmon in nets at mill dams, salmon 
 fry at lades or dams, and " red fish " at any time. 
 Unseasonable fish ("salmones corrupti"), if offered 
 for sale, were to be seized and sent to the lepers, or 
 destroyed. The close time in all rivers was between 
 the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15th 
 August), and Martinmas. Young salmon (" salmun- 
 culi ") could not be legally taken between the middle 
 of April, and the Feast of St. John the Baptist 
 (24th June). 
 
 Occasionally, however, special exceptions were 
 made. Thus, Olifaunt of Gask had permission to fish 
 the water of Erne three days a week during the close 
 time. But in 1424 it was enacted that all persons 
 infeft in the privilege of fishing in close time were to 
 abstain for three years. Many enactments were 
 made from this period down to the Union, dealing 
 with taking fish in close time. In 1489 the clear 
 space in midstream to be left for the salmon to get 
 up, was ordered to be five feet. In 1632 fishing 
 smacks (" bushes ") were forbidden to approach 
 within fourteen miles of the coast between Redhead 
 and Buchan Ness, so as not to interfere with the 
 
FISHERIES. 
 
 6 9 
 
 salmon fishing in the rivers. An extraordinary pro- 
 posal was submitted to Parliament in 1645 by Hugo 
 L'Amey, a Frenchman. It involved a Scots colony 
 in the Indies ; a great trade with the same country ; 
 the annual building of three " great shippes " of four 
 hundred tons a-piece, and three " pinnaces " of fifty 
 tons a-piece, and of which, when thirty-six were 
 built, twelve might be employed in the defence 
 of the Scottish coasts, and merchant adventures on 
 the high seas, and twenty-four in the Indian trade ; 
 and all without any tax or imposition whatever, but 
 to be paid for out of the increased value of the 
 salmon fishings. M. L'Amey only asked that the 
 salmon and other fishing in Scotland should be 
 * accommodat and made up for the sale at his ap- 
 pointment." Besides the public and national ad- 
 vantages, M. L'Amey promised the proprietors of 
 the salmon fishings one third higher price than ever 
 they had had before, and the merchant traders thirty 
 per cent, more profits. To relieve the great burden 
 of poverty in the country, the Frenchman further 
 proposed to plant Indian wheat in Scotland, which 
 would yield fourfold more meal, and not impoverish 
 the ground. The proposal was remitted to a com- 
 mittee, but no further trace of it is found in the 
 Parliamentary Records. 
 
 Towards the close of the 1 7th century, the close 
 time for the Dee, Don, Spey, Findhorn, Ythan, 
 
MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Conon, Bewlie, Ness, and Deveron was from 8th 
 September to ist January, and in the Nith from ist 
 March to ist November. 
 
 Trout are mentioned in the Act of 1469, prohibit- 
 ing for three years the use of " coups," 41 narrow mesh 
 nets, and "prins" 42 in rivers running into the sea; 
 and another statute of 1633 forbids any fish to be 
 killed in burns falling into the Loch of Leven, within 
 five miles of it, in order to preserve the " pykes r 
 perches, and trouts " of that famous fishing water. 
 
 Anyone taking pike out of ponds was liable to a 
 fine of £10 Scots by an Act of 1 503 ; and by another 
 in 1535 the offender was ordered to be treated as a 
 thief. The standard measure of salmon barrels in 
 1573 was twelve gallons of the Stirling pint. The 
 staple markets for the salmon exportation trade were 
 Aberdeen, Elgin, Perth, and Dundee. The standard 
 measure for salmon barrels was kept at Aberdeen, 
 and each burgh had a pattern of it. 
 
 The salmon fisheries were a valuable source of 
 revenue to the Crown. In the beginning of the 
 reign of James I. a duty of 2s. 6d. Scots per pound 
 of value was imposed on salmon "bocht be strangers 
 and had out of the realme." In 1426 the custom 
 was imposed on natives as well as foreigners, and, in 
 place of the ad valorem duty, the tax was charged on 
 the large or Hamburg barrel (valued at £2), and the 
 small or herring barrel (valued at £1). At this 
 
FISHERIES. 
 
 71 
 
 period the average yield of duty from the ports of 
 Aberdeen, Banff, and Montrose was ^115, repre- 
 senting a value of ^920 worth of salmon exported. 
 
 In 1466 the rate of duty was 3s. a barrel, which 
 was raised in 1481 to 4s. Aberdeen claimed an 
 immunity from the higher figure, at anyrate till 1488. 
 Even at the lower figure the revenue from the duty 
 was ^135 annually, the largest in Scotland. Berwick 
 produced 7*44 ; Banff, ^47 ; Perth, £29 ; Elgin, 
 ^15; Dundee, £l^\ Montrose, £y ; Stirling, £6 ; 
 and the whole of Scotland, ^310. 
 
 The sea fisheries were an object of particular 
 attention in Scotland in mediaeval times. The 
 Abbey of Holy rood had a grant of the right of fish- 
 ing for herring from David I. By an Act of Parlia- 
 ment in 1 47 1 certain burghs and lords were bound 
 to provide ships and nets for the sea fishing. Acts 
 of Parliament regulating the fishing and taking of 
 herrings on the west coast were passed in 1487, 
 1496, and 1579. The staple ports for the herring 
 and white fish trade were, in 1584, Leith, Crail, 
 Ayr, and Dumbarton. 
 
 A duty of one penny was imposed in 1424 on every 
 thousand fresh herring sold within the country ; four 
 shillings were charged for each last of twelve barrels 
 barrelled by Scotsmen ; six shillings if barrelled by 
 strangers; and fourpence for every thousand red her- 
 ring. The amount of money raised from the custom 
 
72 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 of Loch Fyne herrings was returned by the custumars 
 of Irvine at ^10 in 1479 ; £17 in 1480; and £34 in 
 1 48 1. The custumars of Dumbarton returned ,£170 
 from the same source about the same period, and 
 in 1487 the revenue derived from the custom on 
 herrings from the "Lows" (i.e., the Clyde lochs, not 
 the island of the Lews) at the high figure of £^79- 
 The herring barrels were each to contain nine gallons 
 of the Stirling pint ; and were ordered in 1 540 when 
 of the standard size to be marked with the cooper's 
 iron and that of the town. 
 
 A very curious document about the Scotch 
 herring fishing is preserved in the Acts of the Parlia- 
 ments of Scotland. In 1630 Charles I. made certain 
 proposals to the Privy Council in Scotland anent a 
 scheme for a general fishing. Besides employing 
 existing fishing boats, it was proposed to build 200 
 new vessels of from 30 to 50 tons burden each. 
 The cost of the hull and iron work was estimated at 
 £3 per ton. The same rate was estimated for 
 rigging, sails, cables, anchors, masts, boats, etc. 
 One hundred and twenty nets were to be provided 
 for each ship, with head lines and corks, at one 
 pound for each fitted net. Two hundred and fifty 
 fathoms of rope were allowed to each ship, at a cost 
 of £16 13s. 4d., and other necessaries were esti- 
 mated at £4. per ship. Thus the total cost of each 
 fishing vessel, taking 40 tons burden as the average, 
 
FISHERIES. 
 
 73 
 
 would be ^"386 13s. 4<d. Each boat was to make 
 three fishing expeditions per annum. The first 
 was to be for herrings, and the catch was estimated 
 at 100 last, or 1,200 barrels of fish. To cure these 
 would take £120 worth of salt, at the then prices. 
 The crew of each average sized ship consisted of 16 
 men and boys, who cost for victuals 13s. 4.S.. a 
 month each, with a money wage of £*]\ per crew for 
 the four months of the herring fishing. 
 
 As against this expenditure the profit of the three 
 fishings was estimated as follows. The first fishing 
 of the 200 vessels was to produce 20,000 last of 
 herrings, and each last sold at sea was to bring in 
 £\o\ the second fishing (October to February) was 
 to produce 12,000 last at £\2 ; and the third fishing 
 (ling and cod), from March till June, was estimated 
 to produce 1,200,000 fish, at £$o the 1,000, besides 
 the worth of the oil. 
 
 This fleet was to be worked principally from the 
 Lews for the western coasts, and the King proposed 
 to annex that island to the Crown, making proper 
 satisfaction to the Earl of Seaforth, and to establish 
 in it certain free burghs for fishing purposes. 
 
 In connection with this Fishery Company an 
 interesting notice is found regarding the territorial 
 waters of Scotland. Considerable jealousy was 
 apparently felt by the Scotch Privy Council that the 
 fishing rights of the natives might be interfered with 
 
74 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 by the proposed new Fishery Company. Accord- 
 ingly they referred the matter to certain Commis- 
 sioners to determine the exclusive fishery limits of 
 the Scottish Coast. The Commissioners reported, 
 on the 2 ist April, 1 63 1 , that no Englishmen, nor 
 other foreigners, had ever been allowed to fish 
 within the lochs, bays, and firths, nor within fourteen 
 miles of the coast, and they fixed the exclusive 
 limits, commencing with a straight line drawn from 
 St. Abb's Head to the Red Head, and 14 miles 
 beyond it, then along at the same distance from the 
 coast to Buchan Ness, thence the same distance 
 beyond a straight line drawn to Duncansbay Head ; 
 from that point at the same distance round the 
 Orkneys and Shetland to Holburn Head in Caith- 
 ness, and from the Stour of Assynt to the Butt of 
 Lews, from thence, at the same distance round the 
 western coast of the Long Island, and from thence 
 by a straight line from Barra Head, by the Mull of 
 Ooa in Islay. to the Mull of Kintyre, and from 
 that point up the centre of the Solway to the Scot- 
 tish March. 
 
 These limits were finally somewhat altered ; but, 
 on the dissolution of the Fishery Company in 1690, 
 the full rights of the native fishermen were restored 
 by Act of Parliament. 
 
 The charter of the General Fishery Company was 
 granted in 1632, and is still preserved. 
 
FISHERIES. 
 
 75 
 
 The society was to be governed by twelve coun- 
 cillors, of whom one-half were to be Scots and the 
 other half English or Irish. The six Scots named 
 were the Earls of Morton, Strathearn, and Roxburgh, 
 Viscount Stirling, John Hay, and George Fletcher. 
 A long list of names were enrolled as members of the 
 society, and extensive powers of jurisdiction were 
 conferred. They were to hold courts, and to have 
 tolbooths in the various districts ; and in each dis- 
 trict four judges, two of whom were to be Scots, were 
 to be chosen by the council to decide all pleas and 
 cases relating to the fishing- trade. 
 
 What the success of the company was does not 
 appear from the records ; but in 1690 an Act of 
 Parliament was passed dissolving it, and restoring to 
 the lieges their fishing rights, and to the royal burghs 
 their right of export. 
 
 In 1 66 1 other statutory facilities were given for 
 the formation and encouragement of societies for 
 herring and white fishing. Each partner was to pro- 
 vide 500 merks Scots of capital, and the companies 
 were to have full power to take fish in all seas, 
 channels, firths, rivers, floods, lakes, and lochs, and 
 to use for fishing purposes all shores, ports, and har- 
 bours. With the consent of the Council of Trade, 
 they could appoint certain of their number to make 
 bye-laws for regulating the fishing. They were also 
 privileged to get all their salt, cordage, and other 
 
7 6 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 stores free of duty, and to be exempt from all arrest- 
 ments or citations during the fishing season. 
 
 The last Act of any importance relating to the 
 fisheries prior to the Union was passed in 1705. It 
 authorized and empowered all subjects of the Queen 
 within her ancient kingdom of Scotland to take, buy, 
 and cure herring and white fish in all and sundry the 
 seas, bays, etc., of the same. It discharged all 
 Saturday's fishing, top money, stallage, 43 and the like. 
 It enacted that all the barrels should be of the size 
 and quality formerly prescribed ; and that fish should 
 be packed, pined, 44 and cured from the bottom to the 
 top with foreign salt only. Every cask was to be 
 marked with the curer's mark as well as the official 
 mark ; and all private marks were to be registered in 
 a public register in Edinburgh. The privilege of 
 importing all materials for the fishing industry duty 
 free were confirmed ; and the usual penalties for law 
 breakers were continued. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 Not very long ago it would have been practically 
 impossible to write any accurate or consecutive 
 account of the taxation and revenue of the ancient 
 kingdom of Scotland. The earlier chroniclers con- 
 fined themselves chiefly to recording the historical 
 events of their time, the lives and deaths of the 
 kings, their wars and battles, and the events most 
 nearly concerning the particular districts to which 
 the annalists belonged. The later historians were 
 too busily occupied in inventing an imaginary and 
 purely fabulous account of what the history of Scot- 
 land ought, in their opinion, to have been, com- 
 pounded generally with a total disregard of what, in 
 point of fact, it actually was, to attend to such prosaic 
 matters as those relating to the social or economical 
 condition of their country. But the splendid series of 
 authentic national records which has been already 
 
73 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 published and is still being issued by the authorities 
 of H.M. General Register House, combined with the 
 important contributions of historical material made 
 by private bodies and individuals, is yearly adding to 
 our knowledge of the past condition of Scotland, 
 and is gradually enabling us to correct the erroneous 
 ideas which have too often and too long hitherto 
 prevailed. The publication of the Acts of the Par- 
 liaments of Scotland has placed a mass of reliable 
 facts of the highest importance within the reach of 
 the historical student, the value of which is greatly 
 increased by an elaborate and most valuable index. 
 Second only in importance to this great national 
 record is the Register of the Privy Council, which 
 is now in the course of being issued, while the Rolls 
 of the Exchequer, the Accounts of the Lord High 
 Treasurer, the Register of the Great Seal, and other 
 publications, will, when completed, form a mass of 
 evidence available for future historians which will 
 enable them in many very important points to re- 
 write the history of Scotland. And the example 
 thus set has been laudably followed by various 
 societies and by public spirited individuals in every 
 part of the country. Perhaps the most important 
 publication after the national records is the Register 
 of the Convention of Royal Burghs, which for all 
 matters relating to one very important subject 
 which will shortly engage our attention, the trade 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 79 
 
 and commerce of early Scotland, is simply invalu- 
 able. But the usefulness of this work is greatly 
 marred by the want of an index, 45 thereby causing to 
 the student an intolerable and altogether unnecessary 
 amount of additional labour. It is from the sources 
 above indicated that we derive our only knowledge 
 of the revenues of taxation of Scotland in early times. 
 The fiscal history of Scotland prior to the Union 
 may be conveniently divided into four periods, each 
 possessing different features. The first is character- 
 ized by a survival of the earlier Celtic imposts, and 
 extends from a very early period to the reign of 
 David I. The second is marked by feudal services 
 and casualties, and continues till the return of James 
 I. from his captivity in England. The third period 
 closes with the accession of James VI. to the English 
 throne, and exhibits the decay of the feudal principle 
 of aids. The fourth period comes down to the 
 Union, and shows the gradual rise of the modern 
 system of taxes. 
 
 It will be necessary to make some preliminary 
 observations. While these characteristics are suffi- 
 ciently distinct for purposes of division, it is not to 
 be supposed that each period is divided from the 
 other by sharply-defined lines of demarcation. On 
 the contrary, we find in each case the older features 
 and methods gradually becoming extinct, but some- 
 times surviving for a considerable period in remote 
 
8o 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 parts of the country. It is to be remembered also 
 that a national currency, which now is the familiar 
 medium both of taxation and revenue, was altogether 
 unknown in Scotland prior to the reign of David I. 
 who struck silver pennies ; and for a long time 
 afterwards existed only to a very limited amount. 
 Burdens of all sorts, whether private, local, or 
 public, were at first defrayed either by services, 
 or labour, or in kind. We can trace the gradual 
 commutation of these into money payments as the 
 currency extended, and the progress of civilization 
 rendered it more convenient. It is also to be borne 
 in mind that many of the duties and obligations now 
 universally undertaken by the State and paid for by 
 the community by means of taxation were in early 
 times performed directly by individuals. Thus, the 
 duty of national defence was a burden imposed on 
 every free man, and was undertaken by each at his 
 own expense, and it is only in comparatively later 
 times that we find the State gradually incurring 
 charges for military stores, occasionally hiring 
 " wageouris" 46 for particular military services, and so 
 developing into the army estimates of modern days. 
 Similarly, what is now so familiar to us as the Civil 
 Service expenditure had equally modest beginnings. 
 The administration of justice in early times was an 
 unpaid duty which required no national expenditure. 
 Prior to the reign of David I. the expenses of the 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 81 
 
 country and of the sovereign were almost entirely 
 defrayed out of the old prescriptive dues which had 
 descended from the Celtic kingdom, and which were 
 payable by the community to the King, as well as by 
 tenants to their chief. These were the Cain, Conveth, 
 Fcacht, and Shcaged (which we have already noticed 
 as agricultural burdens in the first chapter), with the 
 addition of another called Ich, which, Mr. Skene 
 thinks, is probably equivalent to lock, payment. 
 These are all enumerated in a grant by Sir Ewin of 
 Erregeithill to the Bishop of Argyll in 125 1 of lands 
 in Lismore. The Cain provided a large revenue in 
 kind, slowly being converted into money with smaller 
 payments in silver, gradually getting larger as the 
 process of commutation extended. The Convetk, 
 which originated from the right of the Celtic chiefs 
 not only to be obeyed but to be fed and sustained 
 by the clansmen, appears in the time of Malcolm IV. 
 (in a charter of Scone) to have been a fixed amount 
 of provisions paid in kind. It can be identified with 
 the " Waytinga" a burden laid on the thanages, which, 
 in 1292, was assessed in the Exchequer Rolls at 24 
 cows per annum for two nights' " waitings" at Forfar, 
 and 1$% cows for a night and a half at Glammis. 
 In Ireland it was called the Coinmeciha, and was the 
 subsistence of the chief or king when out of his own 
 tilled lands. When systematically due it was called 
 the " Custom of Cuddikie" {Cuici oidche), and was 
 
82 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 restricted to four meals, four times in the year, to 
 the chief and his followers. 
 
 " Feacht" and 11 Sluaged" or "expedition and 
 hosting," covered not only the defence of the 
 country, but offensive operations against an enemy, 
 and were military services carried on by the tribes- 
 men at their own charges. Sluaged also involved 
 attendance at the king's council. It is termed in the 
 later records " servitium Scoticanum," " forinsecum 
 servitium," and " servitium in exercitu et auxiliis." 
 The " Feacht " was the expedition within the king- 
 dom or territory to repress rebellion or to enforce 
 the law. 
 
 The u Ich" was apparently a tribute paid at inter- 
 vals as an acknowledgment of subjection, and per- 
 haps survived in the "Calpe" or "Cawfie" of more 
 modern times. 
 
 In the reign of David I. we find a very great 
 change introduced. The tenures belonging to the 
 feudal system, such as military service, ward, and 
 relief, were gradually supplanting the older tribal 
 system. A national coinage for the first time enabled 
 a small but ever-increasing proportion of the revenue 
 to be paid in currency. The establishment of the 
 burghs encouraged trade and commerce, and the 
 "Leges Burgorurn" of which a considerable part 
 belongs to David's reign, contain probably the ear- 
 liest provisions for a regular revenue which we have 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 83 
 
 recorded. Though no bur^h charter is extant be- 
 longing to such an early period, the references con- 
 stantly made in the later grants of William the Lion 
 to the privileges possessed by the burghs in the time 
 of his grandfather show that if particular grants were 
 not in existence some general body of legislation 
 very favourable to municipal enterprise must have 
 been in operation. No one can read the eulogium 
 on David by Ailred of Rievaul, himself the friend 
 and contemporary of the Scottish King, as it is 
 recorded by Fordun, and confirmed by all that we 
 know, without feeling that a new era in Scottish 
 history commences with his reign. Society becomes 
 more civilized, more settled, and therefore more pro- 
 gressive. "Ancient Gaelic Alban gradually fades 
 into the background," and of that historical Scotland 
 of which Edinburgh is the capital, and the " ruddy 
 lion ramped in gold " the emblem, unquestionably 
 David was the creator. 
 
 Amone the various offices which can be traced 
 back to his reign is that of the Chamberlain, whose 
 primary duty was the collection, custody, and dis- 
 bursement of the revenue, combined at first with a 
 general supervision over the burghs from which a 
 very considerable portion of that revenue was de- 
 rived. The institution of this office is one of the 
 distinctive features of the second period indicated 
 above. The national revenue, from many sources 
 
8 4 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 and through various channels, came all eventually to 
 the Treasury, and from the records, many of which 
 are still extant, we have a tolerably clear idea of the 
 fiscal system. 
 
 The immediate receivers of the funds were the 
 Sheriffs, who by the time of Alexander III. had 
 succeeded the Earls as collectors of the revenue ; 
 the Ballivi ad extra, or administrators of some of 
 the Crown lands, or lands temporarily in possession 
 of the Crown ; the Justiciars, the Magistrates, and 
 the Custumars or receivers of taxes of the burghs. 
 
 The sources of income were either ordinary or 
 extraordinary. 
 
 The ordinary sources of income were (i) the rents 
 of the lands in the possession of the Crown ; (2) the 
 payments due from the Thanages ; (3) the casualties 
 of ward, marriage, relief and non-entry exigible from 
 time to time from the Crown vassals ; (4) fines im- 
 posed on misdoers ; (5) the escheats, or forfeited 
 estates of attainted persons ; (6) the rents derived 
 from the royal burghs ; (7) compositions payable for 
 letters of gift, remissions, and legitimations ; (8) the 
 Castle wards, or dues exacted from lands in the 
 immediate vicinity of some of the principal fortresses 
 towards the expense of upholding them ; (9) the 
 duties payable on merchandise, called the great cus- 
 toms ; (10) the profits arising from the coinage of 
 money. 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 85 
 
 The extraordinary sources of income were special 
 contributions for particular purposes, and were 
 at first confined to the occasions recognized by 
 the feudal law, such as the redemption of the 
 king from captivity, the marriage of his daugh- 
 ters, etc. 
 
 Most of these sources of income were common to 
 both the periods succeeding the reign of David I. 
 Taxes in the modern sense of the word were not 
 known till a later period. 
 
 It will be convenient to indicate shortly the 
 general nature of each of these ordinary sources of 
 revenue : — 
 
 (1) The Crown lands varied considerably at dif- 
 ferent periods, but in the time of the Alexanders 
 were very extensive. They were partly in the 
 actual occupation of the King {terra dominica or 
 demesne), and cultivated by his tenants and nativi, 
 and partly held as thanages by vassals who paid a 
 rent instead of military service. A large portion of 
 this revenue was at first paid in kind, such as oats, 
 wheat, barley, malt, fodder, cattle, swine, and poultry. 
 In some districts, such as Forfarshire, part of it was 
 paid in cheese. When the Exchequer Rolls com- 
 menced considerable sums were paid in money, but 
 the revenue from this source was very much cur- 
 tailed by the dilapidation of the Crown lands before 
 
 1350- 
 
86 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 (2) The thanages were lands which were granted 
 feudally by charter, not for military services, but for 
 the payment of an annual sum as "census" or feu- 
 duty. The thanes held them "in capite" of the 
 Crown, and paid their "reddendo" to the Sheriffs, 
 who accounted for them to the Exchequer. These 
 were gradually becoming extinct, and by the close of 
 the reign of Alexander III. had almost all been con- 
 verted into ordinary feudal tenures. 
 
 (3) The casualties of the feudal law payable by 
 the vassal to the superior were a very considerable 
 source of income. They were often gifted by the sove- 
 reign to individuals as rewards for particular services. 
 
 (4) Three times in each year the Justiciar, the 
 supreme judge in criminal and civil cases, held 
 Circuit Courts at the head burgh of each shire for 
 the administration of law and the redress of griev- 
 ances. At the time of the Alexanders there were 
 three of these officers — the Justiciar of Scotland, of 
 Lothian, and of Galloway. A large proportion of 
 offences were punished by fines, and even murder, 
 under the old law of " Cro " or " Wergild," could be 
 compounded by the payment of a certain number of 
 cattle, proportioned to the rank of the victim. The 
 King's displeasure was often atoned for by a sub- 
 stantial fine. Thus in 1261 the Earl of Sutherland 
 was fined £ 20, and in 1262 the Earl of Caithness 
 paid 50 marks. 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 87 
 
 (5) Requires no particular explanation. 
 
 (6) The rents derivable from the royal burghs 
 were, in the first place, an annual payment of five 
 silver pennies from the holder of each rood of land 
 in a burgh ; secondly, the fines awarded in the 
 Courts of the royal burghs ; and thirdly, the burghal 
 toll or parva custuma. About the beginning of the 
 fourteenth century the burghs began to rent these 
 petty customs from the Chamberlain, paying a fixed 
 sum per annum and collecting them themselves ; and 
 some of the burghs, such as Aberdeen, in 13 19, and 
 Edinburgh, in 1329, had charters of feu farm from 
 the Crown converting their tacks into perpetual 
 rights, on payment of a fixed annual reddendo. In 
 1327 the aggregate revenue derived from this source 
 amounted to ,£1,133 3 s - 4-d- 
 
 Apart altogether from their bearing on the 
 national revenue, the accounts of these burgh rents 
 afford us a very valuable index to the varying states 
 of prosperity of the different centres of population at 
 different times. 
 
 (7) The compositions payable for letters of gift 
 and other concessions amounted to a considerable 
 sum in some years, but varied so much that it is im- 
 possible to give an average. 
 
 (8) The castle ward payments were very trifling, 
 and are only important for the principle recognized 
 in their exaction. 
 
88 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 (9) The King's " great custom " on merchandise 
 exported must have originated in very early times, 
 for grants to monasteries of one ship duty free are 
 found in the reign of David I. It was collected at 
 the ports of export by "custumars," who were 
 generally one or two of the leading burgesses 
 appointed for the purpose and remunerated by fees. 
 It was mainly derived from three classes of exports 
 — wools, woolfells (or sheepskins), and hides — and 
 was payable about the time of Robert the Bruce at 
 the rate of half a mark (6s. 8d. Scots) the sack of 
 twenty-four stones on wool, at a quarter mark 
 (3s. 4d.) on the hundred of woolfells, and at a mark 
 (13s. 4d.) on the last of hides of twenty dacres, 
 counting at that time probably ten to the dacre. 
 The revenue derived from this source in 1327 
 amounted to £"1,851 14s. 4j^d. from the ten princi- 
 pal burghs in the kingdom. 
 
 An important change took place in 1357. The 
 defeat of the Scots at Durham and the capture 
 of David II. led to a treaty finally concluded at 
 Berwick, by which England was to receive 100,000 
 marks from Scotland in ten yearly instalments, com- 
 mencing on the 25th of June, 1358. Among other 
 expedients to raise this, in those days, enormous 
 sum, the great customs were first trebled, and after- 
 wards, in 1368, quadrupled; and the revenue from 
 this source amounted sometimes to over ,£10,000 in 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 8 9 
 
 the period between 1370 and 1379. These increased 
 rates continued long after the ransom had been 
 settled, for we find them in the succeeding reigns 
 down to a late period. 
 
 In the time of James I. they produced in 1428 
 ,£6,912, the highest sum recorded in his reign, with 
 an annual average of about ,£5,000. Certain addi- 
 tional customs were imposed by James I. He taxed 
 the skins of the martin, polecat, otter, fox, rabbit, 
 and deer. The produce was very trifling, the 
 largest export being in rabbit skins, and the highest 
 revenue recorded being 16s. 8d. in 143 1. A 
 further duty was imposed in 1424 of one shilling in 
 the pound on the exportation of horses, sheep, and 
 cattle, and a small duty on herrings exported of one 
 penny on every thousand fresh fish sold, four 
 shillings on each last of 12 barrels barrelled bv 
 Scotsmen, six if by foreigners, and fourpence on 
 every thousand red herrings. A duty of two 
 shillings in the hundred exported was also laid on 
 *' mulones possibly cod. The second Parliament 
 of the same year imposed a new custom of two 
 shillings in the pound on woollen cloth exported, 
 and another of two shillings and sixpence in the 
 pound on salmon if bought by foreigners for expor- 
 tation. Goods imported from England were also 
 subjected to a duty of two shillings and sixpence in 
 the pound. The average amount during the reign 
 
go 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 of James I, raised from the custom on woollen cloth 
 was £$oo per annum, and from salmon about ^115 
 per annum. In 1428 a duty appears in the accounts 
 on white salt at the rate of fivepence for every 
 twelve chalders, but the Act of Parliament imposing 
 it cannot now be found. 
 
 In the reign of James III. the gross revenue from 
 the wool, woolfells, and hides fell on an average to 
 less than ,£2,600. The revenue derived from the 
 salmon and fish duties during the same period was 
 about .£310. Though at first put on the pound of 
 value it was soon collected on the barrel, 12 of 
 which made a last of Hamburg measure, and 
 each was to contain 14 gallons. The custom was 
 raised in 1480 to 4s. per barrel. In 1481 the 
 custom of Lochfyne herrings amounted to the 
 comparatively large sum of ^34, and in 1487 
 the custom paid on the herrings of the "Lowis" 
 (or Clyde lochs) at Dumbarton was as much 
 as ^379- 
 
 The revenue from the average gross customs in 
 the reign of James III. amounted to about ,£3,300 
 annually. 
 
 In 1455 the whole customs of Scotland were 
 annexed inalienably to the Crown. 
 
 From a complaint made by the Comptroller in 
 1542 it would appear that the total income from this 
 source then amounted to about ,£5,000. 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 91 
 
 The later history of the customs after the acces- 
 sion of James VI. to the English throne must be 
 dealt with hereafter. 
 
 (10) The profits arising from the coinage do not 
 appear in the Rolls till the reign of David II. The 
 earlier accounts are, unfortunately, lost. But, in 
 1358, Adam Thore, Warden of the Mint, accounted 
 for £io§ 5s. 2d. profit to the King arising from a 
 charge of seven pennies per pound weight of silver. 
 As in 1367 the pound weight of silver was coined 
 into 352 pennies, this was nearly equal to two per 
 cent. In 145 1 the seigniorage had risen to rather 
 more than three per cent. In 1441 the seigniorage 
 on gold was 16s. from each pound, and in 1525 it 
 had mounted up to 26s. from each ounce of gold and 
 20s. from each pound weight of silver minted. 
 
 In 1593 the Mint was farmed out at a weekly rent 
 of one thousand merks, and at the accession of James 
 VI. to the English throne the seigniorage was fixed 
 at 25s. 3d. per ounce from the gold coinage and one- 
 twelfth part of the silver bullion for the silver coin- 
 age, including the expense of mintage. In 1683 the 
 Commissioners appointed to report on the Mint 
 affairs pronounced in favour of a free coinage, which 
 was carried into effect in 1686. 
 
 Having reviewed the ordinary sources of income, 
 we come now to those particular contributions, which 
 were called for at uncertain intervals and on special 
 
92 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 occasions. There is positive evidence in the Car- 
 tulary of Scone that a national aid was asked for in 
 Scotland during the reign of Malcolm IV. Another 
 is said to have been granted by a National Assembly 
 in 1 1 74. The first tax of which we have any actual 
 record was imposed in 1190 to assist William the 
 Lion in paying off the 10,000 marks of sterlings 
 which he agreed to pay to Richard I. of England to 
 obtain the discharge of the Treaty of Falaise. In 
 121 1 a further aid of 16,000 marks — 10,000 of which 
 were paid by the barons and 6,000 by the burghs — 
 was granted to the same King. These aids were 
 probably imposed by some sort of national authority, 
 and in certain cases were assisted by voluntary con- 
 tributions. This appears from a deed granted by 
 William the Lion to the monks of the Cistertian 
 Order, who claimed exemption from all taxation, but 
 paid their share as a voluntary gift. Evidence exists 
 in a charter granted to Aberbrothock by Alexander 
 II. that aid had been called for by him in the begin- 
 ning of his reign, perhaps on occasion of the marriage 
 of his sister in 1224. When Alexander III. be- 
 trothed his daughter to Eric of Norway in 1281 he 
 gave her a dowry of fourteen thousand marks of 
 sterlings, and this sum would in all probability be 
 raised in the same way. It is certain that during 
 the reigns of the Alexanders there was a valuation 
 roll or " extent " made containing the actual annual 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 93 
 
 value at that time of a very considerable portion of 
 the country. All the contributions up to this period 
 were granted under the then common rule of the 
 feudal system that in certain events the superior 
 could call on his vassals to grant him special aid. 
 It was not till after the successful conclusion of the 
 War of Independence that we find a regular fixed 
 sum granted to the Crown. Upon the 15th July, 
 1326, the Earls, Barons, Burgesses, and Free- 
 tenants of Scotland, assembled in Parliament at 
 Cambuskenneth, granted to Robert Bruce for his life 
 the tenth penny of their rents, " tarn infra burgos et 
 regalitates quam extra," according to the valuation 
 made in the reign of Alexander III., with the provi- 
 sion that in the cases when the lands had been 
 wasted by war the owner might apply to the 
 Sheriff for a revaluation. This aid was eiven 
 because the Crown lands were so wasted they 
 could not support the necessary expenses of the 
 King. 
 
 David II. was taken prisoner at the Battle of 
 Durham in 1346, and in 1357 a tax was appointed 
 to be imposed on all the rents and goods in the 
 kingdom, for the purpose of paying his ransom of 
 100,000 marks of sterlings. The lands were to be 
 taxed on their real value, and various other means 
 were taken to raise this large sum of money. The 
 financial embarrassment in which the country was 
 
94 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 placed by this burden was greatly increased by the 
 debts and expenses incurred by the King. We get 
 a glimpse of the comparative wealth of the various 
 classes in Scotland at this period from the propor- 
 tions in which the loans were to be gathered. The 
 barons were to pay one-half, the clergy three-tenths, 
 and the burghs two-tenths. The Parliament of 
 October, 1370, imposed a special rate of one shilling 
 in the pound ; but, nevertheless, at David's death, 
 on 22nd February, 1370-71, there still remained un- 
 paid a balance of 48,000 marks. 
 
 When James I. returned from his captivity in 
 England in 1424 his ransom, decently veiled under 
 the name of " costage," was fixed at 60,000 marks of 
 English standard money, to be paid in six yearly 
 payments of 10,000 marks, but the last annual instal- 
 ment was to be repaid as the dowry of the Queen. 
 Of this large sum the burghs undertook to pay two- 
 fifths, the other two Estates raising the remaining 
 three-fifths. This affords us some idea of the com- 
 parative wealth of the different classes of population 
 in Scotland at this period, and shows the progress 
 made by the commercial interest since the middle of 
 the fourteenth century, when their proportion of 
 special taxes was only one-fifth, the barons paying 
 one-half and the clergy three-tenths. 
 
 To raise this large sum special taxation was again 
 imposed by Parliament, besides great additions to 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 95 
 
 the customs. In every parish and burgh "extentors" 
 were to be appointed, who, along with the priests, 
 were to value each parish and town, and enter the 
 rents of the lands, the names of the owners, their 
 goods and substance in a book, to be presented to 
 the King's auditors at Perth. On every pound's 
 worth of rent and eoods in burofh as well as out the 
 tax was one shilling; every boll of wheat paid two 
 shillings ; of rye, sixteenpence ; of oats, sixpence ; 
 every cow and her followers of two years and every 
 ox, six shillings and eightpence ; every sheep, one 
 shilling ; and so on. The expenses of the various 
 embassies, such as that to the Duke of Burgundy in 
 1 47 1, to France and Spain in 1488, to Denmark in 
 1 49 1, and others seem to have been always defrayed 
 by special taxation. In 1540 we find for the first 
 time a sum imposed on the burghs for the purpose 
 of furnishing " small artillery" (such as hagbuts and 
 culverings), the other Estates providing them accord- 
 ing to their valuation. Shortly afterwards a special 
 sum of ,£16,000 was raised to assist in sending 1,000 
 horsemen to the Borders to repress incursions by 
 u our aulde inymeis." These were to be engaged 
 for three months, and each man was to receive four 
 shillings a day. The proportion of the different 
 Estates in these taxations for national defence are 
 not indicated, but in 1580, when ,£40,000 was im- 
 posed for defence of the Borders, the Barons and 
 
9 6 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Freeholders paid two-sixths, the Church three-sixths, 
 and the Burghs one-sixth. 
 
 Occasionally a general tax was raised for a more 
 local purpose, such as the building of the bridge at 
 Perth in 1578, the repair of the bridge of Don in 
 1587, and the protection of Dumbarton from the 
 inroads of the Leven and the sea in 1607. But tne 
 most common cause for these special calls, more 
 especially after the accession of James VI. to the 
 English throne, was as aids not only for the con- 
 tingencies recognized by the old feudal law, but to 
 defray the Sovereign's expenses. Thus, in 1625, 
 ,£400,000 was asked for to pay the debts of James 
 VI. and the King's expenses at home and abroad. 
 In 1630 the same amount was called for, nominally 
 to defray the expenses of a proposed visit of the 
 King to Scotland ; and special aids on various other 
 pretexts occur in 1633, 1639, and 1640. No little 
 dissatisfaction was caused by these exactions, and 
 in 1643 an experiment was tried of asking for a loan 
 of £"800,000, one-sixth of which was to be advanced 
 by the burghs and the remainder by the clergy, 
 barons, and freeholders. The nature of the loan will 
 be better understood when it is remembered that in 
 the following year it was ordained that the names of 
 those declining to lend were to be publicly read over 
 in Parliament, their goods escheat, and their persons 
 imprisoned. 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 97 
 
 During the Commonwealth matters were, if pos- 
 sible, worse. The Scotch members of Parliament 
 sat in London, and their voice was little regarded. 
 In 1652 they were ordered to raise ,£10,000 a 
 month, and this sum is apparently sterling money, 
 not Scots currency. The Scotch deputies prayed 
 that Parliament would allow Scotland to be repre- 
 sented in the Parliament in London in proportion 
 to its population, but this was refused by the English 
 Committee, who decided that the number of mem- 
 bers should be in proportion to the money raised 
 from Scotland. On the 10th of March, 1652, the 
 Scotch deputies protested against the heavy burden 
 of taxation laid upon Scotland, but without any 
 effect. In 1655 there is a return showing the divi- 
 sion of this sum of £"10,000 sterling among the vari- 
 ous shires and burghs of the country. From this 
 record we see that the shire of Ayr had to provide 
 £545 12s. 2d. per month; the shire of Renfrew, 
 £190 15s. 6d.; the shire of Lanark, £446 8s. gd.; 
 the shire of Edinburgh, £"448 19s. 2d.; the city of 
 Edinburgh, £"540 ; the city of Perth, £60 ; and the 
 city of Glasgow, £97 10s. 
 
 The money was raised on all personal as well as real 
 estate, each £20 of personal estate having to bear the 
 same charge as £1 of valued rent. Tenants, and 
 all persons by whom annuities, pensions, stipends, or 
 yearly rents or profits were payable, were to pay the 
 
 G 
 
9 8 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 tax and make deductions in reckoning with the 
 owners and beneficiaries. The commissioners ap- 
 pointed to collect this tax in each shire or burgh had 
 power to fine, imprison, sequestrate the estates, and 
 poind and sell the effects of every person refusing to 
 pay. There was also a power of quartering soldiers 
 upon all persons in arrear. In 1656 an additional 
 6d. was assessed upon every ^100 Scots of valued 
 rent to defray the expense of arresting and punish- 
 ing all vagrants and vagabonds. 
 
 At last General Monk became satisfied that Scot- 
 land could not really pay the sums demanded by the 
 English Parliament, and he accordingly addressed a 
 letter from Dalkeith in June, 1657, to Secretary 
 Thurlow, in which he says : — 
 
 " I must desire you will consider this poore country, which 
 truely I can make itt appeare that one way or other they pay one 
 hundred pounds out of fower for their assessment : and the wane 
 having soe much exhausted them as itt has done as by forfeitures 
 and fines wee have much adoe to get itt uppe : and the soulders 
 that receive itt had almost as well goe without their pay as gather 
 itt uppe. And unlesse there bee some course taken that they may 
 come in equality with England itt will goe hard with this people." 
 
 This shows that Scotland was more heavily taxed in 
 proportion than England, and seems to have had 
 some effect, for in the same year the proportion pay- 
 able by Scotland was reduced to ,£6,000 per month. 
 But in 1659 it was again raised to ^12,000 a month, 
 though probably never paid owing to the Kings 
 restoration in 1660. 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 99 
 
 Charles II. agreed to accept the sum of ,£40,000 
 a year from Scotland, but this sum was paid entirely 
 by the Customs and Excise. A voluntary supply of 
 £"864,000 Scots was offered by the Scotch Parlia- 
 ment to the King in 1672 for the war against the 
 States General, which was accepted. A supply was 
 offered by the estates to James VII. in 1681 
 amounting to ,£1,800,000 Scots. In 1696 a supply 
 of £"1,440,000 Scots was granted to William II. for 
 the security of the kingdom, but part of this was 
 raised from the Excise. The last supply before the 
 Union granted to Queen Anne was in 1706, and 
 amounted to ,£577,066 13s. 4d. Scots. 
 
 The next great special source of revenue was the 
 Excise, but this only came into operation at a com- 
 paratively late period. The first notice of it in the 
 Records occurs in 1644, when Committees were 
 appointed to consider whether money could be raised 
 for the army by means of Excise. The result was 
 that in the same year an Act of Parliament was 
 passed imposing Excise duties on ale, aqua vitse, 
 wine, tobacco, etc. The rates were fourpence on 
 every pint of ale or small beer ; on foreign beer, a 
 shilling; on French wine, is. 4d. per pint; on 
 Spanish wine, 2S. 8d.; on aqua vitae, 2s. 8d.; on 
 every pound of tobacco, 6s.; on every ox, bull, or 
 cow slaughtered above £"16 in value, 20s.; if below 
 £"16 in value, 13s. 4d.; on every ell of silk stuff im- 
 
IOO 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 ported, from 6s. 8d. to ios., according to value; on 
 every beaver hat, 24s.; on every pair of silk stock- 
 ings, 13s. 4d.; and similar duties on a long list of like 
 objects. In Royal Burghs the Excise was to be col- 
 lected by persons appointed by the Magistrates and 
 Town Councils, who were allowed to retain 10 per 
 cent, "for public, pious, and charitable uses within 
 their burghs," and for payment of the sub-collectors' 
 fees and expenses. The elders and deacons of every 
 landward parish were to collect the Excise in their 
 districts on similar terms. The original rates were 
 from time to time varied and the articles added to or 
 altered. In 1647 it was determined to farm the 
 Excise, as being the most expeditious and easy way 
 of raising the money. Sir William Dick paid, in 
 1648, 100,000 merks per annum for the Excise on 
 wine for three years, and on the expiry of this term 
 in 1 65 1 it was granted to the Marquis of Argyll and 
 Sir William Dick for five years at the yearly rent of 
 140,000 merks per annum, but adding the Excise in 
 " strong waters." 
 
 We have a very good account of the fiscal state 
 of Scotland at this period in the report made by 
 Thomas Tucker in 1656. In May, 1655, Cromwell 
 had appointed a Council of nine to administer the 
 affairs of Scotland, who inter alia had full power and 
 authority to collect the duties of Custom and Excise 
 according to the rates in force in England. 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 101 
 
 In order to assist at the settlement of these 
 matters the Lord- Protector and Council of England 
 sent Mr. Thomas Tucker, then Register to the 
 Commissioners of Excise in England, into Scotland, 
 and appointed him a Commissioner during his resid- 
 ence in Scotland. From a letter from one of the 
 Council to Secretary Thurlow it appears that before 
 the Commonwealth the proceeds of the Excise on 
 ale, beer, aqua vitae, and tobacco, the most important 
 articles for excise purposes, had only amounted to 
 about ^1,100 sterling per month, and that the new 
 Council hoped by greater strictness to double 
 it. Their proceedings excited great discontent, as 
 appears from the contemporary authors. Nicoll 
 says — " The burdings of the land at this time 
 (October, 1655) wes verie havie and grevous 
 to be borne ;" and Tucker in his report says 
 the people were very impatient of the Excise 
 duties to which they were not accustomed, and 
 accounts for it through "an innate habit of 
 theyr owne to bee crosse, obstinate, clamorous, 
 and prone to apprehend every action an oppression 
 or injury." 
 
 The first recommendation made by Tucker was 
 that the Excise should be farmed out to the highest 
 bidder, but that the term should be at first for four 
 months, afterwards extended to one year. The 
 result of this was that during the first four months 
 
102 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 (19th September, 1655, to 19th January, 1655-56) 
 the amount of Excise collected amounted to ,£10,471 
 9s. iod., of which ,£9,824 was paid by the tacksmen 
 and ,£647 9s. iod. by collectors directly appointed 
 by the Commissioners. The greatest difficulties in 
 the collection were in the Western Highlands. For 
 the counties of Argyll and Bute nobody would bid 
 anything at all, and only nominal sums for Inver- 
 ness, Ross, Sutherland, Cromarty, and Caithness. 
 The Commissioners kept these in their own hands 
 and sent out two collectors, " gentlemen of those 
 countryes, one of which went clad after the mode of 
 his countrye with belted playde, trowses, and 
 brogues," as Tucker carefully informs us, but only 
 succeeded in raising ,£27 in Argyll and Bute. In 
 the second tacks for one year from January, 1655-6, 
 to January, 1656-7, the whole sum raised by the 
 Excise on ale, beer, and aqua vitae amounted to 
 -£35 5 o54 8s. 8d. sterling. 
 
 Excise duties were also charged on salt, but the 
 result was very small. 
 
 In 1 66 1 the Excise on malt was charged at two 
 merks per boll, and in 1693 an additional duty of 3d. 
 per pint on ale and beer, and 2s. per pint on aqua 
 vitae and strong waters was imposed. These addi- 
 tional duties were continued by an Act of 1695. ^ n 
 January, 1701, the Excise was farmed for ,£30,000 
 sterling. 
 
TAXATION AND REVENUE. 
 
 103 
 
 At the period of the Union the public revenue of 
 Scotland from these various sources was estimated 
 as follows, in sterling money : — 
 
 Excise, per annum ,£50,000 
 
 Customs, per annum .. 50,000 
 
 Crown rents and casualties 8,500 
 
 Post office and casualties 2,000 
 
 Coinage and casualties 1,500 
 
 Land tax and casualties 48,000 
 
 Total £160,000 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 We are sometimes too apt to imagine that, because 
 in our own times we have seen great progress made 
 in the trading and commercial prosperity of this 
 country, trade and commerce are things of modern 
 growth. But a very superficial examination of by- 
 gone days will serve to modify this opinion. If we 
 give due consideration to the different state of popu- 
 lation and the greater difficulties of transport, we 
 hope to show that Scotland has been a commercial 
 country from a very remote period. 
 
 And such an examination will bring out promi- 
 nently another very important fact. There have 
 been periods of great prosperity and periods of great 
 depression in the past, just as there are at present, 
 and just as there will be in the future. The union 
 of the four independent kingdoms into the historical 
 kingdom of Scotland was followed for a long time by 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 105 
 
 a period of great prosperity. The disastrous events 
 which followed the death of Alexander III. brought 
 in their train a period of almost unexampled depres- 
 sion. And though our inquiry will not extend 
 beyond the Union with England, the same results 
 can be traced then. Whenever a few years of peace 
 and tranquillity were enjoyed a time of commercial 
 activity and national prosperity invariably followed. 
 War and civil dissensions were just as certainly fol- 
 lowed by a decline of trade and national adversity. 
 
 We shall not make any apology for entering 
 somewhat minutely, especially in the earlier reigns, 
 into this important subject. All the information we 
 can now get is unfortunately too scanty, but, being 
 derived from original records, it at least possesses 
 the merit of being authentic. Perhaps the earliest 
 historical notice of foreign trade in Scotland is found 
 in Adamnan's " Life of S. Columba." He relates 
 that in 597 when the holy man died his body was 
 " mundis involntum sindonibus" As this fine linen 
 was not at that time, so far as we know, a native 
 manufacture, it was in all probability imported. 
 
 The long and peaceful reign of Macbeth affords 
 indications of a considerable amount of wealth in the 
 country, and of some intercourse with foreign 
 
 nations. The "Gretplente 
 
 Abowndand, bath on land and se," 
 which the old annalist chronicles, indicates the wealth 
 
io6 
 
 MEDIAL VA L SCOTLAND. 
 
 of the people ; and Marianus Scotus, a respectable 
 contemporary historian, relates that the Scottish 
 King on his visit to Rome exercised a liberality in 
 charity to the poor, remarkable even in that resort 
 of wealthy pilgrims from every part of Christendom. 
 " Rex Scotie Machetad Rome argentum seminando 
 pauperibus distribute. " 
 
 Malcolm III. encouraged Scottish merchants to 
 import rich dresses and other foreign luxuries for 
 the use of his Court, as is related in the life of his 
 Queen, S. Margaret, given by the Bollandists in the 
 " Acta Sanctorum." 
 
 One of the charters preserved in the treasury of 
 Durham Cathedral shows that the Scottish King 
 Edgar (1098-1107) granted the tolls or customs on 
 the ships of certain parts of his kingdom to that 
 church. 
 
 Alexander I. (1107-1124) possessed the foreign 
 luxuries of an Arabian horse and Turkish armour, 
 and he assigned to various parties the duties paid on 
 trading vessels. In his reign Scotch pearls were 
 exported to England. He also granted to the 
 Monastery of Scone the custom of ships coming to 
 the Tay ; and addressed a writ to the merchants of 
 England inviting them to trade and promising them 
 his protection. 
 
 David I. (1124-1153) greatly encouraged trade 
 and commerce, and it is recorded by his biographer, 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 107 
 
 Ailred of Rievaux, himself an eye-witness of what 
 he states, that during the reign of that king Scotland 
 was " no longer a beggar from other countries, but 
 of her abundance relieving the wants of her neigh- 
 bours — adorned with castles and cities, her ports 
 filled with foreign merchandise and the riches of 
 distant nations." There is trustworthy evidence of 
 a considerable foreign trade in herrings in this reign. 
 In the " Life of S. Kentigern," written in the 
 twelfth century, it is incidentally noticed that at that 
 time English ships (then, of course, foreign) and 
 Flemish were accustomed to fish off the Isle of 
 May. 
 
 The monks seem to have been active pioneers of 
 commerce, as they were the first agriculturists and 
 the earliest coal workers. David I. granted im- 
 munity from custom for one trading vessel to the 
 monks of Dunfermline. The Abbot of Holyrood 
 had several ships engaged in the fishing industry in 
 the Firth of Forth. The canons of the same 
 favoured foundation had an annual grant of one 
 hundred shillings, then a very considerable sum, 
 leviable on the first ships which came to Perth for 
 the sake of trade — to procure them gowns. The 
 Abbey of Cambuskenneth had a similar grant from 
 Stirling, and the Bishop of Aberdeen had the 
 tenth of the duty levied on ships coming to that 
 port. 
 
io8 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Berwick, then under Scottish rule, was in the 
 twelfth century the great emporium of trade and 
 commerce. The Norse writers tell us it had at that 
 period many ships and more foreign commerce than 
 any other port in Scotland. Torfaeus relates that a 
 great merchant of Berwick, called Cnut the Opulent, 
 from his great wealth, had a ship which was cap- 
 tured at sea by Erlend, the Norse jarl of the Orkneys. 
 On board the vessel was the merchant's wife, 
 returning probably from a pilgrimage. On hearing 
 of the disaster Cnut immediately fitted out a fleet of 
 fourteen ships, fully equipped and armed, and at 
 once set out in pursuit of the pirates. The end of 
 the story is unfortunately not given. William the 
 Lion (1165-1214) reigned for nearly forty-nine 
 years, and Scotland made great progress during his 
 long and wise rule. The various grants paid to 
 Richard of England show the increase of wealth in 
 the country, and the proportion of the revenue paid 
 by the burghs, already alluded to, is a proof that the 
 trading community was prospering more than any 
 other class. About 1182 the monks of Melrose had 
 a charter from Philip, Count of Flanders, enjoining 
 all his men not to dare to exact from them any toll 
 or duty on land or sea, but to give them every facility 
 for trading in the Low Countries. 
 
 The regulations recorded in the " Assise Willelmi 
 Regis " refer frequently to merchants and traders. 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The merchants of the realm were required to have 
 their guild, and to have full liberty to buy and sell in 
 all places within the liberties of the burghs. Another 
 law practically conferred a monopoly of trade on 
 these merchant guilds. Further regulations in the 
 interest of the burghs provided that stranger mer- 
 chants from foreign nations were not to trade except 
 within the burghs, and chiefly to the merchants. 
 They were not permitted to sell cloth " in penny 
 worthis " but wholesale. 
 
 The records relating to Scotland preserved in the 
 Public Record Office, London, recently calendared 
 by Mr. Joseph Bain, and published by authority of 
 the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, under 
 the direction of the Deputy-Clerk Register of 
 Scotland, throw a considerable light on the trade 
 and commerce of the country at this period. Thus, 
 we find that in 1205 a writ is noted from the King 
 of England commanding W. de Wrotham and G 
 de Luscy forthwith to deliver up and restore two 
 Scottish ships, taken at Sandwich, laden with mer- 
 chandise, which the merchants could show was their 
 own. In 12 1 2 we again find three burgesses of 
 Dundee sued by a London merchant for a debt of 
 forty pounds. A further proof of the commerce of 
 this reign is found in a letter written by William the 
 Lion to the Norse Harold, jarl of Orkney and 
 Caithness, entreating his favour for the monks of 
 
no 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Scone, who traded largely by sea to their posses- 
 sions in the north. 
 
 Alexander II. (12 14-1 249) reigned for thirty-four 
 years, during which the prosperity of the country 
 was still increasing. This is proved in the first 
 place by the large amounts of money which the king 
 was enabled to spend. He gave his second sister 
 10,000 marks, besides lands, on her marriage ; and 
 also gave to Henry III. of England 500 marks for 
 the wardship of his youngest sister's husband, then 
 under age. A further evidence of Scottish trading 
 enterprise is afforded us by the publication of the 
 records already alluded to. We find there that in 
 12 14 the bailiffs of the port of Southampton were 
 commanded to deliver up all merchant vessels, 
 including those of the King of Scotland, and let 
 them freely depart. Similar orders were given to 
 the bailiffs of Lynn and the Sheriff of Norfolk. In 
 the same year the King of England ordered the 
 Justiciar of Ireland to allow the men of Alan of 
 Galloway, to come to Ireland and return with the 
 ship which the said Alan had taken at Kirkcudbright, 
 and to allow him to have his merchandise in the 
 said ship. 
 
 From the same source we get evidence of a very 
 considerable trade with Ireland at this time. Special 
 permissions seem to have been required for those 
 desiring to buy corn, meal, or other articles of 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 food in that country, and these are frequently 
 recorded. 
 
 " The first religious body," says Mr. Bain in his 
 interesting preface, " to obtain such permission was 
 that of Vauday (Vallis Dei), situated at Kar, in 
 Galloway, on 15th February, 1220-21, to last for 
 four years from Easter." Another Galloway church- 
 man, the Abbot of Dundrennan, had a similar grant 
 for three years shortly after. The bailiffs of King's 
 Lynn, a port of large trade with Scotland, were 
 commanded on 8th August, 1223, to allow the 
 wines, etc., for the King of Scots private use to be 
 shipped, and all the small Scotch vessels to depart. 
 They were also commanded to release corn-laden 
 vessels for Scotland and Norway. In August, 1224, 
 the abbots of Melrose and Cupar had leave to trade 
 beyond seas ; a Dieppe merchant to bring wine for 
 Scotland to Berwick ; and the bailiffs of Yarmouth 
 were commanded to release Scottish merchant 
 vessels and fishing vessels of all countries. The 
 bailiffs of Southampton were ordered to release 
 John Ruffus, a Scottish merchant of Berwick, and 
 his ship, the Portejoye. In April, 1225, the abbots 
 of Melrose and Cupar had leave to send wool to 
 Flanders ; and in May of the same year Alexander 
 of Dunwich, a Scottish merchant, was allowed to 
 carry a cargo of barley and beans northward from 
 Lynn. 
 
I 12 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 In 1226 the Abbot of Holmcultram had leave to 
 buy corn in Ireland till Henry of England attained his 
 majority ; and his neighbour of Glenluce, in Gallo- 
 way, had the same permission for a year, repeated 
 in 1227. John of Dunwich and Hugh, son of Odo, 
 two Scottish shippers of corn, were respectively 
 allowed to depart from Sandwich and Lynn. Joce 
 of Dunwich had leave to sail with a cargo of Gascon 
 wine for Scotland, and a corn vessel bound for Scot- 
 land was released from Lynn in the same year. 
 
 In September, 1227, the monks of Kilwinning 
 had leave to buy corn in Ireland for a year, a privi- 
 lege repeated in 1252. In 1229 a Berwick mer- 
 chant's wool, arrested at Dover, was ordered to be 
 released on his proving his nationality ; and three 
 Scottish ships with cargoes of corn, wine, and salt 
 were similarly released at Lynn. In the same year 
 Simon of St. Andrews, a merchant of the King of 
 Scots, had leave to trade in England for a year with 
 his vessel ; and the Constable of Dover was ordered 
 to deliver to a Berwick merchant his hides and wool 
 which had been arrested at Romney. 
 
 The Abbot of Melrose's vessel, of which Friar 
 William de Bowden was the supercargo, was allowed 
 in 1230 to trade in England for a year; and by the 
 direct intervention of the King of Scots a strict 
 inquiry was ordered to be made as to the plundering 
 of the ship of John Ruffus, his burgess of Berwick, 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 when she was in danger near Yarmouth, and restitu- 
 tion was to be made. The vessels of six traders of 
 Lynn were permitted to sail for Scotland and 
 Norway. 
 
 In September, 1237, after the treaty at York, the 
 English King commanded the Mayor of Dublin to 
 release the goods of Scottish merchants arrested on 
 account of William de Marisco's piracies, and the 
 Mayor of Drogheda to release the ship and goods of 
 the merchants of Ayr so seized. Erkin, of Kirkcud- 
 bright, and Richard Ruffus got leave to go with their 
 vessels to Ireland to trade for corn. 
 
 In 1242, we find a reference made to a ship 
 freighted from Scotland to the port of London, and 
 in the same year there is a curious record proving 
 the existence of a Scotch colony of traders at Dun- 
 wich, who seem to have done a considerable business. 
 The Mayor was a Scotchman, " Lucas le Scot," and 
 another, " Gerard Scot," is also named. 
 
 In August, 1246, we have evidence of some trade 
 between France and Scotland, for on the first of 
 that month the King of Scots guaranteed some debts 
 due by merchants of Perth to traders in Bordeaux, 
 and in 1249 the Justiciar of Lothian became similarly 
 bound for debts owing in Scotland to Peter de 
 Camera, a merchant of Bordeaux. A considerable 
 licrht is thrown on the commercial condition of Scot- 
 land six centuries ago by the Statuta Gilde, or " Laws 
 
 H 
 
U4 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 of the Merchants of Berwick," which were enacted 
 in 1249, during- the mayoralty of Robert de Bern- 
 hame. Their importance is increased by the fact 
 that they seem to have been recognized by all the 
 trading towns of Scotland ; and, although bearing to 
 have been recorded at the date given above, they 
 had in all probability been in existence from a con- 
 siderably earlier period. 
 
 About the middle of the thirteenth century Ber- 
 wick was undoubtedly the principal port in Scotland. 
 It is described in the chronicle of Lanercost as a 
 " city so populous and of such trade that it might 
 justly be called another Alexandria, whose riches 
 were the sea, and the waters its walls. In those 
 days its citizens being most wealthy and devout, 
 gave noble alms." For these reasons, and also 
 because the " Lawis of the Gild " were the earliest 
 effort of local self-government among the commercial 
 communities of Scotland, the code is well worth a 
 somewhat minute examination. 
 
 These laws are recorded in Latin, but an ancient 
 translation into the vernacular Scottish has also been 
 preserved. They bear to have been ordained and 
 constituted by Robert de Bernhame, Mayor of Ber- 
 wick, Simon Maunsel, and " othir gude men of the 
 said burgh," with the object "that throu mony body is 
 in a place gaderit togidder thru the relacion of ane til 
 an other may folow vnite and concord, ane will, and 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 ferme and sekyr lufe ilk ane till other." In order 
 to secure these laudable objects stringent provisions 
 were adopted against transgressors. If a guild 
 brother offended another by contemptuous talk {ver- 
 botenus diliquerit) he was to be fined forty silver 
 pennies for each on each of the three first occasions, 
 and if the offence was continued he was to be speci- 
 ally judged by the Alderman, 47 Farthingmen (the 
 wardmen or those who had charge of different 
 quarters of the town, or, according to others, the 
 treasurers), the Dean of Guild, and " the laf of the 
 brether," and amerced accordingly. If a member 
 struck another, he was to be fined half a mark 
 besides paying amends to the injured brother. If 
 blood was drawn the offender was to pay two 
 hundred and forty silver pennies as a penalty, 
 besides satisfaction to the assaulted brother at the 
 will of the Alderman and brethren. No merchant, 
 when bargaining, was allowed to carry a knife with 
 a point, on a penalty of twelve sterlings. Provision 
 was also made for decent conduct and against public 
 nuisance, and offenders were to be fined four silver 
 pennies for each offence. Si quis minxerit super 
 calciamenta sua iu vili modo aut super pariates 
 domus Glide nostre .... emendet in quatuor 
 denariis. An entrance fee of 480 sterlings had to 
 be paid by each member unless he was the immed- 
 iate descendant of one already a member ; but if any 
 
Il6 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 brother became sick or fell into poor circumstances 
 through no fault of his own he had a claim to be 
 relieved by the guild at the will of the Alderman and 
 brethren. A singular regulation provided that in 
 the case of a brother in poor circumstances leaving a 
 daughter unprovided for the guild supplied her with 
 a husband, or enabled her to enter a religious house 
 at her pleasure. Poor brethren were to be buried 
 with decency according to the rites of the Church; and 
 if any brother, being in the town, neglected to come 
 to the funeral, he was fined in a boll of barley malt. 
 Provision was made for helping any members who 
 were " vexit or chalangit " outside the town ; but if 
 any one ceased to. become a member, or was expelled, 
 no one was to assist him in any difficulty or peril — 
 " he sail haue na help of thaim." When any matter 
 occurred requiring the advice of the brotherhood, a 
 little bell was first rung through the town, and then 
 the great bell in the bell-house was tolled thrice, 
 with a reasonable interval, and any one failing then 
 to attend was fined twelve pennies. If any one spoke 
 in the Assembly, or in the Courts, except the pursuer 
 and defender, or their advocates and the bailies, or 
 unless he was specially called on, he was to be fined 
 ninety-six silver pennies. 
 
 To ensure public health, all lepers and infected 
 persons were to be thrust out by the Serjeants of the 
 town beyond the walls, but a hospital was provided 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 II/ 
 
 outwith the town by voluntary contributions for such 
 unfortunates. Any one " daring or presuming" to 
 deposit filth or any dust or ashes on the street or the 
 market place, or on the banks of the river, were to 
 be fined ninety-six silver pennies. 
 
 To ensure the dignity of the brethren, every one 
 who had goods in his possession to the extent of ten 
 pounds or upwards was to provide for himself " a 
 seemly horse," on pain of a heavy fine. 
 
 The trading regulations are worth notice. No 
 one was allowed to buy or sell hides, wool, or wool 
 skins to sell again, except a member of the guild or 
 a " stranger merchant." No shoemaker was allowed 
 to tan any hides, except those that had horns and 
 ears of equal length. No tanner was permitted to 
 salt hides. No butcher was allowed to buy wool or 
 hides unless he " abjured his axe and swore never to 
 lay hands on beast." No skinner, nor glover, nor 
 any one, was to make wool of any skins from Whit- 
 sunday till Michaelmas, but to sell the skins " as he 
 best might." If anyone took money from a stranger 
 merchant on commission, and of it took a profit 
 above the market, he was to be fined for the first 
 and second offence, and for the third expelled the 
 guild for ever, unless pardoned. No one was 
 allowed to purchase herrings or other fish, or any 
 other merchandise, such as corn, beans, pease, or 
 salt, coming by sea until the ship was berthed and 
 
i iS 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 the oars taken out. Any one offending was to be 
 fined a cask of wine, or expelled the town for a year 
 and a day. Any one who had legitimately bought 
 such goods was obliged to sell at the price he had 
 bought to any guild brother who desired it for his 
 own sustenance or that of his household up to three- 
 fourths of the investment, but any one who got any 
 goods for this reason and sold them again was fined 
 a cask of wine. 
 
 Payment for merchandise was made on delivery, 
 and when a bargain was completed by giving "God's 
 penny or any siluer in arles " he who refused to 
 implement it was fined in a cask of wine to the guild. 
 But if the article contracted for was " good above 
 and worse below " arbiters were appointed to judge 
 in the matter. Every morning at a certain hour — 
 not recorded — the great bell rung in the bell-house, 
 and no one was allowed to buy anything brought to 
 the town for sale before that time. No married 
 woman was to buy wool in the street, and no mer- 
 chant was to have more than one servant to buy 
 wool or hides. If any one went and procured a 
 stranger to plead against his neighbour, or plotted 
 against the guild, he was to be fined a cask of wine. 
 
 The government of the community was confided 
 to twenty-four "good men of the better, more dis- 
 creet, and more trustworthy of the burgh chosen 
 thereto," along with a mayor and four bailies, who 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 II 9 
 
 were elected " at the sight and by the consideration 
 of the whole community." 
 
 Any one who revealed the secrets of the guild was 
 reputed infamous (infamis reputatur). 
 
 Some later regulations of the same guild may be 
 conveniently noticed here. Merchants who sold 
 wine were to pay one penny for each cask taken 
 from or put on board a ship, or exposed for sale in 
 their booths, to the town, and another penny and a 
 halfpenny for drink-money. Butchers were not to 
 buy beasts on their way to market, nor in the market 
 until after dinner. No merchandise coming by sea 
 was to be bought except at the ship's side, and only 
 between the rising and setting of the sun. 
 
 In the Chartulary of Glasgow there are some 
 ordinances which are believed to date from the 
 thirteenth century, if not earlier. They provide that 
 no bailie should keep a tavern or sell bread " on pain 
 of the king's amercement unforgiven," and no one 
 outwith a burgh was to have a brew-house, except 
 those who had the right to pit and gallows (that is ; 
 except barons), and then only one was allowed for 
 private use. 
 
 Some curious facts regarding early Scottish com- 
 merce can be gathered from the " Assisa de Tollo- 
 neis," which shows the various articles of export and 
 import in use. Though the existing MSS. are not 
 prior to the reign of Robert the Bruce, they may 
 
120 
 
 MEDIAL VA L SCOTLAND. 
 
 safely be used for the earlier period of which we are 
 now treating. From that record we find that skins 
 of foxes, beavers, cats, hares, and such like small 
 wild animals were articles of ordinary trade, as well 
 as hides, deer skins, and sheep skins. Corn, salt, 
 malt, beans, pease, leeks, onions, garlic, butter, 
 cheese, iron, pottery, and mercery were commonly 
 exposed for sale in the burgh markets. Horses, 
 cattle, sheep, and swine brought into a burgh for 
 sale paid duty. Herrings, salmon, ling, coal fish 
 icolemoth), cod (keiyng), haddock, whiting, and 
 oysters were ordinary articles of diet, and bought 
 and sold freely. 
 
 Brazil (a wood used for dyeing red), madder (a 
 plant used for the same purpose), wood, wax, pepper, 
 cumin seed, alum, ginger, setwell {curcuma zedoaria, 
 a plant which is a powerful sudorific), rice, figs, and 
 raisins, all mentioned as occurring in the markets, 
 represent a considerable amount of foreign natural 
 products. Canvas, nets (kellis), thread for nets, linen 
 thread, battens, rafters or spars (cAcueronys), and 
 knives were probably foreign manufactured goods, 
 though possibly of native origin. Ornamental 
 leather (cordwa?i, so called from Cordova in Spain), 
 kitchen utensils (battry), caldrons, brass pots, locks, 
 and oil were almost certainly foreign. 
 
 In the u Custuma Portuum," which is traditionally 
 ascribed to David I., certain duties are imposed on 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 121 
 
 shipping, which incidentally prove the existence of 
 considerable commerce. Thus, in the port of Ber- 
 wick, a merchant ship of England, " or ony oute 
 kynryke," paid twelve silver pennies for its berth, 
 while the Scottish ship only paid four. If the vessel 
 was laden with wine, or honey, or oil, or any other 
 merchandise stored in tons, and if any of it was sold, 
 the " tome 48 ton" became the king's property, for 
 what purpose it is difficult to imagine. The last 
 matter to be noted in this reion throws a curious 
 light on Scottish enterprise in a different direction. 
 In 1249 the Earl of St. Pol and Blois was preparing 
 to accompany the King of France to the Holy Land, 
 and as the Crusaders then took with them their 
 horses they required vessels of a considerable size. 
 The ship of the French Earl was built at Inverness, 
 probably on account of its proximity to the great 
 forests of the North ; artificers were sent from Flan- 
 ders, Marseilles, and Genoa to assist the native 
 workmen, and the result was, in the language of 
 Matthew Paris, our authority for the event, " navis 
 miranda." 
 
 The reign of Alexander commenced on the 8th of 
 July, 1249, and closed on the 19th of March, 
 1285-6, and during that period Scotland continued 
 to make a constant improvement in civilization and 
 prosperity. The scanty materials at our disposal 
 indicate an equal progress in trade and commerce. 
 
122 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 In 1250 the Abbot of Glenluce again had leave 
 for seven years to get corn in Ireland for the use of 
 the monastery ; and in the following March Robert 
 le Stater, a Scotch merchant of Berwick, had a grant 
 of his ship and cargo, cast ashore near Marbletorp, 
 in Lincolnshire, by stress of weather. The ship was 
 plundered by the coast men, and the proceedings in 
 the King's Court at Westminster are interesting as 
 showing the value of a ship and cargo of a Scottish 
 merchant in the thirteenth century. The mast and 
 sail yard were valued at 40s.; the hull and small fur- 
 niture at £6 ; a sail, 4 marks ; two anchors, ropes, 
 and wreckage, £4.; the chests, cloth, etc., composing 
 the cargo, were taken away, so that no value 
 could be put on them. These values were assessed 
 by special parties named, on the oaths of the mariners 
 and others of Grimsby and Boston. The sums 
 named were all to be paid to the owner by the dis- 
 trict where the plunder had taken place. 
 
 In 1258 we get another glimpse of the Scotch 
 community at Dunwich in some singular proceedings 
 before the Sheriff of Suffolk. A special jury was 
 summoned to inquire into the cause why the goods 
 and merchandise of Reginald of Acre, valued at one 
 hundred marks and more, had been arrested by 
 Lucas the Scot. From the proceedings recorded it 
 appeared that Reginald and his wares duly arrived 
 at Dunwich. And Lucas the Scot hearing it said 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 123 
 
 that Reginald was a famous chirurgeon, spoke to him 
 as to curing his wife, who was ill. Reginald took 
 up his residence in Lucas's house, and committed all 
 his wares to the care of Lucas, and Richard his son. 
 He prescribed for the sick woman for four days, but 
 she, finding herself no better, expelled him from the 
 house. He then applied for his goods, but they de- 
 clined to give them up. At the sitting of the Court, 
 Lucas and Richard professed to produce the goods, 
 but Reginald, on seeing them, swore they were not 
 all there, especially naming ten gold rings with pre- 
 cious stones, certain ornamental buttons of crystal, 
 and other articles. The jury found that there was a 
 shortcoming in the goods, and remitted the case to 
 the King's Court. Lucas seems to have got into 
 frequent legal troubles. He paid a fine of three 
 marks of gold in October, 1258; and in 1260 was 
 accused of a transgression against Tidemann and 
 
 o o 
 
 Salomon, of Hamburg. The Mayor and community 
 of Hamburg took up the quarrel, and arrested, 
 according to " merchants' law," the goods of English 
 merchants trading to that port. But these were 
 released on the receipt of a letter from the King of 
 England stating that the aggrieved merchants had 
 been fully satisfied of their chattels and losses by 
 Lucas. In the following year another example 
 occurs of the exercise of " merchants' law." The 
 English King addressed a writ to the Mayor of 
 
124 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Lynn, setting forth that Henry le Tenturer, Richard 
 Robert le Mercer, John Lummelucas, John of 
 Beverley, and Alan of Bedford, all merchants of 
 Scotland, had abstracted from Ralf of Stannford 14 
 marks 4 shillings, and, as the King of Scotland had 
 failed to do justice, he commanded the Mayor and 
 Bailiffs to arrest all Scotch goods at the fair till Ralf 
 obtained justice. 
 
 Towards the close of 1258, on March 18, Walter 
 Cumin, Earl of Menteith, Alexander Cumin, Earl of 
 Buchan, and their friends and allies made a bond of 
 mutual alliance and friendship with Lewellyn, Prince 
 of Wales, David ap Grufud, his brother and others. 
 Among other matters it was provided that Welsh 
 merchants should have safe conduct to come and 
 trade in Scotland, and that Scotch merchants should 
 have full liberty and encouragement to go and trade 
 in Wales. 
 
 The abbot and monks of Arbroath in 1260 had a 
 confirmation of a charter granted to them by the 
 English King John at the instance of William the 
 Lion, by which they were given permission to buy 
 and sell for their own use throughout all England, 
 free of toll, duty, or custom, saving only the liberty 
 of the city of London. The merchants of Berwick 
 were at the same time freed from all arrestment in 
 England for any debt for which they were not 
 guarantees or principal debtors, unless it was reason- 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 125 
 
 ably established that they had failed in justice to 
 their creditors. The bailiffs of all the ports of Eng- 
 land, Ireland, and Gascony were commanded in 
 1263 to seize a certain vessel belonging to John the 
 Scot, merchant of Berwick, which had been illegally 
 taken possession of by the crew, who were wander- 
 ing about " as vagabonds and fugitives on the sea/' 
 and restore the ship and her cargo to the owner. 
 
 A curious fact about Haco's invasion of Scotland 
 in 1263 is given in a letter from Henry III. of Eng- 
 land to Magnus, King of Norway, in 1266. The 
 Norwegian King had sent an Envoy to England to 
 remind Henry of a proposal made during the life- 
 time of Haco that Norwegian merchants sustaining 
 losses in England should be re-imbursed if the same 
 was done to English merchants in Norway, and com- 
 plaining that nothing had been done. The English 
 King gave as his reason for not doing anything that 
 some English vessels had been arrested in Norway 
 to be used in the war against Scotland and against 
 Alexander, King of Scots, his son-in-law, which was 
 hurtful to both. In the treaty between Scotland and 
 Norway, concluded the same year, provision was 
 made for the security and protection of the persons, 
 vessels, and goods of the merchants of either country 
 who might be wrecked. 
 
 In 1285 an extraordinary letter was addressed to 
 Alexander III. by a Spanish merchant and ship- 
 
126 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 owner, which is still preserved in the Public Record 
 Office, London. It is written in Spanish, and nar- 
 rates how the ship sailed from Bordeaux for London 
 and was driven by a tempest far out of her course 
 to the isles of " Hincha Guala," where they found a 
 £ood harbour, and remained there till the storm was 
 over. Then there came the men of " Alan Radric w 
 with a sealed letter offering to show them a better 
 port and to take care of their goods. They accord- 
 ingly went, and Alan took out all their wares and 
 left only two men in the vessel, and she went ashore 
 and became a total wreck ; whereupon Alan took for 
 himself all the goods, including 8 tuns of wine, 300 
 dozen of Cordova skins, a great quantity of raisins 
 and dates, a bale of silk, shields and armour for 30 
 men, and 20 silk banners. Besides this, the crew 
 lost two changes of clothes for each man, and a con- 
 siderable sum of money which they had to spend. 
 The Spanish captain concludes his letter with the 
 following prayer : — " And Lord for the great mercy 
 in you make Alan and his men come before you and 
 tell these things in our presence ; and Lord do me 
 justice in your Court." 
 
 The death of Alexander III. closed the most 
 prosperous period in the history of Scotland till 
 comparatively recent times. More especially the com- 
 mercial progress which has been noticed received a 
 severe check by the political troubles which followed. 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 127 
 
 In 1288 Edward I., in his ordinance for regulating 
 the trade of Ireland, prohibited the merchants of 
 that country from carrying corn, victuals, or other 
 merchandise to " his enemies of Scotland." As 
 peace still continued between the two countries, 
 these " enemies " must have been the adherents of 
 Robert Bruce, who had entered into a confederacy in 
 1286 to disappoint Edward's views as to the disposal 
 of the young Queen. 
 
 A few years later, in 1293, Albert the Scot and 
 John the Scot, merchants of Piacenza, had license to 
 trade in England during the King's pleasure. Im- 
 mediately afterwards we find, in a commercial treaty 
 between England and Flanders, in 1297, Edward I. 
 stipulating that the Flemings should have free and 
 secure trade in Scotland. Either this stipulation had 
 been rescinded or had not been given effect to, for in 
 1305 Robert, Count of Flanders, asked that his men 
 might be allowed to trade with the Scots. This 
 request was probably not granted, at least judging by 
 the policy Edward displayed now towards Scotland, 
 and by what afterwards occurred. There are extant 
 letters of safe conduct in favour of Jacques Dribrod, 
 burgess of St. Omer, and his sons, to trade for two 
 or three years in Scotland. The writ to the Scottish 
 Chancellor bears that the King has granted these 
 with much regret, and only at the special request of 
 his faithful and loyal John de Menteith. Almost 
 
128 
 
 MEDIAL VA L SCOTLAND. 
 
 directly afterwards he commanded the Chancellor of 
 Scotland to seize the goods, effects, or debts of the 
 great trading communities of the Pullici and Rem- 
 bertini, 49 on the pretext that they were due monies to 
 various parties and had not satisfied them. In all 
 probability they had been giving assistance to the 
 Scots against the English. 
 
 In 1 3 1 3, Edward II. wrote, on the 15th February, 
 to the Count of Flanders, complaining that his sub- 
 jects still traded with the Scots, and supplied them 
 with provisions, armour, and other necessaries. He 
 wrote again on the 1st of May pointing out that 
 thirteen Flemish ships had sailed from the Swyn for 
 Scotland with arms and provisions. No answer is 
 recorded to these complaints, and probably none 
 was given, for on June 19 the English King ordered 
 the arrest of all Flemish vessels in English ports. 
 
 Following out his vindictive policy, the English 
 King again wrote on the 25th March, 13 19, to 
 Robert, Count of Flanders, and the towns and com- 
 munities of the Low Countries, to cease trading with 
 the people of Scotland ; and the answers of several 
 of these have been preserved. John, Duke of Bra- 
 bant, assures Edward that the Scots will have no aid 
 from his territories, and the burgesses of Ypres and 
 Mechlin write to the same effect. But the Count of 
 Flanders declares that his country is open to all 
 comers, and he will not deny entrance to " the sub- 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 I2 9 
 
 jects of the King of Scots"; and the inhabitants of 
 Bruges make an intimation to the same effect. 
 
 Almost the only other recorded trace of Scottish 
 commerce during the rei^n of Robert Bruce is found 
 in an agreement made between him and the Kino- of 
 Norway in 13 12, providing inter alia for redressing 
 some injuries suffered by merchants of St. Andrews 
 in that country. 
 
 The reign of David II. marks a very important 
 era in the early trade of Scotland. In 1347 a formal 
 agreement was made between the merchants of Scot- 
 land and the burgesses of Middleburgh in Zealand 
 for establishing a staple there. The agreement was 
 confirmed in a Parliament held at Dundee on the 
 1 2th November, and the Scots were empowered to 
 appoint a " mayor " — an officer probably of the same 
 sort as the "conservator" of Scottish privilege after- 
 wards so common in Holland — to look after their 
 interests. 
 
 A further proof of increasing commercial activity 
 
 is found in another Act of Parliament, passed in 
 
 1357, ordaining that all stranger merchants were to 
 
 be received peaceably and encouraged to come to the 
 
 country for the purposes of trade. It may be as well 
 
 at this stage to explain the methods of international 
 
 commerce in the fourteenth century and the peculiar 
 
 terms which will constantly meet us in our inquiry. 
 
 With regard to ''staple," Gerard Malynes, merchant, 
 
 1 
 
130 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 in his treatise on the Lex Mercatoria, published at 
 London in 1622, thus defines the term: — " The most 
 ancient foundation of merchants and merchandising 
 in this kingdome, both for trade and government, 
 had by continuance of time before King Henrie the 
 Third, did obtaine the name of staple. The com- 
 modities of the realme, as wools, leather, woolfells, 
 and other commodities, were called staple mer- 
 chandise ; the ports from whence the said com- 
 modities were to bee transported were called staple 
 ports ; the places of residence of these merchants, 
 both within this land and beyond the seas, were 
 called the staples ; the laws and ordinances made by 
 the said merchants were called staple laws ; under 
 their government, consisting of a maior, two con- 
 stables, and other officers, hath the trade of this 
 kingdome timeout of mind flourished." The Mayor 
 had authority to determine all disputes amongst the 
 merchants of the staple ; but if the dispute arose 
 between a stapler and a stranger merchant two im- 
 partial stranger merchants were joined with him. 
 
 Unfortunately, the records of the agreement as to 
 the Scottish staple between the merchants of Scot- 
 land and the town of Middleburgh have not been 
 preserved, but some idea of it can be got from a 
 later transaction of a similar sort described in the 
 inventories of the charters of the burgh of Edin- 
 burgh in 1540. By this contract, which was made 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 131 
 
 anent the staple with the city of Antwerp, it was 
 provided that the " Nation of Scotland" should have 
 " a fair and pleasant house" for the residence of their 
 Mayor (then called Conservator), " in which house 
 they might also lodge their packets and merchandise, 
 and otherwise use it at their pleasure during their 
 residence in the said town." The Magistrates of 
 Antwerp agreed to " commune " with the owners of 
 houses in any part of the town which the Scottish 
 merchants might select, so that the Scots " should 
 have reason to be contented with the price of the 
 said houses," for their lodging. They were to be 
 exempt from all excise of wine, ale, or beer con- 
 sumed in said house, provided none other than Scots 
 frequented such. When a fleet came from Scotland, 
 and the merchants were too numerous for one house, 
 the Burgomaster and Council agreed to assign two 
 or three more as might be required for the occasion 
 under the same regulations. 
 
 All complaints, questions, or causes between one 
 Scotsman and another were to be decided summarily 
 and finally by the Conservator, the Burgomaster and 
 Council binding themselves to carry the sentence 
 into effect. But when a stranger commenced a suit 
 against any of the Scots nation he was required to 
 raise it in the Conservator's Court in the first 
 instance ; but after the judgment was given either 
 party, thinking himself aggrieved and wishing to 
 
132 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 have further trial, might then go to the Burgomasters 
 by way of appeal. If any Scot commenced an 
 action against a burgess of Antwerp or any stranger, 
 it was to be tried by the Burgomaster and not by 
 the Conservator. 
 
 Wharves were set apart for the special use of the 
 Scottish merchants, who were permitted to sell and 
 dispose of all kinds of merchandise. If salt fish 
 were sold by retail, it was provided they should be 
 first passed by the Cure Masters of Fish. The 
 wages of labourers and working men were to be 
 fixed by the Magistrates of Antwerp " to the reason- 
 able satisfaction and content of the Scots nation." 
 
 The Scottish fleet of trading ships was to be 
 piloted free of cost from the place of La Vere or 
 Flushing according as the ships should arrive. If 
 any Scottish ship was stranded between La Vere or 
 Flushing and Antwerp the city was to furnish all 
 assistance and contribute to the expenses caused by 
 the occurrence and delay. Strict regulations were 
 laid down as to the Scottish merchants being in no 
 ways molested or unduly hindered by the Customs 
 officials, and if any goods were plundered between 
 Antwerp and La Vere or Flushing the city became 
 bound to make good the loss. 
 
 This agreement with Antwerp was followed in the 
 next year by another with Middleburgh, which pro- 
 bably was more favourable to the Scottish merchants 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 133 
 
 than the one of 1347. It provided that the Council 
 of Middleburgh, " for the love they did bear to the 
 kingdom of Scotland, being desirous to continue the 
 ancient amity and goodwill that always subsisted 
 between them," should give to the said Scottish 
 merchants " all possible aid, assistance, and advice 
 at all times whenever they should be required 
 thereto." Moreover, they promised to provide, 
 1 without any charge to the kingdom of Scotland, a 
 very gentle house worthy of the said nation." In 
 addition, they agreed to erect and furnish a chapel, 
 to the honour of God, with an altar and all necessary 
 ornaments for the convenience of the said Scottish 
 nation. The other provisions were similar to those 
 already noticed. 
 
 Middleburgh, though it must always be a most 
 interesting place to Scottish merchants, is now 
 greatly fallen from its position as a commercial 
 centre. In the fourteenth century it was one of the 
 chief trading ports of the Netherlands. Lodovico 
 Guicciardini (quoted by Cosme Innes) speaks highly 
 of its admirable situation and of its great ship canals, 
 by which great vessels could pass from the port to 
 the town. At the other end of the canal, about a 
 league distant, was Campvere, a place of which we 
 shall hear a great deal during the following century. 
 
 The establishment of the Scottish staple at Mid- 
 dleburgh in 1347 was followed by more cordial 
 
134 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 relations between Scotland and England. In 1362 
 Edward III. ordered that the ships, merchandise, 
 etc., of the Scottish traders should not be molested 
 at English ports, and the records of the period show 
 an increased number of safe-conducts granted to 
 Scots for the purpose of trading in England. Thus 
 in 1358 Andrew de Murref and Alan Erskin, and in 
 1362 John de Petscoty and twenty-seven others, all 
 described as merchants of Scotland, were guaranteed 
 safe ingress and egress to England for commerce. 
 
 But though these are signs of a gradual increase 
 of Scottish trade and commerce, it was still a long 
 way behind the rest of Europe for more than a 
 century. The author quoted above, Guicciardini (a 
 nephew of the historian), writing in the middle of the 
 sixteenth century, gives a vivid description of the 
 trading communities of the Low Countries, and a 
 detailed account of the exports and imports of the 
 principal countries in Europe, with an estimate of 
 their value. He estimates the trade between Eng- 
 land and the Netherlands at twelve millions of scucli 
 yearly (about ^3,000,000 sterling) ; but he classes 
 the trade with Scotland, Ireland, and Barbary to- 
 gether as not worth the trouble of calculating, it was 
 comparatively so small. 
 
 The fifteenth century is singularly deficient in any 
 notices of Scottish trade and commerce. In 1487 
 the Parliament of James ratified and approved certain 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 135 
 
 articles presented by the Convention of Burghs. 
 The first was in reference to letters of marque 
 granted by the King of the Romans. It was agreed 
 to send an embassy with as much speed as possible 
 to the said King, the expenses of which were to be 
 divided among the burghs. It was next provided 
 that no one was to trade to Flanders, Holland, or 
 Zealand, except " famous and woureschipfull men 
 haifand ilk ane of them awne half a last of gudis," 
 who were to be free men of a burgh and indwellers 
 within the same. 
 
 Some few scanty notices occur in the Acts of 
 Parliament and other records showing that foreign 
 trade existed, if it did not flourish. Thus in 1454, 
 in 1478, in 148 1, and in 1482 Acts of Parliament were 
 passed to encourage the import of victuals. Spears 
 of six ells in length only were to be imported by an 
 ordinance of 147 1 . The Acts of 1464, 1466, and 
 1483 prove the existence of an export trade in wool, 
 skins, hides, cloth, and salmon. Adulterated wines 
 were prohibited by an enactment in 1482. The 
 export of horses under three years of age, of cattle, 
 and of tallow was prohibited by Acts in 1424 and 
 1468. In 1427 merchants were permitted to carry 
 their merchandise for one year in foreign vessels if 
 no Scottish ones could be had. In 149 1 it was 
 ordered that the Isle of " Inchgarde," in the Forth, 
 should be fortified to protect merchant shipping, and 
 
136 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 certain dues payable by ships seeking its protection 
 were fixed. 
 
 Some idea of the commerce of this obscure period 
 may be gathered from the returns from the Customs 
 as recorded in the Rolls of the Exchequer. The 
 duty on wool was 2 marks on each sack (of 24 
 stones) ; 1 mark for the long hundred of woolfells, 
 and 4 marks for the last of hides (each last contain- 
 ing about 200 hides). The revenue derived from 
 these is estimated by Mr. Burnett to be, on the 
 average, rather under £"2,600 per annum, as against 
 ,£7,640 in the reign of Robert II. Woollen cloth 
 was charged with an ad valorem duty of 2s. in the 
 pound, and the annual average of the export clues 
 from all the ports in Scotland was only about £ 108. 
 The next important article of commerce was salmon, 
 the duty on which was 2s. 6d. in the pound, and the 
 annual average income from which was about ,£310. 
 
 The returns of the import duties show a trade in 
 wheat, malt, barley, beer, wines, salt, soap, cups 
 (ciphi), and the total from the whole Customs 
 amounts to about £"3,300 yearly. 
 
 The sixteenth century develops a considerable 
 increase in the foreign trade of Scotland ; and we 
 have now the guidance and assistance of the very 
 valuable Records of the Convention of Royal Burghs. 
 
 The first year of the century it was ordered by the 
 Provost of Edinburgh that nobody except a burgess 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 dwelling in a burgh should trade with France or 
 Flanders. 
 
 In 1529 John Campbell of Lundy was sent to 
 Flanders to negotiate a treaty of commerce between 
 the " nation of Scotland " and the Emperor ; and the 
 following were the principal points on which he was 
 to insist : — 
 
 First, that one payment of custom should free the 
 goods of the nation of Scotland from every other 
 charge ; secondly, that the said custom should not be 
 greater than it was of old; thirdly, that all the Scotch 
 merchants should be well dressed for the honour of 
 the realm ; and, if not, the Conservator was em- 
 powered to seize and sell enough of their merchan- 
 dise to fit them out reputably; and, lastly, that no 
 Scottish merchant should raise any action against 
 another in Flanders, except in the Conservator's 
 Court. 
 
 At a Convention of the Royal Burghs held at 
 Edinburgh in 1539, Master William Thompson, 
 canon in Our Lady Kirk of Antwerp, appeared and 
 expressed for the community of Antwerp their great 
 desire to have the staple of the Scottish nation fixed 
 there, and their readiness to do everything they 
 could to meet the wishes of the Scottish merchants. 
 The matter was delayed to give the burghs an 
 opportunity of considering the proposals from 
 Antwerp. Two years later the Convention agreed 
 
138 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 to have the staple in Flanders, at whichever town 
 would grant the greatest privileges. The trade with 
 France was evidently now of some importance, for 
 in the same Convention the burghs agreed to defray 
 the expenses of a " great personage" to go to the 
 King of France for the purpose of getting a new 
 imposition lately placed on trade with France modi- 
 fied ; and if " a personage of less degree " was to be 
 sent, the Convention agreed to pay whatever portion 
 of his expenses the town of Edinburgh might agree 
 to. Some years later (in 1563), it was agreed by the 
 burghs to recommend the Queen to send an Ambas- 
 sador to the King of Denmark anent certain ships, 
 merchandise, and persons detained wrongfully by the 
 said King, and also anent certain " great and new 
 tolls " imposed upon the merchants of Scotland 
 desiring to import timber. The burghs again 
 agreed to raise from themselves the necessary 
 expenses. 
 
 The further steps in this negotiation are highly 
 interesting, as showing the important position the 
 Convention of Royal Burghs held then in the affairs 
 of the nation. The resolution above alluded to was 
 arrived at on the 24th February, 1563. On the next 
 day the Queen declared her will that the Commis- 
 sioners of the burghs should put in writing the names 
 of certain " noble men " whom they thought fit and 
 proper persons to go to the King of Denmark, to the 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 139 
 
 number of ten or twelve, out of whom Her Majesty 
 should choose one "and further declare her will." 
 The Commissioners accordingly nominated the Lord 
 Ruthven, the Lord of St. John, and Master John 
 Hay, and sent in the names to the Queen the same 
 day. On the 28th of February the Queen asked the 
 Commissioners for the names of certain other per- 
 sons over and above those first nominated. Accord- 
 ingly, on that day the Commissioners added the 
 names of the Lord Justice-Clerk, the Tutor of Petcur. 
 the Laird of Whittinghame, and the Laird of Elph- 
 ingston. Of these the Queen named, on the 4th of 
 March, the Laird of Whittinghame, who was accord- 
 ingly sent with a suite of eight persons, of whom two 
 were to be merchants of good repute, and the burghs 
 M stented " 50 themselves in the sum of twenty-eight 
 hundred merks for their expenses. 
 
 The trade with France was threatened in 1570 
 with certain undesirable restrictions. It was reported 
 in July of that year to the " Rycht Honorabil Pro- 
 vest "and Council of Edinburgh that the King of 
 France had issued a proclamation (at the instigation 
 of the Bishop of Glasgow) forbidding any Scottish 
 merchants to trade with France, except they had the 
 license of the Queen- Mother or her lieutenants. A 
 certain Captain Ninian Cockburn declared to the 
 Council of Edinburgh that he had good hopes of 
 getting this proclamation rescinded ; and the Council 
 
MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 agreed, if he could manage this within three months, 
 to pay him three hundred crowns of the sun, current 
 money of France, or its equivalent in Scots money. 
 This attempt was apparently not successful, for in 
 October of the same year the Commissioners of the 
 Royal Burghs agreed to send "one or two honest 
 men, merchants," with writings under their common 
 seal, to the King of France to try and induce him 
 to withdraw the proclamation above referred to. 
 Accordingly, Master Henry Nesbit, burgess and 
 merchant of Edinburgh, was appointed to go to 
 France, and the rest of the burghs agreed to repay 
 him 15 shillings Scots for every franc he paid for his 
 expenses. 
 
 At the same time the Commissioners ordained 
 letters to be raised to bring home the Conservator 
 in Flanders, that order might be taken concerning 
 the Scottish merchants in that country. The condi- 
 tion of the Netherlands at this time was not favour- 
 able for commerce, and accordingly we find that in 
 1574 the burghs petitioned the Lord Regent to con- 
 sent to the temporary change of the staple to Calais, 
 "quhill it sail pleis God to bring the contry of 
 Flanderis in quyetnes as it hes bene befoir," and to 
 permit " ane qualefeft man of the merchant estait 
 and nane other'' to go to Calais and arrange matters. 
 The Conservator in Flanders was also directed to 
 appear at the next Convention. 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 141 
 
 Meantime the embassy to Denmark seems to have 
 produced some result, for in the same year (1574) the 
 King of Denmark agreed to admit the ships of the 
 Scottish nation to all parts of his dominion provided 
 they had the " coquet" of the port from whence they 
 came. 
 
 The next Convention was held in 1575, and the 
 Conservator of the Scottish trade in Flanders (Master 
 George Halkett) duly appeared, and "lang resonyng 
 vpon the troubilsum estait in Flanderis " took place. 
 The result was that in the first place an increase of 
 emoluments was voted unanimously to Master 
 George for the two years following, and certain 
 articles were formulated for the greater benefit and 
 convenience of the Scottish traders. Very little good 
 seems to have followed from this, for in 1577 a 
 special commissioner, Master Nicholas Uddert, of 
 Edinburgh, was directed to go to Flanders with 
 letters from the Regent and the Convention, for the 
 purpose of placing the staple in the most commodi- 
 ous place. He was to be accompanied by the Con- 
 servator (who seems to have remained in Scotland 
 till then), and the additional fees authorized by the 
 Act of 1575 were ordered to be paid for all time 
 coming till the will of the Convention was further 
 declared. 
 
 This arrangement only lasted for a very short 
 time. The following year (1578) the Commis- 
 
142 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 sioners cancelled the bargain, and empowered 
 Henry Nesbit, burgess of Edinburgh, as their Com- 
 missioner, to arrange with the town of Campvere for 
 the transport of the Scottish staple to that place. 
 The original commission and instructions to Nesbit 
 are still preserved in the Records of the Convention 
 of Royal Burghs. The first is a document of great 
 importance as showing the position of the burghs at 
 this time. It is addressed by the Provost, Bailies, 
 and Council of Edinburgh to " the mighty and 
 noble lordis, burghmasters, judges, and magistrates 
 of the town of Campvere in Zealand ; " and recites 
 that the Commissioners of the burghs of Scotland 
 having by the laws of Scotland and the privileges 
 granted by their Kings the right as the " estate of 
 merchants " to reason and decide in all matters con- 
 cerning their common weal, had agreed to send 
 Master Henry Nesbit to arrange for placing their 
 common staple with them, as it had been in times of 
 old. 
 
 The instructions desire that all the privileges and 
 freedoms granted before by the Earls of Flanders, 
 Dukes of Brabant, the Emperor Charles V. and his 
 son should be anew approved, granted, and kept 
 without violation or diminution. More particularly 
 it is required that a deep and safe channel for the 
 entry of the Scots ships into the harbour should be 
 marked off ; that berths at the quays should be 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 H3 
 
 reserved for them free of charge ; that custom should 
 only be paid once at an appointed place ; that the 
 factors' houses should be free from all imposts ; that 
 the judgment of all cases should be left to the Con- 
 servator ; that " an honourable place " be appointed 
 for preaching and praying according to the custom 
 of the Scots nation ; and that certain privileges 
 should be procured from the town of Antwerp. 
 Master George Halkett does not appear to have 
 given unqualified satisfaction, for in 1581 the burghs 
 desired that he should be discharged from his office, 
 and ordered home to eive an account of his 
 doings. 
 
 The following year it was ordered by the Con- 
 vention that no sailor should be employed in Scot- 
 tish vessels except those certificated to be actual 
 residents in free burghs and bearing charges there, 
 under severe penalties. In 1582 the burghs agreed 
 that no factor in Zealand, Holland, or Brabant 
 should be permitted to act unless he was a professor 
 of the true religion, and the same day the Con- 
 vention, understanding that many of the merchants 
 and traders resorting to France and Flanders had 
 daily intercourse in the way of business with 
 " ignorant and conjurit papists," whereby "great 
 and abominable errors " might ensue, declared that 
 no Scottish merchant should for the future have any 
 manner of dealing with or " haunt or use the com- 
 
144 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 panyof" any trader " nochtt of the trew religion," 
 and every transgressor was to be fined ^40. In spite 
 of this prohibition the merchants appear not to have 
 conducted themselves without reproach, as in 1586 
 the burghs heavily lamented their backslidings, and 
 " thair vncumlie behaviour in thair eivill lyfe and 
 outwarth manneris," and agreed forthwith to " erect 
 ane Scottis kirk " in Campvere for remedy thereof, 
 and in the following year they further agreed to 
 appoint a minister for the church, who was to be 
 paid by an additional duty on goods or by other 
 methods suggested. 
 
 It would occupy too much space to continue in 
 detail the history of the trade and commerce of Scot- 
 land during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 The object of these papers is not to give a complete 
 account of early Scotland (which indeed would be 
 impossible), but rather to indicate the sources from 
 which such a history may in the future be compiled. 
 
 The full and admirable preface to the Ledger 
 of Halyburton, printed in the series of Scottish 
 Chronicles and Memorials, shows the transactions of 
 a Scottish merchant during the Middle Ages, and is 
 of the highest interest for this purpose. The preface, 
 by the late Professor Cosmo Innes, gives an admir- 
 able account of the commerce of Scotland during the 
 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Records of 
 the Convention of Royal Burghs supply details of 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 145 
 
 the utmost importance for the period at which we 
 have arrived. 
 
 Having dealt generally with the foreign trade of 
 Scotland during the sixteenth century, during which, 
 with some vicissitudes, it made remarkable progress, 
 we come now to the seventeenth century, during 
 which the principal new factor in the situation is the 
 accession of the Sovereign of Scotland to the throne 
 of England. 
 
 The first source of information is found in the 
 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland. 
 
 By a statute of 1607 it was remitted to the 
 burghs of Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen, 
 Glasgow, Ayr, St. Andrews, Montrose, Kirkcud- 
 bright, Irvine, Craile, Burntisland, and Culross to 
 meet and set down order for furthering trade and 
 navigation by reformation of abuses, and encour- 
 aging the building of "great ships." 
 
 Some time after this, great damage was caused to 
 Scottish shipping by the pirates of Dunkirk, and in 
 1630 the burghs gave in an article to Parliament on 
 the subject. The Estates agreed to petition the 
 King to consider the deplorable state of the mer- 
 chants, and to provide some means by which they 
 might be protected in their peaceable trading. In 
 1645 tne Earls of Tullibardine, Southesk, and 
 Lanark, the Lairds of Manor Dawick and Udny 
 and the Commissioners for Edinburgh, Aberdeen, 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 and Irvine, were appointed a committee to consider 
 the question of the India trade. 
 
 The same year one John Cartwright supplicated 
 Parliament that he might be made a free citizen of 
 the kingdom, and that he might have in his com- 
 merce with the East Indies the same privileges which 
 the King of Denmark offered for a similar traffic. 
 
 Towards the close of the century, in 1695, there 
 was passed the famous Act for establishing a com- 
 pany for trading to Africa and the Indies. 
 
 A very good general idea of the commercial state 
 of Scotland in the middle of the seventeenth century 
 will be found in the report presented to the Commis- 
 sioners for Appeals in 1656 by Mr. Tucker, who was 
 sent down specially to inquire into the excise and 
 customs. His report contains many curious particulars 
 bearing on foreign trade, and shows conclusively 
 the commercial decay which had taken place. 
 
 " Although," he says, " Scotland is almost encom- 
 passed with the sea (which hath very many inletts 
 into the mayneland), and hath a very greate number 
 of islands adjoyneing thereunto, both on the easterne 
 and westerne parts thereof, and soe naturally como- 
 dious for commerce and traffique, yett the barrenesse 
 of the countrey, poverty of the people, generally 
 affected with slothe, and a lazy vagrancy of attend- 
 ing and followeing theyr heards up and downe in 
 theyr pastorage, rather than any dextrous improve- 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 147 
 
 ment of theyr time, hath quite banished all trade 
 from the inland parts, and drove her downe to the 
 very sea side, where that little which is still re- 
 mayneing (and was never greate in the most proude 
 and flourishing times) lives, pent and shutt up in a 
 very small compasse, even of those parts where 
 there is any exercised, which is mostly and chiefly on 
 the east part, and soe northerly along the side of the 
 German Ocean, or else on the westerne part, along 
 Dunbryton Fyrth into the Irish or English Seas, the 
 rest of the country from that Fyrth on the west side 
 with all the islands up towards the most northerne 
 headland, being inhabited by the old Scotts or wilde 
 Irish, and speakeing theyr language, which live by 
 feeding cattle up and downe the hills, or else fishing 
 and fowleing and formerly (till that they have of late 
 been restrayned) by plaine downright robbing and 
 stealeing." 
 
 He then goes on to describe the eight " most 
 eminent places of Trade," which were, on the East 
 Sea, Leith, Bo'ness, Burntisland, Dundee, Aberdeen, 
 and Inverness ; and, on the West Sea, Glasgow and 
 Ayr. These ports included certain other smaller 
 places in their immediate neighbourhood. The chief 
 port of Scotland then for foreign trade was Leith. 
 Next in importance came Bo'ness, which had a large 
 commerce in coal and salt chiefly carried on in 
 Dutch vessels to the Low Countries. Burntisland, 
 
148 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 with its dependent harbours on the north side of the 
 Forth, had a small trade outwards with coal and 
 salt, and inwards from Norway for timber, and 
 with France for wines. The whole combined ship- 
 ping of the ports on the north side of the Forth 
 numbered only fifty vessels, of which the largest was 
 100 tons burden. 
 
 Tucker does not hesitate to speak plainly. Men- 
 tioning Dundee, he describes it as " sometime a 
 towne of riches and trade, but the many rencontres 
 it hath mett with all in the time of domestick como- 
 tions, and her obstinacy and pride of late yeares 
 rendring her a prey to the soldier, have much shaken 
 and abated her former grandeur ; and, notwithstand- 
 ing all, she remaynes still, though not glorious, yett 
 not contemptible." Dundee and Aberdeen were the 
 principal seats of the fishing exports, and also had 
 a fair trade with Norway, Holland, and France. 
 Some little business was also done exporting the 
 homespun plaiding. The combined shipping of 
 Dundee and Montrose amounted to 22 vessels, of 
 which the two largest were 120 tons burden each ; 
 and Aberdeen owned nine vessels. 
 
 The W estern commerce was very much the same. 
 Glasgow did a small trade with Ireland in coal in 
 open boats of from four to ten tons burden, bringing 
 back butter, meal, oats, hoops, and barrel staves ; 
 with France, exporting herrings, plaiding, and coals, 
 
TRADE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 149 
 
 and importing salt, pepper, rosin, and prunes ; with 
 Norway for timber, and formerly some went as far 
 as Barbadoes. Glasgow possessed 12 vessels, of 
 which no fewer than three were each of 150 tons 
 burden, being apparently the largest vessels owned 
 in Scotland at the time (1656). 
 
 The last document which we shall quote on this 
 subject is a report which was made to the Convention 
 of Royal Burghs on the state and condition of the 
 principal towns in Scotland in 1692. From this it 
 appears that the merchants of Edinburgh owned 13 
 ships, the largest of which was 150 tons burden, and 
 17 " barks," the largest of which was 40 tons burden. 
 During the year preceding five of the 13 ships made 
 each two voyages to Holland with cargoes of coal, 
 wood, lead ore, and sheep skins. One went to Bil- 
 bao, but had not then returned. The others traded 
 to Hamburg, Amsterdam, and London with varied 
 cargoes. All the barks were for the coasting trade 
 except two, which had gone to the Sound with 
 herring. Dundee had one ship of 200 tons, and 
 about 14 others smaller. Glasgow valued her 
 foreign trade at ,£205,000 (Scots), and had eight 
 ships then at home, belonging to merchants of the 
 town, and seven away on voyages. The largest of 
 the fleet was the James, belonging to George Lock- 
 hart, of 160 tons burden, and valued at ,£6,000 
 (Scots). 
 
i5o 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 The town of Ayr had no ships, barks, or boats, 
 " save a little boat of the value of £40 (Scots) 
 belonging to John Campbell." The foreign trade 
 of Ayr for the preceding five years was as follows, 
 viz. : — Four-fifths of the cargo of a small vessel from 
 Virginia of 70 tons burden ; three small vessels 
 coming from Stockholm with iron ; 20 lasts of tar 
 and some few deals from Norway; about 20 tons of 
 French wine ; 1 6 casks of Canary, and a small 
 vessel from the West Indies with sugar. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 The subject of the early weights and measures 
 is one of considerable importance for historical 
 students, and at the same time it is one of very great 
 practical difficulty. Almost every county and district 
 had its own customary measures, which differed from 
 the national standards and also from one another. 
 This confusion no doubt originally arose from 
 historical causes ; and it continued, in spite of every 
 effort made by Parliament and by the Convention of 
 Royal Burghs, which was really the body which 
 dealt principally with commercial matters, down to 
 the close of the last century. 
 
 In dealing with the subject the most convenient 
 way will be to give in the first place a very brief 
 view of the history of the system of weights and 
 measures as a whole. 
 
 The first recorded Act is the Assize of Measures 
 
152 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 and Weights, which is usually attributed to David I. 
 There can be little doubt but that this, or some 
 similar regulation, is really due to that king, though 
 the actual date of the earliest existing MS. of the 
 laws belongs to the period of Robert the Bruce. In 
 1365 the chamberlain was ordered to see that a 
 " tron," or weighing machine, was erected in every 
 port in the kingdom, and that the bailies of burghs 
 examined regularly the weights and measures, and 
 punished those who were guilty of offences against 
 the regulations. 
 
 The next important Act on the subject occurs in 
 1425, when the Parliament of James I. issued a 
 series of orders relating to the various measures, and 
 requiring standards to be made and issued from 
 Edinburgh. In 1457 the size of the pint, firlot, 
 half firlot, and peck were fixed, and standards 
 were to be kept in Edinburgh, Perth, and Aber- 
 deen. 
 
 Ten years later, in 1467, another Act required all 
 weights and measures throughout the country to be 
 reformed, and the chamberlains and sheriffs were 
 enjoined to see that the provisions of the Act were 
 enforced. In 1503 weights and measures were 
 again ordered to be of the standards to be fixed by 
 the king and his chamberlain ; each burgh was to 
 have a sealed measure, and any one using other than 
 the new standards were to be indicted. No burgh 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 153 
 
 was to have one set of weights for buying and 
 another for selling. 
 
 The water measure in use and wont throughout 
 the country was still to be preserved by Acts of 1555 
 and 1567 ; but the latter Act provided for a " straik" 
 measure, without prejudice to the water mett. 
 
 An important enactment was made in 1597, which 
 altered the old standard of the firlot as fixed in 
 1457, making it larger, and declaring that in future 
 victual was to be measured by "straik" instead of 
 heap. 
 
 The last important Act was passed in 16 [8, 
 following on the appointment of a Commission of 
 Enquiry. This Act entered very minutely into all 
 the weights and measures, and fixed the standards 
 which practically remained in use up to the time of 
 the Union. 
 
 In spite, however, of all these Parliamentary 
 regulations it is certain that great irregularity pre- 
 vailed throughout the country ; and the subject was 
 very frequently brought under the notice of the 
 Convention of Burghs. In 1552 the provosts and 
 commissioners of burghs assembled at Edinburgh 
 resolved that the whole burghs of the kingdom 
 should receive their measures from the standards 
 following, viz., the stone weight of Lanark, the pint 
 of Stirling, the firlot of Linlithgow, and the ell of 
 Edinburgh. In 1578 the Convention decided that 
 
154 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 the pound should contain sixteen ounces of the 
 French weight, and that every burgh should have a 
 stone weight, half stone weight, pound, and half 
 pound, made of brass, marked with the stamp of the 
 town using them ; and that the firlots should con- 
 form to the Linlithgow standard and be similarly- 
 marked. The commissioner from Glasgow wished, 
 in 1579, an Act of Parliament to be passed making 
 " straik " measure legal instead of heaped. Uni- 
 formity in weights and measures was again strenu- 
 ously enjoined in 1587, with special reference to the 
 Act of Convention of 1552. Every burgh not pro- 
 viding weights was to be fined ; and in 1594 a return 
 was required from each, showing that they had com- 
 plied with the Act. In the same year Linlithgow 
 was ordered to furnish to each municipality requiring 
 it a firlot measure with two bands and a cross band 
 on the bottom, of iron, with a peck and a half peck 
 measure — all for six pounds Scots. At the next 
 Convention, in 1 595, the commissioners of Wigton, 
 Kirkcudbright, Dumfries, and Jedburgh declared 
 that the ancient measures in their districts were 
 larger than the Linlithgow standard, and great 
 difficulty would be found in altering them. The 
 matter came up again in the Convention next year, 
 and it was decided that four pecks, neither more nor 
 less, should go to the firlot of Linlithgow, and that 
 this decision should be binding on all the country, 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 155 
 
 except in Nithsdale, where the customary old 
 measure was allowed to be used. 
 
 The same Convention also agreed that the water 
 measure of victual and salt imported from foreign 
 countries should contain eighteen pecks to the boll, 
 and be divided into boll, half boll, and quarter boll, 
 and be used by all burghs under pecuniary penalties. 
 All native goods were to be received, sold, and 
 delivered according to the stone weight of Lanark 
 and its pound and half pound, but foreign goods 
 were to be weighed according to the Mint weight of 
 sixteen ounces to the pound. The ell was to be in 
 every case the ell of Edinburgh. 
 
 The western burghs, and especially Ayr, Irvine, 
 and Dumbarton, had customary measures, which 
 were apparently larger than those used in other 
 parts of the country. Various complaints were made 
 about these, and in 1602, at the Convention held at 
 Ayr in July, the provost and bailies of that burgh 
 were ordered to have their quart, pint, choppin, and 
 mutchkin conform to the stoup of Stirling. 
 
 At Haddington, in 1603, tne town of Wigton was 
 ordered to choose common measurers, who were to 
 be responsible for measuring truly all sorts of cloth ; 
 but, having failed to do this, the matter was reported 
 to the Convention at Perth in 1604, and the burgh 
 was fined £20 for non-compliance with the order, 
 and again ordained to appoint measurers. This 
 
156 
 
 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 matter came up once more at Dumfries in 1605, 
 when it was decided that buyers and sellers of cloth 
 should be free to arrange w T ith one another for the 
 measuring of cloth, but in case of dispute a reference 
 was to be made to the common measurer, and the 
 seller was to pay him a fee of ten pennies. 
 
 The burgh of Glasgow was ordered in 1607 to 
 conform their tron weight to the standard of 
 Lanark, and their troy weights to those of France. 
 
 The Convention of Royal Burghs after the Act 
 of Parliament of 16 18 made frequent attempts from 
 time to time to secure the much to be desired uni- 
 formity in the standards. Thus in 1689 among the 
 grievances of the Burghs formally enumerated for 
 the favourable consideration of Parliament, the 
 twenty-third item was that " redres be craved of 
 the great grievance of the inequality of measurs 
 that are within royall burghs and burghs of bar- 
 ronie and regalitie such as Dalkeith and vthers 
 and that the Act of Parliament 1587 anent mets 
 and measures be revived." 
 
 At the Union the Imperial standards superseded 
 formally the ancient system, though for long after- 
 wards and down to the beginning of the present 
 century custom proved stronger than law. 
 
 At a very early period, and certainly before 1552, 
 the standards of the ell, the stone, the stoup or pint, 
 and the firlot, were entrusted to the keeping of 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 157 
 
 the burghs of Edinburgh, Lanark, Stirling, and 
 Linlithgow respectively. It will now be convenient 
 to consider the history of each of these. 
 
 The unit of lineal measure in mediaeval Scotland 
 appears to have been the " eln " or ell. The 
 " Burgh Laws" ordain that every burgess is to have 
 in his house a M mesure to met his corne, ane 
 elnewand, a stane and punde wecht for til wey " : 
 and in the "Assize of Kyng Dauid of Mesuris 
 and Wechtis" the first article treats "of the eln." 
 
 The Scottish ell contained thirty-seven inches, 
 each inch being equal in length to three selected 
 barley or bere corns without their tails {sine 
 caudis) ; or to the length of the thumb of a man 
 of middle stature, measuring to the root of the 
 nail {pollex aictem debet mensurari ad radicem 
 u ngu is poll icis) . 
 
 The assize of James L in 1425 confirmed the 
 statute of David I. "ande deliverit the elne to 
 contene xxxvij inches." 
 
 The Commission appointed in 1587 to consider 
 and settle the standards for the whole country 
 declared that the ell measure of Edinburgh con- 
 taining thirty-seven inches was to be the standard 
 of length. In 16 17 the Commissioners, then ap- 
 pointed, confirmed and ratified the findings of 
 their predecessors so far as the ell was concerned, 
 and ordered the standard of the ell measure to 
 
i 5 8 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 be kept by the burgh of Edinburgh. The foot 
 measure came into use shortly afterwards, and is 
 first mentioned in the parliamentary records in 
 1663. An Act of that year provides that for the 
 future the foot is to consist of twelve inches, 
 each equal to one thirty-seventh part of the 
 standard ell measure of Edinburgh. It appears 
 that the ell had been divided erroneously into 
 forty-two inches, and a customary foot of twelve 
 of these shorter inches had come into common 
 use. The Act orders a standard foot of iron or 
 copper to be provided by the Magistrates of 
 Edinburgh < before 1st January, 1664, and all 
 burghs before the 1st of March of the same 
 year were ordained to have measures made from 
 it and hung on their tolbooth doors or market 
 crosses, by which all wrights, glaziers, masons, 
 and other workmen were to work. 
 
 In 1685 the Parliament of James VII. declared 
 that three barley corns set lengthways should 
 make one inch ; that twelve inches should make 
 one foot ; that three feet should make one yard ; 
 that three feet and one inch should make one 
 ell ; and that one thousand seven hundred and 
 sixty yards should make one mile ; and this was 
 to be the standard in computing distances from 
 place to place in all time coming. 
 
 The standard of the " eln " was of old committed 
 
X! 
 
 bo 
 u 
 
 3 . . 
 
 O <U 
 
 •5 H g 
 
 o 
 
 a, 
 
 OJ V S 
 
 c'P o 
 
 H C o 
 
 In 
 
 H of CO 
 
 EEC 
 
 W 
 
 O 
 
 1 
 
 -a 
 
 § 
 
 CO 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 159 
 
 to the custody of the city of Edinburgh ; and 
 the Corporation has still an ancient iron measure, 
 long popularly known as the elnwand or ellbed, 
 which seems to have originally been suspended 
 on the wall of the Council Chamber or Tolbooth. 
 It measures 37'ooi inches imperial, but the marks 
 and stamps on it are now so much rusted they 
 are illegible. The city has also a standard 
 copper ell measure, made in pursuance of the 
 Act of 1663. These standards, and the Imperial 
 one sent in 1707, are engraved in the accompany- 
 ing plate. 
 
 The unit of weight was originally the wheat 
 corn. In the "Assisa de Mensuris et Pon- 
 deribus" it is mentioned that the sterling or 
 silver penny in the time of King David weighed 
 thirty-two corns of good and round wheat. The 
 ounce at the same period was equal to twenty 
 sterlings or 640 grains of wheat ; and the pound 
 weighed twenty-five shillings, or three hundred 
 sterlings, or 9600 grains, and was divided into 
 fifteen ounces. The stone for weighing wool and 
 other gear of this period weighed fifteen pounds, 
 but the stone of wax only eight pounds. The 
 " waw " contained twelve stones. 
 
 The Parliament of 1425 ordained that the stone 
 should weigh fifteen Troy pounds, and should be 
 divided into sixteen Scots pounds. But in the 
 
160 MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Assize of Weights and Measures made at Perth in 
 the reign of James I., the stone to weigh iron, wool, 
 and other merchandise was ordered to contain 
 sixteen pounds Troy, and each pound sixteen 
 ounces Troy, and these weights remained the 
 same till the Union. 
 
 In Hunters Treatise of Weights, Metts, and 
 Measures of Scotland, printed in 1624, the sys- 
 tem of Scottish weights in his time is thus 
 laid down. A pickle of wheat taken out of the 
 middle of the ear is the foundation of a grain 
 weight. Thirty-six grains make a drop weight ; 
 sixteen * drops make an ounce ; eight ounces 
 equal a mark ; two marks go to a pound ; and 
 sixteen of these pounds are contained in the 
 stone weight of Lanark. 
 
 The tron stone weight contained nineteen 
 pounds eight ounces of the weights of the Paris 
 standard, and was used for butter, cheese, tallow, 
 and such like country commodities. Tron weight 
 was abolished by the act of 161 8, but continued 
 in use for long afterwards. 
 
 The light ton which was in use at the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century for weigh- 
 ing goods between Scotland and France, 
 England and Spain, weighed six hundred pounds. 
 
 Merchandise between Scotland and the Low 
 Countries at the same period was measured by 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 161 
 
 the sack, which weighed six hundred and forty 
 pounds Scots. 
 
 Trade between Scotland and the Eastern 
 Countries was measured by the serplath of 1280 
 pounds Scots. 
 
 The last was equal to 1920 lbs. Scots, but 
 varied greatly, in some cases being equal to 
 4000 lbs. A last of wool was held equal to 
 twelve sacks, or for ship measure ten sacks. A 
 last of hides was twenty dakers, or 200 skins. 
 As a liquid measure the last of beer was equal 
 to twelve barrels. The " fiddes," used only for 
 lead, contained one hundred and twenty stones. 
 
 The standard stone, which was ordered in 
 1618 to be kept by the Burgh of Lanark, is not 
 now there. But a stone weight with the arms 
 of Lanark is in the custody of the City of 
 Edinburgh, and it is probable thac this is the 
 original standard. The other weights of the 
 series were 8 pounds, 4 pounds, 2 pounds and 
 1 pound respectively ; and in the Edinburgh set 
 the 1 pound is marked as equal to 7,620 grains 
 English. 
 
 The first liquid measure noted in the Scots Acts 
 is the gallon, which is mentioned in the "Assisa 
 Regis David." It was ordained to be 6^ inches 
 deep, 8*4 inches in diameter, 27 inches in circum- 
 ference at the top, and 23 inches in circumference at 
 
MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 the bottom, and to contain 4 pounds weight each 
 of standing, running, and salt water, or 12 pounds 
 weight in all. Another gallon in use, in the time 
 of David I., contained only 10 pounds 4 ounces of 
 water, but the distinction in their use is not given. 
 The pint is mentioned in the Act of 1425, and is 
 required to contain 41 ounces of clear water of 
 Tay, equal to 2 pounds 9 ounces Troy weight. 
 In 1457, the pint of Stirling is mentioned as 
 having been given into the custody of that burgh, 
 by order of the three estates, at the time that 
 Sir John Forester was Chamberlain (1425-1448) ; 
 and it is ordained to be the universal standard 
 throughout all the country. By this Act, the 
 gallon was to weigh 20 pounds 8 ounces. The 
 Commissioners appointed to regulate measures and 
 weights in 161 7 found that the Stirling pint con- 
 tained 3 pounds 7 ounces Troy of clear running 
 water, of the water of Leith. The Stirling Pint 
 Jug is still preserved, and the engraving (Frontis- 
 piece Fig. 1) is a correct representation of it. 
 
 From a report made in 1827 the following 
 particulars are taken. 
 
 The jug is described as being in the form of the 
 frustum of a cone, the diameter of the bottom 
 being 5^ inches, that of the mouth 4^ inches, and 
 the depth 6 inches. It is composed of a kind of 
 brass, and from its rude construction has evidently 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 been fabricated at a period when the arts had 
 made little progress in Scotland. It bears upon 
 its side in bold relief the figure of a lion rampant ; 
 and another object which has been variously 
 described as a child in a recumbent position, and 
 also the wolf in the arms of Stirling, though it is 
 more likely to be meant for the latter, from the 
 fact that a standard pint in the custody of the 
 City of Edinburgh bears the Stirling arms in 
 the same place. When the jug was filled with 
 distilled water at a temperature of 62 0 of Fahrenheit, 
 the contents weighed 26,286*41 grains imperial, 
 the barometer being at 30 inches. 
 
 Eight pints of the Stirling standard made one 
 gallon Scots measure, which, according to the above 
 report, should contain 210,291*28 imperial grains; 
 and bear to the imperial gallon the proportion of 
 3*004161 to unity. 
 
 Each pint was divided into two choppins, and 
 each choppin into two mutchkins. In the valuable 
 collection of ancient standards, preserved by the 
 corporation of Edinburgh, there is a choppin 
 measure with the date 1555 between the arms 
 of Scotland, and those of the City of Edinburgh. 
 (See Frontispiece Fig. 2.) 
 
 The old Scottish dry measures are noticed first 
 in the "Assisa de Ponderibus," where the boll 
 is to be 9 inches deep and 24 inches in diameter, 
 
MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 and to contain 12 gallons of ale. The Parliament 
 of 1425 ordered standard measures of the boll, 
 firlot, half firlot, peck and gallon to be issued at 
 Edinburgh, which were to come into use on the 
 1 st of September following. From the " Assize of 
 Weights and Measures " of the same year, it would 
 appear that a completely new system was then 
 introduced. The boll is ordained to contain 4 
 firlots, and these firlots seem to be of a different 
 size from those then in use or from those of 
 an earlier date. Each firlot was to contain 41 
 pounds weight of clear water of Tay and each 
 boll 164 pounds. This was 41 pounds heavier 
 than the earlier boll of King David, which con- 
 tained 123 pounds weight of various kinds of 
 water. 
 
 In 1457 the firlot was ordered to contain 
 18 pints of the Stirling stoup, and three new 
 standards of the pint and firlot were to be made 
 and one sent to Aberdeen, one to Perth, and one 
 to Edinburgh. These measures remained in force 
 till the Commission of 1587, when the Com- 
 missioners discovered that an error had been 
 made in 1457 with regard to the contents of the 
 firlot, which should contain 19 pints and a "jow- 
 cat" or gill. The error is said to have arisen 
 "be errour of the prentair." In future "victual" 
 measure is to be "straik," not "heaped." But be- 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 cause it was in use to estimate malt, bear, and 
 oats by heaped measure, or one third more than 
 the straik, the Commissioners remitted to the Privy 
 Council to consider whether a new measure 
 should not be adopted for these articles, or 
 whether the same standard should be in use for 
 them as for wheat, rye, beans, peas, meal and 
 white salt, which were sold by straik, only giving 
 three for two or six for four. Accordingly, the 
 Lords of the Privy Council decided that the 
 firlot should be iS% inches wide and y}4 inches 
 deep, and should contain 19 pints and 2 "jowcats," 
 and be used for all articles sold by " straik " 
 measure, and that one third more be given for 
 those sold by heaped measure. Minute directions 
 were also laid down for the manufacture of the 
 standards, of which a double set were to be made, 
 and one kept in the Register in Edinburgh and 
 the other committed to the custody of the burghs 
 to which they had been committed of old. 
 
 Notwithstanding these regulations great com- 
 plaints still continued about the diversity of 
 weights and measures, and the Commission of 
 16 1 8 summoned the Provost and Bailies of Lin- 
 lithgow to appear before them and produce the 
 standard firlot. On their appearance the Com- 
 missioners tested the firlot and found that it 
 contained 2 1 pints and a " mutchkin " (equal to about 
 
1 66 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 an English pint). The Provost and Bailies were 
 solemnly sworn and deponed that the said 
 measure was the one which had been in use for 
 the last fifty or sixty years ; and that " the most 
 ancient and aged persons in their burgh " had 
 never known or heard of any other. The stan- 
 dard was then measured and found to be 19% 
 inches in width and 7K inches in depth, showing 
 a very considerable difference from the standard 
 of 1587, which is never alluded to in the pro- 
 ceedings and seems to have been quite ignored 
 both ' by the corporation and " the most ancient 
 and aged persons " of the burgh. 
 
 After full consideration the Commissioners 
 decided that this was to be the standard in 
 all time coming ; and to be marked with four 
 crowns on the bottom and five impressions of 
 the letter L on the lip. They also found that 
 the difference between the " straik " and heaped 
 measure of this firlot was not a third part, and 
 that great injustice was done by the custom of 
 giving three for two, which had been in common 
 use. Accordingly, they ordered a new standard 
 firlot to be made for malt, bear, and oats, to con- 
 tain 31 pints of the Stirling jug, and to be 19^ 
 inches in width and 10^ inches in depth. These 
 standards were to have one more iron band round 
 them and to be marked with the letter H on 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 I6 7 
 
 the outside. Four of either of these firlots were 
 to make a just boll. 
 
 In 1624 the dry measures were four lippies or 
 forpits to the peck, four pecks to the firlot, four 
 firlots to the boll or bow, and sixteen bowes to 
 the chalder. The firlot of the straik measure was 
 equal to '99825 of an imperial bushel; and the 
 heaped corn firlot, to 1*45627 imperial bushel. 
 The standard firlot committed of old to the custody 
 of the Burgh of Linlithgow is not now extant. It 
 unfortunately perished in a fire in the Town House 
 in 1847. 
 
 The following table shows the imperial equiva- 
 lents of the old customary measure of the boll 
 which was in use in Scotland up to the year 1827^ 
 and which is not altogether even now extinct. 
 
 
 Heaped. 
 
 Straik. 
 
 
 B. 
 
 Pk. 
 
 Galls. 
 
 B. 
 
 Pk. 
 
 Galls. 
 
 Aberdeen, ----- 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 * '544 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 1-416 
 
 Argyll, Inveraray, - - - 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 0*41 1 
 
 
 
 
 „ Achnabreck, - - 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 0*426 
 
 
 
 
 „ Cantire, - - - 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 1*014 
 
 
 
 
 Ayr, 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 0-045 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1*022 
 
 Banff, 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 0-256 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 0'55I 
 
 Berwick, 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 0-667 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 I'm 
 
 Bute, 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 o759 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 i-379 
 
 Caithness, ----- 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 0-566 
 
 
 
 
 Clackmannan, - - - - 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 1-418 
 
 
 
 
 Dumbarton, 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1-019 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1-943 
 
 Elgin and Moray, - - 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 1-006 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 1-691 
 
 Fife, ------- 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 o*957 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 0-188 
 
MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 
 Heaped. 
 
 Straik. 
 
 
 B. 
 
 Jrk. 
 
 Galls. 
 
 B. 
 
 Pk. 
 
 Galls. 
 
 Forfar, Dundee, - - - 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 1 '353 
 
 4 
 
 O 
 
 0-320 
 
 „ other places, - - 
 
 0 
 
 o 
 
 0*104 
 
 4 
 
 O 
 
 I -072 
 
 Inverness, 
 
 0 
 
 o 
 
 0-917 
 
 4 
 
 O 
 
 0-484 
 
 Kincardine, N. part, - - 
 
 A 
 
 I, 
 
 r 544 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1-944 
 
 „ S. part, - - 
 
 6 
 
 o 
 
 0-104 
 
 4 
 
 0 
 
 1*072 
 
 Kinross, ------ 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 0*565 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1-919 
 
 Kircudbright — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 „ bet. Orr & Fleet, 
 
 I o 
 
 2 
 
 1*311 
 
 
 
 
 „ West of Fleet, - 
 
 T T 
 
 1 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 "067 
 
 
 
 
 „ East of Orr, 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 r "55 6 
 
 
 
 
 "^Linlithgow, (Stand.) 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 o*6o 1 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1*944 
 
 Nairn, { ^ arle ^' 
 
 ' ( Oats, - - - - 
 
 7 
 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 1.097 
 I '37i 
 
 
 2 
 
 0-823 
 
 Renfrew, ------ 
 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 °*445 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1*944 
 
 Ross and Cromarty, - - 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 1735 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1*699 
 
 Roxburgh, 
 
 6 
 
 o 
 
 0-442 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 0*442 
 
 „ Teviotdale, - - 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 o'552 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 1*508 
 
 Selkirk, ------ 
 
 Stirling, ' - - - - - - 
 
 7 
 
 I 
 
 1-274 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 0*765 
 
 6 
 
 O 
 
 1-181 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1-919 
 
 Sutherland, - - - - 
 
 6 
 
 o 
 
 0'102 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1*944 
 
 The ancient land measures of Scotland are 
 exceedingly complicated, and different systems 
 prevailed for long in various parts of the country. 
 The earliest legislative enactment which has been 
 preserved is contained in the collected "Fragments," 
 printed in the first volume of the Record Edition 
 of the Scots Acts. It provides that the rood of 
 land in baronies is to contain six ells or eighteen 
 feet of a medium-sized man ; and that the rood of 
 land in burghs is to contain twenty feet. The fall 
 is to contain six ells ; the rood, forty falls ; the acre, 
 
 * The Linlithgow measures were used in the other counties. 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 169 
 
 1 
 
 four roods ; the oxgang, thirteen acres, and the 
 plough-land, eight oxgangs. 
 
 These measures continued without any practical 
 alteration to the Union ; and are thus explained in 
 the Treatise on the Weights and Measures of Scot- 
 land, printed in 1624. Six ells of the standard of 
 Edinburgh make a lineal fall ; six ells long by six 
 broad make a square fall ; forty square falls make a 
 rood, whether ten by four or eight by five. The 
 acre is equal to 160 falls or 960 ells. Four acres are 
 counted for a minister's glebe, and four oxgangs 
 equal a pound land of old extent. The rood of land 
 contains 240 ells ; but the rood of mason's work 
 contains only 36 ells. 
 
 In those parts of Scotland which were latest in 
 forming part of the ancient kingdom various systems 
 of land measurement, more or less exact, long con- 
 tinued customary. In the north-eastern part of the 
 country the " davach " was a common measure, and 
 extended to four plough-lands, or as much ground as 
 four ploughs could till in a season. In Orkney the 
 lands were estimated by ounce lands,, each made 
 up of eighteen penny lands. A mark-land in 
 Orkney was about 1% acre. The penny lands 
 varied in extent very considerably. Capt. Thomas, 
 in an interesting article in the Proceedings of the 
 Society of Antiqtcaries of Scotland, estimates the 
 average size of the penny-land as being about eight 
 
170 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 or nine acres ; but all these were rather measures of 
 produce than of surface. The "plank" of land, 
 however, was generally the same in extent through- 
 out Orkney, and contained 1 1 / 9 acre Scots or 
 1*32 acre English. 
 
 The important fishing industry had a special series 
 of measures which underwent the usual changes. 
 Aberdeen is the earliest place which is mentioned as 
 having a standard for fish. In 1478 it was ordered 
 that salmon be packed in barrels of the measure of 
 Hamburgh and the Assize of Aberdeen, and in 
 1487 the barrel is defined as containing 14 gallons. 
 In 1540 the system of branding the barrels was 
 ordained to be in force. Every cooper was to have 
 a branding iron with a distinguishing mark, and 
 each burgh was also to put a mark on the barrels, 
 guaranteeing the amount. Failure to comply with 
 these provisions was followed by forfeiture, one half 
 to the crown and the other to the town. The 
 standard for salmon was to be kept at Aberdeen ; 
 and that for herrings and white fish at Edinburgh, 
 and each of the burghs was to have duplicates. In 
 1570 the salmon barrel was said to contain 12 
 gallons, and that for white fish and herrings 10 
 gallons, but the Act of 1581 orders the herring 
 barrel to contain 9 gallons. Different measures 
 seem to have been in use in the west country. For 
 in 1595 the burghs assembled at Glasgow, and re- 
 
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 171 
 
 duced the hogshead of fish from 18 gallons to 143/2, 
 and the barrel to one half the hogshead. 
 
 In 1 64 1 complaints were made abroad about both 
 the quantity and the quality of the salmon exported, 
 to the discredit of the native merchants and the dis- 
 honour of the nation ; wherefore Parliament enacted 
 that all and sundry acts, laws and constitutions 
 of the country made anent the salmon trade should 
 be ratified and approved, with this addition, that all 
 the coopers in the kingdom were to make the 
 barrels of good and sufficient Baltic oak, without 
 worm holes or white wood, and of sufficient strength 
 and tightness to bear handling and retain the pickle. 
 The barrels were to contain ten gallons of the 
 Stirling pint, conform to an Act of Privy Council 
 in 161 9, and to be branded as formerly. 
 
 The barrel of green fish was to contain 1 2 gallons. 
 In the Forth, herrings were measured by a standard 
 called the "two hundred herring mett," which con- 
 tained 42 Stirling pints. 
 
Stirling Standard Jug preserved by the City of Edinburgh. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE Ulster Journal of Archceology, SHOW- 
 ING the Tribal Casualties of the Celtic 
 Period in Ireland. 
 
 The " croes" or herds, of various species, formed with the 
 herdsmen a creaght, which moved along the hills and 
 through the woods, rendering, as a seignioral due, either 
 one of each species of " Cro," or sometimes, on the death of 
 their " can-finny " 1 (ceann fine, or head of the kin owning 
 the stock), the best as a heriot ; or else a few pence per 
 head. As among the Germans, no limit of space was 
 assigned to the occupancy. Tyrone did not "sett any 
 portion of land " ; and his receipts of chief-rent were there- 
 fore uncertain, because the can-finny s, as "free tenants," 
 could, "by the custom of the country," remove from under 
 " one lord to another." 
 
 The " certayne custome " above alluded to, of rendering 
 victual, had many ramifications, a few of which may be 
 noticed. The Gaelic military force, whose status is well 
 expressed in ancient ballads by the designation of " the 
 Kempery men," or men of the camp, were, with their 
 taoiseach, or leader, supported throughout the country by 
 the creaghts — a practice used by the Earl of Tyrone as 
 lately as the 17th century. 2 The primary "rent" to the 
 king (of which presently) and other charges, some of which 
 also became a species of rent, arose from this nomad mode 
 
 1 Pat. Jac. I. 2 Arch. Tracts, II. 30. 
 
174 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 of maintenance. During peace, as Davyes observed, the 
 chief of Feara-managh asked no more than he was entitled 
 to : — " But in time of war," wrote Sir John, " marry ! he 
 made himself owner of all " ; taxing as he listed, and im- 
 posing as many bonaghts, or hired soldiers, as he had 
 occasion to use." The king was then justly empowered to 
 exert every means, and raise the sinews of defensive war by 
 an impost which was not for his own particular benefit, and 
 the very name of which, bon-eaght, signifies the original 
 payment rendered by maintaining the military. 
 
 To sustain armed defenders was with clansmen the next 
 duty to that of rising at the gairm sluaigh ; and accordingly 
 follows it in a list of "duties and rents" to McCarthy 
 More, being the custom of rendering to the chief and his 
 men two principal articles of Irish sustenance, namely, oat- 
 meal and butter, which, as the custom had now become 
 " certayne," were given by measure, and therefore termed 
 sorren. Bonaght, or the primary charge of maintaining 
 soldiery, was specially due on land modernly held by sorren 
 tenure ; 1 and this sorren seems to have been the coigne- 
 bon, 2 or refection originally given them ; being, as the 
 record states, " otherwise coigne, as extorted by the Earl of 
 Desmond, who was supposed to have invented this exaction, 
 which he but adopted from the Irish." Originally it was 
 merely " a nights meal " upon the land where " the Earl 
 passed through with his forces " ; that is, on which the 
 troop encamped. But as such a tax was uncertain, it was 
 unequal ; and therefore sorren more, if the chief " did not 
 come in place to spend it," became a " rent." For every 
 parcel of land was " charged with its own portion time out 
 of mind," having been commuted, from an unlimited re- 
 fection, into a measure, or " sroan" namely, " a gallon and 
 a half of oatmeal flour made of burnt oats, and a qnirren 
 
 1 1587, S.P.O. "Des?noncTs Rents" and Ware, I. 74. 
 2 S.P. II. 502. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 175 
 
 pottle, or 10 lbs. of butter, valued in times past — the one at 
 4<d., and the other a groat " ; and every parcel of sorren 
 land sent certain numbers of these measures to the earl's 
 residence. The earl also received his sorren from junior 
 chiefs, such as O'Donoughue, O'Callaghan, etc., and from a 
 priory whence it was due, either in kind or (at the prior's 
 and " deputy-captayne's " choice) in money, each chief rent 
 being valued at £4 8s. 8d. While some districts paid this 
 rent, other ceann-cincs and monasteries were " charged with 
 the higher tenure " 1 of receiving the chief and his train 
 at cuid-oidche, or supper, equivalent to the modern dinner. 
 The explanatory term for this provision, namely, " a portion, 
 a meal, or a refection " 2 (arid is a part or share), seems to 
 denote the chief's gavel right to a coignc, or meal, as his 
 partakeable portion of the fruits of the land. It seems also 
 that the original method by which the nomad Ri was main- 
 tained was by these visitations, which came as such to be 
 called " cosherie," possibly derived from dos-ri, namely, 
 cess or rent for the king. This primitive mode of a chief- 
 tain maintaining his train in the houses of his clansmen 
 (against which the very first printed statute, anno 1 3 10, and 
 another Act of 1634, were specially directed) was revived 
 after the confiscations of the 17th century, when some of 
 the kindliest feelings of human nature conspired to renew 
 this ancient custom in order to support the families of fallen 
 chiefs. The antiquity of the practice is, of course, greater 
 than any native records, which, however, refer to it in 
 deeds as early in date as the nth century, when a certain 
 petty king in Meath relinquished the right of having a 
 night's coinme every quarter of a year at the tenement of a 
 herenagh at Ardbracan, 3 and the king of Leinster released 
 certain land " a proairacio?ie et expcdicione mea" — the former 
 term implying provision for himself, and the latter, military 
 
 1 Sir W. St. Leger, 1589, S.P.O. 2 Carew MS. 626. 
 3 Arch. Misc. I. 143. 
 
176 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 service and the charge of bonaght} These two charges 
 were evidently the fundamental imposts on land. There 
 was also an offering called in Latin satellitum poturce, drink 
 for the king and his retinue, the exaction of which is alluded 
 to in an ancient grant to an abbey. 2 When, in 1535, O'Neill 
 renounced " refectiones vel expenses, quae dicuntur proprie 
 coyne, livery, coydeis, vel talia proculenta" (drinkings) 
 " inter Anglicos " 3 he, in effect, promised to relieve the sub- 
 jected Englishry from expending them by cosherie. The 
 Latin word expenses is of course a translation of the Eng- 
 lish term for the outlay made in the reception of a chief 
 and his retinue by the Irish tenantry, who even in the 
 17th century continued the ancient communistic custom of 
 yielding convivial refections, or " common spendings " 
 instead of paying rent ; a practice vindicated by Spenser, 
 and which was at first a payment for what was actually 
 rented from the king and his troops, namely, protection. 
 It was the most popular eulogium of any chieftain to 
 declare him the spender and defender of his clan. 
 
 Modern great lords often feast their tenantry on the rent 
 day, and their incomes are derived from vast earldoms 
 that belonged to their ancestors in times when the Gaelic 
 seigneur received no more than his share in the feast, which, 
 with his lodging, was termed cuid-oidche, originally called a 
 supper, but literally a " portion for one night." In the 
 same manner this refection was at first the coi?n?ze and sole 
 wages of the military ; and it would seem that eaught? a 
 supper, is the origin of eacht, payment. Buannacht bona, 
 i.e. the primary renderings, became "customary services" ; 5 
 and the first usage, that of giving sorren, grew in course of 
 time into the formal payment of rent. 
 
 In the 17th century sorren continued to be the head-rent 
 of West Connaught, each quarter of land paying yearly 
 
 x Regis t of All Hallows, 50, 126. 2 Harris" Ware, I. 75. 
 3 S.P. II. 4 Act of 1634. b Four Masters, p. 1601. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 177 
 
 certain measures of meal — " Hibernice vocatos srua?is y cum 
 sufficiente butiro." This was the " greddan meal and butter," 
 said to have been presented in 1603 to O'Neill of Castle- 
 reagh by his servants, and which Anglice was " strowan " — 
 see Ulster Journal of Archceology, vol. III., p. 134; and 
 p. 160, showing that oatmeal was part of the feudal rent of 
 Ulster in the 13th century ; also vol. II., p. 139, that "corn 
 and butter " was the principal living of O'Neill and his 
 clan. " Sorren land," probably for most part arable, de- 
 signated a freehold, liable to this rendering ; as " mart 
 land," mostly pasture, may have been one whence a mart 
 (the term still known in Scotland for a " beef," or salted 
 cow) was to be sent in, for (as Sir John O'Reilly expressed 
 it) " the spending of his house." 1 In Ophaly every plough- 
 land rendered 24 sieves of oats, value 5s., and two beeves, 
 4s. 2d., to O'Conor, besides being liable to " taxes and 
 customs." 2 This was an?io 15 50; and a rent so unusually 
 regular was probably a composition arranged at the time 
 when Henry VIII. was to have created the ruling chieftain 
 a viscount. Sorren and mart, or meal and salted butter 
 and beef, were the secondary form in which receipts 
 from land accrued to the chieftain ; who, in early ages, as 
 has been seen, was interdicted from possessing anything, 
 though all belonging to the clan was freely at his service : 
 " of their own accord they gave him so many cattle, or a 
 certain portion of grain " 3 — rude offerings subsequently 
 made more acceptable by preparation for use ; and these 
 are apparently typified in the ceremony used in inaugurat- 
 ing a "public officer," 4 and especially the king, of throwing 
 wheat and salt over him as symbols that the plentifulness 
 of peace should attend his reign. 5 Another ceremony of 
 more antique times, that of the chief-elect and his clan 
 eating of the same meat and drinking from the same vessel, 
 
 1 Carew MS. 614. -S.P.O. 1550. 3 Logan's Gael, i. 171. 
 4 Camden, 469. 5 Pac. Heb. I. 163. 
 If 
 
i 7 8 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 marked the community of property in food ; and their 
 quality was further insisted on by denying to the chief the 
 use of any " cuppe or dish." 1 These at least seem to be 
 the meaning of parts of an installatory ceremonial which 
 was evidently misrepresented to Giraldus Cambrensis. 
 
 Equality of rank was strangely mingled with individual 
 power in the position of the chieftain. To wear a similar 
 garb, and to live sociably and on equal terms with the 
 clansmen, secured to him their hearts. At court, Tyrone 
 was an earl ; yet, when there, he declared he would rather 
 be " O'Neill" than Philip of Spain ; but among the "Cinel 
 Eoghain " he was merely the first of themselves, and, living 
 among them in their simplicity of life, often received his 
 c< king's rent " as " cosherie " in their dwellings ; or the feast 
 was in the open air, where he held his court, and the 
 brehons gave judgment ; and, when seated among his clan 
 " on a green bank," he was (as a contemporary observed) 
 " in his greatest majesty. 2 
 
 Penalties conceded to the king as the enforcer of cdins, 
 or legal fines, were probably his earliest receipts by right. 
 The first mentioned in a list of dues to the chief of West 
 Connaught, in the 17th century, is a sevenfold fine in every 
 species of cattle for "stealths," which some Anglo-Irish 
 lords endeavoured to prevent by fining the suffering tenant 
 for his want of vigilance. 3 A portion of every eric was 
 (like the Saxon wite), due to the chief for the homicide of 
 men under his comeric or protection. O'Doyne paid a third 
 of all cains, casualties, etc., arising in his country to a 
 potent neighbour, O'Conor, for his comeric* All who were 
 under the rule of M'Carthy More were called "his cane 
 poble," 5 or people subject to his law and its penalties. 
 Fines were various and numerous, and must have formed a 
 
 1 Campion. 2 Capt. B. Riche (of Colerane), p. 2. 
 
 3 Present of Co. Waterford, 1537, Add. MS. 4819. 
 
 4 S.P.O. 1550. 5 Present of Cork, 1 576, S.P.O. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 1 79 
 
 considerable ingredient of income from a large and populous 
 region. 
 
 The much reprobated practice of receiving coigne (made 
 illegal on account of its abuse) was, besides being the 
 original receipt of the chieftain, in fact his only means of 
 subsistence when outside his territory, in times when the 
 non-existence of either money or hostelries precluded him 
 from aught but availing himself of the " old custom of 
 giving meat and drinke." 1 There was an ancient usage in 
 Galway of giving " contiome and meales " to the leader of 
 the Arran galloglasses and his men whenever they came to 
 town. 2 Even in the metropolitan county, and in the 17th 
 century, the receiving M coigne and livery " was partly the 
 consideration for which land was let ; it being stipulated in 
 a lease dated 161 3, that the lessee, the Archbishop of 
 Dublin, should provide sufficient victual and lodging for 
 two boys, with horse meat and stabling for three horses, on 
 the premises, whenever the landlord, Sir R. Nugent, resorted 
 to Dublin. 3 
 
 Coigne or refection, when systematically due, was specially 
 named the "custom of cuddikie" and warranted the chief in 
 coming " with such company as pleaseth him to the lands 
 charged with that tenure, and in taking meat and drink of 
 the inhabitants thereof for the space of four meales, at four 
 tymes of the yere." 4 This " custom " was, in fact, the 
 quarterly rendering which appears by many antique records 
 to have been the fundamental rent charge on land. When 
 the Ri was on visits to his vassals under this usage, he 
 was said "to have his people" or train "in cosherie" 5 — 
 that is, taking his cios as a king. The provisions for the 
 occasion seemed to have been obtained by assessment on 
 the tribe holding the land, cios being a tribute or contribu- 
 
 1 Anno 1535, S. P. II. 287. 2 Hardiman's Galway, p. 207. 
 z Pat. 13 Jac. I. p. 280. 4 Sir W. St. Leger. 
 5 1 587, Desmond's Rents. 
 
i8o 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 tion : hence is derived the word " cess," peculiar to Ireland, 
 having the same root as the Latin and French terms that 
 imply an assessment levied tributim, and anciently used to 
 denote the charge upon the tenantry of " the Pale " of 
 maintaining the troops of the crown. The method of col- 
 lection by contribution was continued in the 17th century, 
 for the purpose of supporting the needy descendants of dis- 
 possessed chieftains by " coshering." This practice was 
 denounced by the Statute of 1634, because it sustained 
 thousands of young " idel," or noble, swordsmen, who soon 
 afterwards broke out into general insurrection to recover 
 their lands ; and who " cessed themselves, their followers, 
 .horses, and greyhounds upon the country," receiving " their 
 eaugJit and adraitgh, viz., supper and breakfast," and crav- 
 ing helps ; to supply which, and their " entertainment," the 
 country people made "cuts, levies, and plotments upon 
 themselves." 
 
 Vassals who held land by the tenure of receiving their 
 chieftain at ciiid-oidcJie appear to have been of superior rank 
 to the frank tenants of sorren-land, which was liable to 
 "bonaght" for galloglasses. 1 The same custom prevailed, 
 of course, in Gaelic Scotland. In the comparatively 
 modern rent-roll of a Scots laird there occurs the — " Item, 
 for ciiid-oidcJie, 20s.," receivable yearly, if he did not use 
 his right to lodge for one night in his tenant's house. 2 
 Curious as the practice is in its origin, it was subsequently 
 well adapted to the requirements of a wide-spread clan, 
 whose disputes with borderers often obliged their chieftain 
 to visit the extremity of his territory. But it undoubtedly 
 arose as a mode of maintenance ; and, having become a 
 " rent," was commuted in Ireland towards the close of the 
 1 6th century into a money payment. " Cuddihie," as ren- 
 dered to the Earl of Clancarthy, is termed a " portion " to 
 be spent either at the freeholder's house or sent to the earl's, 
 
 1 1587, Desmond's Rents. 2 Logan, I. 212. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 181 
 
 in a certain proportion of flesh, aqua vitae, ale, cows, and 
 flour, or else in lieu, £4 8s. Sd. This composition had been 
 effected by Government Commissioners, who valued this 
 charge as due by certain monasteries, and sorrcn by others, 
 at the same rate. Their labours (of which by-and-bye) 
 seem to have been permanently successful in Munster. In 
 the 17th century, O'Driscoll continued to pay M'Carthy- 
 reagh a sum equivalent to about ^"150 a year at present 
 in lieu of entertaining him at supper j 1 and M'Brien Ara 
 received some hard cash, with certain heads of various 
 cattle, instead of all "customs, refections, impositions, or 
 cess of horse and horse boys, contributions of sragh, sor- 
 ohin, and bonnagh, duties, casualties, aids, benevolences or 
 free gifts, cuttings, cosheries, or other advantages, claims, 
 and demands." 2 But the tribes in the wilds of Connaught 
 seem to have retained their old mode of rendering tribute ; 
 as appears by a record that a certain " clan " paid rent, as 
 such, in the form of bread, drink, and flesh, at Christmas, 
 and a proportion of bread, butter, and drink, at Easter, 
 yearly." 3 When rent came into Lord Clancarthy in such 
 gross and live forms as cattle, accompanied by loads 
 of merchandise, to the pre-emption of which when landed 
 at his seaports this chieftain was entitled, the arrival might 
 have been announced to him like that of the bulky tribes 
 the poet wrote of — 
 
 11 Huge bales of British cloth block up your door, 
 A hundred oxen at your levee roar ! " 
 
 1 Celtic Miscel. 106. 2 Pat. 6 Jac. p. 39. 3 W. Con. 58. 
 
 4 
 
NOTES. 
 
 1. p. 17 — Grassum : a sum of money paid by the tenant to his 
 landlord on entering into possession of his farm ; or by the fiar to his 
 superior on succeeding as heir. 
 
 2. p. 17 — Gule : the corn marigold {chrysanthemum segetum). A 
 farmer planting gule was to be punished as if he were a traitor leading 
 a hostile army ; and a serf so offending was to pay a fine of a sheep 
 and to cleanse the land. [Act Par It., vol. i., pp. 750, 751.] 
 
 Lord Hailes says [An. Scot., vol. ii., p. 339] that this statute was still 
 enforced in his day in the barony of Tinwald in Annandale. 
 
 In the parish of Cargill in Perthshire a curious custom is recorded 
 in the Statistical Account, vol. xiii., pp. 536, 537. 
 
 u An old custom takes place in this parish called gool-riding, which 
 seems worthy of observation. The lands of Cargill were formerly so 
 very much over-run by a weed with a yellow flower that grows among 
 the corn, especially in wet seasons, called gools, and which had the 
 most pernicious effects, not only upon the corns while growing, but 
 also in preventing their winning when cut down, that it was found 
 absolutely necessary to adopt some effectual method of extirpating it 
 altogether. Accordingly, after allowing a reasonable time for procuring 
 clean seed from other quarters, an Act of the Baron's Court was passed, 
 enforcing an old Act of Parliament to the same effect, imposing a fine 
 of 3 s. 4d., or a wedder sheep, on the tenants, for every stock of goo I, 
 that should be found growing among their corns at a particular day, 
 and certain persons stiled gool-riders were appointed to ride through 
 the fields, search for goo I, and carry the law into execution when they 
 discovered it. Though the fine of a wedder sheep is now commuted 
 and reduced to a id. sterling, the practice of gool-riding is still kept 
 up and the fine rigidly exacted. The effects of this baronial regulation 
 have been salutary, beyond what could have been expected. Five 
 stocks of gool were formerly said to grow for every stock of corn 
 through all the lands of the barony, and twenty throols of barley did 
 not then produce one boll. Now the grounds are so cleared from this 
 
MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 noxious weed, that the corns are in high request for seed ; and after 
 the most diligent search the gool-riders can hardly discover as many 
 growing stocks of gool the fine for which will afford them a dinner and 
 a drink." 
 
 3. p. 1 7 — Sauch, or saugh : the common willow tree (salix cafired). 
 
 4. p. 18 — Ploughgate : contains eight oxgangs of thirteen Scots 
 acres each, or one hundred and four acres altogether. (See chapter on 
 Weights and Measures.) 
 
 5. p. 20 — Beltane : was the 1st of May old style. 
 
 6. p. 21 — Firlot : the standard firlot was in the custody of the Burgh 
 of Linlithgow. As a measure it varied very considerably. The altera- 
 tions are given in full detail in the chapter on Weights and Measures. 
 
 7. p. 23 — Acta Dominorum Auditorum, or the Acts of the Lord 
 Auditors of Causes and Complaints, are given in the original records, 
 along with the proceedings of the Three Estates in full Parliament ; 
 but those of the reigns of James III. and James IV., from 1466 to 1494, 
 were published in a separate volume in 1839, containing much of the 
 highest interest regarding the state of the country at that time as shown 
 by the prices of commodities, the value of money, and other statistical 
 information. 
 
 8. p. 23 — Boll : see the chapter on Weights and Measures. 
 
 9. p. 23 — Merk : was equal to thirteen shillings andfourpence Scots. 
 The merk was only a money of account, but half-merks and quarter- 
 merks were coined by James VI. in 1 591, 1592, 1593, and a few in 
 1 594. (See Records of the Coinage of Scotland, vol. i., p. clvii., pp. 
 118, 177, 253, and vol. ii., plate ix.) 
 
 10. p. 25 — To fee : the term used in Scotland for hiring farm 
 servants. Feeing fairs are not yet altogether extinct, at least in the 
 west of Scotland. 
 
 11. p. 27— Birleymen : otherwise Burlie men, Burlaw men, or Byr- 
 law men. This was an institution of high antiquity now almost un- 
 known. Skene says : — " The laws of Burlaw ar maid and determined 
 be consent of neichtbours elected and chosen be common consent in 
 the courts called the Byrlaw courts in the quhilk cognition is taken ot 
 compaintes betuixt nichtbour and nichtbour. The quhilk men sa 
 chosen as judges and arbitrators to the effect foresaid ar commonly 
 called Byrlaw men." 
 
 In the Rej. Maj., bk. iv., c. 39, c. 18, Birlaw courts are said to be 
 ruled by the consent of neighbours. These existed in the north of 
 Scotland so late as 1721. (See Jamieson's Scot. Diet., sub voce.) 
 
NOTES. 
 
 I8 5 
 
 12. p. 27 — Thirled : to thirl was to bind the tenants to grind their 
 corn at some particular mill. Erskine defines thirlage as constituted 
 by writing either directly or indirectly ; and a proprietor could thirl 
 his tenants by an act or regulation of his own court. {Inst., bk. ii., 
 tit. 9, s. 21.) 
 
 13. p. 27 — Multures. The multure was the toll of the miller for 
 grinding the grain into meal and was usually taken in kind. The 
 ancient regulations about mills are very curious. By the assize of 
 William I. if a man bought corn in one lordship to carry into 
 another to grind, and stopped at a tavern to eat and drink, he had to 
 pay the multure if he put the sacks in the house or on the midden ; 
 but he was free from the toll if he left the sacks in the king's highway. 
 Burgesses of a burgh might use hand mills, but it was illegal for any 
 others to do so. In 1640 all Sunday work was prohibited in mills. 
 
 14. p. 28 — Red Fish. Regulations against killing unseasonable 
 salmon, which were called red or black fish, are found at a very early 
 period. The principal enactments are noticed in the chapter on the 
 Fisheries. 
 
 15. p. 28 — Flyting. Scolding or using bad language and quarrelling 
 seems to have been a common imperfection amongst the women of 
 Scotland in early times. The records of more modern police and 
 petty session courts show that it is not altogether a relic of the past. 
 
 16. p. 35 — Rig : that part of the web which is folded down or 
 doubled. 
 
 1 7- P- 35 — Selvidge : the rest of the web as distinguished from the 
 rig- 
 
 18. p. 35 — Seal of cause. A writ under the seal of the municipality 
 conferring certain privileges on the particular craft. Thus the Cor- 
 diners of Glasgow had a seal of cause from the Lord Provost, Bailies, 
 Council, and Community of the Burgh and City of Glasgow in 1558 in 
 their favour which was confirmed under the seal of James, Archbishop 
 of Glasgow. 
 
 In other cases the seal of cause was confirmed by Parliament. 
 
 *9- P- 35 — Walker. To "walk" or "wauk" cloth is to thicken it. 
 Garnett in his tour in Scotland, gives an ingenious derivation of the 
 term. He considers the operation as so-called because the women sit 
 round a board and work the cloth with their feet as if walking. 
 Wauk mills were in existence in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire till a very 
 recent period. 
 
i86 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 20. p. 35 — Wobster : a weaver. The word also occurs in the form 
 of " webster " and " wabster." 
 
 21. p. 35 — Serplath. A measure of wool equal according to Skene 
 to eighty stones. (See chapter on Weights and Measures.) 
 
 22. p. 37. Serges : a sort of light cloth. 
 
 2 3- P- 37- Growgrams, otherwise grogranes or grograms . a kind of 
 coarse silk tafifety. 
 
 24. p. 37. Bombesies : a thin hard stuff. 
 
 2 5- P- 37- Stemmingis : a cloth originally made of goat's hair, after- 
 wards of wool or silk. -It is called also taminy. 
 
 26. p. 37. Beyis, or bayis : the cloth now called baize. 
 
 27. p. 38. Schone : shoes. 
 
 28. p. 39. Sinderit : parted or separated. 
 
 29. p. 40. Plotter : one who makes bare or smooth. 
 
 30. p. 40. Camber, or camester : a wool comber. 
 
 41. p. 40. Scherar : a wool dresser. 
 
 32. p. 40. Spyner : a wool spinner. 
 
 33. p. 42. Kerseys, or kairsays (see Scots Acts, vol. vi. 1. 727) : a 
 sort of cloth. 
 
 34. p. 44. Seys : a sort of coarse homespun cloth. (See Thorn's 
 Hist, of Aberdeenshire, ii. 151.) 
 
 35. p. 45. Speir : to search out ; make diligent inquiry for. 
 
 36. p. 45. Touk of Drume : beat of drum. 
 
 37. p. 56. Garnels : granaries. 
 
 38. p. 60. Lame : earthernware. 
 
 39. p. 60. Schryno : a small casket or cabinet. 
 
 40. p. 64. Doucat, more commonly dowcate ; a pigeon house. By 
 an Act of James IV. in 1503, every laird was to have a park with deer, 
 fish ponds, rabbit warrens and dowcatis. 
 
 42. p. 70. Coups, or cow pis : a sort of basket trap for catching fish 
 at a fall. 
 
 42. p. 70. Prins, or pryiiis : another sort of fish trap. 
 
 43. p. 76. Stallage : money payable for the privilege of erecting a 
 stall in the market. 
 
XOTES. 
 
 I8 7 
 
 44. p. 76. Pined : dried by exposure to the weather after salting. 
 
 45. p. 79. Since this was written an excellent index has appeared 
 which entirely removes the complaint made. 
 
 46. p. 80. Wageouris : soldiers hired for pay. 
 
 47. p. 115. Alderman : an official of burghs in Scotland. This title, 
 so well known south of the Tweed, was once a familiar one in Scotland. 
 The " Assise Regis David " prohibited any alderman intromitting with 
 the pleas of the crown. The " Leges Burgorum" ordered the alderman 
 of each burgh to swear in twelve burgesses to maintain the laws. An 
 Act of Parliament in 1425 enjoins the alderman and bailies of a burgh 
 to hold wapenshaws four times a year. Provosts, aldermen, and 
 bailies of burghs were ordered to fix the price of fish each market day 
 by an Act of 1 540. Shortly after this period the title fell into disuse. 
 
 48. p. 121. Tome : more frequently tume or toom : empty. 
 
 49. p. 128. Pullici and Rembertini : merchant companies of Italy 
 who played an important part in the financial transactions of the 
 Middle Ages. The Rembertini, like the Friscobaldi, Bardi, and Spini, 
 had their head quarters in Florence. Others, as the Ballardi, belonged 
 to Lucca. 
 
 50. p. 139. Stented : taxed or assessed. 
 
IND 
 
 EX. 
 
 Abbeys. See also Monks. 
 
 — Aberbrothock, 16 ; grants to, 92, 
 
 124. 
 
 — Cambuskenneth, grants to, 54, 107. 
 
 — Cupar, rental book of, 17. 
 
 — Dundrennan, grant to, III. 
 
 — Glenluce, privilege of, 122. 
 
 — Holmcultram, privilege of, 112. 
 
 — Holyrood, 57 ; grants to, 54, 67, 
 
 71, 107. 
 
 — Kelso, 10, 16 ; grant to, 54. 
 
 — Melrose, grants to, II, 13, 54, 108 ; 
 
 112. 
 
 — Scone, 16 ; grants to, 106, no. 
 Aberbrothock, Abbot of. See Abbeys. 
 Aberdeen, Bishopric of, 22, 107 ; cloth 
 
 factory in, 47 ; salmon exported 
 
 from, 70, 71 ; rents customs, 87 ; 
 
 its importance, 145, 147, 148 ; 
 
 keeps standard measures, 152, 170. 
 Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer,^. 
 Acta Sanctorum, 106. 
 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, 78. 
 Acta Dominorum Auditorum, 23. 
 Adraugh, 180. 
 
 Agriculture, different periods of, 1,2; 
 affected by difference in race, 2 ; 
 at Roman invasion, 3 ; Romano- 
 British or prehistoric period of, 3, 
 4, 5 ; amongst Dalriadic Scots, 
 4, 5 ; Celtic period of, 5 ; Early 
 Feudal period, 9 ; promoted by 
 monks, 10 ; laws relating to, 14, 
 19, 20, 23, 24 ; state of, 29. 
 
 Ailred of Rievaul, 4, 83, 107. 
 
 Airth, 54. 
 
 Alan of Galloway, no. 
 Alderman, 115. 
 
 Ale, excise rates on, 99, 101, 102. 
 Alexander I., 106. 
 Alexander II., 14, 29, 92, no. 
 Alexander III., 29, 34, 67, 84, 86, 92, 
 93, 121, 125, 126. 
 
 Alexander, Robert, 17. 
 Allan, Thomas, 45. 
 Alum, 120. 
 
 Amargin Mac Ecelsalech, 32. 
 Amra-Choluim-Chilli, 7. 
 Amsterdam, trade with, 149. 
 Antwerp, trade with, 131, 132, 137, 
 143; 
 
 Aqua Vitae, excise rates on, 99, 102. 
 Arbroath. See Aberbrothock. 
 Archaeological Association, Ayr and 
 
 Galloway, 26. 
 ArcJueological Mis., 175. 
 Archieological Tracts, II., 173. 
 Ardbracan, 175. 
 
 Argyll, Bishop of, 81 ; county of and 
 
 taxation, 102. 
 Armour, James, 45. 
 Army, cloth for, 47. 
 Arran, 7. 
 
 Artillery, small, 95. 
 
 Assisa de Ponderibus, 163. 
 
 Assisa de Tolloneis, 48, 60, 1 1 9. 
 
 A ssize of A berdeen, 1 70. 
 
 Assize of Measures and Weights, David 
 I., 152, 157, 159. 
 
 Assize of Weights and Measures, 
 James I., 160, 164. 
 
 Assisa Regis David, 16 1. 
 
 Assise Willelmi Regis, 108. 
 
 Athole, Duke of, 57. 
 
 Avenel, Robert, 11. 
 
 Ayr, foreign weavers in, 40 ; cloth 
 factory in, 45 ; saltpans near, 54 ; 
 a port, 71, 113, 1 50 ; its importance, 
 145, 147 ; had peculiar measures, 
 155 ; county of, tax on, 97. 
 
 Baert, George, 40. 
 
 Bailie, 27. 
 
 Bailies, restrictions on, 119 ; duties of, 
 152. 
 
 Bain, Joseph, 109, in. 
 I Balgarvie, 16. 
 
190 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Ballivi ad extra, 84. 
 Banff, its salmon export, 71. 
 Banko, John, 36. 
 Barbur, John, 18. 
 
 Barley, early mention of, 4, 12 ; prices 
 of, 15, 23 ; import of, 136 ; corns 
 of, standard of measure, 158. 
 
 Barons, rights of, 1 19. 
 
 Baron Officer, 27. 
 
 Batlry, 120. 
 
 Beans, prices of, 12, 16 ; regulations 
 regarding cultivation of, 19, 21, 
 25 ; article of trade, 120 ; how 
 measured, 165.* 
 
 Bear. See Bere. 
 
 Beer, excise rates on, 99, 101, 102, 
 
 136 ; how measured, 165, 166. 
 Bell, James, 45. 
 Bellie, 26. 
 
 Bells, casting of, 64. 
 Beltane, 20. 
 
 Bere, price of, 23, 25 ; rent part paid 
 
 in, 26 ; measure of, 165, 166. 
 Berwick, saltpans near, 56 ; its salmon 
 export, 71 ; its importance, 108, 
 114; its merchant guild, 113; 
 port dues, 121 ; privileges, 124. 
 Bewlie, 70. 
 
 Beyis, 37. 
 
 Bickit, John, 28. 
 
 Birley-men, II, 20, 27. 
 
 Bischop, Gabriel, 40. 
 
 Blackeland, 54. 
 
 Blair, Giles, 23. 
 
 Bleaching, 48, 49, 51. 
 
 Boats, fishing, cost of, 72, 73. 
 
 Bolden, Barony of, II. 
 
 Bombesies, 37. 
 
 Bonaght, 174, 176, 180. 
 
 Bonnington, cloth factory in, 45 ; 
 bleaching fields at, 51. 
 
 Bo'ness, 147. 
 
 Book of Kelts, 33. 
 
 Book of Rights, 32. 
 
 Borders, taxes for defence of, 95. 
 
 Bottles, manufacture of, 58, 59. 
 
 Bowers, 26. 
 
 Bowers, Steel, 26. 
 
 Brandy, 64. 
 
 Brazil, 120. 
 
 Bread, wheaten, 13. 
 
 Brehon Laws, 32. 
 
 Brehon, The, 7. 
 
 Brew-houses, 12, 119. 
 
 Bridges, taxes for, 96. 
 
 Broch, of Dunbeath, 4. 
 
 Bruce, Robert, 88,93, I2 7> 129,151,152. 
 
 Bryson, Margaret, 28. 
 
 Buaniiacht bona, 176. 
 
 Buchan, Alexander, Earl of, 124. 
 
 Burgh Laws, 157. 
 
 Burghs, Royal, privileges of, 30, 34, 
 39, 4i> 5°, 75> 83, 109, 143; 
 establishment of, 82 ; rents of, a 
 source of revenue, 84, 87 ; weights 
 and measures in, 154. 
 
 Burial laws, 50. 
 
 Burleigh, Lady, 55. 
 
 Burnett, Mr., 136. 
 
 Burntisland, its importance, 145, 147. 
 Bushes, 68. 
 
 Butchers, regulations concerning, 25, 
 
 117, 119. 
 Bute, 7 ; taxation in, 102. 
 Butter, prices of, 23 ; trade in, 120, 
 
 148, 160 ; as rent in Ireland, 174, 
 
 175, 177. 
 Buttons, 32. 
 Caesar, Julius, 3. 
 Cains, 178. See also Can. 
 Caithness, Earl of, 86. 
 Caldrons, 120. 
 Calentyr, 54. 
 Calfe, 82. 
 
 Cambuskenneth. See Abbeys. 
 
 Camber, 40. 
 
 Camden, 177. 
 
 Campbell, Daniel, 63, 64. 
 
 Campbell, George, 57. 
 
 Campbell, John, 150. 
 
 Campbell, Matthew, 63, 64. 
 
 Campvere, trade with, 133, 142 ; Scotch 
 
 church in, 144. 
 Can, 8, 81. 
 Can-finny, 173, 175. 
 Candles, part rent, 9. 
 Candlewicks, 62. 
 Cannons, casting of, 64. 
 Canongate, 42. 
 Canvas, 120. 
 Carew MS., 175, 177. 
 Carles, 10. 
 Capons, 22. 
 Carrick, 8. 
 
 Cartwright, John, 146. 
 Cassius, Dion, 3. 
 
 Castle wards, payments of, a source of 
 revenue, 84, 87. 
 
 Cattle, 13 ; used for ploughing, 14 ; 
 prices of, 15, 16, 23 ; export of, 
 2 5> 89, 135 ; Conveth paid in, 9, 
 81 ; fines paid in, 86 ; rent paid 
 in, 88, 173 ; taxes on, 95, 99, 120. 
 
 Cawpe, 82. 
 
 Celtic Miscellanies, 181. 
 Celtic Society, 32. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 I 9 I 
 
 Celts, 6, 8, 9 ; industries among, 31, 
 
 32, 33- 
 Census, 86. 
 Cess, 180. 
 
 Chamberlain, Scottish, 83, 87 ; duties 
 
 of, 152. 
 Chariots, making of, 65. 
 Charles I., 42, 72. 
 Charles II., 99. 
 Charters, of Arbroath, 7. 
 
 — of Bolden, II. 
 
 — of Durham, 106. 
 
 — of Edinburgh, 130, 131. 
 
 — of Glasgow, 34, 119. 
 
 — of Melrose, 13. 
 
 — of Moray, 7. 
 
 — of Scone, 7, 9, 6, 16, 81, 92. 
 
 — of feu farm, 87. 
 Chartularies. See Charters. 
 Cheese, 13, 120 ; rent, part paid in, 9, 
 
 22, 85 ; price of, 23 ; how weighed, 
 160. 
 
 Cheueronys, 1 20. 
 
 Chieftains, Irish, their rent, 173, 174, 
 175, 176, 177, 178 ; customs re- 
 garding, 177, 178, 179. 
 
 CiHe" Choca, 32. 
 
 Cinel Angus, 7, 8. 
 
 Cinel Eoghain, 178. 
 
 Cinel Gabran, 7. 
 
 Cinel Lorn, 7, 8. 
 
 Cios, 179. 
 
 Ciphi. See Cups. 
 
 Circuit Courts, 86. 
 
 Civil Service, beginnings of, 80. 
 
 Claers, James, 40. 
 
 Clancarthy, Earl of, 180, 1 81. 
 
 Clasps, 32. 
 
 Claverhouse, John Graham of, 46. 
 
 Cloaks, of wool, 32 ; mottled, 32. 
 
 Cloth (see also Manufactures, woollen), 
 bordered, 31 ; of gold, 32 ; dyeing 
 of, 31, 32, 34; measuring of, 35, 
 155; trade in, 135; duties on, 136. 
 
 Coaches, making of, 65. 
 
 Coach-harness, making of, 65. 
 
 Coal, trade in, 147, 148, 149. 
 
 Coal fish. See Colemoth. 
 
 Coca, 32. 
 
 Cockburn, Captain Ninian, 139. 
 Cod, 89, 120. 
 
 Coigne, 174, 175, 176, 179. 
 Coigne and livery, 1 79. 
 Coigne-bon , 174. 
 
 Coinage, 82 ; a source of revenue, 84, 
 91 ; made free, 91 ; revenue from, 
 at Union, 103. 
 
 Coinmedha. See Conveth. 
 
 Coin me, i75> l 7&. 
 Colemoth, 120. 
 Comeric, 178. 
 
 Commissioners of Royal Burghs, 39, 
 40, 41, 139, 140, 142. 
 
 Commission, Royal Executive, for 
 encouragement of Scottish in- 
 dustries, 42 ; powers of, 43. 
 
 Compositions, 84, 87. 
 
 Commonwealth, taxes during, 97, 98 ; 
 proceeds of Excise before, 101. 
 
 Conchobar, Mac Nessa, 31. 
 
 Conies, 17. 
 
 Connome and meales, 179. 
 Conon, 70. 
 
 Conservator, 131, 132, 137, 140, 141, 
 143 ; Court of, 131. 
 
 Convention of Royal Burghs, ordinances 
 of, relating to cloth manufacture, 
 35» 39> 40, 41, 42 ; to export of 
 wool, 37, 38 ; to linen manufacture, 
 50 , to letters of marque, 135 ; to 
 foreign trade, 137, 138, 141, 142, 
 143 ; to condition of towns, 149 ; 
 to weights and measures, 151, 153, 
 154,155,156. 
 
 Convention of Royal Burghs, Records 
 of, 136, 142, 144. 
 
 Conveth, 8, 9, 60, 81. See also 
 Cuddicke. 
 
 Conyan. See Cuddicke. 
 
 Coquet, 141. 
 
 Cordwan, 120. 
 
 Corn (see also Barley, Oats, Rye, and 
 Wheat), cultivation of, 4, 5, 21 ; 
 Indian, 25 ; export of, 25 ; as 
 part rent, 85, 177; trade in, in, 
 112, 113, 120, 122, 136. 
 
 Corse, John, 5, 63. 
 
 Corshill, Barony of, 27 ; Court book of, 
 
 26 ; Court of, 27, 28. 
 Corstorphine, bleaching fields at, 51. 
 Cosherie, 175, 176, 178, 179, 180. 
 Costage, 94. 
 Cottarii. See Cottars. 
 Cottars, 10, 17, 18, 26. 
 Council of Trade, 75. 
 Coups, 70. 
 Crail, 71, 145. 
 Crannogs, 4. 
 Creaghi, 173. 
 Cro, 86, 173. 
 Crochat, John, 19. 
 Crofters, 22, 26. 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 44, 100, 101. 
 Crops, cereal, 5, 12 ; protection of, 13, 
 
 24; rotation of, 17, 19, 20; state 
 
 of, 29. 
 
192 
 
 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Crown, support of, 81 ; grants to, 92, 
 
 93. 94, 96, 99- 
 Crown lands, 84, 85, 93 ; rents, value 
 
 of at Union, 103. 
 Crown vassals, casualties of, source of 
 
 revenue, 84, 86. 
 Crusaders, 121. 
 
 Cuddicke. See Conveth and Custom 
 
 of Cuddiku. 
 Cztid, 175. 
 
 Cuid oidche, 175, 176, 1 80. 
 Culross, 145. 
 Culverings, 95. 
 Cumin seed, 120. 
 Cuningar, 19. 
 Cunningham, 8. 
 Cunninghame, Robert, 56. 
 Cunningham, Sir David, 29. 
 Cupar. See Abbeys. 
 Cups, 136. 
 
 Cure Masters of Fish, 132. 
 
 Currency, national, 80, 82. 
 
 Custom of Cuddikie, 81, 82, 179. 
 
 Customs (see also Taxes and Revenue), 
 on cloth, 35, 89 ; on linen, 48, 
 49 ; on salt, 56, 90 ; on glass, 58 ; 
 on soap, 60 ; on fish, 70, 89 ; re- 
 turns from, 72, 88, 89, 90 ; on 
 skins, 88, 89 ; on horses, sheep, 
 and cattle, 89 ; exemptions from, 
 43, 107 ; great customs, 84, 88, 
 89 ; annexed to Crown, 90 ; in- 
 crease of, 95 ; value of, at Union, 
 103 ; negotiations concerning, 137, 
 143- 
 
 Custumars, 84, 88 ; powers of, 98. 
 Dairies, 13. 
 Dairsie, Laird of, 37. 
 Dalriadic Scots, 4, 5, 33 ; tribes among, 
 7- 
 
 Dalyell, General, 46. 
 Damages, 12, 15. 
 
 David I., 8, 34, 51, 54, 67, 71, 72, 73, 
 74, 75, 76, 80, 82, 83, 85, 88, 106, 
 107, 152, 157, 162. 
 
 David II., 88, 91, 92, 94, 129. 
 
 Davyes, Sir John, 174. 
 
 Dawick, Laird of, 145. 
 
 Deacons, collectors of Excise, 100. 
 
 Debtors, 24. 
 
 Dee, 69. 
 
 Defence, national, 80, 82. 
 
 Demesne, 85. 
 
 Dempster, 27. 
 
 Dermis, Cornelius, 40. 
 
 Desmond, Earl of, 174, 175. 
 
 Deveron, 70. 
 
 Dick, Sir William, 100. 
 
 I Dickson, Robert, 52. 
 Dog, Walter, 19. 
 Don, 69. 
 Doucats, 64. 
 Douglas, Robert, 59, 61. 
 Draining, 17, 18. 
 
 Dress, among Celtic tribes, 31, 32 ; 
 
 laws against wearing silk, 51 ; 
 
 regulations concerning, 137. 
 Druggets, 49. 
 Dryhouse Cottars, 26. 
 Dumbarton, a fishing port, 71, 72 ; its 
 
 standard measures, 155. 
 Dumfries, 154. 
 Duncan of Carrick, 54. 
 Dundee, foreign weavers in, 40 ; 
 
 salmon exported from, 70, 71 ; 
 
 its importance, 145, 147, 148 ; its 
 
 shipping, 149. 
 Dundrennan. See Abbeys. 
 Dunfermline. See Monks. 
 Dunwich, Scotch community at, 122, 
 
 123. 
 
 Dupin, Nicholas, 62, 63. 
 Durham, Cathedral of, 106. 
 Eaught, 176, 180. 
 Edgar, 106. 
 
 Edinburgh, foreign websters in, 37, 39, 
 42 ; export of wool from, 37 ; rents 
 petty customs, 87 ; tax on town 
 and county, 97 ; its importance, 
 145 ; its shipping, 149 ; keeps 
 standard measures, 152, 157, 159, 
 170. 
 
 Edward I., 127. 
 
 Edward II., 128. 
 
 Edward III., 134. 
 
 Eggs, part rent paid in, 9. 
 
 Elcho, Lord, 59. 
 
 Elders, collectors of Excise, 100. 
 
 Elgin, salmon exported from, 70, 71. 
 
 Ellbed. See Elnwand. 
 
 Elnwand, 159. 
 
 Embassies, expenses of, 95. 
 
 Embroidery, 32. 
 
 Erskine, William, 57. 
 
 Escheats, 84. • 
 
 Ewin, Sir, of Erregeithill, 81. 
 
 Exchequer, 86. 
 
 Excise, first notice of, 99 ; duties levied, 
 99, 100, 101, 102 ; collectors of, 
 IOO ; farming of, 1 00, 101 ; pro- 
 ceeds of, 101, 102, 103 ; diffi- 
 culties in collecting, 102 ; exemp- 
 tions from, 51, 131. 
 
 Exemptions, from taxes or customs, 37, 
 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 51, 52, 
 76, 88, 92 ; from military service, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 193 
 
 44, 45 ; from billeting of soldiers, 
 
 Expedition and hosting, 9, 82. 
 Export, of corn, 25. 
 
 — of cattle, 25, 89, 135. 
 
 — of malt, 38. 
 
 — of schone, 38. 
 
 — of linen, 38, 49. 
 
 — of salt, 38, 55. 
 
 — of glass, 58. 
 
 — of salmon, 70, 71, 135. 
 
 — of fish, 71, 89, 120, 148. 
 
 — of wool and woollen goods, 35, 36, 
 
 37, 38, 41, 42, 65, 88, 89, in, 
 135, 148. 
 
 — of hides, 88, 135, 149. 
 
 — of horses, sheep, 89, 135. 
 
 — of coal, 147, 148. 
 
 — of wine, 135. 
 
 — of tallow, 135. 
 
 Extent. See Valuation Roll. 
 Extentors, 95. 
 
 Factories, Cloth, establishment of, in 
 Edinburgh, 36, 37, 40, 45, 47 ; 
 and burghs, 41, 42 ; in Hadding- 
 ton, 44 ; in Glasgow, 45, 46, 47 ; 
 spread of, 45, 47 : Glass, 57, 58, 
 59 ; Linen, 50, 51 ; Silk, 52. 
 
 Falaise, Treaty of, 92. 
 
 Famines, 15, 24. 
 
 Farthingmen, 115. 
 
 Feacht, 8, 9, 81, 82. 
 
 Feilire Aenghuis, 32. 
 
 Fermant, Philip, 36. 
 
 Ferme, 25, 26. 
 
 Feu-duty, 86. 
 
 Figs, 120. 
 
 Fields, enclosed, 1 1. 
 Fil<S, The, 7. 
 Findruine, 32. 
 Findthorn, 69. 
 Fingram, 49. 
 
 Fines (see also Penalties), agricultural, 
 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25 ; for 
 contumacy of Baron Court, 27 ; 
 criminal, 27, 28, 29, 86, 178 ; for 
 infringing trade rights, 34, 58 ; for 
 exporting wool, 38 ; for using 
 woollen grave clothes, 50 ; for in- 
 fringement of Statuta Glide, 1 16, 
 117, 118, 119; a source of revenue, 
 84, 87, 178 ; religious, 144 ; on 
 burghs for not providing weights, 
 
 .154. 
 
 Hscher, Thomas, 40. 
 
 Fisheries, 67 : Fishery Company, 72 ; 
 limits of, 74 ; privileges of, 75 : 
 Fishing trade, 107, III, 120, 132, 
 
 148 ; privileges of, 76 : Salmon, 
 salting of, 55 ; rights, 67 ; laws, 
 67 ; close time, 68 ; importance 
 of, 69 ; export of, 70, 71, 135, 
 171 ; customs, 70, 71, 89, 136 ; 
 price of, 70 ; rivers, 69 ; revenue 
 from, 90 : Trout, laws concerning, 
 70 : Pike, laws concerning, 70 : 
 Herring, laws concerning, 71, 75, 
 76 ; duty on, 71, 89, 90 ; packing 
 of, 76 ; revenue from, 72, 90 ; 
 measure of barrels, 72, 76, 90, 
 171 ; export of, 120, 148: White 
 fish, duty on, 80, 90. 
 Flaths, 6. 
 
 Fleming, James, 38. 
 Fletcher, George, 75. 
 Fordun, 15, 
 
 Forester, Sir John, 162. 
 Forfar, 81. 
 Foulis, Thomas, 41. 
 F'our- Masters, 176. 
 Fowler. See Game. 
 Fuan. See Tunic. 
 Fustians, 37. 
 
 Gael, The, Logan, 177, 180. 
 Galloway, 8, 9, 12. 
 Gairm -sluaigh, 1 74. 
 Game, 19, 22. 
 Gardin, John, 36. 
 Garnels, 56. 
 Ginger, 120. 
 
 Giraldus Cambrensis, 178. 
 Glammis, 81. 
 
 Glasgow, Burgh of, privileges, 34 ; 
 cloth factories in, 45, 46, 47 ; glass 
 work in, 59 ; sugar works, 63 ; tax 
 on, 97 ; its importance, 145, 147 ; 
 foreign trade, 148. 
 
 Glasgow, Chartulary of, 34, 119. 
 
 Glasgow, Church of, 8. 
 
 Glass, works, 57, 58, 59 ; window, 
 58 ; price of, 58 ; tax on, $8 ; ex- 
 port and import of, 58 ; mirror, 
 58 ; coach, moulded, 59 ; privi- 
 leges of trade, 58, 59 ; polished, 
 59- 
 
 Glebe, measure of, 169. 
 Glenluce. See Abbeys. 
 Gordon, James, 64. 
 Gordon estates, 25. 
 Grange, 10. 
 Grass maill, 27. 
 Grassum, 17, 22. 
 Growgrams, 37. 
 
 Guicciardini, Lodovico, 133, 134. 
 Guilds, merchant, 109 ; Berwick, its 
 fines and penalties, 11 5- 119; its 
 
I 9 4 MEDIEVAL 
 
 benefits, 116; its privileges, 117 ; 
 its government, 118. 
 Gule, 14, 17. 
 
 Gunpowder, acts concerning, 64, 65 ; 
 
 import of, 64, 65 ; factories, 65. 
 Haco, 125. 
 
 Haddington, a seat of woollen manu- 
 facture, 44. 
 Haddock, 120. 
 Hagbuts, 95. 
 
 Halkett, George, 141, 143. 
 Halyburton, Ledger of, 144. 
 Hamburg, trade with, 149 ; measure 
 
 of, 170. 
 Hamilton, Frederick, 63. 
 Hamilton, James, 45. 
 Hamilton, John, 63. 
 Harbiestone, George, 28. 
 Hardiman's Galway, 179. 
 Harper, Janet, 28. 
 Harris Ware, 176. 
 Hart's-head, 13. 
 Harvest-work, 4. 
 
 Hats, manufacture of, 66 ; import of, 
 
 66 ; duty on, 100. 
 Hay, Sir George, 57, 58. 
 Hay, John, 75. 
 Hay of Leys, 16. 
 Health, public, 116. 
 Heare, Peter Groot, 61. 
 Hemp, 65. 
 Henre de Turk, 40. 
 Henry III., 100, 125, 130. 
 Herbs, garden, 4. 
 Heriot,"i73. 
 
 Herring. See Fisheries. 
 
 Hides, export of, 88 ; revenue from, 
 
 90; trade in, 117, 126, 135, 149; 
 
 duties on, 88, 136. 
 Holmcultram. See Abbeys. 
 Holyrood. See Abbeys. 
 Honey, 121. 
 Hoops, 148. 
 
 Hope, Sir Alexander, 65. 
 
 Horses, 14, 120 ; prices of, 13, 15, 23 ; 
 
 dutyon, 89, 121 ; export of, 89, 135. 
 Hospital, 116. 
 Hunter, Andrew, 40, 41. 
 Husbandmen, 10, 18. 
 Husbandi. See Husbandmen. 
 Husbandland, 10. 
 Ich, 81, 82. 
 Idlers, 43, 49- 
 Import of cloth, 35, 46. 
 
 — of timber, 38, 120, 149. 
 
 — of wool, 43. 
 
 — of linen, 48, 49, 105. 
 
 — of silk, 51. 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Import of salt, 55, 112, 136, 149. 155. 
 
 — of soap, 60, 136. 
 
 — of glass, 58. 
 
 — of gunpowder, 65. 
 
 — of hats, 66. 
 
 — of luxuries, 106. 
 
 — of corn, 110, 112, 122, 148. 
 
 — of meal, no, 148. 
 
 — of wine, in, 112, 120, 136, 150. 
 
 — of provisions, 1 20, 128, 136, 148, 
 
 149, 136, 150, 155. 
 
 — of dyes, 120. 
 
 — of spices, 120. 
 
 — of kitchen utensils, 120. 
 
 — of drugs, 120. 
 
 — of leather, 120. 
 
 — of oil, 120. 
 
 — of armour and weapons, 128, 135. 
 
 — of wooden goods, 148. 
 
 — of rosin, 149. 
 
 — of tar, 150. 
 
 — of iron, 1 50. 
 
 — Act against, 47. 
 
 Impost (under Taxes), Irish, on land, 
 173- 
 
 Inchgarde, 135. 
 
 Industries, 54. See also Casting, Coach- 
 builditig, Glass, Gunpowder, Iron, 
 Oil, Paper, Porcelain, Pottery, 
 Salt, Soap, Sugar. 
 
 In field, 20. 
 
 Innerwich, 16. 
 
 Innes, Cosmo, 25, 133, 144. 
 
 Insula regis, 67. 
 
 Inverness, 147. 
 
 loch. See Ich. 
 
 Iron, 57, 120, 150 ; weights for, 160. 
 Irvine, revenue from herring, 72 ; its 
 
 importance, 146 ; its standard 
 
 measures, 155. 
 Isla, 7. 
 
 Jacque de la Rudge, 40. 
 James, The, 149. 
 
 James I., 70, 89, 94, 152, 157, 160. 
 
 James III., 90. 
 
 James VI. , 30, 36, 41, 42. 
 
 James VII., 99, 158. 
 
 Janson, Arane, 40. 
 
 Jedburgh. See Monks. 
 
 Joceline, 5. 
 
 John, 124. 
 
 John, Duke of Brabant, 128. 
 Johnstone, John, 45. 
 Jousy, Robert, 41. 
 
 Jug, Stirling Pint, 162 ; description of, 
 
 163. 
 Jura, 7. 
 
 Justiciars, 84, 86. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 195 
 
 Justice, administration of, 80, 86. 
 Kail, 17. 
 
 Kelso. See Abbeys. 
 Kelyng, 120. 
 Kempery men, 173. 
 Kenkonal, 8. 
 Kerseys, 42. 
 Kid, 22. 
 
 Kilcock. See Cilli Choca. 
 Kilwinning. See Monks. 
 Kintyre, 7. 
 Kirk, Trinity, 37. 
 Kirkcudbright, 145, 154. 
 Knives, 120. 
 Kyle, 8. 
 
 Kyncarrekyn, 67. 
 Kyncrech, 19. 
 Lame, 60. 
 L'Amey, Hugo, 69. 
 
 Lanark, keeps standard measures, 157 ; 
 stone weight of, 161 ; county of, 
 tax on, 97. 
 
 Lanark, Earl of, 145. 
 
 Land (see also Tenure, Lease), laws 
 relating to, 14 ; divisions of, 20 ; 
 holdings, 25 ; taxes on, 93 ; revenue 
 from, 103 ; Tribe land, 6 ; Crown 
 lands, 16, 21 ; Church lands, 21. 
 
 Law, merchants', 131. 
 
 Lawsuits, 28, 109, 122, 123. 
 
 Lead, 149. 
 
 Leases, 16, 17 ; conditions attached to, 
 17 ; forfeiture of, 20 ; Acts of Par- 
 liament concerning, 21 ; length of, 
 26. 
 
 Leblanc, 59. 
 
 Legal Antiquities, 2$. 
 
 Leges Burgorum, 34, 82. 
 
 Leith, linen factory in, 51 ; glass work 
 
 at > 58, 59 ; soap work at, 60, 61 ; 
 
 sugar work in, 63 ; a fishing port, 
 
 71 ; its importance, 147. 
 Lepers, 18, 68, 116. 
 Leslie, Colonel Ludovic, 56. 
 Letters of gift, 84, 87. 
 Leven, Loch, 70. 
 Lews, The, 73. 
 Lex Mercatoria, 130. 
 Life of S. Columba, 105. 
 Life of S. Kentigern, 107. 
 Linen. See Manufactures. 
 Ling, 120. 
 
 Linlithgow, Earl of, 65. 
 
 Linlithgow, has standard measures, 154, 
 
 157, 167. 
 Linn, George, 60. 
 Lint, 12, 65, 
 Litster, 36. 
 
 Loans, 96. 
 
 Lockhart, George, 149. 
 Locks, 120. 
 
 London, the liberties of, 1 24. 
 Losseir, Claus, 40. 
 Lucas the Scot, 122. 
 Luscy, G. de, 109. 
 Lyell, James, 65. 
 Macbeth, 105. 
 M'Brien Ara, 181. 
 McCarthy More, 174, 178. 
 M'Carthyreagh, 181. 
 M'Lean, Laughlan, 9. 
 Magistrates, powers of, 54, 84. 
 Magnus of Norway, 125. 
 Mains, 10. 
 Makers, 56. 
 
 Molars. See Husbandi, 10. 
 
 Malcolm III., 106. 
 
 Malcolm IV., 9, 3, 81, 92. 
 
 Malt, prices of, 12, 16 ; part rent, 22, 
 
 85 ; export of, 38 ; duty on, 102 ; 
 
 trade in, 120, 136. 
 Malynes, Gerard, 129. 
 Manes, Denis, 63. 
 Manufactures, linen, 48-51. 
 
 earliest mention of, 48. 
 
 import and export of, 38, 49, 105. 
 
 enactments concerning, 48, 49, 
 
 50, 51- 
 
 breadth and measuring of, 49, 51. 
 
 custom duties, 48, 49. 
 
 prices of, 49. 
 
 bleaching of, 49, 51. 
 
 privileges of, 49, 51. 
 
 sealing of, 51- 
 
 wearing of, 51. 
 
 Manufactures, silk, 51-53; early men- 
 tion of, 51 ; wearing of, 51 ; privi- 
 leges of, 52 ; enactments concern- 
 ing, 52. 
 
 Manufactures, woollen, 30-47. See 
 also Cloth. 
 
 monopolies of royal burghs in, 30. 
 
 oldest existing specimen of, 33. 
 
 enactments concerning, 32, 34, 
 
 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43» 
 
 45, 46, 47- 
 
 export and import of, 35, 42, 43, 
 
 46, 89 ; prohibitions against, 35, 
 
 36, 38, 41, 47. 
 
 duties on, 35, 89. 
 
 sealing of, 35, 36. 
 
 Flemish and Dutch weavers of, 
 
 36, 37, 39, 40, 42. 
 
 schools for teaching, 44. 
 
 privileges of, 37, 38, 41, 43, 44, 
 
 45, 46, 47- 
 
196 MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND. 
 
 Manufactures, woollen, seats of, 44, 45, 
 46. 
 
 Incorporations, 35, 46. 
 
 linen manufacture and, 51. 
 
 revenue from, 90. 
 
 Manure, 17, 25. 
 
 Marianus Scotus, 106. 
 
 Mark, its amount, 88. 
 
 Mart, rent paid in, 22, 25, 177. 
 
 Mart-land, 177. 
 
 Marsh-land, 17. 
 
 Melrose. See Monks. 
 
 Mary, Queen, 138, 139. 
 
 Masters, 56. 
 
 Masters and Men, customs in salt trade, 
 56. 
 
 Maule, Patrick, 61. 
 
 Maunsel, Samuel, 130. 
 
 Meal, 12 ; prices of, 15, 23 ; as part 
 rent, 9, 22, 25, 174, 175 ; import 
 of, 148 ; how measured, 165, 166. 
 
 Measures, 151 ; standard, 152, 156, 
 157, 164, 165, 166, 170 ; for 
 foreign goods, 155 ; for native 
 goods, 155 ; ancient standards, 
 
 163 : Tables of measurement, 167, 
 
 168 ; heaped, 164 ; straik, 153, 
 
 164 ; victual, 164 ; water, 153. 
 
 — Boll, 23, 155, 163 ; standard, 167 ; 
 
 bow, 167 ; bushel, 167 ; chalder, 
 167 ; choppin, 155, 163 ; fiddes, 
 161; firlot, 21, 152, 156, 164, 
 166 ; forpit, 167 ; gallon, Scots, 
 161 ; imperial, 163 ; gill, 164 ; half- 
 firlot, 152, 164 ; jowcat, 164 ; last, 
 161 ; lippies, 167 ; mett, 153, 171 ; 
 mutchkin, 155, 163 ; peck, 152, 
 154, 164, 167 ; pint, 152, 155, 
 Stirling, 163; English, 166 ; quart, 
 155 ; sack, 161 ; stoup, 155. 
 — ■ Land ; acre, 168, standard, 166 ; 
 davach, 169 ; ell, standard, 169 ; 
 fall, 168 ; lineal and square, 169 ; 
 mark-land, 169 ; ounce-land, 169 ; 
 oxgang, 169 ; penny-land, 169, 
 170; plank, 170; plough-land, 
 
 169 ; rood, of baronies, 168, of 
 burghs, 168, standard, 169, of 
 mason's work, 196. 
 
 — Lineal: ell, 153, 155; foot, 158; 
 
 inch, 157 ; mile, 158; yard, 158. 
 
 — Fishing; barrels, 170, marking of, 
 
 170 ; salmon, 170, 171 ; herrings, 
 170 ; west country, 170 ; hogshead, 
 170. 
 
 Meikle, John, 64. 
 Melrose. See Abbeys. 
 Melville, Earl of, 50. 
 
 Menteith, Walter, Earl of, 124. 
 Mercery, 120. 
 
 Merchants, liberties of, 109 ; foreign, 
 109, 129 ; religious restrictions on, 
 
 143, M4. 
 Merk, 2, 23. 
 
 Middleburgh, 129, 132, 133. 
 Mills, wind and water, 13 ; Dairy, 61, 
 62. 
 
 Mint, The, 91. 
 Minnies of Parliaiyient, 43. 
 Money, 8, 11. 
 Monk, General, 98. 
 Monks. See also Abbeys. 
 
 — Cistertian, grant to, 92. 
 
 — of Dunfermline, grant to, 107. 
 
 — of Jedburgh, grants to, 54. 
 
 — of Kilwinning, grant to, 112. 
 
 — of Newbattle, grant to, 54. 
 
 — of Vauday, grant to, III. 
 Monopolies, abolition of, 65. 
 Montgomerie, Hugh, 63. 
 Montgomerie, James, 59, 61, 63. 
 Montgomery, William, 60. 
 Montrose, salmon export, 71 ; its im- 
 portance, 145 ; snipping of, 148. 
 
 Morrison's Haven, glass-work, 59. 
 
 Morton, Earl of, 75. 
 
 Mulones, 89. 
 
 Multures, 27. 
 
 Murder, fine for, 86. 
 
 Museum, National, of Antiquities, 33 
 
 Musselburgh, cloth factory in, 47. 
 
 Nativi, 85. 
 
 National Assembly, 92. 
 Neil of Carrick, 8. 
 Neill, John, 45. 
 Nesbit, Henry, 140, 141. 
 Ness, 70. 
 
 Nets, fishing, cost of, 70; trade in, 120. 
 Newbattle. See Monks. 
 New Mills, 45, 46 ; Company, 47. 
 Newmilns, 62. 
 
 New Sugar Manufactory of Glas- 
 gow, 63. 
 Nicoll, 101. 
 Nith, 70. 
 
 Nugent, Sir R., 179. 
 Nungate, 44. 
 
 Oats, part rent, 9, 22 ; prices of, 12, 
 15, 23 ; taxes on, 95 ; trade in, 
 148 ; how measured, 165, 166. 
 
 Oatmeal. See Meal. 
 
 O'Callaghan, 175. 
 
 O'Conor, 177, 178. 
 
 O'Curry, Eugene, 32. 
 
 O'Donoughue, 175. 
 
 O'Donovan, Dr., 5. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 197 
 
 O'Doyne, 178. 
 O'Driscoll, 181. 
 O'Neill, 176, 177. 
 O'Reilly, Sir John, 177. 
 Oil, making of, 65, 66 ; trade in, 120, 
 121. 
 
 Oliphant, of Gask, 68. 
 Ophaly, 177. 
 
 Orkney, land measures in, 169, 170. 
 Ormeston, silk manufacturer, 52. 
 Out field, 20. 
 
 Owners and occupiers, 6, 8, 16, 22. 
 Oxgate, 10. 
 Oysters, 120. 
 Pac. Heb. I., 177. 
 
 Paper, works, 61, 62, 63 ; foreign 
 workmen, 62 ; writing, 62 ; water 
 mark, 62 ; privileges of trade, 63. 
 
 Parliament, Irish, Acts of, 175, 176, 
 180. 
 
 Parliament, Scottish, Acts of, for en- 
 couraging agriculture, 19, 20, 21, 
 23, 24, 25 ; for encouraging manu- 
 factures, 30, 35, 36, 39, 41, 42, 45, 
 46, 47, 48,49, 5o» 5 1 , 55. 58, 59, 
 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 ; for regulat- 
 ing fisheries, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 
 74> 75> 76 ; grants to the Crown, 
 99 ; customs, 102 ; for encourag- 
 ing foreign trade, 129, 134, 145 ; 
 for regulating weights and measures, 
 152, 153. 154, I5 8 > !59> 160, 162, 
 171. 
 
 Paris, Matthew, 12. 
 Parva cusluma, 87. 
 
 Pasturage, 13, 14, 20; irrigation of, 17. 
 
 Patrick of Dunbar, 13. 
 
 Pat. Jac. I., 173, 179, 181. 
 
 Pearls, Scotch, 106. 
 
 Pease, 12, 19, 21, 25, 120; prices of, 
 
 23 ; how measured, 165. 
 Peats, 17. 
 
 Penalties (see also Fines), for injury to 
 crops, cattle, and ploughs, 24 ; for 
 making inferior cloth, 35 ; for 
 bleaching with lime, 49 ; infring- 
 ing fishing laws, 68, 70 ; for failure 
 in branding fish barrels, 170. 
 
 Pendiclers, 26. 
 
 Pennies, silver, 80, 87, 91. 
 
 Pepper, 120, 149. 
 
 Perth, foreign weavers in, 40 ; silk 
 factory in, 52 ; salmon exported 
 from, 70, 71 ; its importance, 145 ; 
 has standard measures, 152. 
 
 Petersen, Jacob, 40. 
 
 Picken, Hugh, 29. 
 
 Picts, Northern, 7. 
 
 Pike. See Fisheries. 
 Pined, 76. 
 
 Pitchersgill, Simon, 45. 
 Plaiding, export of, 148. 
 Planting, 17, 23. 
 Plotter, 40 n. 
 
 Plough-gate, 8, 1 1, 18, 25 ; rent of, 22. 
 Plough-land, 169 ; rent on, 177. 
 Ploughing, 4 ; use of oxen in, 5, 14, 
 
 21, 22. 
 
 Porcelaine, 60. 
 
 Post Office, value of revenue from, at 
 Union, 103. 
 
 Pottery, 57, 120 ; acts in favour of, 60 ; 
 monopoly in, 60. 
 
 Poultry, part rent, 9, 22, 25, 85. 
 
 Present of Cork, 178. 
 
 Present of Co. Waterford, 178. 
 
 Prices, of cereals, 12, 15, 23; of malt, 
 12; of horses, 13, 15, 23; of 
 sheep, 15, 23; of meal, 15, 23; 
 of oxen and cows, 15, 16, 23 ; 
 of pigs, 15; of butter, 23 ; of 
 cheese, 23 ; of wool, 23 ; of linen, 
 49 ; of salt, 54 ; of glass, 58 ; of 
 soap, 60 ; of salmon, 70 ; of 
 herring, 73 ; of ling and cod, 73 ; 
 of boats and fittings, 72, 122. 
 
 Primside, 14. 
 
 Prins, 70. 
 
 Privileges (see also Exemptions), mer- 
 chants', 131, 132, 133, 143. 
 
 Privy Council, Scotland, and cloth 
 manufature, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43 ; 
 and foreign weavers, 42 ; and linen 
 manufacture, 50 ; and silk manu- 
 facture, 52; monopolies and licenses 
 granted by, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62 ; 
 prohibitions of, 62 ; and fisheries, 
 72, 73 ; and measurements, 165, 
 171. 
 
 Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 
 
 in Scotland, 169. 
 Prunes, 149. 
 
 Public Record Office, 109, 126. 
 Public officer, Irish, 177. 
 Pullici, 128. 
 
 Purslane. See Porcelaine. 
 
 Querns, 4, 13. 
 
 Quirren pottle, 174. 
 
 Rags, 62. 
 
 Raisins, 120. 
 
 Rape seeds, 65. 
 
 Rath, 7. 
 
 Ray, Gilbert, 19. 
 
 Record Edition of Acts of Parliament, 41. 
 Records of the Convention of Royal 
 Burghs, 136, 142, 144. 
 
MEDIAEVAL 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Reddendo, 86, 87. 
 
 Reek-hen, 12, 25. 
 
 Register House, 17, 78. 
 
 Register of All Hallows, 176. 
 
 Register of the Convention of Royal 
 Burghs, 78, 79. 
 
 Register of the Great Seal, 78. 
 
 Register of the Privy Council, 78. 
 
 Rembertini, 128. 
 
 Renfrew, county of, tax on, 97. 
 
 Rent, part paid in service, 8, 9, 10, II, 
 16, 17, 22 ; of cottars, 10, 12 ; of 
 husbandi, 11 ; of mill, 12 ; of brew- 
 houses, 12 ; of lands, 16, 17; of 
 house and land, 18 ; security for, 
 18 ; of a plough-gate, 22, 25 ; of 
 woollen factory, 46 ; of land in 
 burghs, 85, 87 ; taxes on, 95 ; 
 Irish, in cattle, 173, 177 ; in 
 victual, 173, 174, 175, 177, 179, 
 180, 181 ; in money, 175, 180, 
 181 ; in drink, 176, 181. 
 
 Revenue, 77 ; earliest provisions for 
 regular, 82 ; officers, 83, 84 ; 
 collectors of, 84, 87 ; sources of, 
 84 ; how paid, 80, 81, 82, 85 ; 
 amounts of, 72, 87, 88, 89, 90, 
 136 ; increase of customs, 95 ; 
 supplies, 99 ; excise, 99 ; sources 
 of, at Union, 103. 
 
 Ri, maintenance of, 175, 178, 179. 
 
 Ribbons, tax on, 46. 
 
 Rice, 120. 
 
 Richard I., grants paid to, 92, 108. 
 Riche, Captain B., 178. 
 Rig, 6, 35. 
 Roads, 13. 
 Robert II., 136. 
 
 Robert, Count of Flanders, 127, 128. 
 
 Robert de Bernhame, 114. 
 
 Roche, Eustachius, 55. 
 
 Roger de Scalebroc, 54. 
 
 Roland of Carrick, 8. 
 
 Roland of Galloway, 13, 54. 
 
 Rolls of the Exchequer, 78, 81, 85, 91, 
 
 136. 
 Rooks, 20, 21. 
 Rosin, imported, 149. 
 Roxburgh, Earl of, 75. 
 Ruffus, John, in, 112. 
 Ruffus, Richard, 113. 
 Rye, 12, 19 ; prices of, 13 ; taxes on, 
 
 95 ; how measured, 165. 
 Saggart, The, 7. 
 
 Sailors, regulations regarding, 143. 
 Salaries, for overseer of cloth factory, 45. 
 Salmon (see Fisheries). 
 Salt, export of, 38 ; making of, 54 ; 
 
 excise duties on, 102 ; trade in, 
 
 112, 120, 136, 147, 148, 149; 
 
 measure of, 155, 165 ; used as a 
 
 symbol, 177. 
 Saltcoats, 56. 
 Satellitum potare, 176. 
 Saxons, in Scotland, 33. 
 Scone, Abbey of, 16, 60, 67. 
 Scherar, 40. 
 Schone, export of, 38. 
 Schryno, 60. 
 School fees, 28. 
 
 Schools, technical, first, 44, 46. 
 
 Scone. See Abbeys. 
 
 Scot. Die, 19. 
 
 Scott, Colonel James, 56. 
 
 Scott, William, 65. 
 
 Scot's White Paper Manufactory, 63. 
 
 Seaforth, Earl of, 73. 
 
 Seals, of cause, 35 ; cloth, 35, 37 ; 
 
 linen, 51. 
 Sedans, making of, 65. 
 Seigniorage, 91. 
 Selvidge, 35. 
 Serges, 37, 49. 
 Serplath, 35. 
 Servants, farm, 24, 25. 
 Service, military, Scottish, 9, 24, 80, 
 
 82 ; exemptions from, 44, 45. 
 
 Irish, 173, 174, 175, 176, 180. 
 
 Set well, 120. 
 Seys, 44. 
 
 Shaw, Sir John, 57. 
 
 Sheep, 14, 22 ; prices of, 13, 15, 23 ; 
 
 part rent, 22 ; duty on, 89, 120 ; 
 
 taxes on, 95. 
 Shepherds, 14. 
 Shepherdland, 20. 
 
 Sheriffs, duties belonging to, 84, 86, 
 93, I5 2 - 
 
 Shipping dues, 121, 136 ; plunder of, 
 124, 126, 132, 145 ; protection of, 
 135 ; privileges, 132, 142, 145 ; 
 owned by the towns, 148, 149 ; 
 tonnage, 148, 149. 
 
 Ships, building of, 121, 145 ; price of, 
 in 1250, 122. 
 
 Shirts, of cloth of gold, 32 ; of silk, 32 ; 
 bordered, 32. 
 
 Silk, regulations concerning, 51 ; estab- 
 lishment of trade, 52 ; exemptions, 
 52 ; goods, duty on, 99. 
 
 Simon of St Andrews, 112. 
 
 Sinderit, 39. 
 
 Silver mailt, 22, 25. 
 
 Skene, Mr., 7, 81. 
 
 Skins, factory of rabbit and hare, 66 ; 
 revenue from, 88 ; sheep skins, ex- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 199 
 
 port of, 88, 89, 135, 149 ; revenue 
 from, 89 ; regulation concerning, 
 117 ; article of trade, 126. 
 
 Sludged, 8, 9, 81, 82. 
 
 Soap, 59 ; part rent, 9 ; import of, 60, 
 136 ; price of, 60 ; patents granted, 
 60, 61 ; custom on, 60 ; works, 
 60, 61. 
 
 Sorren, 174, 175, 177, 180. 
 Sort en-more ; 174. 
 Sorren land. See Sorren. 
 Sorryn, 9. 
 
 Southesk, Earl of, 145. 
 Sowing, 4 ; times of, 14. 
 Spalding Club, 25. 
 Spark, John, 19. 
 Spears, import of, 135. 
 Speir, 45. 
 
 Spendings, common, 176. 
 
 Spenser, Edmund, 176. 
 
 Spey, 69. 
 
 Spyner, 40. 
 
 Stair, Master of, 50. 
 
 St. Andrews, 56, 145. 
 
 S. Columba, 4, 7. 
 
 S. Columb Cille\ 32. 
 
 S. Kentigern, 5. 
 
 S. Ninian, 4. 
 
 St. Pol and Blois, Earl of, 121. 
 
 S. P. 1535, II., 179. 
 
 S. P. O. 1550, 177, 178. 
 
 S. P. O. 1587 ; Desmond's Rents and 
 
 Ware, 174, 179, 180. 
 S. P. O. 1589, Sir W. St. Leger, 175, 
 
 179. 
 
 S. P. O. II., 174, 176. 
 Stallage, 76. 
 
 Stansfield, Colonel, 44, 45. 
 Staple, 129, 130, 133, 137, 138, 141, 
 142. 
 
 Statuta Gilde, 113 et sea. 
 
 Staves, barrel, 148. 
 
 Steelbow, 6. 
 
 Stemmingis, 37. 
 
 Stented, 139. 
 
 Stewart, Alan, 16. 
 
 Stewart, Walter, 16. 
 
 Stirling, 54, 56 ; revenue on salmon 
 
 export, 70 ; kept standard measures, 
 
 157 ; pints, 162. 
 Stirling, Margate, 28. 
 Stirling, Viscount, 75. 
 Strangers, 6, 70, 117. 
 Strathearn, Earl of, 75. 
 Strathgrif, 8. 
 
 Streets, cleansing of, 117. 
 Stockings, children taught to knit, 46, 
 49 ; silk, duty on, 100. 
 
 Strowan, 177. 
 Stuht, 6. 
 
 Sugar, works, 63 ; tax on, 63 ; im- 
 munities of, 63, import of, 150. 
 Sunday work, 55. 
 Supply, 99. 
 
 Sutherland, Earl of, 86. 
 
 Swine, 14 ; price of, 15 ; part rent, 9, 
 
 22, 85 ; paid duty, 120. 
 Syner, 40. 
 Syoks, 19. 
 Tacksmen, 26. 
 Tain Bo Chuailgne, 31. 
 Tallow, export of, 135 ; weighing of, 
 
 160. 
 
 Tanist, The, 7. 
 Taoiseach, 173. 
 Tar, 150. 
 Taverns, 119. 
 
 Taxes (see also Customs, Revenue, Cam, 
 Conveth, and Cuddicke), for teach- 
 ing weaving, 44, exemptions from, 
 41, 44, 52, 63, 92 ; on ribbons and 
 thread, 46 ; on glass, 58 ; on sugar, 
 63 ; on fish, 70, 71 ; Celtic, 79 ; 
 how paid, 80 ; receivers of, 84 ; 
 growing increase of, 88 ; on silver, 
 91 ; first, 92 ; for national aid, 
 9 2 > 93» 94 5 on land, 93 ; new, 
 95 ; general, 96 et seq. ; on ships, 
 106, 107, 121 ; on cattle, horses, 
 and swine, 120. 
 
 Tenure of land, 6 ; of tribe-land, 8, 9 ; 
 of cottars, 10, 12, 17; ofhusbandi, 
 11, 12 ; by lease, 16-21 ; of 
 crofters, 22 ; feudal, 82, 86. 
 
 Terra dominica. See Demesne. 
 
 Thanages, 81, 84, 85, 86. 
 
 Thread, impost on, 46 ; linen, 120. 
 
 Thomas, Captain, 169. 
 
 Thore, Adam, 91. 
 
 Thurlow, Secretary, 98, 10 1. 
 
 Tigherumas, Mac Ollaig, 31. 
 
 Timber, import of, 38, 120, 148, 149, 
 150. 
 
 Tobacco, excise rates on, 99. 
 
 Toisech, The, 7. See also Taoisech. 
 
 Tolbooth, 159. 
 
 Tome ton, 121. 
 
 Torfoeus, 108. 
 
 Touk of drume, 45. 
 
 Town, 10. 
 
 Trade, 104 ; monopolies in, 109 ; 
 regulations of Statuta Gilde regard- 
 ing, 117 ; international methods 
 of, 129 ; with Greenland, 61 ; 
 general foreign, 105, 108, 121, 
 129, I35» 136, 149, 150; with 
 
200 MEDIAEVAL 
 
 England, 106, 107, 109, no, 
 in, 112, 113, 124, 127, 134, 
 149 ; with the Netherlands, 107, 
 108, III, 127, 129, 130, 132, 135, 
 137, 140, 141, 148, 149 ; with 
 Norway, 108, in, 113, 125, 128, 
 148, 149, 150; with Ireland, no, 
 113, 122, 127, 128; with France, 
 in, 112, 113, 137, 138, 139, 140, 
 148 ; with Wales, 124 ; with 
 Denmark, 138, 141 ; with India, 
 146 ; with Africa, 146 ; with West 
 Indies, 149, 150. 
 
 Tribes, tenure of land in, 6, 8, 9 ; 
 headman of, 6 ; office-bearers of, 
 7 ; home-steads, 7 ; rights of head- 
 ship, 8 ; rents in, 8, 9 ; industries 
 of, 31. 
 
 Tron, 152. 
 
 Trout. See Fisheries. 
 Tuath, 6, 7. 
 
 Tucker, Mr., 56, 100, 101, 146, 148. 
 Tunic, 32. 
 
 Tullibardine, Earl of, 145. 
 
 Turnberry, 54. 
 
 Turner, James, 58, 66. 
 
 Tyrone, Earl of, 173, 178. 
 
 Uddart, Nathaniel, 60. 
 
 Uddert, Nicholas, 141. 
 
 Udny, Laird of, 145. 
 
 Ulster Journal of Archeology, 173, 177. 
 
 Union, Act of, 57. 
 
 Vagabonds, 49 ; vagrants and, 98. 
 
 Valuation Roll, 92, 93. 
 
 Vanhort, Abigail, 40. 
 
 Vauday, Monks of, ill. 
 
 Vduart, Nicolas, 36. 
 
 Vegetables, 120. 
 
 Wageouris, 80. 
 
 Wages, of fishermen, 73 ; for military 
 
 service, 95 ; fixing of, 132. 
 Waggons, 13. 
 Waitings, 81. 
 Walkers, 35, 36. 
 Warren, 19. 
 
 War of Independence, 93. 
 Wax, 120 ; stone weight of, 159. 
 Waytinga. See Coiiveth. 
 W. Con., 181. 
 
 Wealth, of different classes, 94, 95, 96 ; 
 
 of Scotland, 105, 106, 107, 108, 
 
 no, 121, 126, 127. 
 Weavers, 35 ; Incorporation of, in 
 
 Glasgow, 46. 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 Wedale, 14. 
 
 Weights, 151 ; reformation of, 152 ; 
 regulations concerning, 153, 154; 
 unit of, 159 ; standard, 160, 161. 
 
 — Stone, 153, 154, 156; of Lanark, 
 
 159, 160 ; tron stone, 160. 
 
 — Pound, 154, 159, 160, 161. 
 
 — Tron, 156, 160. 
 
 — Troy, 156. 
 
 — Ounce, 159, 160. 
 
 — Waw, 159. 
 
 — Drop, 160. 
 
 — Grain, 160. 
 
 — Mark, 160. 
 
 — Serplath, 160. 
 
 — Ton, light, 160. 
 Weights and Measures, 28. 
 
 Weights and Measures of Scotland, 
 
 Treatise on, 169. 
 Wemyss, glass work at, 57, 58. 
 Wergild, 86. 
 
 Wheat, 13, 19, 21, 85 ; prices of, 12, 
 15 ; taxes on, 95, 130, 165 ; im- 
 port of, 136 ; as a symbol, 177. 
 
 Whiting, 120. 
 
 Whittinghame, Laird of, 139. 
 
 Wigton, 154, 155. 
 
 Wilkin, Archibald, 37. 
 
 William de Bowden, 112. 
 
 W T illiam the Lion, 12, 30, 34, 54, 67, 
 
 83, 93, 108, 109, 124. 
 William III., 99. 
 William de Marisco, 113. 
 Wine, excise rates on, 99 ; trade in, 
 
 in, 112, 121, 135, 136, 148, 150. 
 Wobsters, 35, 36 ; Flemish, 36, 37, 
 
 39 ; Dutch, 40, 42. 
 Wolves, 20. 
 
 Women, flyting, 28 ; married, 118. 
 Woods, 18. 
 
 Wool, prices of, 23 ; export of, 36, 37, 
 38, 41, 88 ; import of, 43 ; spinning 
 and fining of, 46, 49 ; revenue 
 from, 90; trade in, in, 112, 117, 
 135 ; duty on, 136 ; stone weight 
 of, 159, 160. 
 
 Woolfells. See Sheepskins. 
 
 Wrights, Incorporation of, 58. 
 
 Wrotham, W. de, 109. 
 
 Wylie, James, 28. 
 
 Xifiline, 3. 
 
 York, Duke of, 46. 
 
 Ythan, 69. 
 
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20 
 
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 ROBERTSON— Life and Letters of Rev. William B. 
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MESSRS. MACLEHOSE AND SONS. 2 1 
 
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22 
 
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MESSRS. MACLEHOSE AND SONS. 23 
 
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24 MESSRS. MACLEHOSES PUBLICATIONS. 
 
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