5 comments on “Inishail and Clachandysart”

1. Ian Maclellan says:

   March 7, 2020 at 11:58 pm

   Once again, thanks for this resource. I have found a reference to “Auchinchicallen” (Auch) as a 4m land, and “Breckled” (Brackley, associated with Achallader?) as a 2m land in a tack from 1721 (GD112/10/1/3/18). I can send you a photograph of the tack if that is helpful

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   • Ian Maclellan says:

     March 8, 2020 at 12:00 am

     Apologies – GD112/10/1/3/21 not 18

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     • drixson says:

       March 17, 2020 at 5:31 pm

       Ian
       Apologies for delay. Yes, please. Always glad to hear of other sources. This blog’s approach is empirical. If the claims I make are challenged by other evidence then I have to reconsider the claims.
       You can email rixson.las@gmail.com whenever convenient.
       Thank you for your support.
       Denis

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2. Graeme Macaloney says:

   January 23, 2021 at 8:13 pm

   Hello Denis
   I am an independent researcher investigating early medieval Argyll via an interdisciplinary approach encompassing genetic genealogy (my PhD was in Biotechnology from U. of Strathclyde). Your project is an invaluable addition to other recent advances such as PoMS, personal name research, etc. Thank you for this work!

   I understand your approach to using ‘march-burns’ as a probable delineation of parishes but wonder about the continuance of Inishail to include Loch Etive with the R. Nant as a boundary. From what I can discern from your Inishail section, and from https://www.scottish-places.info/parishes/parmap611.html, the 11.5 merkland of Ichrachan and 2 merkland of Fannans are both outliers w.r.t. Inishail and also on the north side of the watershed between Loch Awe and Loch Etive, whereas Shellachan is on the Loch Aweside of the watershed. Given the close proximity of Ichrachan to Kilespickerral a significant ecclesiastical centre, and also the local geography centered around Airds bay (see aerial photo: http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1524306), I wonder about Ichrachan and Fannans inclusion in Inishail versus Muchairn?

   Given Colin Campbell died at the hands of the MacDougalls at a dispute resolution meeting (perhaps territorial) at another Lochawe-Lorne watershed, is your evidence for Ichrachan and Fannans inclusion in Inishail rather than Muchairn solid?
   Regards
   Graeme
   (Graeme@Maelanfaid-dna.org)

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   • drixson says:

     February 9, 2021 at 1:08 pm

     Graeme
     Many thanks for your contribution which I read with great interest.
     My blog is primarily about land-assessment units: farms or settlement sites. I use parishes simply as a way of organising this data. Alternatives might have been to use baronies, lordships, area definitions or family estates. I chose parishes because they are early and may originally have been constructed from groupings of davachs. One immediate problem is that parishes themselves were dynamic. Over time they have amalgamated, disappeared, been redefined etc. Post-Reformation we sometimes know about these changes but there are still a great many questions and anomalies. I would always be prepared to accept revisions to parish boundaries. I think in Argyll I often followed the outline offered by the Argyll Valuation Roll. But, you are quite right, I would always tend to favour watersheds and drainage basins as defining the earliest boundaries.
     With reference to the very common place-name Allt na Criche or March Burn – often this would just be the farm or settlement boundary. Occasionally, it also supplied the davach boundary. In Argyllshire, establishing davach boundaries is complex. Happily, there are other parts of Scotland where eighteenth-century estate maps provide the evidence. With the help of lots of researchers who have that essential local knowledge we may one day complete the jigsaw. Thanks again.
     Denis

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