Killearnan – Summary Table

Killearnan

CW = Inventory of Chisholm Writs.

Name	Value	Date	Grid Ref	Map Sources	Other forms, comments etc
Killearnan           Kirklands of	(1 davach)         ¼ davach	1595	NH 5749	NLS Redcastle	Ex bishopric (OPS II, II, 844-5). RMS VI (265) gives Reddendo of 1 custom mart. Family of Rose of Kilravock pp 288-9 refers to the davach of Killewnan & Spittall (with alehouse and alehouse croft) in 1599. This implies Spittal was part of Killearnan. = Davauchnakaryn of GD93/1? Killurnan E&W in 1679 (Macgill No 912).Kirklands of Killernan in CW No 270 1660. RS38/3/247v 1667. See also RSS VI (47) 1567.
Spital Shore Spittalwood	¼ davach	1667	NH 5649 NH 5550	Roy(FC) NLS Redcastle	RS38/3/247v 1667. RHP 4045 1819. See above under Killearnan. Roy marks inland. See also below.
Redcastle Mains or Newtoun	(2 davachs)	1456	NH 5849 NH 5850	Blaeu(Moray)	ER XII p 662 of 1504 has ‘The Manez of Rede Castell called Newtoun’. Rentals suggest 2 davachs from 1456. See below.
Greenhill House	1 davach		NH 5850		=Glastulauch? of which Greenhill is a literal translation. In 1456 included under Redcastle?
Mains of Kilcoy	1 davach	1294	NH 5751	Blaeu(Moray)	Family of Rose of Kilravock pp 109-111. OPS II, II, p 525 quoting Kilravock charters – which also mention 1 acre. Rentals from 1456 also suggest 1 davach. 1 of the 4 davachs referred to in RS37/1/66r 1618 & Retours (Ross) (155) 1693 although this estate goes back to at least 1511 (OPS II, II, pp 528-9). See also Drumnamarg below and Muirends (Knockbain parish).
Croftcrunie			NH 6152		PNRC p 143 & p 146. See below. Rental ½m in ER 1456-78.
Drumnamarg	1 davach	1504	NH 6253/6353		Rentals suggest 1 davach from 1456. RS37/1/66r 1618. See also Mains of Kilcoy above and Muirends (Knockbain parish). See below.
Garguston	¾ davach	1299-1311	NH 5749 NH 5650	RHP 4045 NLS Redcastle	= ¾ davach Gargyhishille of 1299-1311? Rentals in 1456, 1473-8 & 1503-4 suggest 1 davach; rentals in 1457-8 & 1504 suggest less. Family of Rose of Kilravock pp 288-9 refers to ¾ lands of Gargastoun in 1599 – also in RS38/3/247v 1667. It was probably 1 davach but with a portion that was often hived off.
Hiltoun (of Redcastle) or Ballnaknok	1 davach	1504		Blaeu(Moray)	Rentals suggest 1 davach from 1456.
Artafallie	(½ davach?)	1504	NH 6249	Roy(FC) NLS Redcastle	See below.
Total	7¼ davachs

 

 

GD93/1 of 1288-1311 refers to the barony of Edidouer as follows:

‘the castle with

the davach called Glastulauch,

another davach called Davauchnakaryn

a third davach called Culyncurch

a fourth davach called Cuulcolli

the half davach called Lechdavauchfur and

three-quarters of a davach of Gargyhishille’. (Total = 5¼ davachs).

It is difficult to match these names with the table above. Glastulauch may be Greenhill. Davauchnakaryn might be davach of the cairn (i.e. the chambered cairn at Cairnurenan which may have given its name to the parish). Cuulcolli is Kilcoy but Culyncurch may have been linked to it. Lechdavauchfur is probably Leth (half) + davach + four (pasture). Gargyhishille is probably Garguston.

Killearnan, Redcastle Mains, Kilcoy, Garguston & Hiltoun come to 5¾ davachs.

 

Theiner No 182 1256 suggests 1 davach of ‘Aleyn’ (Allan) was in ‘Edordor’ whilst another half-davach of ‘Aleyn’ was in ‘Kelmur’. We don’t know the parish boundaries in 1256 but this document implies Killearnan and Kilmuir may have been slightly different then.

 

Spital Shore/Spittalwood

GD93/1 1299-1311 also refers to the hospital-house of Edirdouer, and the rents pertaining to said house. Cowan, et al., The Knights of St John, p 31, gives 6s 8d as the rent from Ederdouer hospital in 1539-40. This was a respectable rent compared to many others in Scotland.

 

Redcastle Mains or Newtoun

Possibly linked with Redcastle were the Forester’s Croft, the Sergeant’s Croft, the Porter’s Croft and the Crowner’s Croft. (But see below under Croftcrunie and also in Knockbain text file). There was also a Chapeltoune of Reidcastle in 1711 (Macgill No 861). This was probably occupied by the castle chaplain. There was an alehouse of Newtoun from at least 1456. A mill is mentioned in 1457-8 – along with its croft from 1504. A croft called Smiddiecroft appears in 1539, 1574-5 & 1588.

 

Croftcrunie

Watson (PNRC p 143) did not think this could be Crowner’s Croft although he mentions (p 146) the Smithy Croft (see Redcastle Mains above), the Forester’s Croft, the Porter’s Croft, the Mair’s Croft, the Sergeant’s Croft, the Crowner’s Croft and Currourecroft. It is clear from the Exchequer Rolls that Curroure Crofft (1456), le Crownarecrofft (1457-8) and Currourecroft (1473-8) all refer to the same place which leaves us with something of a dilemma. Did this croft belong to the ‘crowner’ (possibly the deor), the currour (forest watcher) or a ‘runner’? (See Drumnamarg below). ER VIII pp 536-8 1473-8 refers to the cursoribus (runners) of Ardmanach and their crofts. The previous sentence refers to a mair of Ardmanach and his croft. Some of these crofts (e.g. the Porter’s) may have been connected to Redcastle. Others, like the Mair’s Croft, may have been older. The Exchequer Rolls evidence suggests they were all tiny fractions of a davach giving annual rents of 5s (Forester), 3s 4d (Porter, Currour/Crownare), 2s (Mair, Sergeant). Since a davach at this time probably gave 10m yearly, an oxgate would give 20s so the mair may have only had a croft of 1/10th of an oxgate. However the issue is complicated by the fact that there was more than one mair, runner and smith in the Black Isle (see also Knockbain text file).

ER VI p 468 states the forester and the runner were ‘of Avach’; p 472 repeats this and says likewise for the sergeant. ER VI p 655 gives a forester ‘of Ormond’ and his croft, runners ‘of Ardmannach’ and their crofts, and a sergeant ‘of Ardmannach’ and his croft. It would seem probable that the forester of Avach was the same as the forester of Ormond but in the 1456 listing the Forester’s croft is not given straight after Casteltoun (Avoch). We don’t have enough evidence to be sure of the number or location of these crofts but it seems some davachs had been much subdivided by the fifteenth century.

 

Drumnamarg

Literally ‘Ridge of the merk’ so possibly an example of an ‘old merk’ as in Kintyre. Alan of Drumnemarge is mentioned in 1381 (CWMF (14)) where he is described as ‘currwr’ of Auach (Avoch). A footnote states that Craigie’s Scottish Dictionary defines such as a watcher or ranger of a forest. This is undoubtedly one sense of the word but we also find it in the sense of a runner or courier. Given that the Exchequer Rolls refer to the cursoribus (runners) of Ardmanach I think this is how we should interpret it. See also Croftcrunie above.

 

Artafallie

The 1504 rental suggests either ½ or ¾ davach, probably the former. A chaplainry was founded on these lands and appears in RSS II (99, 186) 1529, (2284) 1537; OPS II, II, pp 525, 583; RMS V (1225) 1587 (original 1560) & Retours (Ross) (38) 1615, (118) 1662.