Rosemarkie – Summary Table

Rosemarkie

 

Name	Value	Date	Grid Ref	Map Sources	Other forms, comments etc
Rosemarkie	52s	1595	NH 7357	Blaeu(Moray)	Church-lands. Rent in RMS VI (265). See below.
Canonry (Fortrose)	52s	1595		Blaeu(Moray)	Church-lands. Rent in RMS VI (265). See below.
Bishop’s Sched	40s	1595			Church-lands. Rent in RMS VI (265)
Platcock					Retours (Ross) (36) 1615 & (190) 1699. Common lands within the canonry.
Balmungie Wester Easter	2 davachs 1 davach 1 davach	1622 1621 1621	NH 7359 NH 7459/7460	Blaeu(Moray)	Ex bishopric. See below. OPS II, II, 844-5 (1567 & 1576) & RSS VI (47) 1567 re lands of Balmongy. RS37/1/307v 1621.
Eathie (Mains) Upper Eathie	(1 davach)	1576	NH 7763 NH 7663	Blaeu(Moray)	Ex bishopric. RMS V (2112 (1)) 1592, on an original of 1576, states that a custom mart (or its money equivalent) was part of the reddendo for Athie.
Muirhead	(½ davach)	1576	NH 7562		Ex bishopric. RMS V (2112 (1)) 1592, on an original of 3/12/1576, gives £4 (6m) as the Reddendo which suggests a ½ davach. RSS VII (525) 23/3/1575-6 specifically excludes Craigheid from the lands of Mureheid.
Craighead	(¼ davach)	1578	NH 7561		Ex bishopric. RMS V (2112 (2)) 1592, on an original of 1578 gives the Reddendo for Craigheid as 40s ‘old rent’. This suggests ¼ davach. RMS VI (265) 1595 gives the same Reddendo.
Learnie	1 davach	1567	NH 7560	Blaeu(Moray)	Ex bishopric. RSS VI (47) 1567 No 3. OPS II, II, 844-5 quoting Flowerburn Charters for 1576 gives Larny as a davach – as does RMS V (2112 (2)) 1592, on an original of 1578. Its reddendo in the latter included 30s instead of a custom mart. (1 custom mart in RMS VI (265) 1595).
Kincurdie	½ davach	1593	NH 7358	Blaeu(Moray)	Ex bishopric. RMS VI (13), RMS VII (1249)
Raddery Easter Raddery Wester Raddery	2 davachs 1 davach	1578 1549	NH 7159   NH 6958	Blaeu(Moray)	Both Easter & Wester ex bishopric. See below.
Kinnok	½ davach	1576		Blaeu(Moray)	Ex bishopric. RMS V (61) 1580 on an original of 1576. See also RSS VII (2639), RMS VII (298). = Flowerburn Mains? (PNRC p 131)
Insch	(¼ davach)	1595	NH 7156		Ex bishopric. ¼ mart in RMS VI (265) 1595.
Broomhill	¼ davach?	1595	NH 7256		Ex bishopric. Reddendo of 40s in RMS VI (265) 1595 which might indicate ¼ davach. Described as within the Canonry in Retours (Ross) (72) 1627.
Total	9 + davachs				Probably at least 11 davachs.

 

Carucates

GD128/64/3/9 1586-7 refers to ½ carucate in Rosemarkie. This is the only example I know, of the use of the word carucate in Ross. It could mean one of three things. In old documents a davach is sometimes described as a ‘Scottish’ term for a carucate. Alternatively it could mean a ploughland in which case half a ploughland in Easter Ross would be a bovate. However such terms could change their meaning over time. Macgill No 288 1542 contains the phrase “out of ilk oxingait of land … callit of auld ane ploughgait” – which implies that in 1542 a ploughgate and an oxengait (or bovate) were regarded as equivalent in Ross. In this last example half a carucate might mean half a bovate. (See below under Balmungie).

 

Virtually the whole of this parish is ex bishopric. Perhaps this parish was part of the endowment for the establishment of the bishopric.

 

I have not been able to give assessments for Rosemarkie and Fortrose. We have a great many references to the various ecclesiastical holdings in the area but none to their overall size. We know of rigs, manses and crofts belonging to the cathedral dignitaries and chaplains but no overarching view of their extent. Originally Rosemarkie and Fortrose may have been 2 or more davachs – but I cannot show this.

 

Rosemarkie

For sub-units see also RMS V (1767, 1793) 1590 & Retours (Ross) (51) 1619, (94) 1645. See RS37/5/69v 1633 for pecks and rigs and a butt; similarly RS37/5/311r 1636, RS37/7/252v 1656, RS38/5/237v 1683. RS38/4/15v 1670 refers to ‘all & haill the lands of Chanrie comonlye called the ffourtie eight peckes chanon lands betuixt Chanrie & Rosmarkie’. (Also in GD1/400/2/3 Section I pp 10-11, 1669).

 

Cowan, et al., The Knights of St John, p 31, gives 2d as the rent from Rosmarkin hospital in 1539-40.

 

Canonry (Fortrose)

GD23/4/18 1661 refers to 8 pecks of land here. 8 pecks would be ½ a boll.

 

Balmungie

Retours (Ross) (61) 1622 refers to the town and lands of Balmungie “extendentibus nunc ad 16 aratra vulgo sextene pleughs terrarum arabilium, et antiqua computatione ad 2 davatas vulgo twa dauch-land”. This mixture of Latin and Scots could be rendered as “extending now to 16 ‘aratra’ commonly known as 16 ploughs of arable land, and by the old reckoning to 2 ‘davatas’ commonly known as two davachs of land”. The problem is that 16 ploughs would normally be reckoned as equivalent to 4 davachs so I think what has happened here is that ‘aratra’ (ploughlands) has been used instead of ‘bovatas’ (bovates or oxgangs). (See above under Carucates for another possible example). There are relatively few references to ploughlands in the documents concerning arable land in Easter Ross – but there are lots of references to ‘bovatas’ or oxgangs. 16 oxgangs would indeed be equivalent to 2 davachs of land. The Reddendo in RMS VI (265) 1595 supports this since it includes 2 custom marts when the going rate seems to have been 1 ‘custom’ mart per davach. (To complicate matters davachs sometimes paid more than 1 mart in annual rent but I think that only 1 of these was reckoned the ‘custom’ mart).

 

Raddery

RMS V (2112 (3)) 1592, on an original of 1578, gives Easter Radderie and its meadow with a Reddendo of 16m and £3 for 2 custom marts (i.e. 30s each). GD46/18/130 gives Ester Raddery as 1 davach in 1549. These figures are supported by RMS VI (265) 1595 where Easter Raddery has a Reddendo of 16m and 2 custom marts; Wester Raddery 8m and 1 custom mart. Raddery as a whole was a 3-davach unit which made it large and important. Three davachs in the north of Scotland were equivalent to 1 Norse ounceland.