Tain
Principal Sources
OSA Vol 3 No 58
RMS II (3528) 1510-11, (3763-4) 1512
RMS III (2043) 1539
RMS IV (681) 1551-2, (1144) 1556-7, (2981) 1579-80
RMS V (717) 1584 on original of 1566, (1331) 1587, (1971, 1979) 1591
RMS VI (59) 1593-4, (265) 1595, (495) 1596
RMS VII (298) 1610 on original of 1607
RSS I (2948) 1517
RSS VI (47 No 3) 1567
RSS VIII (1872) 1583-4
ALI No’s (23) 1436-7, (28) 1439, (55) 1450, (99) 1470
GD71/66 1653, GD71/181 1756
GD96/109 1566, GD96/209/5 1568, GD96/209/6 1562, GD96/209/8 1567, GD96/213 1585, GD96/218 1585, GD96/266 1597,
GD305/1/46/11 1658
GD305/1/47/1 & 4 1666, GD305/1/47/12 nd (1666-1729)
GD305/1/74/87 1533
GD305/1/162/275 1667
Retours (Ross) (5) 1574, (25, 27) 1607, (30) 1608, (31) 1609, (48) 1618, (63) 1623, (73) 1628, (88) 1639, (91) 1643, (104) 1652, (109) 1656, (147) 1688, (167) 1700
Retours (Inverness) (55) 1634
RS36/2/28v 1606, RS36/2/237r 1607
RS37/5/254r 1635
RS37/6/241v 1639, RS37/6/453r 1642, RS37/6/453v 1642
RS37/7/1r 1648, RS37/7/82v 1650
RS38/2/147r 1664
RS38/5/237v 1683
RHP 275/1-3 1750, RHP 2926 1904
Books of Assumption pp 651-2 c. 1561
Batten, E.C., The Charters of the Priory of Beauly, London, 1877
Old Extent valuations in Easter Ross are scarce, inconsistent and need to be treated with great caution. As with all land-assessment data the earlier the source document the better. ALI No 55 1450 refers to the lands of Scardy, Plaids, Pithogartie, Balkeith, Pitnellies and Balcherry as now (i.e. in 1450) worth 24m and ‘in the time of peace’ (i.e. Old Extent) 12m. This estate is probably exactly the same as that referred to in ALI No 23 1436-7 and later in RMS II (3763) 1512, RMS IV (681) 1551-2 & RMS V (1979) 1591.We know the davach valuations of some of these farms: Plaids was ¾ davach; Pithogarty ½ davach; Balcherry ¼ davach and Pitnellies probably ½ davach. On the basis of the rental in the Books of Assumption it is not unlikely Scardy was a half-davach. RMS IV (2981) 1579-80 refers to 2½ bovates of Ballikucht or Balkeith whilst Retours (Ross) (147) 1688 refers to the 4 bovates (½ davach) of Bellacuith & the New Reveninlands. If, by analogy with the Wester Ross parishes, we assume there were 4m OE to the davach then 12m OE should equal 3 davachs – which is what this estate almost certainly amounted to.
We also have a fairly detailed breakdown of davachs in the Books of Assumption c. 1561. These total 6¼ davachs plus Tain, Skardy, Kerskeith and Anley. Skardy was probably a ½ davach and Kerskeith was a ¼ davach so the total moves to 7 davachs plus Tain and Anley. Anley paid the smallest rental in the parish and so was probably only ¼ davach or less. Tain is more problematic (see Table) and any conclusion is just educated guesswork. The table shows 9¼ + davachs including Tain. I suspect the total value of the parish was about 10 davachs.
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