Urquhart & Glenmoriston
Principal Sources
OSA Vol 20 No 16
Mor.Reg. No 21 pp 15-16, No’s 46-47 pp 40-44, No 51 pp 59-60, No 83 pp 96-7, No 138 p 155, No 168 pp 196-7
RMS I App 2 Index A No 1295, Index B No 11
RMS I (389) 1371, (405, 525) 1371-2, (537) 1371, (789) 1381-4
RMS II (178) 1430 on original of 1415/16, (3390-3392) 1509
RMS IV (203-204) 1548
RMS VI (462) 1596
RMS VIII (1581) 1630 on original of 1371
RSS II (2070) 1536
RSS IV (3303) 1556
ER V p 655 1454
ER VI p 68 1455
ER XVI pp 604-5 1535-6
ER XXI p 523 1586
Retours (Inverness) (23) 1609, (41) 1623, (60-61) 1637, (80) 1656, (87) 1661, (96) 1665, (107) 1685
APS X p 93 1694
RS36/2/56v 1606
RS36/2/122v 1606
RS36/2/123v 1606
RS37/5/200v 1634
RS37/6/239v 1639
RS38/2/154v 1664
RS38/11/328r 1763
GD23/4/130 1735, GD23/4/136 1737, GD23/4/156 1747
GD248/482/3/7 c. 1770
GD248/525/2/40-1 nd
GD248/533/1/6 1772
GD248/533/2/64 1769
GD248/533/3/20 1769, GD248/533/3/26 1769
GD248/538/1/2 nd
GD248/3373/6 1828
GD248/3410/5 1796
RHP 11949 1808 Bunloit
RHP 11950 1808 Davoch of St Ninians
RHP 11951 1808 Divach and Auch Divach
RHP 11952 1808 Urquhart between the Rivers Enrick and Coiltie
RHP 11953 1808 Urquhart between the Rivers Enrick and Coiltie, copied 1929
RHP 11954 1808 Davoch of Gartally
RHP 11955 1808 Davoch of Inchbreen
RHP 11956 1811 Lochletter
RHP 11957 1801 Shewglie
RHP 11959 1808 Borlum Beg and Strone
RHP 11961 1833 Lewiston
RHP 11962 1856 Shewglie and Lochletter
RHP 11963 1864 Boundary with Kiltarlity & Convinth
RHP 11964 1852 Boundary with Kiltarlity & Convinth
RHP 14955 1849 Plan of estate of Glenmoriston
Macfarlane’s Geographical Collections II, Scottish History Society, Edinburgh, 1907, pp 171-2, 524
Ane Account of the Familie of Innes compiled by Duncan Forbes of Culloden 1698. With an Appendix of Charters and Notes. Aberdeen, 1864, pp 59-60.
Mackay, W., Urquhart and Glenmoriston, Inverness, 1893 & 1914
Fraser, W., The Chiefs of Grant III, Edinburgh, 1883, No 59 pp 51-4, No 60 pp 54-6, No 87 pp 80-82, No 117 pp 121-2, No 355 pp 444-446, No 379 pp 473-5, No 381 pp 476-482, No’s 384-5 1696.
Munro, J., The Inventory of Chisholm Writs 1456-1810, Scottish Record Society, Edinburgh, 1992
MacDonald, R.H., Estate of Chisholm – Surviving Rental Lists of 1665 to 1871, TGSI 54, pp 58-136, 1984-6
Ross, A., The Province of Moray, c. 1000-1230, unpublished PhD thesis, Aberdeen, 2003
Ross, A., Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland, Brepols, 2015, pp 247-252
S Taylor with R MacLean & Jacob King, Place-Names of the Aird and Strathglass, Inverness-shire, Kiltarlity Community Council, 2019. (Hereafter ‘ST2’).
Maps
Pont(5), National Library of Scotland, online Digital Map Library
Gordon(3, 5), National Library of Scotland, online Digital Map Library
Roy(FC), National Library of Scotland, online Digital Map Library
RHP 11950 1808 Davoch of St Ninians
RHP 11951 1808 Divach
RHP 11954 1808 Davoch of Gartally
RHP 11955 1808 Davoch of Inchbreen
RHP 14955 Plan of the Estate of Glenmoriston 1849
Mackay’s ‘Urquhart and Glenmoriston’ is an excellent source since the author belonged to an old Glenurquhart family and was steeped in local tradition. Twice (pp 15, 440), he refers to the deich dochan Urchudainn (ten davachs of Glen Urquhart) but does not specify the number in Glenmoriston which suggests that any such knowledge had long since been lost. He also claimed that ‘certain fields in Urquhart are still called bolls’. He quotes (pp 482-3) a document of 1770 which refers to ‘the twelve bolls pay of Wester Gartaly and one bolls pay of Easter Gartaly called Carrachan’. Gartally was a half-davach in 1509 and it is probable that Wester and Easter Gartally were each a quarterland. Since Wester Gartally was reckoned at 12 bolls this implies a davach was 48 bolls pay. ‘Bolls sowing’ (the number of bolls required to sow an area of ground) and ‘bolls pay’ (the yield in bolls) were different measures and since the latter might vary over time and space it is of limited use for comparative purposes.
We have some fourteenth-century references to assessments in terms of davachs rather than merklands (Familie of Innes, 59, 1345). These make it clear that the conversion ratio between the two systems became 1 davach to 12m New Extent. (I have come across no evidence for the Old Extent ratio in Glen Urquhart. The three 1509 charters, which are our primary source, clearly state that the merkland valuations are ‘new extent’ or follow the ‘new rental’). Using this ratio to convert back we can then establish the davach extent for virtually all properties in Glen Urquhart and Glenmoriston. Where we have both the davach assessments and the merkland assessments they are consistent with this ratio. (Except for Buntait (q.v.) which was known to be anomalous). Our data from the beginning of the sixteenth century is confirmed by the evidence in the Exchequer Rolls.
Is Mackay’s quote accurate as to the number of davachs in Glen Urquhart? It partly depends on how we define Glen Urquhart. Did it include Buntait (which, for reasons of ownership, was reckoned part of Kiltarlity parish) and Bunloit (which lies on the shore of Loch Ness)? There are also anomalies concerning church-lands. I have no extent for Auchmony but suspect it was at least a quarterland. What happened to the quarter-davach of Kilmore which became lay property in 1233? Is it, perhaps, now disguised under another name, or has it been lost? There are also 3 crofts which belonged to the church. There was a croft assigned to the chaplainry of St Ninian which may have been part of the lands of Kil St Ninians. There was St Adamnan’s croft which probably lay at Tychat and may also have been included in the extent of Kil St Ninian’s. But what of St Drostan’s croft? Was this separate or was it part of a farm such as Balmacaan? For these reasons we cannot be certain of the total number of davachs.
The table suggests a minimum of 11½ davachs for Glen Urquhart but we should probably add another ¼ davach for Auchmony. There are also 3 or 3¼ davachs for Glenmoriston (which does not include farms such as Dalcataig on the south bank of the river near the mouth – which was in Abertarff parish). There were at least 14½ davachs between the two glens.
The various reckonings of extent (davachs, ploughs or quarterlands, bolls) were deeply ingrained in the local consciousness. We have three place-names beginning with the element ceathramh (quarterland) – Kerrowgair, Kerrowdown and Kerrownakeill. Extent also helped to measure both rent and social obligations. Mackay (p 547) gives evidence from 1648 to show that the minister was then paid at the rate of 10m p.a. per plough of land. William Lorimer’s Report of 1763 (quoted by Mackay (p 446)) shows that the services then performed for the Chamberlain were all worked out per davach.
Alasdair Ross gives some references to davachs in the 1790s (e.g. NRS GD248/538/1). I have quoted Ross extensively in the table since his sources offer significant extra place-names. However, from the point of view of working out land-assessment valuations the earlier evidence must be preferred because it is clear that by 1790 there had been considerable amalgamation of units.
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