Reay
Principal Sources
OSA Vol 7 No 52 1793
NSA Vol XV 1845 (written in 1840)
RMS II (148-149) 1429-30
RMS III (477) 1527, (860) 1529, (891) 1529-30, (1798) 1538, (2882) 1542-3 on original of 1539, (3215) 1545-6
RMS IV (745) 1552-3
RMS V (1341) 1587
RMS VI (1038) 1600
RMS VII (766) 1612, (1508) 1616, (2008) 1619
RMS VIII (251) 1622, (1211) 1628, (1855) 1631 on original of 1626, (1917) 1632, (2207) 1633
RMS XI (53) 1661
RSS II (624) 1530
RSS III (1570) 1545-6
RSS IV (333) 1549, (1375) 1551, (3060) 1555
RSS VII (988) 1577
Records of the Parliaments of Scotland (online), 19/4/1567 – NAS PA2/10, II, ff 22v-23r
ER XVIII p 610 1556
ER XIX pp 52-55 1556-8
GD23/4/8 1640
GD93/59 (or CWMF No 59) 1547-8
GD96/93 1562, GD96/165 1577
GD112/58/200 No 3 1528
GD139/59/1 1603
GD139/62/1-4 1608
GD139/65 1628
GD297/229 (i) 1485 on original of 1380
GD297/229 (iii) 1485 on original of 1427
ALI No’s 29 & 30, 1439; No’s 83 & 84, 1464; No 89, 1467
NLS Dep.313/428/2/3
RS36/2/114v 1606
RS36/2/149r 1607
RS37/3/24r 1624, RS37/3/289r 1626, RS37/3/292r 1626, RS37/3/293r 1626, RS37/3/294r 1626
RS37/6/379v 1641
RS37/7/124r 1651
RS20/1/p 148 1659
RS20/1/p 149 1659
RS20/1/pp 173-4 1663
Laing Charters (682) 1557, (1158) 1588, (2537) 1659, (2603) 1666, (2815-17) 1683, (2851) 1687, (3196) 1753
Retours (Caithness) (11) 1620, (12, 13) 1624, (16) 1626, (18) 1630, (21) 1640, (22) 1644
Retours (Sutherland) (10) 1663, (14) 1681
CS231/T/2/1/5 1667
RHP 1217 nd, Assery, Brawllbin, Lurrery and Achscrabster
RHP 1218/1 & 2 1866, Brawlbin, Lambsdale, Assery
RHP 1223, Forss, 1800 (Baillie and Achalone in Reay parish)
RHP 1224/1-4 1828 Baillie (Reay) and Westfield (Halkirk)
RHP 1225 1844 Reay Common
RHP 1226 1806 Shebster
RHP 1679 1887 (River Forss)
RHP 2728 1840 Reay Commonty
RHP 2787 1807 Stampster
RHP 2788 1848 Stempster
RHP 2789 1860 Stempster
RHP 4418/1/26 Brawlbin, Lamsdale
The following are available online via the National Library of Scotland’s Digital Map Library:
NLS Dep.313/3590/9 Plan of Portskerra, 1819
NLS EMS.s.712(26) Thomson: Sutherland, 1823
NLS Dep.313/3590/12 Plan of Melvich, 1830
NLS Dep.313/3622/28 Sketch of Kirkton and Haiveg Meadows on the estate of Bighouse, 1830
NLS Dep.313/3622/29 Sketch of Kirkton and Haiveg Meadows on the estate of Bighouse, 1830
NLS Dep.313/3622/30 Sketch of the Canal through Kirkton and Haiveg Meadows, as damaged by flood, 1830
NLS Dep.313/3590/14 Plan of Golval lands, 1831
NLS Dep.313/3622/32 Sketch of the Kirkton Meadows, 1831
NLS Dep.313/3622/33 Portskerra, 1831
NLS Dep.313/3590/15 Sketch of the meadows of Bighouse, 1832
NLS Dep.313/3590/24 Plan of the Farm of Bighouse, n.d.
NLS Dep.313/3622/47 Plan of Bighouse, n.d.
NLS Dep.313/3602 Sutherland, 1833
NLS Dep.313/3613 Sutherland, 1855
NLS Acc.10225/286 12 inch enlargements of OS map, 1874: 6 Port Skerry, Melvich
NLS Acc.10225/286 12 inch enlargements of OS map, 1874: 7 Strath Halladale, Trantlebeg
NLS Dep.313/3612/1 Farr allotments, n.d.
NLS Dep.313/3622/26 Farr Allotments, n.d.
NLS Dep.313/3622/27 Farr Allotments, n.d.
NLS Dep.313/3590/19 Plan of Armadale, Strathy, and Portskerray, n.d.
NLS Dep.313/3622/3 Sketch of the Lands of Strathy, n.d.
NLS Acc.10225/141a Craggie Farm 1919
Macfarlane’s Geographical Collections, Vol 1, Edinburgh, 1906 pp 181-6: Description Parish of Reay in Cathness June 1726.
Munro, J. & Munro R.W., (eds.), Acts of the Lords of the Isles 1336-1493, Scottish History Society, Edinburgh, 1986 (hereafter ‘ALI’).
Shennan, Hay, Boundaries of Counties and Parishes in Scotland, Edinburgh, 1892 (hereafter ‘Shennan’).
Old-Lore Miscellany of Orkney Shetland Caithness and Sutherland Vol 8 Part II pp 111-112, 1915
Butler, J.K., Brubster Places, Caithness Field Club Bulletin, 1987
Gunn, A. & Mackay, J. (eds.), Sutherland and the Reay Country, Glasgow, 1897
Bangor-Jones, M., Ouncelands and Pennylands in Sutherland and Caithness, in MacGregor & Crawford (1987), pp 13-23
MacGregor, L., & Crawford, B., (eds), Ouncelands and Pennylands, University of St Andrews, 1987
For the division between Sutherland and Caithness in this parish see ‘The Geography of Sutherland’ text file under Sutherland.
Shennan (pp 129, 131) gives the parochial changes to Reay in 1891.
The OSA account (p 575) states that:
By ancient calculation, the parish contains 271 penny lands of arable ground, at 8 acres to each penny land. … The farms consist commonly of what is called a penny land – Many farmers possess only the half of a penny land. … the rate of the penny land is from £5 to £8.
270d would be 15 ouncelands of 18d or 45 davachs of 6d. The table shows assessments for some 8¼ davachs in the Sutherland portion of the parish and 163d (27+ davachs) in the Caithness portion. Together these come to 35+ davachs.
It is interesting that the Old Statistical Accounts for Canisbay and Reay – written separately but close to each other in date – offer differing numbers of acres per pennyland. Canisbay suggests 12, Reay suggests 8.
There is also some circumstantial evidence – by way of arithmetic sympathy – for an ounceland of 18d in Reay. Half such an ounceland would be 9d whilst a quarter-ounceland would be 4½d. We meet such units in the retours. Retours (Caithness) (12) 1624 claims 4½d was half Lybuster – in which case the whole would be 9d or half an ounceland. In the same retour Borrowstoun was 4½d which was a quarter-ounceland. In Retours (Caithness) (18) 1630 half of Lybuster was joined by 7d Holme and 2d Dallachlaggie. The latter two holdings make 9d, as did the whole of Lybuster. Did these 3 properties once make an ounceland of 18d? Golval (9d) also seems to have been half an ounceland.
Several of the early 16th century documents just refer to the estates of Reay and Dunbeith in general terms. Fortunately RMS VII (2008) 1619 and Book of Mackay Appendix No 33 1628 show us the constituent farms. The (Caithness) Reay section contained the farms of Sandside, Reay, Dachow, Borlum, Miltown, Isauld, Acharasker, Achamurlane and Shurery. (See also Retours (Caithness) (21) 1640). The first element of the name Dachow is Dach or Davach. It is spelled Davachow in Book of Mackay Appendix No 33 1628. A davach would most probably be 6d in Reay.
There is the tantalising possibility that a davach might have been a skatland (see Reay table under Skiall).
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