What?

In early times virtually all wealth derived from land-holding. There were communities which fished or traded or mined but wealth derived overwhelmingly from growing crops and raising livestock. Those who had power taxed their subordinates according to the lands they held. To do so they assigned value to units of land – hence land-assessment.

This is a huge subject and the blog will be incremental. I will start by sharing the data I have collected area by area. My research has covered the west coast mainland from Rosneath to Wester Ross, the Clyde Islands and the Hebrides. I am currently working on Sutherland and Caithness. However I am very aware that no one researcher can possibly know or read every piece of evidence – which is the reason for this blog.

I hope by sharing the data to stimulate interest and participation by others. Local knowledge is crucial in land-assessment. I know some parts of Scotland well; others barely or not at all. Readers who know their own districts better will be able to inform me of facts and sources I am currently unaware of. There will be sins of commission (hopefully limited) but many more of omission (which I hope readers will rectify). The end result should be an improved picture.

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