Gavin It's not an original, but a reprint...there are originals on Add-all but with my research budget....I love books, so am fascinated by a new subject. Our library is limited and it's location is not convenient....it's in the middle of the city. I'm building my own library instead. There is a book on trades, for the 1851 census at New Registrar House. I wish I had copied some of the agricultural indexes, as it gave names for "the man who worked with horses" vs. the "the man who takes care of the cattle". I don't understand crofter vs. cottar, except I think one pays rent and the latter barter for rent. And then there are fues and bothy. I find everyday so much more to learn, I'll never be an expert. But life is about always learning!! Mary In a message dated 5/10/2009 2:37:03 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, g.bell@which.net writes: BRUINSWOOD@aol.com wrote: >I found a book called "Scottish land-names; their origin and meaning "by >Sir Herbert Maxwell Bart, 1874. > >Does anyone have the book? Curious if it's really helpful. I found one for >$10...so am going to find out, but I'd cancel the order, if anyone knows >it's not helpful. > For $10 I would buy it. I have a copy, which I have yet to study in detail, but as ever, with a book of that age (although my copy bears the publication date "MDCCCXCIV" which translates to 1894, rather than 1874, a date which is confirmed by the Author's Introduction) I would read it with interest, but also with caution. No single source is ever likely to be the sole repository of wisdom - but may have something useful to contribute. Gavin Bell ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ANGUS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message **************Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in the U.S. (http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntustrav00000002)

BRUINSWOOD@aol.com wrote: >... > >I don't understand crofter vs. cottar, except I think one pays rent and the > latter barter for rent. > No, that's not the difference. Both would normally have paid rent (although some part of that rent might have been paid in the form of labour) and would have expected a certain amount of seasonal employment from the landlord. But while a Crofter had a small piece of ground (the Croft, probably no more than 10 acres) on which he could pasture a cow and grow some subsistence crops, the Cottar had, at most a "Kailyard" or small garden where he might at best grow some vegetables. >And then there are fues and bothy. > Not "fues" but "feus". These are a form of annual Ground Rent. Until quite recently, the system of land tenure in Scotland depended on the useful fiction that all land belonged ultimately to the Crown. The Crown would then allow an individual the use of a piece of land in return for certain specified "services". Originally, the service would have been the provision of soldiers to fight the King's wars, but over time, these were commuted to cash payments. The system sounds antiquated, but served pretty well in a number of ways. In the case of my house for example (built in 1897), the firm of builders which put it up had to start by taking the "feu" on the whole street, for which thay had to pay several hundred pounds annually to the "feudal superior" (the Town Council). The only way they were ever going to get anything back for this annual payment was if they built some houses on the land, and were, in turn, able to charge a much smaller "feu duty" on each of the occupants of the houses. So in this, the feudal system acted as a lever to make the builders get on with the development. Another useful feature of the system was the various limitations which each "superior" could enforce on his "vassals". Modern "town planning", or zoning different areas for different kinds of development, did not really come in until the 20th century. But the "feu disposition" (="title deeds") for my house forbid me from carrying out various anti-social activities such as brewing or soap-boiling, thus ensuring the residential status of the street. As for "bothy" - this was the building on a large farm where the unmarried farm servants lived, on a "self-catering" basis. An alternative on some farms was the "chalmer" (or "chamber"), where the unmarried men slept, their meals being supplied in the farm kitchen. Gavin Bell