Gotcha.... Yes, James's farm was pretty sizeable in acreage, although the amount of arable land next to negligible. I have a photograph of him: he is a very "burgerliche" looking gent. I can't describe how grateful I am to all who have contributed to my understanding of my family, of how (and where) they lived, and of the etymologies of words, place names, and vocational implications of same. Anne, succumbing to the crickets and the whirring of fans On 9/7/07, Norman Tulloch <[email protected]> wrote: > Anne Slater wrote: > > In other words "taxman". > > Well, not really, Anne — or at least not a "taxman" in the usual sense > of the word, despite one of the possible spellings shown below. > > From the "Dictionary of the Scots Language": > > "Tak(k)isman, Tacksman, Taxman, n. > > ...One who holds a lease, a lessee. Specif. one who leases land, a > tenant farmer, or one who leases land to sublet, also a lessee of > property, mills, fishings, the collection of customs, teinds, dues, etc." > > http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/ > > I don't know whether your forebear was simply a tenant farmer > or if he leased land at Rothiesholm in order to sublet to others. I'd be > inclined to think, though, that if he was just a tenant farmer he would > have been described as a farmer rather than as a tacksman. Certainly > some of my own ancestors who rented land in Eday and Evie are just > described in the censuses as farmers or in one case (in the census of > 1861) as "formerly crofter". I'd suspect that your ancestor must have > been a bit further up the social scale than my lot and did sublet to > others, though he probably farmed on his own account as well. > > > Norman Tulloch > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >