I am reading old documents and histories and come across words I don't understand. I'm hoping someone from Orkney can (please) help me out! 1)What is an odal property? 2)Are odallers the same as farmers? 3)In legal documents of the 1600's, what does "is on an Assize" mean? 4) in a document from 1669 "John and his wife, give state, saving liferent of his mother to Thomas....." (Maybe "life rent" is two words....??) 5) What exactly was the Uthell Book? I have 3 pages copied from the book, and it appears to be lists of current landholders....but what does "land Uthell" mean exactly after every entry? For example "two penney land Uthell" Thanks for your help....Jane in New Hampshire, USA