Elizabeth asked I have a few questions. What was a taxman? Not a TaXsman but a Tacksman. A Tacksman is - to quote ScotlandsPeople (SP) - "A person who holds a lease and sublets land to others. (Tacksmen were found mostly in the highlands from the 17th Century, and were often a close relative of the chief. Although some of them farmed the land themselves, most lived off the difference between the low rent they paid to the chief and the rents they charged to sublet the land." Regards Les Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device