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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
I note that Canada has the lowest inflation rate in the G7 at 4.9%. Food is up some 5.7% but one Conservative spokesman said that Canada has huge spare capacity to grow more food. Likewise he also pointed out that Gas/Oil, which is up a huge 30+%, sees Canada as having the third highest reserves of them in the world.
Despite this Canada is not working to take advantage of the opportunities and he blames the Liberal government for this.
-------
Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, is having a tough time due to attending No. 10 parties despite his Governments advice to the country. Calls for him to resign.
--------
The SNP are being accused of lack of initiative and being more and more autocratic in they are taking more and more control of everyday life in Scotland with little transparency on their part. People in Scotland now have much less say in how things are run in Scotland.
--------
In 1966 the Kirk had 1.23 million members whereas today perhaps a tenth of that number attend a Kirk service on an average Sunday.
Christianity, however, is in sharp decline in Canada. In 2011, 67.3 per cent (about 22.1 million people) of Canadians said they were affiliated with a Christian religion. In 2019, that number had dropped to 63.2 per cent. Catholicism, Canada’s largest denomination, now accounts for 32 per cent of Canadians over 15, down from 46.9 per cent in 1996.
The decline is even more precarious for Canada’s United and Anglican churches. Anglicanism shares a similarly bleak outlook. StatCan data shows that in 1986, 10.4 per cent of all Canadians were Anglican. That dropped to 7.0 per cent in 1996 and to 3.8 per cent in 2019.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Covid in Scotland: NHS absence rates highest since start of pandemic
Covid-related absences in the NHS are at their highest levels since the early weeks of the pandemic. Official figures showed an average of more than 7,000 NHS staff were off work every day in the week to 11 January. This is the highest daily average since the end of April 2020, at the height of the first wave of the virus.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-59988292
Greyfriars Bobby and the dogs immortalised in statues
It is 150 years since the death of Greyfriars Bobby, the dog whose story of devotion has become known across the world.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-59914709
Is the UK poised to return to space launches?
The UK could have space launch capability as soon as this summer. What will these spaceports look like and how will they operate?
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...space-launches
Move over China! £125m Yorkshire project to break Beijing's rare earths stranglehold
A YORKSHIRE based company is to build a £125 million rare earth metals plant as Britain seeks to break China's dominance over rare earth metals production.
Read more at:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/15...s-stranglehold
Iniskim Umaapi: Is this Canada's Stonehenge?
Built by ancient Indigenous People and long considered to be sacred, the Iniskim Umaapi medicine wheel in Alberta is one of the oldest religious monuments in the world.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/2...das-stonehenge
To arrest decline first understand and analyse the failure - then act on it
THERE ARE TWO organisations in Scotland that were once all powerful but today are on the brink of collapse. These two organisations are the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party.
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/01/to...hen-act-on-it/
Scottish A&E waiting times worst on record
Waiting times in Scottish accident and emergency departments were the worst on record in the first week of the year, new figures show.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-60041062
Scottish devolution and the new democratic deficit
This article describes the enormous constitutional changes made to the governance of Scotland since the late 1990s, and examines the long term democratic implications of the ongoing and extensive use of Scotland’s 111 non-elected National Public Bodies (quangos) receiving over £22 billion funding in 2021/22.
Read more at:
https://sceptical.scot/2022/01/scott...ratic-deficit/
It's time for a separate Scottish Tory Party
At first this might have seemed a high-wire act by Ross - challenging a sitting Tory PM - but as the entire Tory Holyrood group swung behind him in unity it seems that he might for once have chosen his ground wisely and be on to something
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net/GerryHassan600a.html
Airbrushed out of medical history
Professor John Macleod, a lecturer at the University of Toronto, had long been interested in carbohydrate metabolism and diabetes, and he offered his research lab to Banting, creating a partnership which would not only result in the two men being jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1923, but would also end in bitter personal rivalry, with Banting determined to denigrate Macleod's reputation, even after his death.
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net/BarbaraMillar600a.html
Scottish Media
Dundee-headquartered media group DC Thomson (DCT) has been renowned throughout its 116-year history for the judici especially its astute investment ous handling of its financial affairs policy and track record of profitable acquisitions and diversifications. An outstanding example of that investment astuteness has emerged in the group's latest financial figures, to the tune of some £350m.
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net/HamishMackay600a.html
How to read the Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock depicts how close humanity is to armageddon but where did it come from, how do you read its time, and what can we learn from it?
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...doomsday-clock
Regenerating rainforests on UK oldest reserve
The rainforests on the UK's oldest national nature reserve in Wester Ross are being left to regenerate naturally for the first time in its history.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...lands-60052457
Ukraine’s struggle against Putin is Britain’s fight too
News that the UK is sending anti-tank missiles to shore up Ukraine's defences is as welcome as it is unsurprising. Britain has long been a steadfast ally. And we have every reason to be, considering the Kremlin's long record of malign and murderous activity on our own shores.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/ukraines-struggle-ag...ins-fight-too/
American author Diana Gabaldon has brought the romance and drama of Scottish history to life for more than 50 million readers worldwide
Now, The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA will recognize her extraordinary contributions to Scotland and America’s shared heritage by presenting her with the 2022 Great Scot Award at their 15th annual fundraising gala, A Celebration of Scotland’s Treasures, on April 14, 2022.
Read more at:
https://files.ctctusercontent.com/faae31db001/8ab7500e-924b-46e0-908f-e6449e2047ee.pdf
Electric Canadian
How do we make federal laws in Canada?
A Blog Post by EcoJustice written by Melanie Snow which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ecojustice.htm
New FREE Geneaolgy course from MyHeritage
They are just launching a full study course so well worth a visit and you can get to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/webclans/myheritage.htm and just scroll down the page a wee bit for the information.
Harrison and Procter
The River Raisin by Lt.-Col. E. A. Cruikshank, Royal Society of Canada (1910) (pdf)
An interesting account which can be read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...andproctor.pdf
THOUGHTS on a SUNDAY MORNING - the 16th day of January 2022 - COVID'S CHILDREN
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...vid-s-children
Nova Scotia under English Rule
From the Capture of Port Royal to the Conquest of Canada, A.D. 1710-1760, By Rev. W. 0. Raymond; LL.D. (1910) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...tiaenglish.pdf
Laurenciana
By Lt.-Colonel William Wood, Author of "The Fight for Canada." (1910) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...lauenciana.pdf
Electric Scotland
Beth's Video Talks
January 19th 2022 - Overlooked Genealogy resources 2
You can view this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Ian MacLaren, The Life of the Rev. John Watson, D.D.
By W. Robertson Nicoll (1909) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/ianmaclaren.pdf
The Martyrs of Blantyre
Henry Henderson, Dr. John Bowie and Robert Cleland: a chapter from the story of missions in central Africa by William Robertson (1892) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ofblantyre.pdf
Kingussie and Upper Speyside
Replaced this book with a more up to date version with a three fold increase in its content.
This can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history.../kingussie.pdf
Clan Buchan
Added an article about the previous chief and also an article about Major-General Buchan of the Australian army.
This can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/webclans/atoc/buchan.html
A Smuggling Document
By David Grewar
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history.../smuggling.htm
Eric Liddell: Champion of Conviction (2008)
Added a video about him to his page at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ic_liddell.htm
Donald Mor
From Grant’s Legends of the Braes o’ Mar
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history.../donaldmor.htm
Little Men of Duthil
By Rev. James Macdougall
This can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history.../littlemen.htm
Story
Rent in Kind on the Haddo House Estates
Rent was paid partly in kind for many years in this locality [Methlick]. In 1802 about two-fifths of the total rent of the Haddo House estates was paid in victuals and sundries. The largest proportion of this was made up of meal, chiefly oatmeal. Other things included were sheep and lambs, swine, poultry, and linen cloth. The prices credited for some of them were — Sheep, 15s; lambs, 2s 6d each; capons about 6½d; hens, 3½d; and chickens, 2d. In 1812 the price of hens rose to 1s each and geese to 1s 6d, and since then hens have continued to be credited at 1s each in those leases where they were included. The rent roll in 1802 also included 462 hooks, or a day’s shearing at hay or corn harvest, reckoned at 6d a day.
When the corn intended for rent meal was taken to the mill to be ground, notice had to be sent to Haddo House so that a representative might attend to be in the mill all the time the corn was being ground and sifted (all the meal being sifted by hand) to see that the meal was not adulterated. Although there was no Canadian oatmeal to mix with the home-grown, the farmers were in the habit of mixing barleymeal with the oatmeal for daily use, but this was objected to in the case of that intended for the Haddo House girnal. In some cases the rent was accepted wholly in meal. The meal had to be delivered at Haddo House and put into the girnal under the supervision of the girnalman, who was appointed for the purpose. Peats also had to be delivered at Haddo House. A certain number of cubic feet had to be filled, according to agreement, by the different farmers. When money became more plentiful in the district, it gradually took the place of the various items included in the older leases as forming part of the rent, tills being found more satisfactory to both parties.
The following is an exact copy of an agreement made in 1761, and submitted to the factor by Rev. Mr Knolls:—
“Sir — I acknowledge, and I have agreed with the Earl of Aberdeen for a tack upon the Kirk Croft of Methlick, as also upon the Croft of Cottonhillock, as they were both lastly possessed bv Alexander Loggie, for which crofts I am to pay yearly the old rent formerly paid by the said Alexander Loggie, viz., for the Kirk Croft and Custom of Dennis Fair the sum of eighty pounds Scots and one bonnage hook yearly, and for the Croft of Cottonhillock the sum of fifty-nine pounds thirteen shillings and four pennies Scots, twenty-one hens, three bolls and three peck of malt bear, and two bonnage hooks yearly. As also I am to carry a proportion of wood, lime, slates, and coal to Haddo House when desired or called for, and to pay other services conform to such a possession in his lordship’s estate, with miln, schoolmasters, and ground-officers’ dues as formerly paid. Therefore, in the above terms, I hereby oblige myself to take up a tack upon the said possession for the space of fifteen years, commencing at the term of Whitsunday last by past, containing all the ordinary clauses and conditions in his lordship’s other tacks, and I am to make my residence thereon.
“To Alexander Taylor, in Miln of Kelly.
“Factor for the Earl of Aberdeen.”
Mr Knolls, the minister of Methlick, also farmed the land of Double Dykes and the croft of Duckiepool, which must have been adjacent to the village.
Although the change took place to a large extent many years ago, some portions of the old system still lingered amongst us, such as the driving of coals from Newburgh and the payment of poultry, but these, too, have been abolished by the present Earl of Aberdeen in all the leases granted for a number of years back. Current coin of the realm now fulfils all obligations in the matter of rent in the leases recently agreed upon. From “Agricultural and Other Industries” by James Simpson in “Methlick, Haddo House, Gight, and the Valley of the Ythan ” (1899).
[Bonnage—presumably a corruption of bondage—was an obligation on the part of the tenant to cut down the proprietor’s corn, a duty he performed when called upon. Bonnage-heuk was the form in which the obligation was expressed in Aberdeenshire. “Dennis Fair" doubtless means St Devenick’s Fair, which took its title after the patron saint of the parish. -Ed.]
END.
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
I note that Canada has the lowest inflation rate in the G7 at 4.9%. Food is up some 5.7% but one Conservative spokesman said that Canada has huge spare capacity to grow more food. Likewise he also pointed out that Gas/Oil, which is up a huge 30+%, sees Canada as having the third highest reserves of them in the world.
Despite this Canada is not working to take advantage of the opportunities and he blames the Liberal government for this.
-------
Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, is having a tough time due to attending No. 10 parties despite his Governments advice to the country. Calls for him to resign.
--------
The SNP are being accused of lack of initiative and being more and more autocratic in they are taking more and more control of everyday life in Scotland with little transparency on their part. People in Scotland now have much less say in how things are run in Scotland.
--------
In 1966 the Kirk had 1.23 million members whereas today perhaps a tenth of that number attend a Kirk service on an average Sunday.
Christianity, however, is in sharp decline in Canada. In 2011, 67.3 per cent (about 22.1 million people) of Canadians said they were affiliated with a Christian religion. In 2019, that number had dropped to 63.2 per cent. Catholicism, Canada’s largest denomination, now accounts for 32 per cent of Canadians over 15, down from 46.9 per cent in 1996.
The decline is even more precarious for Canada’s United and Anglican churches. Anglicanism shares a similarly bleak outlook. StatCan data shows that in 1986, 10.4 per cent of all Canadians were Anglican. That dropped to 7.0 per cent in 1996 and to 3.8 per cent in 2019.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Covid in Scotland: NHS absence rates highest since start of pandemic
Covid-related absences in the NHS are at their highest levels since the early weeks of the pandemic. Official figures showed an average of more than 7,000 NHS staff were off work every day in the week to 11 January. This is the highest daily average since the end of April 2020, at the height of the first wave of the virus.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-59988292
Greyfriars Bobby and the dogs immortalised in statues
It is 150 years since the death of Greyfriars Bobby, the dog whose story of devotion has become known across the world.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-59914709
Is the UK poised to return to space launches?
The UK could have space launch capability as soon as this summer. What will these spaceports look like and how will they operate?
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...space-launches
Move over China! £125m Yorkshire project to break Beijing's rare earths stranglehold
A YORKSHIRE based company is to build a £125 million rare earth metals plant as Britain seeks to break China's dominance over rare earth metals production.
Read more at:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/15...s-stranglehold
Iniskim Umaapi: Is this Canada's Stonehenge?
Built by ancient Indigenous People and long considered to be sacred, the Iniskim Umaapi medicine wheel in Alberta is one of the oldest religious monuments in the world.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/2...das-stonehenge
To arrest decline first understand and analyse the failure - then act on it
THERE ARE TWO organisations in Scotland that were once all powerful but today are on the brink of collapse. These two organisations are the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party.
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/01/to...hen-act-on-it/
Scottish A&E waiting times worst on record
Waiting times in Scottish accident and emergency departments were the worst on record in the first week of the year, new figures show.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-60041062
Scottish devolution and the new democratic deficit
This article describes the enormous constitutional changes made to the governance of Scotland since the late 1990s, and examines the long term democratic implications of the ongoing and extensive use of Scotland’s 111 non-elected National Public Bodies (quangos) receiving over £22 billion funding in 2021/22.
Read more at:
https://sceptical.scot/2022/01/scott...ratic-deficit/
It's time for a separate Scottish Tory Party
At first this might have seemed a high-wire act by Ross - challenging a sitting Tory PM - but as the entire Tory Holyrood group swung behind him in unity it seems that he might for once have chosen his ground wisely and be on to something
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net/GerryHassan600a.html
Airbrushed out of medical history
Professor John Macleod, a lecturer at the University of Toronto, had long been interested in carbohydrate metabolism and diabetes, and he offered his research lab to Banting, creating a partnership which would not only result in the two men being jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1923, but would also end in bitter personal rivalry, with Banting determined to denigrate Macleod's reputation, even after his death.
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net/BarbaraMillar600a.html
Scottish Media
Dundee-headquartered media group DC Thomson (DCT) has been renowned throughout its 116-year history for the judici especially its astute investment ous handling of its financial affairs policy and track record of profitable acquisitions and diversifications. An outstanding example of that investment astuteness has emerged in the group's latest financial figures, to the tune of some £350m.
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net/HamishMackay600a.html
How to read the Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock depicts how close humanity is to armageddon but where did it come from, how do you read its time, and what can we learn from it?
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...doomsday-clock
Regenerating rainforests on UK oldest reserve
The rainforests on the UK's oldest national nature reserve in Wester Ross are being left to regenerate naturally for the first time in its history.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...lands-60052457
Ukraine’s struggle against Putin is Britain’s fight too
News that the UK is sending anti-tank missiles to shore up Ukraine's defences is as welcome as it is unsurprising. Britain has long been a steadfast ally. And we have every reason to be, considering the Kremlin's long record of malign and murderous activity on our own shores.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/ukraines-struggle-ag...ins-fight-too/
American author Diana Gabaldon has brought the romance and drama of Scottish history to life for more than 50 million readers worldwide
Now, The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA will recognize her extraordinary contributions to Scotland and America’s shared heritage by presenting her with the 2022 Great Scot Award at their 15th annual fundraising gala, A Celebration of Scotland’s Treasures, on April 14, 2022.
Read more at:
https://files.ctctusercontent.com/faae31db001/8ab7500e-924b-46e0-908f-e6449e2047ee.pdf
Electric Canadian
How do we make federal laws in Canada?
A Blog Post by EcoJustice written by Melanie Snow which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ecojustice.htm
New FREE Geneaolgy course from MyHeritage
They are just launching a full study course so well worth a visit and you can get to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/webclans/myheritage.htm and just scroll down the page a wee bit for the information.
Harrison and Procter
The River Raisin by Lt.-Col. E. A. Cruikshank, Royal Society of Canada (1910) (pdf)
An interesting account which can be read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...andproctor.pdf
THOUGHTS on a SUNDAY MORNING - the 16th day of January 2022 - COVID'S CHILDREN
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...vid-s-children
Nova Scotia under English Rule
From the Capture of Port Royal to the Conquest of Canada, A.D. 1710-1760, By Rev. W. 0. Raymond; LL.D. (1910) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...tiaenglish.pdf
Laurenciana
By Lt.-Colonel William Wood, Author of "The Fight for Canada." (1910) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...lauenciana.pdf
Electric Scotland
Beth's Video Talks
January 19th 2022 - Overlooked Genealogy resources 2
You can view this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Ian MacLaren, The Life of the Rev. John Watson, D.D.
By W. Robertson Nicoll (1909) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/ianmaclaren.pdf
The Martyrs of Blantyre
Henry Henderson, Dr. John Bowie and Robert Cleland: a chapter from the story of missions in central Africa by William Robertson (1892) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ofblantyre.pdf
Kingussie and Upper Speyside
Replaced this book with a more up to date version with a three fold increase in its content.
This can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history.../kingussie.pdf
Clan Buchan
Added an article about the previous chief and also an article about Major-General Buchan of the Australian army.
This can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/webclans/atoc/buchan.html
A Smuggling Document
By David Grewar
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history.../smuggling.htm
Eric Liddell: Champion of Conviction (2008)
Added a video about him to his page at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ic_liddell.htm
Donald Mor
From Grant’s Legends of the Braes o’ Mar
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history.../donaldmor.htm
Little Men of Duthil
By Rev. James Macdougall
This can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history.../littlemen.htm
Story
Rent in Kind on the Haddo House Estates
Rent was paid partly in kind for many years in this locality [Methlick]. In 1802 about two-fifths of the total rent of the Haddo House estates was paid in victuals and sundries. The largest proportion of this was made up of meal, chiefly oatmeal. Other things included were sheep and lambs, swine, poultry, and linen cloth. The prices credited for some of them were — Sheep, 15s; lambs, 2s 6d each; capons about 6½d; hens, 3½d; and chickens, 2d. In 1812 the price of hens rose to 1s each and geese to 1s 6d, and since then hens have continued to be credited at 1s each in those leases where they were included. The rent roll in 1802 also included 462 hooks, or a day’s shearing at hay or corn harvest, reckoned at 6d a day.
When the corn intended for rent meal was taken to the mill to be ground, notice had to be sent to Haddo House so that a representative might attend to be in the mill all the time the corn was being ground and sifted (all the meal being sifted by hand) to see that the meal was not adulterated. Although there was no Canadian oatmeal to mix with the home-grown, the farmers were in the habit of mixing barleymeal with the oatmeal for daily use, but this was objected to in the case of that intended for the Haddo House girnal. In some cases the rent was accepted wholly in meal. The meal had to be delivered at Haddo House and put into the girnal under the supervision of the girnalman, who was appointed for the purpose. Peats also had to be delivered at Haddo House. A certain number of cubic feet had to be filled, according to agreement, by the different farmers. When money became more plentiful in the district, it gradually took the place of the various items included in the older leases as forming part of the rent, tills being found more satisfactory to both parties.
The following is an exact copy of an agreement made in 1761, and submitted to the factor by Rev. Mr Knolls:—
“Sir — I acknowledge, and I have agreed with the Earl of Aberdeen for a tack upon the Kirk Croft of Methlick, as also upon the Croft of Cottonhillock, as they were both lastly possessed bv Alexander Loggie, for which crofts I am to pay yearly the old rent formerly paid by the said Alexander Loggie, viz., for the Kirk Croft and Custom of Dennis Fair the sum of eighty pounds Scots and one bonnage hook yearly, and for the Croft of Cottonhillock the sum of fifty-nine pounds thirteen shillings and four pennies Scots, twenty-one hens, three bolls and three peck of malt bear, and two bonnage hooks yearly. As also I am to carry a proportion of wood, lime, slates, and coal to Haddo House when desired or called for, and to pay other services conform to such a possession in his lordship’s estate, with miln, schoolmasters, and ground-officers’ dues as formerly paid. Therefore, in the above terms, I hereby oblige myself to take up a tack upon the said possession for the space of fifteen years, commencing at the term of Whitsunday last by past, containing all the ordinary clauses and conditions in his lordship’s other tacks, and I am to make my residence thereon.
“To Alexander Taylor, in Miln of Kelly.
“Factor for the Earl of Aberdeen.”
Mr Knolls, the minister of Methlick, also farmed the land of Double Dykes and the croft of Duckiepool, which must have been adjacent to the village.
Although the change took place to a large extent many years ago, some portions of the old system still lingered amongst us, such as the driving of coals from Newburgh and the payment of poultry, but these, too, have been abolished by the present Earl of Aberdeen in all the leases granted for a number of years back. Current coin of the realm now fulfils all obligations in the matter of rent in the leases recently agreed upon. From “Agricultural and Other Industries” by James Simpson in “Methlick, Haddo House, Gight, and the Valley of the Ythan ” (1899).
[Bonnage—presumably a corruption of bondage—was an obligation on the part of the tenant to cut down the proprietor’s corn, a duty he performed when called upon. Bonnage-heuk was the form in which the obligation was expressed in Aberdeenshire. “Dennis Fair" doubtless means St Devenick’s Fair, which took its title after the patron saint of the parish. -Ed.]
END.
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
Comment