Ounceland
Encyclopedia
An ounceland is a traditional Scottish
land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands
, and Hebrides
. In Eastern Scotland, other measuring systems were used instead. It was equivalent to 20 pennyland
s or one eighth of a markland
. Like those measurements, it is based on the rent paid, rather than the actual land area. It was also known as a "tirung" (from Scottish Gaelic: tir-unga), or a dabhach (same as daugh), which is a term of Pictish
origin, also used in the east of Scotland too, but for a different measurement. The “ounceland” is thought to be of Norse
origin, so it is possible that Norse (‘ounceland’) and native systems (dabhach) were conflated in the west.
in Celtic Scotland says:
The Rev. Dr Campbell of Broadford
on the island of Skye
said:
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, and Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
. In Eastern Scotland, other measuring systems were used instead. It was equivalent to 20 pennyland
Pennyland
A pennyland is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:The Rev...
s or one eighth of a markland
Markland (Scots)
A markland or merkland is an old Scottish unit of land measurement.There was some local variation in the equivalences, for example, in some places eight ouncelands were equal to one markland, but in others, such as Islay, a markland was twelve ouncelands...
. Like those measurements, it is based on the rent paid, rather than the actual land area. It was also known as a "tirung" (from Scottish Gaelic: tir-unga), or a dabhach (same as daugh), which is a term of Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
origin, also used in the east of Scotland too, but for a different measurement. The “ounceland” is thought to be of Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
origin, so it is possible that Norse (‘ounceland’) and native systems (dabhach) were conflated in the west.
Quotes
SkeneWilliam Forbes Skene
William Forbes Skene , Scottish historian and antiquary, was the second son of Sir Walter Scott's friend, James Skene , of Rubislaw, near Aberdeen....
in Celtic Scotland says:
- "As soon as we cross the great chain of mountainsGrampian Mountains (Scotland)The Grampian Mountains or Grampians are one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, occupying a considerable portion of the Scottish Highlands in northeast Scotland.-Extent:...
separating the easternNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
from the western watersAtlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, we find a different system equally uniform. The ‘ploughgatePloughgateA ploughgate was a Scottish land measurement, used in the south and the east of the country. It was supposed to be the area that eight oxen were said to be able to plough in one year. Because of the variable land quality in Scotland, this could be a number of different actual land areas...
s’ and ‘oxgangOxgangAn oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
s’ disappear, and in their place we find ‘dabhachs’ and ‘pennylandPennylandA pennyland is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:The Rev...
s’. The portion of land termed a ‘dabhach’ is here also called a ‘tirung’ or ‘ounceland’, and each ‘dabhach’ contains 20 pennylands."
The Rev. Dr Campbell of Broadford
Broadford, Skye
Broadford , together with nearby Harrapool, is the second-largest settlement on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, lying on the SW corner of Broadford Bay, on the A87 between Portree and the Skye Bridge....
on the island of Skye
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
said:
- "the system of land measure which prevailed in the Western Isles, and then took root in ArgyllArgyllArgyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
was neither Pictish nor IrishScotiScoti or Scotti was the generic name used by the Romans to describe those who sailed from Ireland to conduct raids on Roman Britain. It was thus synonymous with the modern term Gaels...
, but Norse. The unit was the 'ounceOunceThe ounce is a unit of mass with several definitions, the most commonly used of which are equal to approximately 28 grams. The ounce is used in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of the imperial and United States customary systems...
'-land, i.e. the extent of land which paid the rent of an ounce of silverSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
. The word was borrowed by Gaelic and appears as 'unnsa'. The land term was 'unga', e.g. Unganab in North UistNorth UistNorth Uist is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.-Geography:North Uist is the tenth largest Scottish island and the thirteenth largest island surrounding Great Britain. It has an area of , slightly smaller than South Uist. North Uist is connected by causeways to Benbecula...
and in TireeTiree-History:Tiree is known for the 1st century BC Dùn Mòr broch, for the prehistoric carved Ringing Stone and for the birds of the Ceann a' Mhara headland....
. It appears in the old charters as 'teroung', 'teiroung', &c. This extent was divided into twenty parts—sometimes into only 18 – which parts being called 'peighinnPennylandA pennyland is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:The Rev...
'…"
See also
- Obsolete Scottish units of measurementObsolete Scottish units of measurementScotland had a distinct system of measures and weights until at least the late 18th century, based on the ell as a unit of length, the stone as a unit of mass and the boll and the firlot as units of dry measure...
- In the East HighlandsScottish HighlandsThe Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
:- RoodRood (Scots)A Scottish rood was a land measurement of Anglo-Saxon origin. It was in greatest use in the South East of Scotland, and along the border, whereas in the north various other systems were used, based on the land's productivity, rather than actual area...
- Scottish acreAcre (Scots)A Scottish acre was a land measurement used in the country. It was standardised in 1661. English acres were imposed in 1824 by an Act of Parliament, and the metric system is also used in Scotland.Equivalent to -* Scottish measures** 4 roods* Metric system...
= 4 roods - OxgangOxgangAn oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
(Damh-imir) = the area an ox could plow in a year (around 20 acres) - PloughgatePloughgateA ploughgate was a Scottish land measurement, used in the south and the east of the country. It was supposed to be the area that eight oxen were said to be able to plough in one year. Because of the variable land quality in Scotland, this could be a number of different actual land areas...
(?) = 8 oxgangs - DaughDavochThe Davoch, Davach or Daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic Dabhach. The word Dabh or Damh means an ox , but Dabhach can also refer to a "tub", so may indicate productivity...
(Dabhach) = 4 ploughgates
- Rood
- In the West HighlandsScottish HighlandsThe Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
:- GroatlandGroatlandA groatland, also known as a fourpenceland, fourpennyland or “Còta bàn” was a Scottish land measurement. It was so called, because the annual rent paid on it was a Scottish “groat” .- See also :...
- (Còta bàn) = basic unit - PennylandPennylandA pennyland is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:The Rev...
(Peighinn) = 2 groatlands - QuarterlandQuarterlandA Quarterland or Ceathramh was a Scottish land measurement. It was used mainly in the west and north.It was supposed to be equivalent to eight fourpennylands, roughly equivalent to a quarter of a markland. However in Islay, a quarterland was equivalent to a quarter of an ounceland...
(Ceathramh) = 4 pennylands (8 groatlands) - Ounceland (Tir-unga) = 4 quarterlands (32 groatlands)
- MarklandMarkland (Scots)A markland or merkland is an old Scottish unit of land measurement.There was some local variation in the equivalences, for example, in some places eight ouncelands were equal to one markland, but in others, such as Islay, a markland was twelve ouncelands...
(Marg-fhearann) = 8 Ouncelands (varied)
- Groatland
- In the East Highlands
- TownlandTownlandA townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
(Baile)