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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: Clemans on Sunday 08 June 25 03:30 BST (UK)
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Can anyone help?
I am trying to decipher the word in the 6th column of the attached 1833 tithe record.
The word is a description of the quality of the land.
Thanks in advance
Clemans
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I think the wording ‘Ara & pas’ is short hand for type rather than quality of the land;
Arable and pasture.
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The titheable land indicates Quality of the land.
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Thanks Kiltaglassan,
The quality of the different parcels of land was indeed considered in order to provide valuations for tithes at the time but suggest the wording in the snippet Clemans provided is an abbreviation for arable and pasture. My understanding is that the quality itself was appraised from 1 to 4.
Grateful to be put right if I have the wrong end of the stick!
In any event the records are a wonderful source of information.
http://www.titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
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Thanks one and all!
I suspect we are all a little bit right.
I have attached the full document I have, which clearly has Arable and Pasture under the heading "Quality" of the land. I have read elsewhere that the use of 1, 2, 3 etc. to denote the quality was the norm, with some areas deviating from this - clearly this is one of them.
Does someone know the key to the 1, 2, 3 system, perhaps 1 = pasture or some such thing?
Thanks Clemans
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While the tythe valuations could use a numerical ranking for the quality of the land, such as 1-4, this was not universal. It is also common to see the quality assessed in simpler fashion - e.g. was it suitable for cultivation (arable) or pasture? Versus, say, bog, waste, or mountain.
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I agree with Wexflyer that this could be a somewhat muddled assessment, without a scientific basis. I don't know about Ireland, but in GB there is now a difference between Land Utilisation and Land Use Capability which emerged during the 20th cent. in sets of maps overprinted on OS base maps. In the 19th cent. the difference was probably somewhat subjective.
Quality of Land implies Land Use Capability, i.e. what the land could be used for, rather than what it is actually being used for, which would be affected by agricultural markets. In the UK during the inter-war depression large areas of arable land were "put down to grass" i.e. pasture, which was reversed by the "plough-up campaign" at the beginning of WW2.
In enclosure awards the lawyers typically use as many words as possible saying "commons, moors, heaths and wastes". I am uncertain what they actually mean by these words, but I suspect they were recognised by the types of natural vegetation growing there, determined by soil-type and drainage. The word "moor" was widely used in lowland areas, and still persists in place-names. At enclosure, thousands of acres were drained, ploughed and turned into arable, though probably not of the best quality.
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While the tythe valuations could use a numerical ranking for the quality of the land, such as 1-4, this was not universal. It is also common to see the quality assessed in simpler fashion - e.g. was it suitable for cultivation (arable) or pasture? Versus, say, bog, waste, or mountain.
I have actually never seen the references being numerical so would agree with Wexflyer that this may not have been universal.
I randomly searched for an entry in Armagh and this is linked. From this you can see arable and bog
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ttb/
In simple land use terms arable land is usually of higher quality than pasture as arable land was suitable by soil type and geography for sustaining cropping.
Other entries I have seen have 'rock', or 'mountain'.
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The example shows arable described as poor, arable, good, fine (or prime) - giving four grades. The bog was probably used for grazing or hay in the summer but unusable in the winter. There is only one parcel of pasture on the page.
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The bog was probably used for grazing or hay in the summer but unusable in the winter. There is only one parcel of pasture on the page.
In Ireland land described as bog was just that- bog or peat, not suitable for crops or even much grazing but mostly used for cutting peats used for fuel in most houses.
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If you are interested in learning more about the Irish tithes, a useful source is Dr William Roulston’s book “Researching farming Ancestors in Ireland.” Chapter 6.1 covers tithes.
Between 1735 and the 1820s pasture was exempt. At that point a composite method of calculating tithes was slowly introduced, and pasture was then included. (Roulston p 106).
In most cases the tithes are in Irish acres which are bigger than statute acres. Occasionally in Ulster they were in Scottish Cunningham acres. (Roulston p 108).
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The example shows arable described as poor, arable, good, fine (or prime) - giving four grades. The bog was probably used for grazing or hay in the summer but unusable in the winter. There is only one parcel of pasture on the page.
I think the point was whether these classes or quality of land were described by figures ie 1-4. My post was to say that I had never seen them described by figures.....written descriptors yes but numerical no.
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Thanks to all for the info!
One more if anyone can:
Can anyone interpret the handwritten text at the top right of the attached.
Clearly the tithe to be paid is 17s 6.25p and this is split into two equal payments.
Trying to workout if the payments are to two separate entities or two payments spread across the year.
Thanks in advance.
Clemans
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Two separate people.
- The vicar, and
- The impropriator. That is the lay owner of (some of) the tythes
In this particular case, it says that they each claim half of the total.
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For the record:
Vicarial Claim
Impropriate Claim
As Wexflyer has said, Impropriate as an adjective means:
Of ecclesiastical property: placed under the control or management of a layperson.
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You guys are the best!
Thanks
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Interesting to see that because of the division between two claimants it was necessary to invoke the half-farthing (the pennies are not “p”, they are “d”)