What the sasines tell us about Easter Glentore.
The earliest Thomson mentioned, James Thomson in Bogside, appears in the 1694 Hearth Tax Roll for New Monkland, taxed for one hearth. In the roll, Bogside is listed under Glentore, so must be part of the lands of Glentore.
https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/historical-tax-rolls/hearth-tax-records-1691-1695/hearth-tax-records-lanarkshire-volume-1/48This James Thomson was initially a tenant "in Bogside", but later must have acquired ownership of it, as he is later described as "of Bogside." He passed Bogside on to his son John.
James Thomson also acquired ownership of a part or portion of Easter Glentore, which he passed on to his son James. Owners of a part or portion like this are called portioners.
The Thomsons acquired their part of Easter Glentore from The Earl of Wigton, Lord Fleming and Cumbernauld. It is described as a fifteen shilling land of old extent. That means when the land was valued for the old "extent" or tax in the 13th century it was worth 15/- Scots a year. Even though there was a revaluation in the 15th century, it is normal for land to be described in terms of the 13th century valuation. By the 17th and 18th centuries it was worth considerably more.
The Thomsons held their land in feu ferm. The Earl was their feudal superior and they were his vassals. In return for him granting them the land, they had to pay the Earl £3 Scots feu duty each year, half at Whitsunday and half at Martinmas. This was doubled for the first year a new heir took possession of the land ("entry money") then reverted to £3.
As vassals the Thomsons were also thirled to the Mill of Fannyside. That means they had to have their corn ground there and not at any other mill. The Earl or his tenant in the mill received as "multure" a proportion of the corn taken to the mill - half a peck per boll of threshed and winnowed grain before grinding and quarter of a peck per boll of the ground oatmeal.
In addition The Thomsons had to attend three head courts (= main meetings of the barony court} a year. These dealt with estate business. They were also liable to be cited to attend any other court the Earl or his representatives held. They were also responsible for paying tithes or any other taxes that might be imposed on the land.
The lands of Easter Glentore are described as "with houses, biggings (= buildings, such as tenants' cottages), yards (= kitchen gardens), mosses (= boggy moorland where peats were cut for fuel), muirs (= moorland for rough grazing or cutting heather for thatch etc.), meadows (= grassland mown for hay), pasturage (= land for pasturing grazing livestock), grass, coal, limestone (= for breaking, burning in kilns and spreading on the land to improve it), parts (= any part of the land at all), pendicles (= parts of the property lying separate from it) and pertinents (= everything that goes with the land)."
Owning the land allowed you to be called "of Easter Glentore", but did not necessarily mean you lived there. The last of the Thomson owners, for example, was a carpenter living in Airdrie. The Thomsons had several tenants in different parts of their land, a number of whom are referred to in the sasines.
