Crossing the range of the Ochils and entering the ancient earldom of Stratherne, we find one of the earliest residences of the old Scottish kings appearing as a thanage. In the reign of Alexander the Third the thane of Forteviot has to answer to the king for twenty merks, and we find the sheriff of Perth subsequently accounting for the firma or rent-charge of the land of William of Forteviot;^[375] while King Robert the First grants in 1314 to the church and canons of Inchaffray his lands of Cardnay and Dolcorachy in the thanage of Forteviot. It appears in the retours as a barony.^[376] In this earldom we meet for the first time with a thanage held of the earl and not of the Crown. The foundation-charter of the abbey of Inchaffray, granted by Gilbert, earl of Stratherne, in the year 1200, is witnessed among others by Anechol Theinus or thane of Dunine, now Dunning; and in a subsequent charter the same earl terms him ‘Anechol, my thain of Dunyn.’ In 1247 a charter is granted by Malise, earl of Stratherne, to the abbey of Inchaffray, of twenty merks annually from the thanage of Dunyne and Peticarne, to be received for all time in future from the hands of those who hold the said lands for the time being; and in confirmation of this grant he addresses a mandate to Bricius, thane of Dunin, to see twenty merks at Dunin from the firma due to the earl, paid to Inchaffray. The descent of these thanes of Duning can, however, be ascertained from the Chartulary. The most powerful family next to the earls was that of the seneschals or stewards of Stratherne. They descend from Gilleness, seneschal of Stratherne in the time of Earl Gilbert, who had two sons—Malise, who appears as seneschal in 1220, and Anechol, who was thane of Duning. From Malise proceeded a line of seneschals, the succession to which was carried by a daughter to the Drummonds. Anechol was succeeded as thane of Duning by Bricius, who likewise appears as thane of Duning; but in the time of Robert, earl of Stratherne, the son of Malise, the seneschalship had fallen to him likewise, and he witnesses a charter of that earl as ‘Bricius de Dunin, his seneschall.’^[377] The lands of Duning and others were erected into the barony of Duncrub in favour of Andrew Rollo of Duncrub in 1540; and among the lands we find the thane lands also called Edindonyng.^[378] One of the charters by Earl Gilbert, which is witnessed by Anechol, thane of Dunin, is likewise witnessed by Duncanus, Thanus de Struin. This is the only notice of this thanage, but the name corresponds with that of the parish of Strowan on the south bank of the Earn above Crieff. It is now united with the parish of Monzievaird, from which it is divided by the river. It was probably a thanage also held of the earl, and the old family of the Toschachs of Monzievaird no doubt derived their name and descent from its Toschach or thane.^[379]

North of the earldom of Stratherne, and within the range of the Grampians, lay the ancient earldom of Atholl. It is from this district that the royal dynasty emerged which terminated with Alexander the Third, the founder of the house having been lay abbot of Dunkeld, and possessor of the abthanrie of Dull,^[380] and from his son Duncan proceeded not only the kings of Scotland, but likewise the ancient earls of Atholl. The abthanrie of Dull was a very extensive district, and embraced a large portion of the western part of the earldom, and may be viewed as the original patrimony of the royal house. It contained within it two thanages, viz., those of Dull and of Fothergill, now Fortingall. Thus we find Alexander the Second issuing a mandate addressed to his theyns and other good men of Dul and Forterkil, in which he grants to the canons of Scon the right of taking materials from his thanages of Dul and Forterkil for the work at their church of Scon.^[381] In the reign of Alexander the Third we find in 1264 Alan the Hostiary bound to account for the firma of Dull, and in 1289, Duncan, earl of Fife, is Firmarius or renter of the manor of Dull, the rent for two years being five hundred pounds seven shillings and fourpence.^[382] He is also keeper of the prison of Dull, but while the abthanrie with its two thanages is thus in the Crown, the church of Dull, with its chapels of Foss and Branboth in Glenlyon, belonged to the earls of Atholl, and was granted by Malcolm, earl of Atholl, to the priory of St. Andrews after the death of William his cleric. This grant is confirmed by the bishop of Dunkeld, reserving a right to give the latter, to the extent of ten merks, to a vicar, and an annual rent of twenty shillings due to him and his clergy from the Abthanrie of Dull.^[383] By king David the Second the bailiary of the abthain of Dull was granted to John Drummond, and in his reign the thanages began to be broken up, for he grants a charter to John de Loorne, and Janet, his spouse, and our cousin, of the whole lands of Glenlion; another to Donald M‘Nayre of the lands of Estirfossach or Foss, in the abthanrie of Dull, which had been resigned by Hugo de Barclay; and a third to Alexander Meinzies of the barony of Fothergill, in the county of Perth.^[384]

Besides these thanages held of the Crown, we find mention of two held of the earl of Atholl, and two of the bishop of Dunkeld. On the north bank of Loch Tay was the thanage of Cranach, but it no sooner appears in the records than it vanishes as a thanage, for it passed into the Menzies family, and among their writs is a charter by David de Strathbogie, earl of Atholl and Constable of Scotland, to Sir Robert de Meygnes, knight, son of Sir Alexander de Meygnes, for his homage and service, of the whole thanage of Cranach, in the earldom of Atholl, with the lands of Cranach, Achmore, Kynknoc, the two Ketherowes, and Achnechroish, as a feudal holding for military service. The other thanage lay in the valley of Glentilt, near Blair, and of it we have more particulars. The earldom of Atholl had become vested in the person of Robert, Steward of Scotland, and before he succeeded to the throne in 1371 he grants a charter, as Lord of Atholl, which is undated, to Eugenius, thane of Glentilt, brother of Reginald of the Isles, of the whole thanage of Glentilt, being three davachs of land, for his faithful service, to be held of him in fee and heritage for ever, for payment of eleven merks in money, and the carriage of four horses once a year for hunting in the forest of Bencromby if demanded. There is a provision that should the yearly value of the thanage at any time not reach the sum of eleven merks, he is to pay such sum as may be fixed by an assize of the inhabitants of Strathguye and of those dwelling in the thanage. There is then a retour at Logyraite in the court of the earl of Athole, by which, on 29th July 1457, Andrew de Glentilt is served heir to his father John le thane de Glentilt, in the lands of Petnacrefe in Strathguay; and a charter of sale, in 1461, by Andrew, thane of Glentilt, to John Stewart of Fothergill, of the lands of Achnamarkmore, to be held of himself; and this is followed by a notarial instrument taken on the sale by Finlay ‘le thane de Glentilt,’ son and heir of the late Andrew le thane de Glentilt, on 27th April 1647, of the right of reversion of these lands for twenty pounds, payable in one day between sunrise and sunset. There is then a precept of sasine by Findlay, thane of Glentilt, in favour of Neill Stewart of Fothergill, as son and heir of Neill Stewart of Fothergill, of the lands of Achnamarkmore, given at Glentilt on 4th June 1500, in presence of John, Thane, son and heir-apparent of Findlay, and on 13th August 1501 a charter of sale by Finlay, thane of Glentilt, to Elenore, countess of Atholl, of Kincraigy. We have then two charters of even date, granted by John, earl of Atholl, and superior of All and Whole the lands of the Thanagium Abnathie, or the thanedom of Glentilt, to John Stewart, his son and heir, of the said lands Thanagii Abnathie, or le thanedom of Glentilt, which formerly belonged to Finlay Toschach, thane of Glentilt, and which he voluntarily resigned, as is proved to us by his corporal oath sworn on the holy evangels of God. The earl’s seal and the seal of Finlay Toschach are appended, at Dunkeld, the last day of May 1502, and these charters are confirmed by a charter under the Great Seal on 2d July 1502, of the thanage, with the bondmen, bondages, native-men and their issue.^[385] According to this charter the thanage contained seventeen townships, including the two tenandries of Achnamarkmore and Kincraigy, giving an average of about the sixth part of a davach to each township; and we here see the family, which originally descended from that of the Isles, adopting the name of Toschach, from their designation of Thane. From them no doubt proceeded the M‘Intoshes of Tiriny in Glentilt, which is included among the lands of the thanage.^[386] We find mention of two other thanages in Atholl, but it is not very clear whether they were held under the earl, or under the bishop of Dunkeld. King William the Lion confirms to the church and canons of Scone a grant made to them by Malcolm, earl of Atholl, of the church of Loginmahedd, now Logierait, with its chapels of Kilchemi, Dunfolenthi, Kelkassin, and Kelmichelde Tulimath, and with all its other lawful pertinents; but John, bishop of Dunkeld, grants and confirms to the abbots and canons of Sconie the church of Logymahedd, in Atholl, with the full tithes, benefices, and rights lawfully pertaining to said church, viz., of Rath, which is the chief seat of the earldom (caput comitatus), and of the whole thanage of Dulmonych, and of the whole thanage of Fandufuith, and with these chapels, Kylkemy, Dunfoluntyn, Kilcassyn, Kilmichell of Tulichmat, and all pertinents of said chapels, and a toft in Logyn, with common pasture, as is contained in a charter of Earl Henry.^[387] The Rath or fort is still visible on a height between the two rivers at the junction of the Tay and the Tummel, and the modern names of the places where the four chapels were situated are Killichangie, Dunfallandy, Killichassy, and Tullimet, and they are all within the parish of Logierait, but the two thanages seem not to have been included in Earl Malcolm’s charter, and are situated within the territory termed the bishopric of Dunkeld, now the parish of Little Dunkeld, for Fandufuith is now Fandowie in Strathbraan, and Dalmonych is probably Dalmarnoch, on the south bank of the Tay, in the same parish. We have no other notice of these thanages.

Between the earldom of Atholl and the province of Fife and Fothriff, and separated from the latter by the Firth of Tay, lay the earldom of Gowry. In the account of the seven provinces of Scotland prior to the Scottish conquest, this earldom formed one province along with that of Atholl; but after the Scottish dynasty was seated on the throne it was attached to the province of Fife and Fothriff. It was the heart of the kingdom, as within it was situated the royal seat of Scone, where, as Fordun rightly tells us, ‘both the Scottish and Pictish kings had whilom established the chief seat of government;’ and from an early period it appears to have belonged to the royal family, as Bower makes the curious statement that Alexander the First had received at his baptism, as a donation from his father’s brother the earl of Gowry, the lands of Lyff and Invergowry, where, after he became king, he began to build a palace, and finally conferred them upon the abbey of Scone. These lands are in fact contained in the foundation-charter of Scone by Alexander the First, and that the earldom had been the appanage of Donald Bane, who alone can be meant, is probably true enough.^[388]

In the reign of Malcolm the Fourth, who confirms the foundation-charter of Alexander the First, we find mention of the four royal manors of Gouerin or Gowry paying Can to the king, and these were Scon or Scone, Cubert or Coupar-Angus, Forgrund or Longforgan and Stratherdel; and these appear to have been likewise royal thanages. Thus Alexander the Second grants to the canons of Scone, in exchange for tithes which they exacted from the lands of Forgrund, one net of his fishings in the thanage of Scone, two acres of land in the territory of Scone where the Canon’s Well is situated, and a perpetual lease of his demesnes of Rath and Kynfaunes in Gowry; and finally King Robert the First grants to the abbot and canons of Scone the whole thanage of Scone, with all its pertinents.^[389] Strathardell, too, was a thanage, as we find a charter granted in the reign of William the Lion by Laurence of Abernethy of the church of Abernethy to the monks of Arbroath is witnessed by Macbeth, sheriff of Scon, thane of Strathardel;^[390] and though we have no notice of the royal manors of Cupar and Forgrund being termed thanages, it is probable that they were so.

North of Cupar, however, was the thanage of Alyth, in which was situated the royal castle of Invercuych, as we find Robert the Second granting to Sir James de Lyndesay All and Whole the lands of Aberbothry, as also the place of the royal castle of Invercuyth and all the lands which belonged to John de Welhame and John de Balcasky, in the thanage of Alyth, to be held as a barony; and the same monarch includes the thanage of Alyth with its pertinents in a subsequent charter to Sir James de Lyndesay of the castle and barony of Crawford and other lands;^[391] and in connection with this thanage there appears to have been a forest, as in two charters of King David the Second to the canons of Scone, Alyth is mentioned among the royal forests.^[392] As Alyth with its royal castle was at the north-east extremity of Gowry, so we find at its north-west boundary the thanage and royal castle of Kinclaven, on the west bank of the Tay, near its junction with the river Isla. We find notices of the repair of the castle in 1264, while the sheriff of Perth accounts for its firma, and King Robert the Second grants to his illegitimate son, John, his lands of Ballathys, Invernate, and Mukirsy in the thanage of Kynclevin, with its tenandries and services of the freeholders, the native-men, bondmen, and their bondages and followers.^[393]

The thanages of which we have thus given shortly the history were all situated north of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, and in those eastern districts which formed originally the seat of the Pictish tribes, and afterwards fell under the dominion of a dynasty of kings of Scottish race. The Scots were thus a dominant race over a subject population, and under the succeeding dynasty, who adopted Norman customs and assimilated the laws and institutions of the country to those of a feudal monarchy, these districts became the theatre of a Saxon colonisation and of a gradually increasing settlement of Norman barons, who held the land on a feudal tenure from the Crown; and thus the more ancient tenures represented by the thanages were comparatively speaking few in number, and scattered in isolated situations. But while the thanages in general were thus situated, there was one thanage south of the Firth of Forth which appears to belong to the same class. It was situated on the south bank of the river Carron, and represented that small district, distinguished in the Irish Annals by the name of Calathros, and in Latin documents and chronicles as Calatria,—a name preserved in the more modern Callender. The name of Ecclesbreac by which the church was known, and by which it is still called in the Highlands, indicates that it was inhabited by a Gaelic-speaking people, and the term Breac is usually associated with those of Pictish race. They were probably the remains of the old Pictish population which gave their name to the Pentland Hills. Be this as it may, the notices of this thanage are in entire harmony with those of the thanages north of the Forth. A charter by King David the First to the canons of Stirling is witnessed by Dufotir, sheriff of Stirling; and the same Dufotir witnesses a charter of King David to the church of Glasgow, as Dufoter de Calatria. About 1190 appears Dominus Alwynus de Kalenter.^[394] A charter by Herbert, son of Herbert de Camera, of a half carucate of land in his territory of Dumfries, consisting of four bovates or oxgangs near Louchbane, is witnessed by Malcolm, thane of Kalentyr, and Alexander the Second grants to the canons of Holyrood, in feu-farm, his whole lands of Kalentyr, which had been in his hands since the day on which he assigned to Malcolm, formerly thane of Kalentyr; forty pound lands in Kalentyr, which lands are reserved to the said thane. Then we find the old thanage converted into crown demesne, and the thane bought off with a feudal holding. In the same reign a charter by Maldouen, earl of Lennox, is witnessed by P., Thane of Kalentyr; and a missing charter of King David the Second ‘to William Livingston of the lands of Callanter by forfeiture of Patrick Calentyre,’ appears to terminate the line of the thanes, and to indicate the conversion of the lands into a barony in favour of the Livingston family.^[395] A charter granted by David the First before his succession to the throne, when the province of Lothian and the ancient Cumbrian kingdom were under his rule, and addressed to all his faithful Tegns and Drengs of Lothian and Teviotdale,^[396] shows that any thanes who appear in these districts where the population was entirely Anglic, belong to the Saxon organisation, and have no connection with the more northern thanages.

We have seen that the term Thane, in connection with that portion of the crown land north of the Firths of Forth and Clyde called a thanage, and considered as crown demesne, was the equivalent of the Gaelic Toisech or Toschach, but we also find this word Toschach used in Scotland in combination with two other words nearly resembling each other, and thus forming the two denominations of Toschachdor and Toschachdera, indicating in this form a person, and in the form of Toschachdoracht and Toschachderacht, an office, just as the function of the Toisech is expressed in the Irish system by Toisecheacht. Sir John Skene, in his treatise De Verborum Significatione, gives under the word Toscheoderache, several interpretations of it. He says that it was ‘ane office or jurisdiction, not unlike to a bailliarie, especially in the Iles and Hielandes.’ ‘Some alleagis it to be ane office pertaining to execution of summondis. Uthers understandis the same to be ane crowner. Last, summe understandis it to be ane searchour and taker of thieves and limmers.’ But it is obvious from his references that he confounds the two offices together. The Toschachdoracht was the office like a bailiary, and the Toschachdor was considered the equivalent of the coroner, and this office was mainly confined to the Highlands and Islands. The Toschachdera he rightly explains, in his Notes to the Old Laws, as a name given by the original Scots and Irish to the serjeand or servitor of court who put the letters of citation in force, and that this office was commonly called ‘ane Mair of Fee.’^[397] We find the two offices existed distinct from each other in the Isle of Man, and this throws some light upon it. That island was divided into six sheadings, and each sheading had two officers. The first was the coroner, and this office, says Mr. Train, in his History of the Isle of Man, is of the highest antiquity in the island. He is called in Manks Toshiagh Jioarey, or chief man of the law. There is likewise, says Mr. Train, an officer of unknown antiquity in every parish called a Maor, who collects all escheats, deodands, waifs, and estrays.^[398]

The Toischeachdor derives his name from Toisech, and Dior, an old word signifying ‘of or belonging to law,’ and is obviously the same as the Manks Toshiagh Jioarey, and this office is not to be found in those eastern districts where the thanages prevail, for the simple reason that it is there represented by the Toschech or Thane himself, but the Toiseachdera or Mair of Fee occurs repeatedly in connection with them. Thus in the laws of King William the Lion, which gave the form of citation, it is directed to be made by the serjeand or coroner or Tosordereh or other summoner;^[399] and that the serjeand and Toshachdera are the same, will be evident on comparing a charter of the thanage of Belhelvie, which mentions the office of smith and the office of serjeand, with one of the demesne lands of Davochindore in Kildrummy, where the same offices are called Fabrisdera et Toshachdera.^[400] We find in connection with the thanage of Moravia the office of Mair of Fee,^[401] and in 1476 the lord of Strathawin, in Banffshire, grants to Alexander Crom Makalonen the lands of Invercahomore, with the office of Toshoderatus de Strathawin.^[402] We can trace the appearance of this office too in connection with the church lands in this part of Scotland. One of the earliest grants to the bishop of Aberdeen was the schyra or parish of Rayne. It contained the lands of Ledyntoschach, or the Toschach’s half, and Rothmaise, in which the word Rath appears. These lands were held under the bishop by a family of De Rane, and afterwards by a family called Tulidef, but in 1544 the bishop feus to Mr. Walter Stewart the lands of Invirquhaland, Newmore, and two parts of Rothtmaise cum ly Derachthowis.^[403] The lands of Tarves, within the thanage of Fermartin, were conferred upon the abbey of Arbroath by Alexander the Second, and in 1384 the abbot of Arbroath confers the office of Derethy of Terwas upon Thomas de Lochane and the heirs of his body in perpetuity.^[404] In the thanage of Fettercairn we find, besides the thaneston, or mensal land of the thane, another portion termed Deray lands, or the possession of the Toschachdera.^[405] These notices will be sufficient to show the existence of this office in connection with the thanages, to which a portion of the land was assigned as official demesne.

We have now completed our survey of the thanages which survived the war of independence, and we thus see that there existed in the eastern Lowlands isolated territories, scattered here and there among the feudal holdings, still bearing the name of Thanagium, and preserving many of the characteristics of the older Celtic tribe. These thanages during the period of the rule of the kings of the race of David the First were considered as forming part of the crown demesne, and were held of the kings by persons called Thanes in feu-farm for payment of an annual firma, rent or feu-duty, but their connection with the ancient tribe lands is indicated by the fact that the feuar bearing the Saxon name of Thane was likewise known by the Celtic name of Toschach, and therefore represented the ancient Toisech of the Tuath or tribe, and that his annual feu-duty was likewise known by the Celtic name of Cain, usually amounting to about twelve merks, while the land was subject to another burden termed Conveth, and afterwards Waytinga, which was no other than the Coinmhedha or Coigny of the Irish tribes. These thanages had therefore obviously replaced the more ancient Tuath, and what was now regarded as crown land was the ancient tribe territory. It varied in size, as did the Irish Tuath. Its principal measure of land bore the Celtic name of Davach, a name also retained when the land had passed into feudal holdings. Each davach contained four ploughgates, equivalent to the Irish Bally and the Welsh Tref, and the fourth part of the ploughgate seems to have formed the smallest holding, and been known by the Celtic term of Rath. The size of these thanages or tribe territories held of the Crown varied from twelve to six davachs, and those held of the earls seem in general not to have exceeded three. Part of this territory was held by the thane or Toschach in demesne, and was known as the Thanestown or thane’s lands, and was cultivated by bondmen or prædial serfs, of whom there were two kinds, the bondus, or occupier of a servile tenement, amounting usually to the fourth part of a ploughgate or township, and the native-man, who was servile by race. Another part of the thanage consisted of tenandries, or free tenements, held under the thane by a class of sub-vassals called libere tenentes, or freeholders, for payment of a Cain or feu-duty, and these were likewise known by the Celtic name of Octhigern, the equivalent of the Irish Oclach. They were in fact the lower of the two divisions of the Flaith or nobles of the Irish tribe, consisting of the Aire ard and the Aire desa, while from the upper division the Ri Tuath or Toisech, as the case might be, was chosen, and when we find the territorial name of Dyce connected with some of the thanages, as Fordyce in the thanage of the Boyne, Dyce in that of Kintore, Tannadyce in the thanage of the same name, we can hardly avoid recognising the Deis, or private property, which constituted the basis of the Grad Flath, or territorial nobles of the tribe.

Between the class of freeholders and the servile class part of the land was occupied by the liberi firmarii, or free farmers, who had a mere usufruct of their possessions, which varied in size from the tenandry to the small holding of two oxgangs, or the fourth part of a ploughgate. These farmers usually held upon the system termed the Steelbow, when the stock and implements belonged to the proprietor, and were handed over to the tenant during his occupation of the land, who was bound to return an equal value at the termination of his tenure, his rent being usually paid in kind. This tenure closely resembled that of the Saer, or Ceile, of the Irish tribe, while the Daer, or bond Ceile, were represented by the Bondi, or occupiers of a servile holding in the thanage.

Another portion of the thanage was the church land. When the church consisted merely of the Cill, or parish church, it was known as the Terra ecclesiæ, kirkton or Pettintaggart, and was cultivated by the Scolocs, who paid Cain to the thane, and Conveth to the bishop in whose diocese it was. It generally varied in size from a half davach to a half ploughgate, but when a Columban monastery had been founded in the thanage, it was of larger extent and fell into lay hands under the name of abbatie, or abthanrie, paying, however, both Cain and Conveth to the church. This was in fact the termon lands of the Irish tribe. Lastly, what had originally been the waste land of the tribe became known as the forest, and became dissociated from the cultivated land of the thanage. It either formed the subject of a separate grant or was retained as a royal forest.