A markland or merkland ( gd, Marg-fhearainn) is an old

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

unit of land measurement. There was some local variation in the equivalences; for example, in some places eight

ounceland An ounceland ( gd, unga) 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 pennylands or one eighth of a markland. ...

s were equal to one markland, but in others, such as

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

, a markland was twelve ouncelands. The markland derived its name from the old coin, the

Merk Scots The merk is a long-obsolete Scottish silver coin. Originally the same word as a money mark of silver, the merk was in circulation at the end of the 16th century and in the 17th century. It was originally valued at 13 shillings 4 pence (exactly ...

(cognate with

German mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

and various other European coinages, see Mark (money)), which was the annual rent paid on it. It was based on this, rather than its actual area. Originally a

Scots mark The merk is a long-obsolete Scottish silver coin. Originally the same word as a money mark of silver, the merk was in circulation at the end of the 16th century and in the 17th century. It was originally valued at 13 shillings 4 pence (exactly o ...

or merk was 13s 4d (160 pence), but the Scottish coinage depreciated against the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and by the 18th century a Scots merk was worth only 13¹/₃d sterling – one-twelfth of its original value. Although such coins were abolished by the

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

, some stayed in circulation for decades, and the names themselves remained in common use for centuries.

References

* ((Dabhach, Peighinn, Unga) with corrections and additions). Obsolete Scottish units of measurement Units of area {{realestate-stub

See also

References