The Burgar/Burgess families in Shetland
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Transcription of Part 1 of the Bruce Muniments Documents of 1712 -1717. 4
These accounts show that 4 Burgar families were living in Hillwell, Dunrossness at this time.
Each crofter was paying rent to the landowner, including
John Burgar paying for 6 Merks of land and ½ a boat - £16-12-6
Lawrence Burgar paying for 4½ Merks of land - £10-16-0d
Robert Burgar paying for 6 Merks of land and ½ a boat - £16-13-6
Robert Burgar paying for his son - £2-17s-2d
In Hillwell the rent for land was £2-12s-6d Scots per Merk and the boat rental was £1-12s-6d per half a boat.
See the actual accounts Part 1
You will see that the accounts are difficult to follow, since the items seem to have been entered over a number of years. For example, some tenants are paying in 1713 but others are paying as late as 1717.
The summaries below are incomplete, because of the difficulty of reading the original photocopies. At some stage it is hoped to obtain the original documents for more detailed analysis.
Summary of details for John Burgar
|
Item |
£-s-d |
Total £-s-d |
|
For rent 6 Merks of land, ½ Coss (cottage) For rent of ½ Boat |
£15-1s-0d £1-12s-6d |
£16-12s-6d |
|
Since last year 5mr buter BR £8-6-0d to move to Run in ? is £0-16-0d by 1¼ pt £ tobacco
|
£6-6s-0d £0-11s-0d £ £0-16-0d |
|
| Received | £20-8-0d |
Summary of details for Robert Burgar
|
Item |
£-s-d |
Total £-s-d |
|
For rent 6 Merks of land, ½ Coss (cottage) For rent of ½ Boat |
£15-1s-0d £1-12s-6d |
£16-13s-6d |
|
Money Received since last year Received for uptacks ? uptacks For his son To James Knight |
£19-16s-6d £1-3s-0d £1-11-0d £2-17s-2d £1-5s-0d |
£26-12s-8d |
| Received | £10-0s-8d |
Summary of details for Laurance Burgar
|
Item |
£-s-d |
Total £-s-d |
|
For rent 4½ Merks of land, is |
£10-16s-0d |
£10-16s-0d |
|
By 2 Lispounds Meal by 5 Lispounds Ark? Paid? £3-5s-0d in 1711 |
? ? £3-5s-0d |
£5-13s-0d |
|
R ? R by him |
£0-10s--d £19-3s-0d £16-3s-0d |
£8-2s-0d |
Again it is difficult to interpret the meaning of the above information. Like many documents, old and modern, the abbreviations used and the procedures carried out only make sense to the person that wrote down the information.