Whatever disadvantages attended the practice of agriculture in those days, husbandman enjoyed many benefits, which farmers at this time cannot expect to pos sess. The vast wood-lands, which skirted arable ground on all sides, gave a shelter to the corn crops, that greatly promoted their growth, and augmented their produce. While the woodlands served to shelter the country, they also furnished pasturage for numerous herds of cattle, and of course rendered the ( ondition of husband men comfortable and advantageous. In fact, the wood. land not only contributed to increase the produce of ara ble ground, but also to rear and maintain a larger num ber of swine, cattle, and horses, than w will easily be be lieved under the prejudices of modern times.
Scotland at that time produced all the kinds of grain cultivated in the present day, though, perhaps, in dill r ent proportions than those which arc supplied by modern husbandry. Oats were cultivated in a much greater, and barley in a much smaller proportion than at present. Oats were chiefly used by the lower orders, furnishing both meat and drink to them. Much of this grain was malted and afterwards brewed, as was also part of the barley. The consumption of ale was immense, as may be seen from the number of malting and brewing houses in every part of the country. Wheat was also cultivated to a great extent in all the south and cast counties; even in Galloway, as already noticed, this grain appears to have been raised in considerable quantities. Pease and beans were only raised in particular situations. Be sides corn, little else was produced in the fields. Lint was certainly cultivated at the time we are treating of, because it is known to have paid tythe in the twelfth century. Though artificial grasses were not then intro duced, yet the natural meadows and forests supplied much grass for making hay, as we learn from the char tularies.
In the early ages of Scottish history, cheese was an article manufactured in great abundance ; and as the people lived much on animal food, the herds of black cattle were consumed at home, while their hides formed a considerable article of export to foreign countries. Sheep were then numerous in every district, and wool and skins were great objects of agricultural revenue. Goats were also kept in many places, and swine were reared in great numbers by every husbandman, from the highest to the lowest. Poultry also was an object of at
tention.—Under Malcolm IV., the monks of Scone re ceived from every plough-land which belonged to them, no fewer than ten bens at the feast of All Saints,—a bur den which at this time would be considered as intolera bly oppressive by any husbandman.
Many of our readers may be desirous to learn some thing of the value of land, at the period we arc treating of During the reign of Alexander II., a meadow at Farningdun, containing nine acres, was sold by Richard Barnard, to the monks at Melrose, for thirty-five marks. In 1225, Adam de Stowel sold to Ermengard, the queen dowager, the lands of Balmerinoch, Ardin, and Cultrath, for one thousand marks, legal sterlings. From these instances it may be inferred, that land was plenty, and money scarce. The ordinary circulating medium be twim buyers and sellers, was then little known in Scot land, the greatest part of trade being carried on by bar ter, as has uniformly taken place in every nation, before trade and manufactures are introduced.
In these early ages, the dwellings of the Scottish peo ple were both mean and inconvenient. The kings, no bles, and bishops, dwelt in castles, built with a view to the protection of those who resided in them; while the lesser barons lived in square towers, constructed more for defence than comfort. The hovels of the lower ranks were generally slight erections of twigs or turf, and may be considered merely as temporary accommo dations, seeing that they were so frequently laid waste and destroyed by foreign war and intestine divisions.
Even houses in towns were chiefly built with wood ; hence followed the d•eadlul devastations in those pe riods. The cathedrals and abbeys, however, were st•uc tures of y'eat labour and expense, as may be perceived on contemplating their ruins. The strongholds built in Scotland by the Anglo-Normans and Flemings, were so VI) ly :Iced with lime, as to appear in many instances like solid rocks. indeed it is often easier to dig stones in a quarry, than to procure them from these ancient buildings; hence many of them have been suffered to remain monuments of past greatness, which would have been demolished and taken down, had not the expense of the task exceeded the value of the materials which would have been acquired from their destruction.