Many of the Buccleuch estates in the south of Scotland were upland in nature and sheep farming was al;ways pre-eminent. Often hill farms were rented out to other large landowners who were not resident.

Estates like Canonbie were much more low-lying with scope for arable farming as well as stock keeping. Arable farming was by nature much more labour-intensive with seasonal activities of ploughing, sowing, harrowing, harvesting and manuring. As a result, farming units were generally smaller in Canonbie with a large number of small tenant farmers in place during the 18^th century.

It is interesting to see how tenants were treated by a large landowner like Buccleuch. By the middle of the 18^th century, the Dukes of Buccleuch had chosen to live on an estate in the south of England and had paid scant attention to their Scottish estates for many years prior to this. Each of the estates was looked after locally by a chamberlain who was responsible for collecting rents from the tenants and arranging any building or repair work required.

Landsetting

The tenancy of many of the established farms on the Canonbie estate was complicated with farms divided into two, three or four parts, not always equal.  The businesss of ‘landsetting’ i.e. agreeing tenants and rents to be paid was an annual occurrence in each of the Buccleuch Estates across the south of Scotland.

By 1753 there was a new child duke Henry Scott following the death of his grandfather the 2^nd Duke in 1751. There was also a new management regime in place and attitudes to late rent had changed. 

Rent Arrears

Chamberlain John Laing’s Arrears Listing for Canonbie dated 25^th June 1746 shows how tolerant the estate was at that time to late payers.  Jean Smith, one of the tenants at the farm of Braidridlanside, owes her full rent from 1744 and 1745 and half of her 1743 rent. Another tenant, William Waird owes 2 years rent (1744 and 1745) while the third tenant Thomas Armstrong owes the 1745 rent.

By contrast, the minutes of the landsetting meeting of 1753 shows that the new chamberlain John Boston  takes a tougher approach.

‘William Chisholm Hairla(w)hagg owes £4 of the rent due at Martinmas which he promises to pay the 23^rd inst. And he and James Anderson who owes £8 were certified that unless payment was made that day they would be removed.’

The minutes of the landsetting meeting do also suggest that the estate did try to manage trouble and disputes with tenants as best they could. This included families. Here is an example:

‘Hardenside. Robert Hog to be removed for bad neighbourhood to his brother’s family.  John, the brother, is willing to take the whole’

Agricultural Improvement

At that time many of the tenancies had been let on a year by year basis.     However, one of the agricultural improvements which were advocated at that time was to routinely agree multi-year ‘tacks’ or rental agreements.  This encouraged the tenant to invest in the farm himself by improving the land with the expectation of getting better crop returns over the years. It was seen as a win-win by Buccleuch as well as the value of the land would also improve and the scope for rent increases became greater.

Henry Scott, the 3^rd Duke of Buccleuch revolutionised agriculture on his estates during 60 years as Duke, guided in part by his mentor Adam Smith. He brought a number of farmers up from Norfolk where they had embraced the latest thinking on crop rotation and management. They were given tenancies on some of the more productive Buccleuch Estates like Canonbie. This was to influence other local tenants and drive some of the improvements that ultimately occurred.

In time farmland was re-organised and consolidated to make more efficient units, ultimately leading to a reduction in the number of people working the land. However through all of the 18^th century we have valuable sets of rentals for Canonbie parish with a great number of small tenants named in the Buccleuch records held at the National Records of Scotland. These are an excellent source for anyone with an interest in family history.

New Canonbie Documents Available

I’ve made up a new package of 3 documents taken from the Buccleuch archive.  These will be of interest to anyone with farm tenant ancestors in Canonbie.  First is a transcription of the full 1746 arrears listing for Canonbie parish of which an extract is reproduced above. It lists around 108 different tenants. Second is a transcription of the minutes of the 1753 landsetting minutes, which gives a fascinating insight into the way that tenants were managed on the Buccleuch Estates in the mid-18^th century. Also included is a map of the Canonbie Estate showing the exact location and extent of all 72 Buccleuch farms in the parish which were in existence in 1718.  The acreage of each farm is given. The original documents are all in the care of the National Records of Scotland. This is available HERE for a special price of £5 until the end of July 2025.