150 Estate Management in the Eighteenth Century. 



ordinary good, and consequently the whole country in a much 

 better state than it had been for many years past, he judged this 

 a more favourable time for letting tacks than he might perhaps 

 find again, and therefore resolved to proceed to let tacks of all 

 such farms, to the setting of which there were no particular 

 objection from the situation and marches of the lands. The 

 Tutor made it known that he would not commune with any 

 tenant of the Marquis's for a tack who had not cleared all arrears 

 due at or before Whity., 1758, for crop and year 1757, which 

 had an extraordinary good effect, though in some few particular 

 cases and circumstances he was obliged to deviate from this rule." 



You will, perhaps, have noticed that so far I have made no 

 reference to tenants, houses, or farm buildings. I now proceed 

 to do so, and for convenience will group the entries under the 

 heading of " building," giving the dates in each case. 



The first entry is dated : — 



"Nov., 1759. — The Tutor having often observed with regret 

 that the tenants' houses upon the whole estate were remarkably 

 bad and poor, and in great disrepair, even worse than any others 

 in Annandale, where they are in general meaner than in most 

 other parts of Scotland, and being sensible of the great disadvan- 

 tages the tenants lay under in that respect, not only from the 

 scarcity and dearness of the proper materials and the length of 

 carriage, but also from the uncertain state they had been in for 

 many years as to the continuance of their possessions, judged it 

 would be highly for the proprietors' interest that some remedy 

 were applied to this great defect, as it is found by experience that 

 nothing promotes the letting of lands to good advantage more, or 

 is a greater encouragement to industry, than the having of good 

 houses upon them. The Tutor, therefore, resolved that notwith- 

 standing he had taken the whole tenants bound by their tacks 

 to repair and uphold the houses upon their own expenses (but 

 which cannot be understood to extend farther than to keep them 

 up in the same poor way they have always been in, mostly built 

 of fail and stone), that he would order timlier to such of the 

 tenants as would undertake to meliorate their houses, and for 

 that purpose ordered the following advertisement to be 

 published : — 



" That such of the tenants as have got tacks and are willing 

 upon their own expense to improve their houses by rebuilding 



