I90 



EXGLISII FIELD SYSTEMS 



was there to be seen at the end of the eighteenth century in farms 

 or townships which had not been improved. Although in Wales 

 it was far less usual in the eighteenth century, or even at the 

 end of the sixteenth, traces of it have been discerned at both 

 periods. An item from the early seventeenth-century survey of 

 Robcston in southwestern Wales has disclosed how rundale 

 might arise, nine parcels of land there having been divided among 

 four tenants, with resultant intermixture; and a contemporary 



Sketch of a Towiiland in Donegal, Ireland, showing 

 the Holdings of three Tenants. 1845. 



Map XI 



account of Pembrokeshire relates that such subdivision and inter- 

 mixture were still more prevalent at an earlier time, attributing 

 the phenomenon to the custom of transmitting land by gavelkind. 

 From Scotland we learn that Scottish runrig was characteristic of 

 farms held by co-tenants and of lands held by co-heirs. The 

 reporters imply that it was an ancient custom, and excuse it as 

 a concomitant in earlier days of the grouping of peasants 

 in villages for purposes of defence. Since historical explanations 

 were with them only remarks by the way, a further examination 

 of the occasions which gave rise to runrig and of the antiquity of 

 the phenomenon is desirable. 



