Second Shetland Truck System Report Part 21

10. Every tenant shall be bound to cultivate his lands in a proper and husbandlike manner, with reference to the best practice of husbandry in the district, and to consume upon his lands the whole straw, hay, and fodder grown thereon, and not to sell or remove any thereof, or any manure made upon the said lands from off the same, even during the last year of his lease; the incoming tenant being, however, bound to pay the outgoing tenant the value of the straw, hay, fodder, or manure left by him on the lands.

11. In all cases, where arable lands are situated on a slope or declivity, and are laboured by spade, the tenant shall, when labouring, delve the riggs lengthwise, or along the side of the rigg, each feal or fur extending from the top to the bottom of the rigg, and the delving to begin one season at the right side, and the next season at the left side of the rigg; and, in situations where it is necessary to delve down hill, the tenant shall remove the first or lower feal or fur at the bottom of each rigg, and along the whole breadth thereof, and shall, when the rigg is completely delved, carry the said removed feel or fur to the top, and deposit it in the last fur or hollow at the top formed by the turning down of the topmost feel or fur, so as much as possible to prevent the removal, to the foot of the rigg, of earth from the higher ground.

12. No tenant shall be ent.i.tled to bring upon the lands possessed by him (enclosed or scattald), or to allow to remain thereon, any stock that does not belong to himself, or any halvers stock, or stock that belongs wholly or partially to others, even though such owners or co-owners be members of his own family, without the express leave in writing of the proprietor; but tenants shall be ent.i.tled to take for hire cattle to feed on their enclosed lands during summer, or any tenants of parks or islands to take for hire cattle to feed during the year round.

13. No tenant shall, on any pretext, keep or allow to be kept on his enclosed lands or scattald, any swine, unless the same shall be properly ringed; and it shall be the duty of all persons finding unringed swine on lands belonging to the estate, immediately to inform the factor or ground officers, or, the persons so finding unringed swine, may lay hold of them, forthwith informing the factor or ground officers of the circ.u.mstance; and no tenant shall be ent.i.tled to cut truck or take earth, whether for the purpose of manure, or any other purpose whatever, or to cut peats, feal, or divot, or to cast pones, or ryve flaws, or ryve or strike, or cut thack or heather, or to cut, pull, or to take floss, or rushes, at any places or times, or in any way or manner, except at the places, and at the times, and in the way and manner, that shall be allowed by the proprietor; and, until special places, times, ways, and manners shall be pointed out and prescribed, tenants shall only do these acts at the places and times proper and usual, and in the way and manner least calculated to exhaust the supply and injure the pasture or other subject; and especially in cutting truck and taking earth, no tenant shall be ent.i.tled to do it where the soil is thin and the ground high or sloping, nor to sc.r.a.pe mould on such ground, but only to cut truck and take earth from places where the soil is deep, or where, from being in a hollow, it will speedily again acc.u.mulate and sward over; and, in cutting peats, tenants shall on all occasions open the banks in a straight line, and in the line of the watercourse, and make proper drains from the lower end of the banks, in order to prevent the acc.u.mulation of stagnant water, and shall carefully preserve the surface feal, and as soon as the peats are cut, smooth the surface of the bottom of the banks, and replace properly the surface feals with the gra.s.s side uppermost.

14. No tenant shall be ent.i.tled to keep more than two dogs, and which dogs shall be harmless, and properly trained not to follow sheep, except when sent after them by their masters; and every tenant shall be responsible for all damage done by any vicious dogs kept by him, and shall be bound to part with any dogs judged by the proprietor to be vicious, on a requisition by him to that effect.

15. No tenant shall be ent.i.tled to sell or retail, or allow to be sold or retailed on his lands, any spirituous or malt liquor, tobacco, snuff, or tea, nor to carry on, nor allow to be carried on upon his lands, any fish-curing business of any kind, without the consent of the proprietor; with power, however, to the tenant, if a fisherman, to cure the fish caught by himself; and that either separately or in conjunction with other fishermen.

16. No tenant shall receive into his house nor allow to harbour on his lands, any useless or disabled persons, not members of his own family, or any idle or disorderly or disreputable person or persons whatever, or any married persons (except himself), though relations, without the leave of the proprietor; and every tenant shall be bound to maintain all members of his family, who, from infirmity, age, or otherwise, may be incapable of supporting themselves, so as to prevent their becoming a burden on the Parochial Board.

17. Every tenant shall be bound to maintain good neighbourhood; to abstain from all encroachments on his neighbours, either by allowing his cattle improperly to stray on their grounds or otherwise, and to that end to keep his cattle properly tethered within the limits of his own gra.s.s, ley, or stubble ground, from the 1st day of April to the 1st day of November in each year; and to maintain in all respects a character and conduct becoming an industrious and Christian man, and to enforce such a line of conduct on all living in family with him.

18. Every tenant shall be bound to bring up and educate his children properly, according to his means and opportunities, by using every endeavour to allow of their attendance at schools where sound religious and secular knowledge may be acquired; and, by precept and example, otherwise training them up to be pious, industrious, and good members of society.

19. It is expressly declared, that all powers conferred on the proprietor by these conditions shall be capable of being effectually exercised and carried into effect by, and at the instance of, the duly appointed factor on the estate of Quendale, and by the sub-factors and ground officers under them.

II. RULES FOR THE BETTER MANAGEMENT OF THE SUMBURGH ESTATE.

Any tenant on the estate can apply for a copy of these regulations; and on his obtaining said copy, duly dated and signed by himself and the landlord, these rules shall form a binding agreement between himself and the landlord, and shall have all the force of a lease.

Each holding shall be valued by the landlord, and the nature of the holding and value declared on the back of the copy of these rules, handed to the tenant thereof; and the rent shall not afterwards be raised to that tenant for the term of fifty years, except as herein provided.

As, in time past, money has gradually but surely decreased in value, and land has gradually increased in value in the same or a greater proportion, it shall be in the option of the landlord, at the end of ten years from the signing of this agreement, to make such addition to the rent paid by the tenant as he shall see fit and reasonable, according to the times; but said addition shall, under no circ.u.mstances, exceed twenty per cent., or one-fifth of the rent formerly paid, and so on, at the end of every ten years.

The tenant shall be at liberty to make such improvements on the property in his occupation as shall be sanctioned by the landlord; and such improvements, when executed, shall be inspected by the landlord, and shall be described in a minute appended to this agreement; and said minute shall declare the value of said improvements, and the number of years it is considered the tenant ought to occupy said holding, in order to obtain repayment for said improvements; and should the tenant leave his holding before the expiry of said number of years, he shall be ent.i.tled to receive from the landlord compensation for the unexhausted part of his improvements, as under:-- Dividing the declared value of the improvement by the number of years of occupancy required to repay the outlay, the tenant shall receive one part for every such unexpired year; thus: suppose the improvement cost twenty pounds, and the number of years required to repay the outlay were twenty years,-- if the tenant left after five years, he would be ent.i.tled to fifteen pounds; if after ten years, to ten pounds; if after fifteen years, to five pounds; and so on.

No tenant shall have a right to claim compensation for improvements which have not been approved of by the landlord, by a signed minute, appended to this agreement.

Should any tenant fail to execute such improvements as the landlord shall consider necessary, then the landlord shall be ent.i.tled to enter on said holding, and execute said improvements himself; and shall charge the tenant, in addition to his rent, such interest on said improvements as he shall see fit,--said interest not to exceed ten per cent., or two shillings in the pound, on the total cost.

Should any tenant desire improvements which he is unable to execute without a.s.sistance, he may apply to the landlord, and obtain from him such a.s.sistance as he may require; the landlord charging interest on such outlay made by him, as above provided, and the tenant being ent.i.tled to compensation, as above provided, on his part of the outlay.

All houses, buildings, fences, and drains, as well as any improvement made, as above, must be kept up by the tenant during his occupancy, and in good tenantable repair; and the fact of any tenant allowing such improved property to deteriorate, shall debar him from claiming compensation for it.

After any farm shall have been enclosed, the tenant shall be bound to adhere to a rotation of crops, or course of cropping,-- the ordinary five-course shift of or

, or other rotation, to be approved of by the landlord.

No tenant shall cut up the gra.s.s lands for truck, feals, or divots, either within the town d.y.k.es or in the scattald, except on such spots as may be pointed out by the ground officer.

Peats are only to be cut where pointed out by the ground officer: the banks to be opened in straight lines, the moss cut to the channel, and the feals laid down, carefully, with the gra.s.s side up.

No tenant shall allow his swine to go at large.

No tenant shall sublet any part of his holding, or shall take in a second family to live with him or on his farm, without permission from the landlord.

The landlord reserves to himself all minerals, game, shooting, and trout fishing on the estate; and shall be at liberty, at all times, to enter on any holding, to search for and work minerals and quarries, to lay off and make roads, and to alter the marches of any farm in such a manner as he shall see fit. But should such action of his lessen the value of any farm, he will make a proportionate reduction of rent.

The tenant shall be bound to observe all the rules generally in force on the property for the time being.

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III.

ARTICLES, REGULATIONS, AND CONDITIONS OF LEASE, which are to have the same effect as if engrossed at length in the Leases agreed betwixt the PROPRIETOR of the Estates of GARTH and ANNSBRAE, on the one part, and the Tenants of said Lands, on the other part.

1. . -- The lease shall be for ten years from Martinmas. The rent shall be due and payable at the term of Martinmas every year.

2.

. -- Such local or other taxes as shall be levied upon tenants shall be duly paid by them when due, or if advanced by the proprietor, shall be settled for along with the rent.

3. -- The tenant is bound not to sublet or a.s.sign in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, without the permission in writing of the proprietor or his factor. Without similar permission, only one family shall occupy the subject let. The head of the family is responsible for the conduct of all the members of same.

The tack is to go to the lawful heirs-male of the tenant, according to seniority in the first instance, and failing heirs-male, to the heirs-female by the same rules, without division. But the tenant is allowed, notwithstanding, by a written deed or letter under his hand, to select any one of his children in preference to another to succeed him in the lease, who will be recognised and received as tenant, upon due intimation being given in writing, provided that the lease descends to the individual named free and unenc.u.mbered.

4. -- The tenants are bound to maintain, keep, and leave at the end of their lease in good tenantable condition the houses, and all permanent improvements handed over, or that may be added during the lease.

5. -- In consequence of the land being unenclosed, and in need of draining and other permanent improvements, the tenants are bound to annually expend upon their farms, in such manner as may be pointed out by the proprietor or his factor, improvements equal in value to the amount of the annual rent. During the first five years of the lease the proprietor will allow annually an amount equal to one half of such permanent improvements as may have been executed in a satisfactory manner (said amount in no case to exceed one half of the amount of rent). During the last five years of the lease, the tenants are bound to pay in addition to the annual rent a further rent-charge, at the rate of seven per cent. per annum upon the total sum or sums allowed for improvements during the first five years of the lease.

6. --The practice of continuing to labour without any regular rotation, and to exhaust the soil by over-cropping, being extremely prejudicial both to the interests of the proprietor and tenants, it is stipulated that every tenant shall follow a five-shift rotation of crops in the order after prescribed, viz.:--one-fifth of the farm under summer fallow, or green crop properly cleaned and dunged; two-fifths to be under corn crops, but not immediately following each other in the, same division; and two-fifths in first and second years gra.s.s. During the first three years, as it may be impossible to follow the rotation, the tenants are bound to follow such orders of cropping as may be pointed out by the proprietor or his factor.

7. -- To insure the improving the lands, no tenant shall be at liberty to sell or otherwise dispose of any straw, turnips, hay, or dung produce upon his farm. All that cla.s.s of produce must be consumed on the farm, unless with the written permission of the proprietor or his factor.

8. -- In compensation for the tenants leaving their lands in a more improved condition, and for being prevented from disposing of certain portions of their crops, the tenants are to be paid for the gra.s.s seeds sown with the way-going crop, as also for their straw, hay, and turnips left at the end of their lease, and for all dung made during the last six months of said lease, all at the value as appraised by two arbiters mutually chosen.

9. -- To insure improvement upon stock, no tenant is allowed to keep any bull, stallion, ram, or boar, except such as has been approved of, and permitted in writing by the proprietor or his factor.

10. -- To prevent the destruction of, or annoyance to, the stock upon the scattalds, no tenant will allowed to keep a dog or dogs.

11. -- The proprietor reserves to himself the right of searching for, opening, and working mines and minerals, on paying such surface damage only as may be ascertained and fixed by two arbiters mutually chosen.

The proprietor also reserves the shootings, and the salmon and trout fishings.

12.

-- The proprietor further reserves to himself all the peat-mosses, sea-weed, and sh.e.l.l-sand, with power to regulate and divide them as circ.u.mstances may render necessary. All tenants are bound in future to cast such peats as may be allotted, in a regular manner, and to lay down the turf in neat and regular order, without potting, and to the satisfaction of any one duly appointed by the proprietor. The drift, seaweed, and sh.e.l.l-sand to be used as manure, will be divided amongst the tenants, according to the quant.i.ty of land held by each. All other sea-weed, rights of foresh.o.r.e, share of whales, etc., are expressly reserved by the proprietor.

13. noust,< etc.=""> -- All privileges of grazing upon scattalds, removing ' truck,' etc., is reserved by the proprietor. No tenant is allowed any privilege outside the boundary of his farm, with the single exception of the boats nousts as presently enjoyed.

14. -- The tenants are bound to accede to all local regulations which are or may be established for the more orderly management of the property, and the general interests of all concerned.

15. -- It is expressly stipulated, that when any act of bankruptcy upon the part of the tenant takes place, that his lease shall terminate and revert back to the proprietor at the first term after such act of bankruptcy; but to remove all grounds to complain of injustice, whatever rise of rent is actually obtained from the farm in a bona fide manner, when let anew, shall be accounted for annually when received during the balance of the lease to the creditor or trustee, or an equivalent paid in one sum for all the years of the lease unexpired.

16. -- The proprietor reserves to himself the right to grant feus off any farm, upon allowing such deduction of rent only as may be determined by two valuators mutually chosen.

17.

-- All tenants are bound to conform to the foregoing articles, regulations, and conditions of lease, under the penalty of forfeiture of all the benefits of their lease, and immediate loss of their farms.

18. --A printed copy of these conditions and regulations, signed by the proprietor or his factor, before witnesses, shall be delivered to each person who is accepted as a tenant, and the tenant's name, designation of farm, amount of rent, etc. entered in a minute-book specially kept for such purpose; and the tenant may at any time afterwards claim a regular lease upon stamped paper, to be extended at his own expense.

19. -- Every tenant shall be bound to remove from the houses and lands at the expiry of the lease, without notice of removal or other legal warning, and shall be liable to double the previous year's rent for every year that he or she may remain in possession after the termination of the tack.

IV. CIRCULAR sent to TENANTS on Major CAMERON'S Estate in Unst, by the Tacksmen, Messrs. SPENCE & CO.