In Scotland a teind () was a tithe derived from the produce of the land for the maintenance of the clergy.
It is also an old lowland term for a tribute due to be paid by the fairies to the devil every seven years. Found in the story of Tam Lin as well as in the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer.
Teind is a Scots word for tithe, meaning a tenth part.
Scottish Reformation and the Thirds of Benefices
Teinds had been used to support the living expenses of clergy. The tenth part of the produce of a parish was set aside for the provision of church services, although the revenue was in many places appropriated to a religious instutution or a major benefice.Margaret Sanderson, Cardinal of Scotland: David Beaton (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1986), p. 297.
On 15 February 1562 the Privy Council of Scotland regulated the collection of a third of the teinds for the stipends of ministers of the reformed church and the expenses of the royal household.Amy Blakeway, Regency in Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Boydell, 2015), p. 112.Retha Warnicke, Mary Queen of Scots (Routledge, 2006), pp. 73–74. A survey was made of rentals and revenues received by clergy. The resulting "Books of Assumption" is a record of the wealth of the church of Scotland at the Reformation and reveals the names of many secular or laymen owners who then owned former ecclesiastic properties. The detailed record also reveals the variety of agricultural produce, fishing, and coal or lime produced on the lands.James Kirk, Books of Assumption of Thirds of Benefices (Oxford, 1995), pp. xiv, xvi, xxiv, xxix-xxx, lxxii.
On 1 March 1562 John Wishart of Pitarrow was appointed comptroller and collector-general of teinds.Amy Blakeway, Regency in Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Boydell, 2015), p. 119. A "Collectory" was established to manage the Thirds of Benefices.James Kirk, Books of Assumption of Thirds of Benefices (Oxford, 1995), p. xvii.Athol Murray, "Sir John Skene and the exchequer, 1594-1612', Stair Society Miscellany, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1971), p. 127. In this capacity, Wishart became paymaster of the reformed clergy, many of whom resented the scantiness of their stipends. According to John Knox, the saying was current, "The good laird of Pittarro was ane earnest professour of Christ; but the mekle Devill receave the comptrollar".David Laing, History of the Reformation, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1846), p. 311. Wishart appointed a kinsman George Wishart of Drymme as a sub-collector of Thirds of Benefices from Forfar and Kincardine, and his account includes payments made by Mary, Queen of Scots, to Knox and his servants, and to David Rizzio.Gordon Donaldson, Scotland's History: Approaches and Reflections (Scottish Academic Press, 1995), pp. 63-4 citing National Records of Scotland, E30/11.
Extracts from the accounts of the Thirds of Benefices, the records of Collectory between 1561 and 1572 were published by Gordon Donaldson.Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949). Much of the money or produce collected went towards the expenses of the royal household and guard. In 1563, John Knox complained that "the gaird and the effairis of the kytcheing wer so gryping that the mynisteris stipendis could nocht be payit". The accounts record wine, beef and mutton, and cheese bought for the royal household. Coal from Wallyford in East Lothian was sent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse for Mary, Queen of Scots, and some was shipped to Aberdeen when she visited.Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949), pp. 146, 156.
Collectors of the Thirds 1562: John Wishart of Pitarrow, (also Comptroller of Scotland).Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949), p. xi. 1565: William Murray of Tullibardine.Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949), pp. xxv-xxvii. Adam Erskine of Cambuskenneth.Robert Vans-Agnew, Correspondence of Sir Patrick Waus, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 299-300. 1574: Robert Boyd, 5th Lord Boyd.Amy Blakeway, Regency in Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Boydell, 2015), pp. 97, 119.
See also Court of Teinds Queen of the Fairies Elphame
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