Merkland

Land assessed at one merk of annual value, overlying the older Norse ounceland system.

Where the ounceland was reckoned in silver by weight, the merkland was reckoned in money of account: a merk being thirteen shillings and fourpence, two-thirds of a pound Scots.

It was laid over ground the Norse system had already assessed, and the two coexisted for centuries, which is why charters for the same holding can describe it both ways. The relation between them varied: one source gives a markland as eight ouncelands in the West Highlands, while noting the figure moved from place to place.

That instability is characteristic. Both systems valued land by what it rendered, and the render was set by negotiation, custom and the quality of the ground rather than by survey — so no fixed ratio between them could hold for long.

Merklands appear throughout Highland and Island charters and rentals, and in Shetland alongside the older Norse assessment.