1640 - Cinneadas nan Gàidheal – The Highland Clan System

A clan chief’s status depended on the number of armed men he could command.

Chiefs

Chiefs rewarded their kinsmen with tracts of land.

Tacksmen

Tacksmen were kinsmen of the chief to whom they paid only a nominal rent. They provided him with skilled soldiers. They were unwilling to do the work themselves, so the tasks of farming were assigned to:

Subtenants

– to whom the greater portion of land was sublet

Cottars

– subtenants of subtenants (landless)