| 释义 |
ˈpennyland Obs. exc. dial.
Also 3 penilond.
[f. penny + land; app. the vernacular form of med.L. denariata (denarata, denerata) terræ (see denariate), and possibly also of nummata terræ, the rent of which was (sometimes at least) a penny.
Cf. ‘duodecim tamen nummatas..singulos annos reddentes ei 12 denarios’ (Madox Exch. I. 155).]
A portion or measure of land valued at a penny a year; a denariate.
Its extent may have varied in different localities; one quotation in Du Cange refers to a tenement of half a rood and three denariates, whence it appears that there were more than three pennylands in half a rood. If there were four, the pennyland would be 1/32 of an acre, or 5 sq. poles, enough for a house and small yard. In some parts of France the denrée (= denariata) is still a measure of 4·73 perches (Godef.). But the pennylands of Orkney and Shetland may have been of greater extent.
a1300Gloucester Cart. (Rolls) III. 134 Tenentes..Peni⁓lond ad vitam et ad voluntatem domini. 1774G. Gifford in Low Orkney (1879) 145 The term Pennyland in Orkney signifies simply quantity..in Schetland it likewise marks the quality, and according to the value of the land every Mark contains more or fewer Pennies. 1822Peterkin Notes Orkney & Zetl. 6 (E.D.D.) None of these pennylands, or other terms, indicate any definite extend of ground; and they are of different extent in different towns. But all the pennylands, marks or cowsworths in the same town are of equal extent. 1875W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 39 The penny-land of the smith. 1898Shetland News 30 Apr. (E.D.D.), Shetland, as part of the earldom of Orkney, must have been originally divided into ounce and pennylands. |