The Orkney Poll Taxes of the 1690s
By Captain James Irvine
 Local
historians and everyone attempting to trace Orcadian ancestors will appreciate
Captain James Irvine¹s fine book on The Orkney Poll Taxes of the
1690s, a pioneering work based on documents preserved in the National
Archives of Scotland.
"Such material does not lend itself to light
reading," writes Captain Irvine in his introduction, warning readers
that there are only a few human touches in the tax records.
Yet from these dull sources his hard work and
skill have created a useful book providing a mass of genealogical information
that almost amounts to an early census; while his explanatory notes, analysis,
statistical tables and comments throw new light on a little-known decade
in Orkney's history.
The transcription and printing of the surviving
parish lists is a notable achievement which takes up half his book.
Unfortunately, no tax records remain for St Andrews,
Deerness and Stenness nor for the islands of Westray, Papa Westray, Burray,
Flotta, Gairsay, Graemsay, North and South Faray or Wyre.
Yet four-fifths of Orkney parishes are covered,
some of them in great detail, and these records provide demographic, social
and economic data which Captain Irvine introduces and discusses.
One fascinating chapter is devoted to the 380
different surnames recorded in the poll tax lists. About 150 of these
names are not now to be found in Orkney or have become very uncommon.
Another interesting topic is farm-names: The 1693
tax records name 370 farms including 65 which are not mentioned in Dr
Hugh Marwick¹s Orkney Farm-names (1952).
No doubt a few errors in transcription will be
discovered and there may be slight adjustments made to Captain Irvine¹s
statistics on household size, occupations, valuations and rents.
His list of lairds is useful but, necessarily,
incomplete and his estimate of 108 udallers, over half of whom also rented
land, invites further study.
Yet his book, based on a good knowledge of Orkney
and of national and local archives, is an impressive achievement, a trailblazing
piece of research leading us to an historical treasure trove and a genealogical
goldmine.
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