History of the Down Survey (Petty 1851)/7
CHAPTER VII.
THIS obstruction being removed, wee returne to our worke. Now, allthough that obstruction lasted some while, yet were not the officers ready with their quota, or proportion, by which wee might performe the graduall subdivision intended. Whereffore, wee proceed uppon the downe admeasurement alone, giving to the surveyors the following instructions, consonant to the above articles and explanations; and the which, being printed, were not distributed untill the Councill had seen them, the same, by their owne directions, being brought to them for that purpose.
Instructions for surveying and admeasuring the forfeited and other the Commonwealths Lands in Ireland.
1st. You are to admeasure all forfeited lands, bee they in parcells great or small, subducting by admeasurement such unforfeited lands as shall be encompassed by them.
2dly. You are to distinguish by admeasurement the profitable from the unprofitable, or returne by good estimate the aliquot part of the same, in case the one lyes dubiouse and confused, or in very many and very small spots among the other.3dly. In case any unprofitable lands shall lye in parcells of above five hundred acres, all entirely unprofitable, you then, admeasuring the same according to its utmost bounds, as the same shall be either bounded by the outmeares of the barrony wherein it lyeth, or by other profitable lands, are not to admeasure the same into other smaller or lesser parcells then as they lye.
4thly. You are to returne by admeasurement how much belongs unto each delinquent proprietor, unless many forced proprieties, being contiguouse, doe all of them not make up a parcell of fourty acres, ffor you may there (having surrounded the whole) returne the parts by estimate only.
5thly. You are to surround the outmeare of each barrony, even allthough there should bee noe forfeited lands in the same, and therein to give the true place and scituation of each of the parcells by you admeasured, unless the forfeited lands lye wholly surrounded with unforfeited, and one mile distant either from the barrony meare, or from some other forfeited lands; in such cases, if you can not find the said places and scituations by intersections to some eminent marks standing thereon, you are then to doe it by estimate, and the best information.
6thly. As for the lands lately belonging to the Crowne, or to any archbishopp, bishopp, deane, deane and chapter, or other officer of that hierarchy, in right of his or their office, as alsoe of gleab or mensall land, you are to admeasure and divide them into the lowest usuall denomination of the countrey wherein they lye, due distinction being made betweene the profitable and unprofitable parts of the same as afforesaid; the which you are to distinguish, in your barrony plotts, both from the forfeited lands, and allsoe from one another, by soe many proper coloures as are requisite to exspress the severall varieties of the same.
7thly. When any parcell of land forfeited, formerly belonging to any one person, shall extend it selfe into severall barronyes, and be scituate part in one barrony, part in another, there you are to distinguish and admeasure, by the instrument, soe much of the said parcells as shall lye in each respective barrony, returning the same in your mapps and books accordingly.
8thly. You are carefully to describe the bounds of each surround you make, and the nature of the land surrounded, as first whether it be profitable or unprofitable, and then of what species or kind each of the said land is, as whether the profitable be arable, meadow, or pasture; and even of what sort or sorts the pasture land it selfe is, as whether it be boggy, heathy, fursy, rocky, woody, mountainouse, and the like, &c. The same distinctions are to be likewise made in a very ample and exact manner, in all unprofitable lands exspecially, hereby to give the grounds and reasons of returning the same for unprofitable.
9thly. You are allsoe to note the quality and difference of all your meares, as whether the same be a wall, ditch, banke, hedge, river, bogside, ridge, valley, &c., noting all the permanent and conspicuouse objects, as churches, castles, houses, rathes, trees, great stones, hedge corners, &c., that you shall meet with, in or near your said meares on either hand; that by them, together with the speciall marks which you are to make with the spade, the said meares may be the more easily trod over againe; all which marks you are to gather into a list, as pertinent to the description of each surround.
10thly. In all common land, whether profitable or unprofitable, you are to mention the names of such places or persons as have commonage in the same, with the proportion belonging unto each of them.
11thly. You are by intersections to determine the true place of all townes, churches, castles, knowne houses, hills, raths, &c., within each respective surround, and to be frequent in making such observations, for the better examining and correcting your worke.
12thly. You shall take good notice of all highwayes and rivers, noting their breadth and depths, together with the falls and islands in any of them.
And where you come uppon the sea, or navigable rivers, you are by intersection to observe the wideness of the harboures mouth, biggness and distance of islands or rocks, the place of the bar in barred havens; and you shall alsoe informe your selfe of the soundings, anchorage, course of channells, the place of sands and shelves in or about any of the afforesaid harboures or places.
13thly. You shall measure the heighth of all notoriouse high hills and mountaines, describing their feet and manner of rising, together with their names and true places, as before directed.
Other Instructions touching the said Admeasurement.
1st. You shall protract your worke uppon single sheets of large papers, by a scale of forty perches to the inch, by which way allsoe it is to be cast up, protracting thereon noe more surrounds then it will receive of such as are entire, leaving the imperfect (but allowable percloses) with their faults unaltered or corrected.
2dly. You are to sett together the surrounds layd downe as afforesaid into a barrony platt by a scale of eighty perches to the inch, exhibiting and representing the scituation and connexion of each of the said surrounds, the one to another, with coloures distinguishing and encompassing soe many of them as goe to make up all and every of the parishes contained within the said barrony.
3dly. The said barrony plotts, be they great or small, are to be reduced, from the severall scales above mentioned, unto such other scale as may make one of the said sheets of paper fittest to receive them respectively, and you are often to compare and examine your instruments, chaines, scales, and protractors.
4thly. Those that protract themselves are to doe the same in the presence of two other sworne surveyors, shewing unto them the respective fault of each perclose, the which, if allowable, they are to vouch under their hands; and those who doe not protract their owne worke are to cause the same to be done by some other sworne person, who is either paid for the same by the day, or by some other way which may not enduce him to allow of and pass defective worke for good and allowable.
5thly. As for the trueth of the ffield-books, you shall, as often as you see occasion, cause some angles or sides, or both, to be measured (unknowne to the measurer unto whome the measuring thereoff is allotted), thereby to examine any sophistication of the said field-books.
6thly. The common lines of each barrony are to be run together by two distinct measurers at once, their respective servants keeping double reckoning of the chaines alsoe.
7thly. As often as conveniently you can, you shall protract your large surrounds before you doe the inworke of the same; neither shall you allow of such inward lines as you have taken by intersection from the outmeares, untill the said outmeares bee approved of by protraction; and when you shall correct any worke by tyeing lines, you are to select and run for that purpose such lines as may allsoe subdivide the said great denomination into its severall proprieties and qualities, according to the rule aforegiven.
8thly. You are, if possible, to have such bounders as shall be recommended by the jury that gave information to the Commissioners of Civill Survey, causing them to be either sworne, or subscribe before good wittness unto the trueth of the bounds they shall shew unto you.
9thly. Where the meares are not certainely knowne, but two are offered as likely to be them, there you are to take notice of both, vizt., of the most likely by admeasurement, and of the other by estimate, making extraordinary marks at all such places, and recommending them to the countrey, and exspresseing the controversy about the said meares in your respective returnes.
10thly. Where you meet with any notable impediment to the performance of the within instructions, as the difficulty and unfittness of the said lands to be admeasured, as being overflowne, &c.; or the want of bounders, guards, provisions, long and great raines, wind, mists, &c., you are to take notice, by your selfe and other good witnesses, of the same.
11thly. You are to returne your originall and first plotts or protractions aforementioned, together with authentique transcripts of your field-bookes, with all allterations made afterward in your worke, well attested and vouched, as alsoe a booke of reference thereunto belonging, together with the barrony plotts as afore mentioned, with the names of the conductors, measurers, protractors, bounders, chainemen, guards, and of all others that were present at, or had any hand in that respective survey, with the places of their dwelling, that they may uppon occasion bee enquired of concerning any particular thereunto relating.
Things being in this forwardness, the Dr proceeded to make contracts with the severall persons hee imployed, vizt., with such surveyors as had lately been imployed uppon the grosse surrounds, and others who had wrought on former surveyes, commonly called, or calling themselves, the old surveyors, and alsoe such as had been more lately instructed and excercised in that faculty.
Itt is to be here remembered, that by the report of the 24th September, it appeares the Dr undertooke to reimburse the moneys exspended on the gross surrounds, provided they endured proofe, whereunto himselfe was lyable; soe that, in order to this proof and examination, the following order issued, the which order the Surveyor-Generall receiving, and the said surveyors comming to demand their monyes, twas desired their worke might be examined according to that proposall and the Councill's order. But the said Mr. Worsley, uppon pretences that the said examination required an additionall charge, and for other reasons, knowne indeed unto himselfe, but suspected by others, the thing was not done; whereuppon great wrangles arising, for quietness sake the Doctor was forced to assent to the said surveyors having their forty-five shillings per thousand, and to allow them 3li 5s more; in all, 5li 10s that they might undertake the said worke anew, according to the Drs articles.
And in particular, Mr Jackeson, of Limericke, though he had done none of the grosse surrounds by him formerly undertaken, had 5li 10s for whatever the Doctor had 5li 10s 4d; and for what the Dr had three pounds, others that went on new worke had four pounds ten shillings, and forty-five shillings, on the same grounds.
There were allowed to examiners and other house workers 100li per annum, to some of them more, to others 80li, to few less.
Hee agreed with others by the lump, for soe many barronyes, wherewith themselves were well acquainted, to avoid the temptation which might arise from dealing by the thousand; withall agreeing with them to admitt of an inspector of his owne appointment, to oversee their performance, even in the field.
With some he agreed by the number of chaines and angles only; hee agreed with others to be ready uppon all extraordinary occasions of subdivision, or of correcting errors, repairing omissions, &c., allowing them certaine rates for their works, and other rates for their travelling charges to, from, and betweene the several places of their employments.
All which persons, besides their oathes, gave bond to perform their respective undertakings, according to the articles of the eleventh of December, which the Dr himself had entered into with the State; and were brought in person to the Councill Chamber, about the eleventh of March, 16545, to justifie their respective performances; the which they allsoe verified by certificate under their hands, endorsed on their printed instructions, according to the following forme:
I, A, B., &c., having been duly sworne, doe hereby certifie that the barronyes of C. D., in the county of E., have by myselfe, and sufficient assignees and partners, been surveyed and admeasured according to the instructions within printed, and given unto me by Dr William Petty, especially according to the most materiall and essentiall parts of them, vizt., by returning the true quantity, quality, ffigure, scituation, name, proprietor, bounds, and buildings uppon, &c., of all and every the parcells and surrounds of lands directed to be admeasured together, the names of the meeresmen, and of their dwellings, who shewed the said lands; all which I have performed and examined according to the best of my care, skill, knowledge, [and] information. Given under my hand, the &c.
All which was yet further corroborated by other certificate of unconcerned examinators, in the following forme:
Wee, whose names are hereunto subscribed, doe certlfie that wee have been imployed by Dr William Petty uppon and about the survey by him undertaken, by vertue of a contract, bearing date the 11th of December, 1654, betweene Benjamin Worsley, Esq., on the one part, on the behalfe of the Commonwealth, and the said William Petty, on the other part; and have been all and every of us paid, for our labour therein, by yearly salary only. And wee doe further certifie, each of us for his owne respective worke, that wee have examined the severall barronyes undernamed, by joining the common lines of severall mens worke, by reprotracting each line and angle according to the originall field books, by comparing each surround with the abstracts or catalogues of lands to be surveyed, received from the Surveyor-Generall's office, and by casting or recasting up of the contents of every surround; and in order thereunto have severall times, as often as their was occasion, rejected such faulty worke as hath been brought unto us, and caused the same to be corrected, in the ffield and otherwise.
Wee have, moreover, examined the severall transcripts and copies, both of the plotts and references, vouched by the said Dr Petty, and to be given into the Surveyor-Generall's office, and doe find them to agree with their respective originalls given in by the respective authors of them; all which wee have performed according to the best of our skille and knowledge; and doe each of us believe, in our judgements and conscience, that the said surveyes have been, uppon the whole matter, well and sufficiently performed.
| Tho. Taylor. Ed. Lucas. Geo. Baldwin. Jon. Vise. |
Wm. Morgan. Wm. Trevis. Rice Lloyd. Wm. Brudenel. |
Ffor the further confirmation of all which, and for the wiping of some other dirt, I shall interpose the .......
About September following, viztt, after above six moneths pawse and consideration, the Councill entrusted the direction of another, neer as great and the like kind of survey, unto the Dr, with an honourable allowance for the same; and even the Surveyor-Generall, Mr Worsley himselfe, by an instrument under his hand, dated the 18° of September, 1656, prohibited any to be imployed in this second great survey but such as had been before imployed by the said Doctor, and withall soe farr allowed of the reasonableness of the wages which the Dr allowed his surveyors, vizt. three shillings per mile, that by the same instrument he thought noe oppression to the same persons to be allowed but two shillings.
Before wee leave this point, it is to be noted, that the Doctor furnished all, or most part of all those surveyors with circumferenters, chaines, protractors, links for chaines, needles, rulers, royall paper, mouth glew, tents, protracting boards, compasses, &c., sending them into the country, uppon accompt, all things whatsoever they sent for; furnishing them many times with extraordinary hands, uppon extraordinary occasions; made up their worke fair for them, when they had finisht it in the ffield; tooke off their obligation to subdivision, when twas inconvenient for them to waite uppon uncertaintyes; paid them their moneyes before due, uppon rebates; as also when accompts were difficult to be made up, or notes and receipts lost, he compounded with them by the lump, &c.; and uppon all which accompts, and alsoe by reason of severall unexspected emergencies, which did often disturb the nature of the severall contracts, sometimes controversies did arise, and different understanding of our articles, in all which cases the Doctor ever used to state the case in writeing, bidding the parties against him shew the same to their friends and councill, desiring nothing more of them but that they would not misrepresent the fact; and did allways offer the determination of any matter of right, either law or equity, unto indifferent persons; by which meanes he never had any suit of law, and but one complaint to the Councill, and but one arbitration, uppon the numerouse, intricate contracts which he had occasion to make.