It is a familiar fact that the early open field system of agriculture of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, known as run-rig or rundale, differed in some important features from the common field system of England.
The mere fact suggests a series of questions with regard to the relationships between common field and run-rig; whether, for instance, the more complex common field system was evolved from the more simple and primitive run-rig system; or supposing the two not connected, whether a boundary can be defined on one side of which the early agriculture was of the English type and on the other of the Celtic type; and again, if so, which parts of England lie on the Celtic side of the boundary, and which, if any, of Wales and Scotland lie on the English side.
Obviously before considering such questions it is necessary to have a clear grasp of the nature of run-rig, and of the differences between it and the English system.
In the year 1695 the Scotch Parliament passed an Act allowing anyone “coterminous heritor” owning a share in a “commonty” to have his portion separate from the rest, and to enclose it; and a series of cases established a defined system of computing the share of the “commonty” to which the lord of the manor as such was entitled in lieu of manorial rights. This caused the process of the separation of intermixed properties in open fields to proceed without the intervention of special Acts of Parliament, except for Royal burghs. Also while in England under Enclosure Acts or agreements to enclose the three processes of (_a_) the separation of intermixed and intercommonable properties, (_b_) the separation of intermixed and intercommonable holdings, and (_c_) the hedging or fencing of the separated properties, were accomplished by one continuous series of actions on the part of those concerned, in Scotland it was otherwise. The separation of properties where necessary was first accomplished, and for long afterwards the system of run-rig was followed by groups of tenants on the same estate. After run-rig had been abandoned, the separate holdings remained open and unenclosed, and the process of building dykes or planting hedges was carried out at a later date, and by slow degrees.