Note 349 — Chapter X · THE CHURCH.

As tithes were unknown, as a fixed payment, in Gaul for some time after the mission of St. Patrick, it is not surprising that the Scots and Irish were ignorant of them in the twelfth century. It was the custom of Aidan and his followers to build churches “per loca” (Bed. Ecc. Hist., l. 3, c. 3), which appear to have been dependant on the monastery of the district. Thus, on the foundation of the regular diocese of Aberdeen, the monastery of Mortlach, with five churches and their lands, was made over to the new see. Reg. Aberd., vol. 1, p. 5, 6. From the same Registry, p. lxxvii., it appears that the Cuairt was eventually compounded for by the payment of Procurationes.