Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Side 29

Land Tenure, Fowling rights, and sharing of the catch
37
ruining fowling cliffs or creating new breeding possibilities
for the birds.
In the first of the preserved court records (tingbøkur) from
the Faroes we find that the inhabitants of Vágur on SuSuroy
complain that their fowling cliffs have been destroyed by land-
slides. Accordingly, they want their land rent reduced (they
rented land owned by the rich Benchestock family of Bergen).
Although such geological changes are numerous, our know-
ledge about what happened to owners’ rights is limited.
In Mykines oral tradition recalls that at one time the lunda-
land Stóriryggur ranked among the best on the island. It still
exists, but the main part has been taken away by an avalanche.
The owners of Stóriryggur were given part of Lambi as com-
pensation, the latter becoming later the best of all the lunda-
lond in the island. It seems that this compensation was held
within the limits of the bagapartur inasmuch as both places
are now — according to the Taxationsprotokol — being fowled
by Heimangjógv hagapartur.
Still further back in time, a lundaland called Seggjaskor fell
down creating a new, and very rich, lundaland called Slumban.
The Seggjaskor is said to have belonged to the hagapartur
Borgardalur, while the new Slumban fell upon land belonging
to the Heimangjógv hagapartur.
In such cases the new lundaland belonged to the owners of
the land upon which it fell.
I have not been able to find any written agreements regar-
ding such compensations in Mykines. Obviously that suggests
that they were agreed upon between the owners themselves,
and we may assume that these agreements were brought up at
the annual grannastevna when the sýslumaður visited the
island.
From a document connected with that mentioned on p. 45
from Miðvágur it is seen that the lundaland, Ryggskor, be-
longing to »Rygs-treding«:;', had been subject to a landslide.
The other two thirds compensated for the loss by allowing
the owners of Rygs-treding::' to fowl in a common urð in ex-
cess of the joint fowling, in which all owners took part.