The thanages within the earldom of Angus fall into two groups in the northern and southern parts of the earldom respectively. Of the northern group the beautiful valley of Clova, through which flow the upper waters of the South Esk, forms the most westerly of the thanages, that of Cloveth or Clova. In 1328 King Robert Bruce grants to Donald, earl of Mar, his whole thanage of Cloveth, with two pendicles of land called Petnocys, to be held in fee and heritage for payment of a _firma_ of twenty pounds, and rendering the carriages and other small services due and customary in the time of Alexander the Third;[351] and in 1359 the sheriff of Forfar debits himself with nothing from the thanage of Cloveth and the two Lethnottys, which return annually forty-two pounds, because it is in the hands of the earl of Mar, but by what title he knows not.[352] Here we find the pendicles of land termed Petnocys in the charter are called Lethnottys in the rolls, which throws some light on the meaning of Pit as a denomination of land. Leth means the half of anything, and, as we have seen, was applied to the half of a penny land. It here probably refers to the half of a ‘villa’ or township expressed by ‘villula.’ Clova appears in the Record of Retours as a barony containing the kirkton and other seven townships, and as having a manor-place, mill, glens, and forests.[353] Proceeding along the course of the South Esk, we find on its north bank the thanages of Kingaltevy and Tannadyce, forming the parish of that name. The thanage of Kingaltevy appears to have remained in the Crown as late as the reign of Robert the Second, as that king grants in 1386 to Sir Walter de Ogilvy for his service an annual rent of twenty-nine pounds due and arising to him from the thanage of Kyngaltevy in the sheriffdom of Forfar, but it appears in the retours as a barony.[354] The thanage of Tannadyce, however, was granted by David the Second first to Peter Prendergast, and afterwards to Sir John de Logy and the heirs of his body, to be held blank for payment of a red falcon; and in connection with this thanage we have a manumission by the same monarch, the terms of which it will be interesting to preserve. It is termed a charter of liberty, and is addressed to all good men to whom these presents may come, and proceeds thus:—‘Be it known to you, that we have made William the son of John bearer of these presents, who, as we are told, was our serf and native man of our thanage of Tannadyce, within the sheriffdom of Forfar, our free man, as well as all who proceed from him, so that he and all proceeding from him, with all his progeny, shall be free to dwell within our kingdom wherever he will; and we grant to the said William and all proceeding from him that they shall be free and quit of all native servitude in future.’[355] In the retours this thanage too appears as a barony.[356]