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Laird - Bonnet laird, laird's loft, laird's lug
- (Scottish) Scots landowner. A Bonnet Laird was a small landowner. A lairds' house is now a
recognised general term for a particular type of middle ranking 18th century house. Owing
nothing to the tower house these began to appear from the early 1700's, and typically, are two
main storeys, plain and rectangular, three bays wide, and symetrical around a centre door. Quickly
became favoured design for manses farm houses etc. A Laird's
loft was a gallery reserved for the
laird and his family in a church, while a laird's lug was a tube concealed in a wall thickness which
allowed the laird to eavesdrop on visitors or servants.