tithes on [animal] products were less straightforward to collect.” Even in areas that would be more suitable for farming were slow to transform. Galloway for instance, in the words of G. W. S. Barrow, “already famous for its cattle, was so overwhelming pastoral, that there is little evidence in that region of land under permanent cultivation, save along the Solway coast”. Trade Burghs Scottish trade during the High Middle Ages was largely centered around the “burgh” or “burgess.” These burghs enjoyed a variety of privileges, but most fundamental to their existence was the monopoly on the buying and selling of goods within its given territory. Although there existed limited trading settlements prior to the 11th century, verified by the excavations at Whithorn, the granting of burgh status strongly incentivized the growth of towns. David I was the most prolific king at awarding this burgh status to various trading centers and his successor, William the Lion, followed suit. By the end of David's reign in 1153 there were seventeen burghs, and by William's death in 1214 there were forty recorded burghs. Of these newly created burghs, Berwick-upon-Tweed was the largest, most successful and most influential and remained so until the Scottish Wars of Independence. These burghs provided tangible benefits to the crown as well as boosting overall trade. The king benefited financially in three ways: royal monopolies, tolls, and burgess rents. The first method, royal monopolies, enabled the crown to sell or grant the rights for exclusive distribution of goods within the burgh's proscribed boundary. The second key method of boosting revenue was the collection of tolls. These taxes were placed upon goods purchased in a burgh's hinterland – as only the burgh itself was toll-free – and enforced by inhabitants of the outlying areas were forced to buy and sell solely through the burgh. However, this was often difficult to enforce, and therefore the crown often relied upon burgess rents to compensate. The burgesses paid the rents, also known as ferme, annually to the king in exchange for maintaining their status. Together, these revenue-boosting methods were the primary cash income for the Scottish crown. Some historians have speculated that David's expansion of burgh status was partly motivated by the desire to open up Scotland to wider international trade networks. During this period, Flanders was experiencing a boom in the cloth industry motivated improvements in weaving production. This in turn increased