Mercheta Mulierum was an ancient custom persisting in the island, a relique of the punluan right:
Inquiring after the reliques of former manners, I found that in Ulva, and, I think, no where else, is continued the payment of the Mercheta Mulierum; a fine in old times due to the Laird at the marriage of a virgin. The original of this claim, as of our tenure of Borough English, is variously delivered. It is pleasant to find ancient customs in old families. This payment, like others, was, for want of money, made anciently in the produce of the land. Macquarry was used to demand a sheep, for which he now takes a crown, by that inattention to the uncertain proportion between the value and the denomination of money, which has brought much disorder into Europe. A sheep has always the same power of supplying human wants, but a crown will bring at one time more, at another less. (Johnson)
Boswell says "I suppose, Ulva is the only place where this custom remains.", and Sir William Blackstone says in his Commentaries, that "he cannot find that ever this custom prevailed in England".
Walter Scott claims that mercheta mulierum persisted at the time of his visit.
Read more about this topic: Ulva, History, 18th Century