1731 survey term "outs"

[GrannyBarb]

Hi
The owner of a research site I subscribe to had a post this week about the word "outs" in a survey from North Carolina when it was still a colony. The example he gives is "Northward of the West 5 outs"...

Marc is a maps guy with years of experience plotting old land deeds onto modern maps. This was from a metes and bounds type survey. He's stumped. He asked AI (Grok) and got an elaborate term paper response which really didn't explain it either

Has anyone here have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[Archie's Mum]

Dictionary says: Out: indicating an external location or situation away from the centre. My take is ‘West’ is centre and this is 5 (measurement) North of that point. So, 5 points ( outs) North of West.

 

[GrannyBarb]

That sounds logical. Thanks, AM.

 

[Archie's Mum]

Not too sure logic and me should be used in the same sentence. However it might be right…who knows?

 

[Archie's Mum]

I was reading up on metes and bounds ( measurement and landmark) and it was mentioned that ‘outs’ might just be colloquial word rather than a formal one. What it is used to replace I have no idea.

 

[Ma-dotcom]

Reminds me of earlier research in Berkshire with there frequent use of'within' or 'without' namely for 'Wokingham'. -

"Wokingham Without" refers to the area of Wokingham that is outside the main urban area, encompassing the surrounding rural parts. It's a distinct civil parish within the Wokingham Borough, historically separate from the town of Wokingham itself.