[1] This may include the farmhouse, farm buildings such as a byre, dairy, and workers' cottages.
The laird's house – if there was one – may have been nearby or some distance away, but is not usually considered part of the mains.
Sometimes the buildings and/or farm have disappeared altogether, and only the name of the location survives.
However, the best-known example of its use in a Scottish placename is Davidson's Mains, now a suburb of Edinburgh, which does not follow this form.
In some cases, new owners have renamed various "mains" to "manor" in ignorance of the distinction in Scotland.