 This is at least partly true, since men from Pirkkala appear as witnesses in a document from 1374 about local borders in northern Pohjanmaa.Later, in the 19th century, a Finnish term "pirkkamiehet" or "pirkkalaiset" was invented as a "domestic" name for birkarls.It never appears in any of the documentation or traditions, but is commonly used in Finland today to mean birkarls.