The davoch, davach or

daugh The davoch, davach or daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic '' dabhach''. The word ''dabh'' or '' damh'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also ref ...

is an ancient

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

dabhach The davoch, davach or daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic ''dabhach''. The word ''dabh'' or '' damh'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also refer ...

''. The word ''dabh'' or '' damh'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also refer to a "tub", so may indicate productivity. It was called the ''arachor'' in the Lennox. It is thought that the measurement is of Pictish origins, and is most common in the north east, and often absent in the south of Scotland. It is particularly common in various placenames to this day, often in the form "Daugh of Invermarkie" etc. The name "Haddo" is also a corruption of “Hauf Daugh”, or half-davoch, in turn a translation of “leth-dhabhach”. Scottish land measurements tended to be based on how much

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

they could support. This was particularly important in a country where fertility would vary widely. In the east a davoch would be a portion of land that could support 60 cattle or

oxen An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer spec ...

. MacBain reckoned the davoch to be “either one or four ploughgates, according to locality and land”. A ploughgate contains about 100

Scots acres A Scottish or Scots acre () was a land measurement used in Scotland. It was standardised in 1661. When the Weights and Measures Acts of the United Kingdom, Weights and Measures Act of 1824 was implemented the English System was standardised into t ...

(5.3 km²). Watson, in ''The Placenames of Ross & Cromarty'', says, “usually four ploughgates”. Skene in ''Celtic Scotland'' says: The ''pennyland'' is thought to be of Norse origin, so it is possible that Norse and native systems were conflated in the west. Prof. MacKinnon in ''Place and Personal Names of Argyll'' says, The lexicographer Jamieson claimed that a daugh was enough to produce about 48

boll Boll may refer to: *Boll (surname) *Scottish units#Dry volume, Boll, an obsolete Scottish measure of volume *BOLL, a protein in humans *7873 Böll, a main-belt asteroid *Boll case, a 1958 International Court of Justice case *Boll KG, Uwe Boll's p ...

s, and averaged an area of approximately . Daughs are referred to in the ''

Book of Deer The ''Book of Deer'' (''Leabhar Dhèir'' in Gaelic) (Cambridge University Library, MS. Ii.6.32) is a 10th-century Latin Gospel Book with early 12th-century additions in Latin, Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It contains the earliest survivin ...

'', and were recorded as being in use in the late 18th century in

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

. In some areas, a quarter of a davoch was a ''ploughgate'', and an eighth an ''ochdamh''.

References

{{Dwelly (Dabhach) with corrections and additions

See also

References

Further reading