An oxgang or bovate ( ang, oxangang; da, oxgang; gd, damh-imir; lat-med, bovāta) is an old land measurement formerly used in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
as early as the 16th century sometimes referred to as an oxgait. It averaged around 20 English
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
s, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.
An oxgang is also known as a ''bovate'', from ''bovāta'', a
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
isation of the word, derived from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''
bōs'', meaning "ox, bullock or cow". Oxen, through the
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 ...
word ''damh'' or ''dabh'', also provided the root of the land measurement '
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 ...
'.
Skene
Skene may refer to:
* Skene, Aberdeenshire, a community in North East Scotland, United Kingdom
* Skene, Mississippi, an unincorporated community in Mississippi, United States
* Skene, Sweden, a village now part of Kinna, Sweden
* Skene (automobi ...
in ''Celtic Scotland'' says:
: "in the eastern district there is a uniform system of land denomination consisting of '
dabhachs', '
ploughgates
The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
' and 'oxgangs', each 'dabhach' consisting of four 'ploughgates' and each 'ploughgate' containing eight 'oxgangs'.
:"As soon as we cross the great chain of mountains
Grampian Mountains
The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. T ...
] separating the North Sea, eastern from the Atlantic Ocean, western waters, we find a different system equally uniform. The 'ploughgates' and 'oxgangs' disappear, and in their place we find 'dabhachs' and '
pennyland
A pennyland ( gd, peighinn) is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames.
Skene in ''Celtic Scotland'' says:
: "in th ...
s'. The portion of land termed a 'dabhach' is here also called a 'tirung' or '
ounceland
An ounceland ( gd, unga) is a traditional Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and Hebrides. In Eastern Scotland, other measuring systems were used instead. It was equivalent to 20 pennylands or one eighth of a markland. ...
', and each 'dabhach' contains 20 pennylands."
In Scotland, ''oxgang'' occurs in
Oxgangs
Oxgangs is a suburb in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Surrounding districts include Caiystane, Dreghorn, Redford, Fairmilehead, Colinton and Swanston and Colinton Mains. The post code area for Oxgangs is EH13.
Etymology
The name d ...
, a southern suburb of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, and in
Oxgang
An oxgang or bovate ( ang, oxangang; da, oxgang; gd, damh-imir; lat-med, bovāta) is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England as early as the 16th century sometimes referred to as an oxgait. It averaged around 20 English a ...
, an area of the town of
Kirkintilloch.
Usage in England
In England, the oxgang was a unit typically used in the area conquered by the
Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
which became the
Danelaw
The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...
, for example in
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, where it is found as a , or 'bovate.' The oxgang represented the amount of land which could be ploughed using one
ox, in a single annual season. As land was normally ploughed by a team of eight oxen, an oxgang was thus one eighth the size of a ploughland or
carucate
The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
. Although these areas were not fixed in size and varied from one village to another, an oxgang averaged , and a ploughland or carucate . However, in the rest of England a parallel system was used, from which the Danelaw system of carucates and bovates seen in Domesday Book was derived. There, the
virgate
The virgate, yardland, or yard of land ( la, virgāta was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually (but not always) reckoned as hide and notionally (but seldom exactly) equal ...
represented land which could be ploughed by a pair of oxen, and so amounted to two oxgangs or bovates, and was a quarter of a
hide, the hide and the carucate being effectively synonymous.
[The true picture is however vastly more complex: see e.g. Stenton, F.M., 'Introduction', in Foster, C.W. & Longley, T. (eds.), ''The Lincolnshire Domesday and the Lindsey Survey'', Lincoln Record Society, XIX, 1924, especially pp. ix-xix.]
A
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
occupying or working an oxgang or bovate might be known as a "" or "".
See also
*
Obsolete Scottish units of measurement
Scottish or Scots units of measurement are the weights and measures peculiar to Scotland which were nominally replaced by English units in 1685 but continued to be used in unofficial contexts until at least the late 18th century. The system was ...
** In the East of Scotland:
***
Rood
A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church.
Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion ...
***
Scottish acre = 4 roods
*** Oxgang (''Damh-imir'') = the area an ox could plough in a single annual season (around 20 acres)
***
Ploughgate
The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
(''?'') = 8 oxgangs
***
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 ...
(''Dabhach'') = 4 ploughgates
** In the West of Scotland:
***
Groatland
A groatland, also known as a fourpenceland, fourpennyland or “Còta bàn” (meaning "white coat") was a Scottish land measurement. It was so called, because the annual rent paid on it was a Scottish “ groat” (coin).
See also
* Obsolete Sc ...
- (''Còta bàn'') = basic unit
***
Pennyland
A pennyland ( gd, peighinn) is an old Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and also Galloway, and believed to be of Norse origin. It is frequently found in minor placenames.
Skene in ''Celtic Scotland'' says:
: "in th ...
(''Peighinn'') = 2 groatlands
***
Quarterland
A Quarterland or Ceathramh (Scottish Gaelic) was a Scottish land measurement. It was used mainly in the west and north.
It was supposed to be equivalent to eight fourpennylands, roughly equivalent to a quarter of a markland. However, in Islay, a ...
(''Ceathramh'') = 4 pennylands (8 groatlands)
***
Ounceland
An ounceland ( gd, unga) is a traditional Scottish land measurement. It was found in the West Highlands, and Hebrides. In Eastern Scotland, other measuring systems were used instead. It was equivalent to 20 pennylands or one eighth of a markland. ...
(''Tir-unga'') = 4 quarterlands (32 groatlands)
***
Markland
Markland () is the name given to one of three lands on North America's Atlantic shore discovered by Leif Eriksson around 1000 AD. It was located south of Helluland and north of Vinland.
Although it was never recorded to be settled by Norsemen, ...
(''Marg-fhearann'') = 8 Ouncelands (varied)
References
((Dabhach) with corrections and additions)
External links
*
Oxgang: Wiktionary
*
Carucate: Wiktionary
*
Wapentake: Wiktionary
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2020
Obsolete Scottish units of measurement
Obsolete units of measurement
Units of area
Early Modern Scotland
Early Modern England