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Cotter, cottier, cottar, or is the German or Scots term for 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 peasan ...
farmer (formerly in the
Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sc ...
for example). Cotters occupied
cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...
s and cultivated small
land lot In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in o ...
s. The word ''cotter'' is often employed to translate the recorded in the
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 ...
, a
social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, incom ...
whose exact status has been the subject of some discussion among historians, and is still a matter of doubt. According to Domesday, the were comparatively few, numbering fewer than seven thousand people. They were scattered unevenly throughout England, located principally in the counties of
Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...
. They either cultivated a small plot of land or worked on the holdings of the . Like the , among whom they were frequently classed, their economic condition may be described as free in relation to everyone except their
lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...
. A cottar or cottier is also a term for a tenant who was renting land from a farmer or landlord.


Scotland

Cottars were between a third and a half of the rural population of the
Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( sco, Lallans or ; gd, a' Ghalldachd, , place of the foreigners, ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Lowlands and the Highlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lo ...
for the 17th and most of the 18th century. They held small amounts of land from lease-holding farming tenants of the traditional fermetouns. They provided labour, especially at the peak times of
plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
ing and
harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
, in lieu of monetary rent. Many were also engaged in trades, such as
weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
, or blacksmithing. The agricultural improvement that transformed the rural economy of the Lowlands in the 18th century, created larger farms with fewer tenants. From the 1770s onwards, this left no place for the cottar: many migrated to the nearby developing industrial towns, others became farm servants or day labourers for the new larger farms. Highland Cottars (including on the islands, such as Mull) were affected by the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. Landowners realized that they could make more money from sheep, whose
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. A ...
was spun and processed into textiles for export, than crops. The landowners raised rents to unaffordable prices or evicted entire villages in what became known as the
Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase result ...
. This resulted in the mass exodus of peasants and cotters, leading to an influx of former cotters into industrial centres, such as a burgeoning
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...
. Cottars were often idealised in Scottish
pastoral poetry A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
of the 18th century, such as "
The Cotter's Saturday Night ''The Cotter's Saturday Night'' is a poem by Robert Burns that was first published in '' Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect'' in 1786. Composition Burns wrote "The Cotter's Saturday Night" at his Mossgiel farm, near Mauchline, during the wi ...
" by
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who ha ...
and "The Farmer's Ingle" by
Robert Fergusson Robert Fergusson (5 September 1750 – 16 October 1774) was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson led a bohemian life in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and ...
.


Germany

A Kö(t)ter, Köt(h)ner, Kätner, singular and plural forms are identical, or Kotsasse(n l., and especially in
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was '' de facto'' dissolved by an ...
and Mecklenburg also Kossat(h)e(n l., Kossater (sg./pl.) or Kossäte(n l., was a villager in medieval Europe who lived in a simple dwelling known as a ''
Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American aut ...
''(n l. or '' Kotten'' (sg./pl.) ("cottage"). The term ''Kötter'' is recorded in Germany from the 14th century. The term ''Kossäte'' is derived from Low German and translates "who sits in a cottage".Werner Buchholz, ''Pommern'', Siedler, 1999, pp.66-70, Joachim Herrmann, ''Die Slawen in Deutschland'', Akademie-Verlag Berlin, 1985, pp.421ff Cotter houses (''Kate'' or ''Kotten'') were detached houses near German villages, used as homes and workshops. Many of these ''Kotten''/Cotter houses still remain. The farmsteads of ''Kötter'' were generally sited on the edge of a village or were sub-divisions of an old farm. Because the return on their land was frequently insufficient to sustain their livelihood, they usually supplemented their income with a craft or trade, or by working as
day labourer Day labor (or day labour in Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future. It is a form of contingent work. Types Day laborers (also kn ...
s (''Tagelöhner'') on bigger farms or at manor houses. They usually had a plot of land between an eighth and a half an
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 ...
(''Hufe''); they had few cattle and no more than one horse. In most cases, the cottage or ''Kate'' had a small vegetable garden that also provided a secondary source of income. Most ''Kätner'' had another main occupation. They were e. g. teachers, craftsmen or, if their land was sufficient, farmers. Their land was beyond the fields (''Flur'') allocated to the full-time farmers or ''
Hufner A ''Hufner'', also spelt ''Hüfner'', was a farmer in medieval Europe who managed one or more oxgangs (German: ''Hufe'') as his own property. The actual names of these members of the farming community varied from region to region. In the Low Sax ...
n''. The ''Kötter'' usually had a small share in the common land. In the social agricultural hierarchy a ''Kötter'' ranked below the full-time farmer or ''Vollbauer'', but above the ''Büdner'', who just owned a house and garden and earned his living as a tradesman, and above the various categories of day labourer (the ''Inste'' and the ''Tagelöhner''). Around the middle of the 15th century, encouraged by a form of
primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
known as the ''Anerbenrecht'' and by the rapid population growth, the ''Kötter'' were divided into ''Erbkötter'' and ''Markkötter''. The former, who normally arose as a result of the division of land, always had a house and garden within the village, or within a farming community, something which was considered essential for reasons of protection and mutual assistance. Now, land that could be farmed, no matter how poor, was cleared elsewhere in the parish; often miles away from the village or nearest settlement, and in its middle, a so-called ''Markkotten'' was built which was allocated to the ''Markkötter'' where he had to live. The ''Markkötter'' was not really given an inheritance proper and he ranked below the ''Erbkötter''. Unlike the heirs or old farmers (''Altbauern''), none of this group inherited the family farm. Both groups of ''Kötter'' - the ''Erbkötter'' and ''Markkötter'' - were still higher in the social hierarchy than the ''Heuerling'', who were, legally and economically, more dependent on the owners of their cottages.


Poland

The Polish equivalent of the cotter (at least to the 19th century) was the '' Pachciarz krów''. The term translates as "Cow tenant". One of the functions of the Pachciarz krów was to supply the landowner with milk and other bovine produce.


Ireland

One definition of cottier in Ireland (c. 1700–1850) was a person who rented a simple cabin and between one and one and a half acres of land upon which to grow potatoes, oats, and possibly flax. The ground was held on a year-to-year basis and rent was often paid in labour. Usually, the land available to the cottier class was land that the owners considered unprofitable for any other use. The cottier existed at
subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...
level because of high rents and the competition for land and labour. The more prosperous cottier worked for his landlord and received cash after rent and other expenses were deducted. There was no incentive to improve a land holding, as any such improvement usually prompted a rent increase. During the early decades of the nineteenth century, the situation for cottiers worsened considerably as the population continued to expand. This way of life was brought abruptly to a close by the effects of the potato blight, which resulted in death by starvation and disease of many peasants, with consequent depopulation, of the Great Famine of 1845–49. After the Famine, the cottier class almost completely disappeared.''A Dictionary of Irish History,'' D.J.Hickey & J.E.Doherty, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1980. Pp. 98-99.


See also

*
Serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
*
Enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
- the term used for clearances in England.


Explanatory notes


References

*


External links

{{Wiktionary, cotter
Entry KOTHSASZ,KOTSASZ in Grimm's ''Deutsches Wörterbuch''KÖTER,KÖTHER,KÖTTER
in: ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1854-1960



1770s disestablishments in Scotland 1849 disestablishments in Ireland Agriculture in Europe Feudalism in Scotland German feudalism German words and phrases History of agriculture History of the Scottish Highlands Peasants Scottish words and phrases Social class in Germany Social class in Ireland Social class in Poland Social class in the United Kingdom Social history of Scotland