Davoch
Encyclopedia
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 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 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
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. MacBain reckoned the davoch to be “either one or four ploughgates, according to locality and land”. A ploughgate contains about 100 Scots acres
(5.3 km²).
Watson, in The Placenames of Ross & Cromarty says, “usually four ploughgate
s”. 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
s, and averaged an area of approximately 1½ miles² (3.9 km²).
Daughs are referred to in the Book of Deer
, and were recorded as being in use in the late 18th century in Inverness-shire
. In some areas, a quarter of a davoch was a “ploughgate
”, and an eighth an “ochdamh”.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic Dabhach. The word Dabh or Damh means an ox
Ox
An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...
(cf oxgang
Oxgang
An oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
/Damh-imir), but Dabhach can also refer to a "tub", so may indicate productivity. It was called the arachor in the Lennox
Lennox (district)
The district of Lennox , often known as "the Lennox", is a region of Scotland centred around the village of Lennoxtown in East Dunbartonshire, eight miles north of the centre of Glasgow. At various times in history, the district has had both a dukedom and earldom associated with it.- External...
.
It is thought that the measurement is of Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
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 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
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
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. MacBain reckoned the davoch to be “either one or four ploughgates, according to locality and land”. A ploughgate contains about 100 Scots acres
Acre (Scots)
A Scottish acre was a land measurement used in the country. It was standardised in 1661. English acres were imposed in 1824 by an Act of Parliament, and the metric system is also used in Scotland.Equivalent to -* Scottish measures** 4 roods* Metric system...
(5.3 km²).
Watson, in The Placenames of Ross & Cromarty says, “usually four ploughgate
Ploughgate
A ploughgate was a Scottish land measurement, used in the south and the east of the country. It was supposed to be the area that eight oxen were said to be able to plough in one year. Because of the variable land quality in Scotland, this could be a number of different actual land areas...
s”. Skene
William Forbes Skene
William Forbes Skene , Scottish historian and antiquary, was the second son of Sir Walter Scott's friend, James Skene , of Rubislaw, near Aberdeen....
in Celtic Scotland says:
- “in the eastern district there is a uniform system of land denomination consisting of ‘dabhachs’, ‘ploughgates’ and ‘oxgangOxgangAn oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
s’, each ‘dabhach’ consisting of four ‘ploughgates’ and each ‘ploughgate’ containing eight ‘oxgangs’.
- “As soon as we cross the great chain of mountains separating the eastern from the western waters, we find a different system equally uniform. The ‘ploughgates’ and ‘oxgangs’ disappear, and in their place we find dabhachs and ‘pennylandPennylandA pennyland 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:The Rev...
s’. The portion of land termed a ‘dabhach’ is here also called a tirung or 'ouncelandOuncelandAn ounceland 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. Like those measurements, it is based on the rent paid, rather...
', and each ‘dabhach’ contains 20 pennylands.”
The “Pennyland” is thought to be of Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
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,
- “In Pictland the unit of land measure was the ‘dabhach’, a unit which properly denotes a liquid measure. An old farmer in Western Gaeldom frequently speaks of his fields, not as containing so many acres of land, but as ‘the sowing of so many bollBollThe boll is an obsolete unit formerly used for grain.Boll or Böll is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:* Buzz Boll , Canadian ice hockey player* Don Boll , American football player...
s of oatOatThe common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...
s’, ‘the bed of so many barrelBarrelA barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...
s of potatoPotatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es’ &c. Accordingly, from a measure of capacity, ‘dabhach’ came early to be used as a measure of land surface. In Gaeldom, where arable land is scant and scattered, the variations in the acreage, of particular ‘dabhachs’ or ‘ounceOunceThe ounce is a unit of mass with several definitions, the most commonly used of which are equal to approximately 28 grams. The ounce is used in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of the imperial and United States customary systems...
s’ must have been very great, still the extent of land represented by these terms seems to have been, as a rule, about 104 Scots acres, or 120 English acres” (547,000 m²)
The lexicographer
Lexicography
Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....
Jamieson claimed that a daugh was enough to produce about 48 boll
Boll
The boll is an obsolete unit formerly used for grain.Boll or Böll is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:* Buzz Boll , Canadian ice hockey player* Don Boll , American football player...
s, and averaged an area of approximately 1½ miles² (3.9 km²).
Daughs are referred to in the Book of Deer
Book of Deer
The Book of Deer is a 10th-century Latin Gospel Book from Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with early 12th-century additions in Latin, Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is most famous for containing the earliest surviving Gaelic literature from Scotland...
, and were recorded as being in use in the late 18th century in Inverness-shire
Inverness-shire
The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...
. In some areas, a quarter of a davoch was a “ploughgate
Ploughgate
A ploughgate was a Scottish land measurement, used in the south and the east of the country. It was supposed to be the area that eight oxen were said to be able to plough in one year. Because of the variable land quality in Scotland, this could be a number of different actual land areas...
”, and an eighth an “ochdamh”.
Further reading
- MacQueen, John, Pennyland and Doach in South Western Scotland: A Preliminary Note in Scottish Studies #23, (1979)
See also
- AcreAcreThe acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
- Obsolete Scottish units of measurementObsolete Scottish units of measurementScotland had a distinct system of measures and weights until at least the late 18th century, based on the ell as a unit of length, the stone as a unit of mass and the boll and the firlot as units of dry measure...
- In the East HighlandsScottish HighlandsThe Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
:- RoodRood (Scots)A Scottish rood was a land measurement of Anglo-Saxon origin. It was in greatest use in the South East of Scotland, and along the border, whereas in the north various other systems were used, based on the land's productivity, rather than actual area...
- Scottish acreAcre (Scots)A Scottish acre was a land measurement used in the country. It was standardised in 1661. English acres were imposed in 1824 by an Act of Parliament, and the metric system is also used in Scotland.Equivalent to -* Scottish measures** 4 roods* Metric system...
= 4 roods - OxgangOxgangAn oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
(Damh-imir) = the area an ox could plow in a year (around 20 acres) - PloughgatePloughgateA ploughgate was a Scottish land measurement, used in the south and the east of the country. It was supposed to be the area that eight oxen were said to be able to plough in one year. Because of the variable land quality in Scotland, this could be a number of different actual land areas...
(?) = 8 oxgangs - Daugh (Dabhach) = 4 ploughgates
- Rood
- In the West HighlandsScottish HighlandsThe Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
:- GroatlandGroatlandA groatland, also known as a fourpenceland, fourpennyland or “Còta bàn” was a Scottish land measurement. It was so called, because the annual rent paid on it was a Scottish “groat” .- See also :...
- (Còta bàn) = basic unit - PennylandPennylandA pennyland 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:The Rev...
(Peighinn) = 2 groatlands - QuarterlandQuarterlandA Quarterland or Ceathramh 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 quarterland was equivalent to a quarter of an ounceland...
(Ceathramh) = 4 pennylands (8 groatlands) - OuncelandOuncelandAn ounceland 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. Like those measurements, it is based on the rent paid, rather...
(Tir-unga) = 4 quarterlands (32 groatlands) - MarklandMarkland (Scots)A markland or merkland is an old Scottish unit of land measurement.There was some local variation in the equivalences, for example, in some places eight ouncelands were equal to one markland, but in others, such as Islay, a markland was twelve ouncelands...
(Marg-fhearann) = 8 ouncelands (varied)
- Groatland
- In the East Highlands
- TownlandTownlandA townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
(Baile) - FeddanFeddanA feddan is a unit of area. It is used in Egypt, Sudan, and Syria. The feddan is not an SI unit and in Arabic, the word means 'a yoke of oxen': implying the area of ground that could be tilled by them in a certain time. In Egypt the feddan is the only non-metric unit which remained in use...
- an Arabic land measurement following a similar line of thinking.