第40章

Unhappilytheartificialfeaturesofthesystemhavebeenmadebymoderninquirersthestartingpointofveryfar-reachingtheoriesandsuppositions。Seebohmhasproposedanexplanationoftheintermixtureofstripsasoriginatinginthepracticeofcoaration。Hearguesthatitwasnaturaltodividethelandtilledbyamixedplough-teamamongtheownersoftheseveralbeastsandimplements。Everymangotastripaccordingtoacertainsettledandever-recurringsuccession。IdonotpretendtojudgeofthevalueoftheinterestinginstancesadducedbySeebohmfromCelticpractices，butwhateverthearrangementinWalesorIrelandmayhavebeen，theexplanationdoesnotsuittheEnglishcase。Adoubtiscastonitalreadybythefactthatsuchauniversalfeatureastheintermixtureofstripsappearsconnectedwiththeoccurrenceofsuchaspecialinstrumentastheeight-oxenplough，TheintermixtureisquitethesameinCentralRussia，wheretheytillwithonehorse，andinEnglandwheremoreorlessbigploughswereused。thedoubtincreaseswhenwereflectthatifthestripsfollowedeachotheraspartsoftheplough-team，thegreatownerswouldhavebeenpossessedofcompactplots。Everyholderofanentirehidewouldhavebeenoutoftheintermixture，andeveryvirgaterwouldhavestoodinconjunctionwithasequenceofthreeothertenants。Neithertheonenortheotherinferenceissupportedbythefacts。TheobservationthatthepeasantryarecommonlyprovidedwithsmallploughsdrawnbyfourbeastsruinsSeebohm’shypothesisentirely。

Onewouldhavetosupposethatmostfieldsweredividedintotwoparts，asthemajorityofthetenementsareyardlandswithhalfateam。Theonlyadequateexplanationoftheopen-fieldintermixturehasbeengivenabove；ithasitsrootsinthewishtoequalisetheholdingsastothequantityandqualityofthelandassignedtotheminspiteofalldifferencesintheshape，theposition，andthevalueofthesoil。

BeforeIleavethequestionastotheholdingsofthefeudalpeasantry，ImustmentionsometermswhichoccurindifferentpartsofEngland，althoughmorerarelythantheusualhidesandvirgates。(64*)OfthesulungIhavespokenalready。Itisafullploughland，and200acresarecommonlyreckonedtobelongtoit。

ThenameissometimesfoundoutofKent，inEssexforinstance。

InTillingham，amanorofSt。Paul’sofLondon，wecomeacrosssixhides’triumsolandarum’。(65*)Themostprobableexplanationseemstobethatthehideorunitofassessmentiscontrastedwiththesolandaorsulland(sulung)，thatiswiththeactualploughland，andtwohidesarereckonedasasinglesolanda。

Theyokes(juga)ofBattleAbbey(66*)arenotvirgates，butcarucates，fullploughlands。Thisfollowsfromthefactthatacertainvirgatementionedintherecordisequivalentonlytoonefourthoftheyoke。IntheNorfolkmanorsofElyMinsterwefindtenmanlands(67*)of120acresinthepossessionofseveralcopartitioners，participes。Thesurveydoesnotgointoadetaileddescriptionoftenementsandrights，andthereckoningofservicesstartsfromtheentirecombination，asintheKentishdocuments。Acommonlyrecurrenttermiswista；(68*)itcorrespondstothevirgate：agreatwistaisasmuchashalf-a-hide，ortwovirgates。(69*)

Thetermsdiscussedhithertoareappliedtothetenementsinthefieldsofthevillage；butbesidesthosethereareothernamesfortheplotsoccupiedbyanumerouspopulationwhichdidnotfindaplaceintheregularholdings。Therewerecraftsmenandrurallabourersworkingforthelordandforthetenants；

therewerepeoplelivingbygardeningandtheraisingofvegetables。Thisclassisalwayscontrastedwiththetenantsinthefields。Theusualnamefortheirplotsiscote，cotland，orcotsetland。Theso-calledferdel，orfourthpartofavirgate，isusuallymentionedamongthembecausetherearenoploughbeastsonit。(70*)Anothernamefortheferdelisnook。(71*)Nextcomethecrofters，whosegardenssometimesextendtoaveryfairsize——

asmuchastenacresinoneenclosedpatch。(72*)Thecottersproperhavegenerallyone，two，andsometimesasmuchasfiveacreswiththeirdwellings；theycannotkeepthemselvesonthis，asarule，andhavetolookoutformoreonotherpeople’stenements。Averycommonnamefortheirplotsis’lundinaria’(73*)’Mondaylands，’becausetheholdersareboundtoworkforthelordonlyonedayintheweek，usuallyonMonday。

Althoughtheabsenceofplough-beasts，ofapartincoaration，andofsharesinthecommonfieldsdrawsasharplinebetweenthesemenandtheregularholders，oursurveystrysometimestofittheirdutiesandplotsintothearrangementofholdings；thecotlandisassumedtorep