i 8 Domesday and Feudal Statistics 



land of the villein the assistance rendered by the 



plough there was land to, must be subtracted in an 



areal estimate. Putting aside the probability that 



the tenant in villeinage worked his own land 



usually with less than 8 oxen, and taking D. B.'s 



Difference view of a full team, suppose the demesne plough 



landTof" could till x acres per ann., and that the team of 



demesne, t h e men /g oxen) could work a + b acres (where 



and 7 <v i 111 i / 



villeinage, x = a + b)\ then x + a would be the land of one 

 plough on the demesne; and (a + F)-+a on the 

 arable set to the villeins. This I believe was in 

 the minds of the men of the hundreds when they 

 state there could be so many more ploughs on the 

 demesne and villeinage respectively; the matter 

 would not stand exactly as above in actual practice 

 where the occurrence of smaller ploughs of the 

 men, would disturb the balance. Clearly a plough 

 of 4 oxen* would do far more than half the tillage 

 of one of 8, and one of 2 beasts more than a 

 quarter of it (smaller and lighter implements are 

 predicated) ; however, when in the returns, mention 

 is made of land to 2, 3, 4 or more oxen, an 

 artificial and roughly proportional comparison may 

 be all that was in view, rather than details of 

 practice, e.g., land to 2 oxen may mean about half 

 the amount of land to 4 oxen, though the varying 

 quantities of demesne and villeinage would further 

 complicate each case. No frequenter of the 

 towing-path would ever be likely to suppose 



Oxen per * Probably common enough on villein lands ; cf. Gerald de 



Walls 1 ^ B arri ( f - H en - H-) who states that the Welsh yoke 4 oxen in 



/. Hen. II. a plough more often than two : Wm. de Malmesbury (/. 



Hen. I.), writing of Wm. II., and Anselm, states, Vt aratrum 



sancttz ecclesite, quod in Anglia duo boves validi & pari fortitudine 



ad bonum certantes, id est, rex et arcbiepiscopus Cantuariensis 



debeant trnhere nunc ove vetula cum tauro indomito iugata. 



