THE HIDE AND THE TEAMLAND 31 



three terms which was adopted by the Oxfordshire valuers 

 that, in any given estate, they would return 



(1) There are A hides there. 



(2) There is land for B teams. 



(3) There are C teams in demesne, and the tenants have 

 D teams. 



This formula is adopted with variations in all parts of Eng- 

 land, and it is from the variations that it can be explained. 



The first term often appears under other forms. In the 

 south-eastern circuit it reads, " It defends itself for A hides ; " 

 in the south-western circuit, " It gelds for A hides ; " in the 

 western circuit, " There are A gelding hides ; " in Huntingdon, 

 " There are A hides for geld ; " and a fifth variant is found in 

 Essex, " X held such a place for a manor and for A hides." 



So that we can determine that the number of hides given 

 in the first term of the formula represents the number of 

 assessable units imposed on the property. The geld was a 

 charge of so many shillings per hide. When once the hidage 

 was known, it was easy to calculate the amount of geld payable 

 by any property. 



The hide was divisible into portions. Certain assessments 

 are expressed in terms of hides, virgates, and acres. The 

 number of virgates in a hide is nowhere stated in Domesday 

 Book ; but, fortunately, there are many equations in the shape 

 of addition sums, from which the number of virgates in a hide 

 can be easily deduced. 



( 2 H + iV) + (iH + iV) + i|H = 5 Hi 

 iH -HV = iH + JV + JV + |V + iV* 



Similar equations can be found in the geld inquests for 

 the south-western counties 



(2iiH + JV) + ( S 6H + ijV) = ?8H 4 



1 D. B., I. 29 a i. 2 Id., 39 b 2. 



3 Id., 198 a I and 2, 4 Ex. Dom., 14. 



