THE HIDE AND THE TEAMLAND 43 



4 broad ; hence we realize why a furlong was so called it 

 was the length of the furrow ; and the presence of small acres 

 in the open fields may imply the existence of a small perch, 

 perhaps a perch of 12 feet. 1 



When to-day we speak of a piece of land 2 furlongs long 

 and I broad, we think of a parallelogram of these dimensions 

 containing an area of 20 acres ; but it is certain that such 

 a geometrical figure was not in the mind of the Domesday 

 Commissioners ; they spoke only of the extreme measure- 

 ments, and paid no attention to the shape of the area. 

 There is a good example of this at Rushmere (Suffolk), 

 where a holding of 30 acres is said to be 8 furlongs long and 

 7 broad. 2 A parallelogram of these dimensions would be 

 560 acres, and so it is clear that this holding must have been 

 of some irregular shape, of which the extreme length and 

 breadth were 8 and 7 furlongs respectively. 



Let us therefore sum up our conclusions 



1. The number of hides in any property represents the 

 number of the units of assessment imposed on that property ; 

 it possibly also represents the number of families, each em- 

 ploying one team of eight oxen, settled on that property at 

 some remote period. 



2. The teamlands in the second term of the formula 

 represent the area of cultivation in 1066. 



3. The existing teams represent the cultivated area in 

 1086. 



But none of these should be taken as scientific and 

 accurate measurements. 



1 D. B. and B. y 368-382. 2 D. B., II. 442. 



