5 8 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



equal proportions, and these were subdivided again into acre, half-acre, quarter- 

 acre and even smaller plots. If a villager had altogether, say, twelve acres of 

 tillage land, he had approximately four acres in each of these great fields. 

 The villager's acres did not lie side by side, but were scattered up and down 

 each field here and there in acre, half-acre and quarter-acre patches. Every 

 free villager, large and small, held all his tillage land in this " mingle-mangle " 

 fashion ; but he did not hold the same patches year after year ; for there was 

 a reallotment at definite intervals, so that no man might hold a good patch — 

 or a bad patch — too long and that others might have a chance of it. 



There being no fences, and the stubble being open to every villager for 

 grazing after harvest, it was necessary that every one should grow the same 

 kind of crop in the same field at the same time and that all should be 

 ploughing, sowing, reaping and harvesting together. The crops grown were 

 therefore such as were most suitable for the majority. 



But although the villagers had three fields, they could crop only two of 

 them at a time. Their implements were so primitive that the land became 

 foul when two crops had been taken and, so, had to be ploughed again and 

 again the third year to get rid of the weeds. In this third or cleaning year, 

 which was called the fallow year, the land was ploughed usually four times 

 — in March, June, August, and September — and at the last ploughing was 

 sown with wheat. In the spring following the harvest the wheat stubble 

 was ploughed up, and beans or some other crop was sown. These other crops 

 were peas, barley and oats. Thus the general rotation was wheat the first 

 year, beans or other grain the second, and fallow the third ; and, in any one 

 year, one of the great village fields was the "wheat "-field, another the "bean"- 

 field, and another the " fallow "-field. 



In addition to the three great tillage fields, there were other fields lying 

 beyond them which were never ploughed. There was the meadow, in which 

 every free villager had his allotted stripes, and there were usually the cow- 

 pasture, the bullock-pasture, and always the " common " pasture, on each of 

 which he had the right to graze a definite number of stock in proportion 

 to his acres in the tillage fields. Farther away was the " forest " in which each 

 villager had his share of timber and firewood and in which his allotted 

 number of swine were tended by the common herd. The village flock of 

 sheep was herded on the stubbles in winter and on the " common " pasture 

 in summer. 



Inferences may be drawn from the departures from type. The depar- 

 tures were of two kinds, namely as to the number of tillage fields and 

 as to the crops that were grown. All over England, as far north as 

 Yorkshire and Durham at least, the three-field type was common, and the 



