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Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
, in regions where
pastoral farming Pastoral farming (also known in some regions as ranching, livestock farming or grazing) is aimed at producing livestock, rather than growing crops. Examples include dairy farming, raising beef cattle, and raising sheep for wool. In contrast ...
is the dominant land use. ''Bocage'' may also refer to a small forest, a decorative element of leaves, or a type of rubble-work, comparable with the English use of "rustic" in relation to garden ornamentation. In the decorative arts, especially
porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
, it refers to a leafy screen spreading above and behind figures. Though found on continental figures, it is something of an English speciality, beginning in the mid-18th century, especially in
Chelsea porcelain Chelsea porcelain is the porcelain made by the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, the first important porcelain manufactory in England, established around 1743–45, and operating independently until 1770, when it was merged with Derby porcelain. ...
, and later spreading to more downmarket Staffordshire pottery figures. In English, ''bocage'' refers to a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture, with fields and winding country lanes sunken between narrow low ridges and banks surmounted by tall thick hedgerows that break the wind but also limit visibility. It is the sort of landscape found in many parts of southern England, for example in
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
. However the term is more often found in technical than general usage in England. In France the term is in more general use, especially in
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, with a similar meaning. Bocage landscape in France is largely confined to Normandy,
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
, and parts of the Loire valley.


Etymology

''Bocage'' is a Norman word that comes from the Old Norman ''boscage'' (Anglo-Norman ''boscage'', Old French ''boschage''), from the Old French root ''bosc'' ("wood") > Modern French ''bois'' ("wood") cf. Medieval Latin ''boscus'' (first mentioned in 704 AD). The Norman place names retain it as ''Bosc-'', ''-bosc'', ''Bosc-'', pronounced traditionally or . The
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...
''-age'' means "a general thing". The ''boscage'' form was used in English for "growing trees or shrubs; a thicket, grove; woody undergrowth" and to refer to decorative design imitating branches and foliage or leafy decoration such as is found on eighteenth-century porcelain; since early twentieth century this usually called "bocage". Similar words occur in Scandinavian (cf. Swedish ''buskage'') and other Germanic languages (cf. Dutch ''bos'', ''boshaag''); the original root is thought to be the Proto-Germanic ''*bŏsk-''. The ''boscage'' form seems to have developed its meaning under the influence of eighteenth-century
romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
. The 1934 ''Nouveau Petit Larousse'' defined ''bocage'' as "a ''bosquet'', a little wood, an agreeably shady wood" and a ''bosquet'' as "a little wood, a clump of trees". By 2006, the ''Petit Larousse'' definition had become "(Norman word) Region where the fields and meadows are enclosed by earth banks carrying hedges or rows of trees and where the habitation is generally dispersed in farms and hamlets."


Historic role


England

In Southeast England, in spite of a
sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
soil which would not fit this landscape, a bocage resulted from the movement of the
enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
of the open fields. During the 17th century, England developed an ambitious sea policy. One of the effects of this was the importation of Russian wheat, which was cheaper than English wheat at that time. The enclosures common in the bocage countryside favoured
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...
husbandry and limited English cereal grain production, and as a consequence of this policy, the rural exodus was amplified, accelerating the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. The surplus of agricultural workers migrated to the cities to work in factories.


Normandy

In
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, the bocage acquired a particular significance in the Chouannerie during the French Revolution. The bocage was also significant during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, as it made progress against the German defenders difficult. Plots of land were divided by ancient rows of dirt alongside irrigation ditches; thick vegetation on these dirt mounds could create walls up to sixteen feet high. A typical square mile on the battlefield might contain hundreds of irregular hedged enclosures. In response, " Rhino tanks" fitted with bocage-cutting modifications were developed. American personnel usually referred to ''bocage'' as ''
hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoi ...
rows''. The German army also used sunken lanes to implement strong points and defenses to stop the American troops on the
Cotentin Peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...
and around the town of Saint-Lô.


Ireland

Almost all of lowland Ireland is characterised by bocage landscape, a consequence of pastoral farming which requires enclosure for the management of herds. Approximately 5% of Ireland's land area is devoted to hedges, field walls and shelterbelts. In the more fertile areas these usually consist of earthen banks, which are planted with or colonised by trees and shrubs; this vegetation can give the impression of a wooded landscape, even where there is little or no woodland. This pattern of hedgerows was largely established in the late 18th and 19th centuries, a period when Ireland was virtually devoid of natural woodland. Modern intensive agriculture has tended to increase field size by removing hedgerows, a trend which for years was promoted by the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union and recently has been countered by the European Union's agricultural policies favouring the conservation of wildlife habitats.


References

Notes Sources *''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...
'' *''Nouveau
Petit Larousse ''Le Petit Larousse Illustré'', commonly known simply as ''Le Petit Larousse'' (), is a French-language encyclopedic dictionary published by Éditions Larousse. It first appeared in 1905 and was edited by Claude Augé, following Augé's '' Dictio ...
Illustré'' (1934) *''Petit Larousse Illustré 2007'' (2006)


External links

* * {{authority control Land management Landforms