The davoch, davach or

daugh The davoch, davach or daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic '' dabhach''. The word ''dabh'' or ''damh'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also ref ...

is an ancient

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

dabhach The davoch, davach or daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic ''dabhach''. The word ''dabh'' or '' damh'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also refer ...

''. The word ''dabh'' or ''

damh This is a list of deities of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', including all of the 3.5 edition gods and powers of the "Core Setting" for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') roleplaying game. Religion is a key element of the D&D game, since it is requi ...

'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also refer to a "tub", so may indicate productivity. It was called the ''arachor'' in the Lennox. It is thought that the measurement is of

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographic ...

origins, and is most common in the north east, and often absent in the south of Scotland. It is particularly common in various placenames to this day, often in the form "Daugh of Invermarkie" etc. The name "Haddo" is also a corruption of “Hauf Daugh”, or half-davoch, in turn a translation of “leth-dhabhach”. Scottish land measurements tended to be based on how much

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to anima ...

they could support. This was particularly important in a country where fertility would vary widely. In the east a davoch would be a portion of land that could support 60 cattle or

oxen An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE, AusE, and IndE), is a male bovine trained and used as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration inhibits testosterone and aggression, which makes the ma ...

. MacBain reckoned the davoch to be “either one or four ploughgates, according to locality and land”. A ploughgate contains about 100 Scots acres (5.3 km²). Watson, in ''The Placenames of Ross & Cromarty'', says, “usually four ploughgates”. Skene in ''Celtic Scotland'' says: The ''pennyland'' is thought to be of

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

origin, so it is possible that Norse and native systems were conflated in the west. Prof. MacKinnon in ''Place and Personal Names of Argyll'' says, The

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...

Jamieson claimed that a daugh was enough to produce about 48 bolls, and averaged an area of approximately . Daughs are referred to in the '' Book of Deer'', and were recorded as being in use in the late 18th century in

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populat ...

. In some areas, a quarter of a davoch was a ''ploughgate'', and an eighth an ''ochdamh''.

References

{{Dwelly (Dabhach) with corrections and additions

See also

References

Further reading