10. Seed-measures of Land
When men, emerging from the pastoral stage, took to agriculture, land was plentiful and would roughly but conveniently be estimated by the quantity of seed-corn required for it. Thus seed-units of land were the earliest, and many survive to this day.
It was ordered in Israel (Lev. xxvij.) that land should be ‘estimated according to the seed thereof, an homer of barley-seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.’ Taking the homer at 8 bushels, a homer of land = 3 or 4 acres, was worth 50 shekels, or half-crowns, of silver.
The Romans had the modius of land, sown with a modius, about 1/4 bushel, of corn.
In Northern France there is still the bonnier of land, about 4 acres, sown with a boune or bounie of seed, about 8 bushels.
Throughout the greater part of France the land is reckoned in seterées or sesteirado, units now fixed but originally named after the variable setier of seed-corn.
Smaller units are the mine or eiminado, and boisselée, all seed-units.
In North Germany the Scheffel, or Schepel (Du.), corn-measure is also a land-measure of about half an acre. The Schepel passed from Holland to New England as the Skipple, a bushel-skip. In North Germany and Norway there is the Tunn or Tonde, a barrel of about 4 bushels, corresponding to the Tondeland of about 1-1/3 acre (roughly equal to the French estrée).
To the Salma of Italy, to the Saumado (she-ass load) of Provence, corresponds the old English Seam, the Quarter of corn. The word seam hence got the general meaning of a quarter. So although the Seam of Corn would sow 4 acres, a seam of an acre meant a quarter-acre.
‘A Sester or Sextarius was what we call a Quarter or a seam containing 8 bushels (Sauma, quod unius equi fit sauma, i.e. sarcina)’ (Bishop Fleetwood, 1707).
There are still traces of seed-measures to be found in some parts of England. But in ‘A pek of londe’—‘Half a pek and a nayle of londe’ (Rolls of Parliament, 1442),[[21]] it is doubtful whether the peck of land was really a seed-measure or a quarter-acre, as the peck is a quarter-bushel. A nail of land would be 1/16 acre.
There were seed-measures of land in Scotland. Thus: ‘15th Cy. Chart Aberd. Als mekill land as a celdr of aits will schawe,’ i.e. a Chalder of land, as much as a chalder = 64 firlots = 55 bushels, will sow, about 25 acres. There was also the Lippy of land, that which took a lippy, 1/16 firlot of seed. It was usually about 100 square yards.
In many parts of Southern Europe there are no other kinds of land-measure than those derived from the corn-measures of seed required.
Thus in Provence, the earliest civilised country in medieval times, the whole series of corn-measures and land-measures have names in common.
| Corn-measures | Land-measures | Sq. cano | ||||||
| Saumado | 4·4 bushel. | Saumado | 1·58 | acre | 1600 | |||
| Sestié | 1·1 „ | Sesteirado | 0·4 | „ | 400 | |||
| Eimino | 4·4 gallon. | Eiminado | 0·2 | „ | 200 | |||
| Quartiero | 1·1 „ | Quarteirado | 0·05 | „ | 50 | |||
| Pougnadeiro | 1/4 „ | Pougneirado | 0·01 | „ | 12-1/2 | |||
| Cosso (Sc. Luggie) | 1/5 „ | Cosso (Sc. Lug.) | „ | 10 | ||||
These land-measures would correspond to Coomb-land, Bushel-land, Peck-land, &c. The Cosso of land is 1/160 of the Saumado, as our square rod is 1/160 acre.
In Italy and Spain there are similar series of land-measures named after corn-measures.
[15]. For evidence on the form of agrarian units see Notes in section 5 of this chapter.
[16]. It is worth remark that the 160 square rods of the Irish, Lancashire or Guernsey acre being equal to 1·62 statute acres, 100 of these square rods would make almost exactly a statute acre. A rod of 6·957 yards would give a decimal square rod of 48·4 square yards equal 1-10th square chain, or 1-100th acre, or 1-1000th square furlong. A square-shape acre is 69·57 yards square.
[17]. I insert this note (sent to the Academy in August 1896 by the late Mr. F. J. Furnivall, who found it in a Bodleian MS.) because it happened to direct my attention to our measures, and was thus the seed whence this book has sprung. The yardland and hide are here of less than half the usual extent.
[18]. Orthodoxly A.S. gaard is considered to be unconnected with geard, a yard or rod.
[19]. Whence the term ‘lug’ = rod? I venture a derivation:
1. Lug, the ear.
2. Luggie (Sc.), a milking vessel with handles or lugs.
3. Lug, lugge, of land, that can be metely sown with a luggie of seed-corn.
4. Lug, the rod-length of the lug of land.
5. Lug, a rod, as for ‘waling’ fruit trees.
[20]. Concordantly with the sexdecimal system of corn-measures into 4 sesteirado, or 8 eiminado. See Seed-measures in Section 10.
[21]. Quoted in the New English Dictionary, a treasury of quotations, which has often put me on the track of valuable information.