Re: [WorldofGlorantha] Re: Barntar: Son of Orlanth?

In message <46440FC6.4060200_at_HHzE_En5IB0PGnqGFnor0CpAIg7iKTz8WeqURvkO34yE8buHOhKn2TyWhLKYBDwd79dHnu1ote-M9dFYXmXkxl9aLQ0.yahoo.invalid> Greg writes:
>YGWV
>
>parental_unit_2 wrote:
>> I thought one of the characteristic features of a farming carl was
>> that he had his own plow team. Obviously, there are other ways to get
>> carl social status (for example, marry a carl, or be a particularly
>> successful crafter), but the way for a male head of a farming
>> household to become a carl, I thought, was behind his own plow.
>
>I believe this is so.
>A plow team is actually 8 oxen, which mean (I think) 4 for the morning
>and 4 for the afternoon (oxen don't eat and work at the same time, and
>so are only good for a half day of work).
>To have 8 working oxen each year requires a herd of of 20-30 cattle.
>This is a LARGE enterprise, and a sign of considerable wealth.
>NOW, I know in Domesday Book (our best resource for pre-industrial
>farming statistics) that many farmers had partial teams, or one owned a
>plow and others parts of the team.
>Among the Orlanthi you get land doled out to you that you can plow, so
>owning half a team gets you half as much plowland as someone with a
>whole team.
>Somewhere between the family that owns an entire team and plow and no
>team or plow is the line that separates carls from cottars.
>I'd suggest that a standard would be half a team.
>Cottars live mainly be vegetables. "Less bread, more cabbage."

Both Thunder Rebels and King of Sartar mention a "half-carl" who has either a half team of oxen or a plough. Which is actually a third of the requirement for a carl. The implication is that anyone who doesn't have a least that is a cottar. I think that's significant in that a cottar isn't allocated plowland. He gets land which is unsuitable for ploughing.

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/