DOI Artikel:
Mingote Calderón, José Luis: Yokes for three cows: a vanished technique for breaking in cattle in La Sierra Norte of Madrid
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49004#0015
YOKES FOR THREE COWS
7
Thus, there are two extreme areas in which
the presence of mules-donkeys for crop
transporting is linked to the topography of
the area where they can be used by them-
selves or with cow carts (Fig. 6).
It is possible to document historically this
range of animals and different ways of trans-
porting the crop from the information col-
lected in the Ordenanzas de caza y pesca del
Senorio de B ultra go (1582), where the theft of
firewood from the Duque del Infantado’s
forest was punished: “Furthermore, every
person who takes firewood from my forest,
either on mule-donkey or cart, will be fined
each time seven hundred maravedies, and if it
is carried on one’s shoulders, two hundred
maravedies” (Fernandez Garcia 1966, I: 168).
Almost all villages have used donkeys or
mules to transport small amounts of firewood
or to carry grain to mills or simply as a
method of human transport.
Contrary to the practice in the areas spec-
ified above, in the whole zone mules and
donkeys together with cows have been used
as draught animals to pull threshing sledges,
trillos. It is common to find bigger threshing
sledges pulled by cows than by mules or don-
keys since cows were arranged in a team and
mules-donkeys worked individually.
It is necesary to bear in mind the scarcity of
mules/donkeys when trying to quantify both
types of livestock. This phenomenon be-
comes clear if we observe the data extracted
from M. Fernandez Montes’ work (1990, 268,
figure 35) though this relates to a bigger area
than that of our study.
Cattle
Horses
Mules
Donkeys
1950
5.174
123
125
705
1950-60
4.774
156
148
547
1980
7.762
203 (Equids)
In this data we have to notice the increase in
cattle for 1980 due to the new orientation in
the use of the animals as well as the introduc-
tion of dairy and meat cows (Sanchez Gomez
1987, 62-63).10
In referring to cattle, we include preferably
cows. Nevertheless, it should be stressed that
oxen have also been used though not that of-
ten. These appear linked to cart transport in
villages located close to the actual main road
in particular in Gandullas or La Serna del
Monte.11 Their use as agrarian draught power
Fig. 6. Areas of Sierra Norte (shaded) where the
influence of equids is greater than that of cattle. □
Gebiete der Sierra Norte (schraffiert), in denen der
Einflufi von Eseln und Maultieren groher ist als
der von Rindern.
has usually been connected with wealthy
dwellings, casas grandes, or with owners of
big stretches of land as recorded in La Serna
del Monte or Manjiron. However, in the
modern period references to teams of oxen
are relatively frequent.12 Only occasionally,
and always related to particular individuals, it
has been possible to document the use of
yoked bulls.
The use of oxen rather than cows, apart
from being related to property size, has an-
7
Thus, there are two extreme areas in which
the presence of mules-donkeys for crop
transporting is linked to the topography of
the area where they can be used by them-
selves or with cow carts (Fig. 6).
It is possible to document historically this
range of animals and different ways of trans-
porting the crop from the information col-
lected in the Ordenanzas de caza y pesca del
Senorio de B ultra go (1582), where the theft of
firewood from the Duque del Infantado’s
forest was punished: “Furthermore, every
person who takes firewood from my forest,
either on mule-donkey or cart, will be fined
each time seven hundred maravedies, and if it
is carried on one’s shoulders, two hundred
maravedies” (Fernandez Garcia 1966, I: 168).
Almost all villages have used donkeys or
mules to transport small amounts of firewood
or to carry grain to mills or simply as a
method of human transport.
Contrary to the practice in the areas spec-
ified above, in the whole zone mules and
donkeys together with cows have been used
as draught animals to pull threshing sledges,
trillos. It is common to find bigger threshing
sledges pulled by cows than by mules or don-
keys since cows were arranged in a team and
mules-donkeys worked individually.
It is necesary to bear in mind the scarcity of
mules/donkeys when trying to quantify both
types of livestock. This phenomenon be-
comes clear if we observe the data extracted
from M. Fernandez Montes’ work (1990, 268,
figure 35) though this relates to a bigger area
than that of our study.
Cattle
Horses
Mules
Donkeys
1950
5.174
123
125
705
1950-60
4.774
156
148
547
1980
7.762
203 (Equids)
In this data we have to notice the increase in
cattle for 1980 due to the new orientation in
the use of the animals as well as the introduc-
tion of dairy and meat cows (Sanchez Gomez
1987, 62-63).10
In referring to cattle, we include preferably
cows. Nevertheless, it should be stressed that
oxen have also been used though not that of-
ten. These appear linked to cart transport in
villages located close to the actual main road
in particular in Gandullas or La Serna del
Monte.11 Their use as agrarian draught power
Fig. 6. Areas of Sierra Norte (shaded) where the
influence of equids is greater than that of cattle. □
Gebiete der Sierra Norte (schraffiert), in denen der
Einflufi von Eseln und Maultieren groher ist als
der von Rindern.
has usually been connected with wealthy
dwellings, casas grandes, or with owners of
big stretches of land as recorded in La Serna
del Monte or Manjiron. However, in the
modern period references to teams of oxen
are relatively frequent.12 Only occasionally,
and always related to particular individuals, it
has been possible to document the use of
yoked bulls.
The use of oxen rather than cows, apart
from being related to property size, has an-