View source for Bocage

{{EngvarB|date=February 2023}}
{{short description|Terrain of mixed woodland and pasture}}
{{other meanings}}
[[File:Bocage boulonnais.jpg|thumb|425px|Bocage near [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]], France]]

'''Bocage''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|b|ə|ˈ|k|ɑː|ʒ}},<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bocage {{!}} Definition of Bocage by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Bocage|url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/bocage|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725161254/https://www.lexico.com/definition/bocage|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 25, 2020|access-date=2020-07-25|website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English|language=en}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|b|oʊ|k|ɑː|ʒ}} {{respell|BOH|kahzh}}) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of northern France, southern England, Ireland, the [[Netherlands]], northern Spain and northern Germany, in regions where [[pastoral farming]] is the dominant land use.

[[File:Candelabrum (one of a pair) MET DP-12374-056 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Chelsea porcelain factory]] candle-holder with bocage background, c. 1765]]
''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]], 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]], and later spreading to more downmarket [[Staffordshire Potteries|Staffordshire pottery]] figures.  

In English, ''bocage'' refers to a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture, with fields and winding country lanes [[sunken lane|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 the [[Devon hedge]] and [[Cornish hedge]]. 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]], with a similar meaning. Bocage landscape in France is largely confined to Normandy, [[Brittany]], [[Burgundy]] and parts of the [[Loire valley]].

==Etymology==
[[File:Bocage country at Cotentin Peninsula.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Bocage country on the [[Cotentin Peninsula]], Lower Normandy]]

''Bocage'' is a [[Norman language|Norman]] word that comes from the Old Norman ''boscage'' (Anglo-Norman {{lang|xno|boscage}}, Old French {{lang|fro|boschage}}), from the Old French root ''bosc'' ("wood") > Modern French {{lang|fr|bois}} ("wood") cf. Medieval Latin {{lang|la-x-medieval|boscus}} (first mentioned in 704 CE).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/bocage|title=BOCAGE : Etymologie de BOCAGE}}</ref> The [[Norman toponymy|Norman place names]] retain it as ''Bosc-'', ''-bosc'', ''Bosc-'', pronounced traditionally {{IPA|fr|bɔk|}} or {{IPA|[bo]}}. The [[suffix]] ''-age'' means "a general thing". The ''boscage'' form was used in English for "growing trees or shrubs; a thicket, grove; woody undergrowth"<ref>"boscage | boskage, n.". OED Online. March 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/21733 (accessed March 02, 2021)</ref> 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".<ref>"bocage, n.". OED Online. March 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/20858?redirectedFrom=bocage (accessed March 02, 2021).</ref> Similar words occur in Scandinavian (cf. Swedish {{lang|sv|buskage}}; Danish {{lang|da|buskads}}) and other Germanic languages (cf. Dutch {{lang|nl|bos}}, {{lang|nl|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]].

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 settlement|dispersed]] in farms and hamlets."

==Historic role==
===England===
[[File:Mamtor-valley.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|English bocage ([[Edale]] valley, [[Peak District]])]]

In southeast England, in spite of a sedimentary soil which would not fit this landscape, a bocage resulted from the movement to enclose what were once [[open-field system|open field]]s.

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 husbandry and limited English cereal grain production, and as a consequence of this policy, the [[rural exodus]] was amplified, accelerating the [[Industrial Revolution]].
The surplus of agricultural workers migrated to the cities to work in factories.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

===Normandy===
In [[Normandy]], the bocage acquired a particular significance in the [[Chouannerie]] during the French Revolution.<ref>Michel Moulin, ''Mémoires de Michelot Moulin sur la Chouannerie normande'', A. Picard, 1893, pp. 88–89</ref>

[[File:Bocagenormandy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Location of bocage in the context of [[Operation Overlord]]]]
The bocage was also significant during the [[Invasion of Normandy|Battle of Normandy]] in World War II, as it made progress against the German defenders difficult.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll8/id/2707|title=Combined Arms Research Library (CARL) Digital Library}}</ref> Plots of land were divided by ancient rows of dirt alongside drainage ditches; thick vegetation on these dirt mounds could create barriers up to {{convert|16|ft|m}} high. A typical square mile on the battlefield might contain hundreds of irregular hedged enclosures.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nye |first1=Logan |title=Why some of the Allies' toughest fighting in Normandy came after D-Day |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/why-allies-toughest-fighting-in-normandy-came-after-dday-2020-6 |access-date=16 April 2022 |work=Business Insider |date=2020}}</ref>
In response, "[[Rhino tank]]s" fitted with bocage-cutting modifications were developed. American personnel usually referred to bocages as [[hedge|hedgerows]]. The German army also used [[sunken lane]]s to implement strong points and defences to stop the American troops on the [[Cotentin Peninsula]] and around the town of [[Saint-Lô]].<ref>George Bernage, Objectif Saint-Lô : 7 juin-18 juillet 1944, Edition Heimdal, 2012, p.97</ref>

===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 [[shelterbelt]]s. 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]]<ref>{{Cite news|last=McKie|first=Robin|last2=editor|first2=science|date=2012-05-26|title=How EU farming policies led to a collapse in Europe's bird population|language=en-GB|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/26/eu-farming-policies-bird-population|access-date=2020-07-25|issn=0029-7712}}</ref> and recently has been countered by the European Union's agricultural policies favouring the conservation of wildlife habitats.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''
*''Nouveau [[Petit Larousse]] Illustré'' (1934)
*''Petit Larousse Illustré 2007'' (2006)

==External links==
*{{commonscat-inline|Boscages}}
*{{Wiktionary-inline|bocage}}

{{Expand French|Bocage|date=May 2020}}

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[[Category:Land management]]
[[Category:Landforms]]