 Most farming was based on the lowland fermtoun or Highland baile , settlements of a handful of families that jointly farmed an area notionally suitable for two or three plough teams , allocated in run rigs to tenant farmers . They usually ran downhill so that they included both wet and dry land , helping to offset some of the problems of extreme weather conditions . Most ploughing was done with a heavy wooden plough with an iron coulter , pulled by oxen , which were more effective in heavy soils and cheaper to feed than horses . Obligations to the local lord usually included supplying oxen for ploughing the lord 's land on an annual basis and the much resented obligation to grind corn at the lord 's mill . 
