HIDAGE (Hidagium), was an extraordinary tax payable to the kings of England for every hyde of land. This taxation was levied not only in money, but in provision, armour, &c.; and when the Danes landed in Sandwich in 994, king Ethelred taxed all his lands by hides; so that every 310 hides found one ship furnished, and every eight hides furnished one jack and one saddle, to arm for the defence of the kingdom, &c.—Sometimes the word hidage was used for the being quit of that tax: which was also called hidegild; and interpreted, from the Saxon, a "price, or ransom paid to save one's skin or hide from beating."