All the families living in Yalding own animals. Livestock includes
oxen, horses, cows,
pigs, sheep and chickens. Finding enough food for the animals
is a constant problem for the farmers. At the end of the autumn, the
villagers have to decide how many animals they can afford to keep
alive during the
winter.
Oxen are the most valued
animals owned by the peasants as they are used
to plough the land. Most plough-teams consist of between four and
eight oxen. As it
is unusual for villagers to own more than two oxen, it is necessary
for them to combine their resources in order to have their land ploughed
efficiently.
Some villagers use horses
for ploughing. When the condition of the ground
is good, horses are faster than oxen. However, most villagers prefer
employing oxen for
this task. Oxen are cheaper to keep than horses. Oxen are
also more willing to work in difficult conditions.
(1) Swineheard with his pigs.
Pigs are also popular
animals to own as they have the ability to find food for themselves.
Their favourite food is acorns from oak trees and nuts from beech
trees. The villagers have to pay pannage to Hugh de Audley before
he allows their pigs
to go into the woods to search for food.
Pigs can cause a lot of
damage in their search for food. Yalding, like most villages in England,
has by-laws stating that all pigs have to have an iron
ring placed in their nose. Gilbert Payne is Yalding's swineherd. He
gathers the pigs together and takes them into the wood so that they
can feed on acorns. On other occasions he takes them to feed on the
waste ground. Every year the peopk living in Yalding give him a penny
for every pig that he has looked after.
Pigs can produce two litters
a year and each litter can number six or more piglets. Pigs are ready
for eating in their second year. The meat produced by pigs is important
to the peasants as the animal supplies much of the fat in their diet.
(2) Moulboard Plough,
Geoffrey Luttrell Psalter (1325)
Cows are kept for their
milk. Cows are expensive and in 1336 cost over 9s. to buy. The villagers
also have difficulty finding enough hay for them to eat during the
winter.
Most of the families obtain
their milk from female sheep called ewes. At Is. 6d. ewes are fairly
cheap to buy and are much easier to feed in the winter. Although a
ewe only produces a tenth of the milk of a cow, they also provide
wool for clothing and if necessary, meat during the winter months.
Their dung also helps the crops grow.
In 1336 there are five
times as many sheep as people in England. The keeping of sheep does
create extra work for villagers. Sheep do a lot of damage if they
manage to get into the fields growing crops. They therefore have to
be herded during the day and fenced in at night. The sheep also have
to be protected against predators like wolves.
(3) Book of Hours
(c. 1500)
1. Read Animals
in Yalding. Fill
in section 4 and 5 of your Family
Information Chart.
2. Name the people in the
village who own: (a) a bull; (b) two or more oxen; (c) at least ten
cows; (d) more than a eighty sheep.
3. Explain the advantages
and disadvantages of keeping sheep.
5. Look at source 1. How
is the swineherd helping the pigs find food?
6. Study sources 2 and
3. (a) Give three possible reasons why the man in source 2 is using
oxen rather than horses. (b)
Describe the two ploughs being used in these pictures. Explain how
these ploughs are different. Why did farm workers use two different
types of plough?
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