THE " QUONAHASSIT'' PIONEERS. IQJ 



should be fined twelvepence. Horses and cattle* and 

 sheep and goats and hogs had been brought from England 

 to the colonies in hundreds by this time, and Hingham had 

 a few. That these creatures were inspired with certain 

 offensive ideas of freedom seems plain, because insecure 

 fences were very early forbidden. On the same date of 

 April 1 1, 1637, another fine of twelvepence was ordered to 

 be imposed upon any man for every rod of paling not high 

 enough or not securely fastened into the ground. 



The goats and some cattle could browse upon trees, and 

 the hogs could root for a living ; but working cattle and 

 horses needed a respectable diet, and to obtain sufificient 

 hay for them was not easy. The meadow lands where grass 

 would grow after a little clearing were valuable, and espe- 

 cially so were the salt marshes which needed no clearing. 

 All the meadows near by the settlement were divided at the 

 very first ; but more hay being needed, Lyford's Liking to- 

 wards Cohasset was next divided on June 12, 1637. But the 

 men came farther in their boats, and without dividing the 

 marshes of Cohasset they all took what they needed from 

 the coves along our shore. On these trips, which took 

 some of the men several days at least to do the cutting 

 and the drying, Cohasset was a temporary camping place. 



The shore was thoroughly explored again and again. 

 Landing places were found for their hay boats, and many 

 excursions must have been made through the woods and 

 upon Indian trails, encountering often the homes of the 

 Indians. These pioneers spied out the promised land of 

 their children ; for not until the second generation was 

 this Cohasset reserve to be divided and settled. 



The earliest individual ownership of Cohasset lands was 

 in the fresh meadow called Turkey Meadow, at the foot of 

 Turkey Hill, sometimes called the region of Rocky Nook. 



* The Lion's Whelp set to sea on March 17, 1628-29, with twenty cows and 

 bulls, and ten mares and horses, for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Talbot, 

 on the sixteenth day of the next month, shipped 140 head of cattle and 40 goats to 

 the colony. 



