370 FARMERS' REGISTER— FTZHERBERT'S BOKE OF HUSBANDRY. 



* side, that eveiye man that rideth or goeth that 

 ' waye maye se and know hy that signe that there 



* is sycknesse of catel in liiat townsliip. And the 

 ' husbandes holde an opinyon that itsliallhe rather 

 ' cease. ' 



' Tlie turne,' or sturdy as tliey call it in Scot- 

 land, he says he has frequently seen cured by rais- 

 ing the skin, turning up a i)iece of the skull bone, 

 and taking out a bladder of water from over the 

 brain. How little do we know of this common and 

 fatal disorder, more tiian this old fashioned farmer 

 has told us.'' We generally content ourselves with 

 the latter part of his advice respecting it. ' If,' 

 says he, ' tiie beast be fat, and any reasonable meat 

 ' upon him, it is best to kill him, for then there is 

 'butlittel losse.' 



We next proceed to the management of hedges, 

 orchard trees, &c. after which the work takes a 

 more serious turn, and not only embraces various 

 points of domestic economy, but goes on to enjoin 

 the practice of many religious duties. I make no 

 apology for the following extract, the quaintness 

 and good sense of which will, I hope, justify its in- 

 sertion at length. 



* ji shorte information for a yonge geniylman that 



entendeth to thryue. 

 ' I advise him to gette a copy of this presenle 



* boke, and to rede it from the beginnyng unto the 

 ' endyng, whereby he may perceive the chapters 

 ' and contentes in the same, and by reason of oftc 

 ' readyng he may perfyte what shulde be done at 

 ' al seasons. For I lerned two verses at grammer 

 ' scole, and those be these — 



'Giitfa cauat lapid^ non vi sed sepe cadeJo, 

 'tSic liomo fit sapiens non vi scd sepe legeiido. — 



' A dro[) of water perseth a stone not alonly by 

 ' his owne strength, but by his often falling — 

 ' Kyghte so a man shal be made wise not alonly 

 ' ley by him selfe, but by his ofte readinge, and so 

 ' may this yonge gentilman, according to the sea- 

 ' son of tlie yere, rede lo his servauntes Avhat chap- 

 ' toure he wyl — And also for any other maner of 

 ' profite conteined in the same, the wliich is neces- 

 ' sary for a yonge husbande thathatli not the expe- 

 ' lyence of husbandry, nor other thynges conteyn- 



* ed in this presente boke, to take a good remem- 

 ' hraunce and credence thereunto : for there is an 



* olde sayingc, but whataucloritye I cannot tell, — 

 ' It is better the practice or knowledge of an hus- 

 ' bandeman well proved, then the science or cun- 

 ' ning of a philosopher not proved ; for there is no- 

 ' thing touching husbandrye, and other profytes 

 ' conteyned in this present booke, but I have had 

 ' the experience therof and proved the same — 

 ' and over and beside al this boke, I vvil advise 



* him ryse betime in the mornynge, and to go 

 ' aboute his closes, pastures, feldes, and specially 

 ' by the hedges, and tohaue in his purse a payre of 

 ' tables, and when he seelh any Ihyng yt wolde be 

 ' amended, to wryte it in his tables, as, and he fynde 

 'any horses, mares, beastes, shepe, swine, or geese 

 ' in his pastures that be not his owne. And 

 ' perad venture though they be his owne, he wold 



* not have the go there, or to finde a gappe or a sherd 

 ' in his hedge, or any water striding in his pastures 

 'upo his gras whereby he may take double hurte, 

 ' both losse of hys gras and rottying of hys sheepe 

 ' and calves, &c. &c. For a man alway wander- 

 'yngorgoying about, somewhat findeth or seilh 

 ' that is amisse, and would be amended, and assone 



'as he seth any such defautes, then let him take 

 ' oute his tables and wryte the defautes, and when 

 ' he Cometh home to dyner, supper, or at nighte, 

 ' then let him cal his bayly or his head servaunte, 

 ' and to shew him the defautes that they may be 

 'shortly amended, and when it is amended, the put 

 ' it out of his tables : thys used I todoe X. or XII. 

 ' yeares or more, and tiuis let him use daili, and in 

 ' short sj)ace he shal set much thynges in good or- 

 ' dre, but daylye it wil haue mending. And if he 

 ' cannot wryte let him nycke the defautes upon a 

 ' sticke, and to shewe his baily as I sayd before. 

 ' Also take hede both early and late, at al times, 

 ' what maner of people resorte and come to thy 

 ' house, and the cause of their comyng, and spe- 

 ' cially yf they bring with them pitchars, Cannes, 

 ' tankardes, borels, bagges, wallettes, or bushel- 

 ' pokes. For if thy servantes be not true, they may 

 ' doe the great hurt and themself litel auantage, 

 ' wherfore they would be wel loked upon.' 



Next follows ' The AVives Occupacion.' How 

 our modern wives may relish the various avoca- 

 tions assigned them by honest Fitzherbert, I know 

 not ; but to show them ' whereby they shuld not 

 be ydle at no tyme,' I subjoin a list of a part of the 

 duties expected from them (in 1550.) 



' Fyrst in the mornyng when thou art waked 

 ' and purpose to ryse, lift up thy had and blis the 

 ' and make a signeof the holy crosse. In nomine 

 ' pair is et filii Sf spiritus sandi. j^men. And if 

 ' thou saye a pater noster, an ave and a crede, and 

 ' remembre thy maker, thou shalte spede much the 

 ' better ; and when thou art up and readye, then 

 ' fyrst swepe thy house, dresse up thy dyshebord, 

 ' and set al thynges in good order within thy house, 

 ' milke the kie, socle thy calves, site up thy milke, 

 ' take up thy childre, and array them, and provide 

 ' for thy husbandes breakfaste, dyner, souper, and 

 ' for thy children and servauntes, and take thy 

 ' parte with the — And to ordeyne malt and come 

 ' to the myl, to brew and bake withal when nede 

 ' is — And mete it to the myl, and fro the myl, and 

 ' selhat thou haue thy measure againe, besides the 

 ' tole or elles the mylner dealeth not truly with 

 ' the, or els thy corne is not dry as it shuld be.' 

 After a variety of other employments, he says, 

 ' leLte thy distatTe be alwaye redy lor a pastyme, 

 ' tliat thou be not ydell. And undoubted a woman 

 ' cannot get her livinge honestly with spinning on 

 ' the distaife, but it stoppeth a gappe and must 

 ' nedes be had.' 



W hat will the ladies of 1817 say to such whole- 

 some advice as the following 1 



' It is a wives occupacion to winow al maner of 

 ' cornes, to make malte, wash and wring, to make 

 ' hey, to shere corne, and in timeofnede,tohelpeher 

 ' husbande to fill the muckle wayneor donge carte, 

 'dryue the ploughe, to lotle hey, corne, and such 

 ' other. It may fortune sometime,' says he, ' y' thou 

 ' shalte have so many thinges to do that thou shalte 

 ' not wel knov/ where is best tobegyn. The take 

 ' hede whych thing should be the greatest losse if it 

 ^ were not done, and in Vvhat space it would be 

 ' done, and then thinke what is the greatest losse, 

 ' and thcr l/Cgin ;' so very anxious was the good 

 man to keep the ladies out of mischief. He next 

 adnionisiies both husband and wife to live within 

 their income, or, as he aptly styles it, ' eate within 

 their tedder ;' and after laying down many excel- 

 lent maxims of domestic economy, he proceeds to 

 state his opinion of the causes of the increased lux- 



