rural economy in yorkshire in 1641. 9 



For Sellinge of Sheepe. 

 The best way to make sheepe goe of in a markett is to en- 

 deavour, by all meanes possible, to make them shewe well ; to 

 etfeckt which, three helpes to bee used. 



1. To cutt of all the shaggie hairy woll which standeth 

 stricklinge up ; by which meanes they make them seeme more 

 snodde, and of a better stapple ; this the shepheardes call 

 forcinge of them, and cuttinge of kempe-haires. 



2. To have a care that they bee not too neare-stoned, or eare- 

 marked ; which is a meanes to make them shewe better in a 

 markett. Others allsoe will deferre the geldinge of their wea- 

 ther lambes very longe, on pm'pose that their homes may 

 growe the bigger, thinkinge it a goode helpe to make their 

 weathers shewe well in a markett or faire. 



3. To take the sheepe (which hee intendeth to sell) aboute a 

 moneth or five weekes before the day come, and putt them into 

 a goode pasture, if hee bee soe pro\dded ; and then, when the 

 day Cometh, to take them out and carry them both faire and 

 full to the markett, that they may appeare to the buyer goode 

 and well likinge sheepe. 



The best time of yeare for puttinge of ewes and lambes is 

 Easter Munday, or some other faires and marketts aboute this 

 time ; ewes and lambes goe indifferently well of aboute Whit- 

 suntide alsoe, but as for the marketts for ewes and lambes they 

 prove quicker and dearer accordingly as Holdemesse men 

 come in, or as other men havinge had much losse by the rotte, 

 are forced to renewe : as for theii' prises they vary, and are 

 thereafter as the sheepe are in goodnesse : some perhapps for 

 7s., 8s., or 9s. a couple ; others againe about 61., or twenty no- 

 bles a score. A good gimmer shearinge goiage geld, will (about 

 Whitsuntide; give as much as an ordinary ewe with a lambe a,tt 

 her heeles. The onely time for puttinge of fatte weathers is 

 aboute Easter and Crosse days,* i. e. against Beverley faire, att 



* Cross days or Cross week. — A set time at \vliich the bounclai-ies of the parish 

 were perambulated by the authorities. This perambulation in old times was made 

 in the form of a procession headed by priests and crosses — hence the name, cross 

 days. The day on which it was and is still frequently made is Holy Thursday. 



" Payd the xxij. daj- (of Mail) to the prestis of Rickall for going in procession to 

 "WeelhaU in Crosseiceeike, as assis accustomed, ij«." — [Comp. Rad. Dalton, cler, 

 operum for Howdenshii-e, 36-37 Henry YIII.] 



" Ralpli Walker had xx. ewes and xx. lambes fedeing and goeing in Shawebrowe 

 from ilayday untill Crossiccih." Another witness says " He thinketh Walker toke 

 them from thence at Crosse daies." — [Eccl. Proc. at Durham in a suit from St. He- 

 len's Auckland in 1586.] 



These perambulations were prescribed by the ordinary, and if the parish autho- 

 rities omitted to make them they were presented at the next Visitation. 



" Perambulation to be used by the people for \'iewing the bounds of their parishes, 

 in the days of the Rogation, commonh called Cross -week or gang-days. That the 



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