RURAL EC0N03IY IN YORKSHIRE IN 1641. 43 



mowe ; and, againe, if it bee att such a time when wee have 

 others iniployed aboute mowinge ; otherwise wee shoulde doe 

 them an injury, if wee shoulde take them from theire company, 

 and not make them equall to those in wages whome they can 

 equaUize in worke. 



Those that binde and stooke are likewise to have 8d. a day ; 

 for bindinge and stookinge of winter-corne is a man's labour, 

 and requireth as much and rather [more] ability and toyle then 

 the other. Shearers tooles are onely sides, unlesse the landes 

 bee infeckted with thistles, and then both shearers and binders 

 have neede to bee armed wdth gloves. A good shearer'* will 

 sheare (constantly) 10 stookes of winter-corne in a day ; yett 8 

 stookes (a peece) is as much as yow can well expeckt from or- 

 dinary shearers ; allthough (on the other side) I have oftentimes 

 heard of five shearers whoe have in one day shome fower-score 

 stookes. It is usuall for one man to binde and stooke after 6 

 or 8 shearers, and sometimes after 10, and I have kno"\vne the 

 man that hath bomide and stooked constantly after 13 shearers. 

 I have knowne a dozen ordinary shearers sheare fower landes in 

 a day, in the Demaine flatte that lyeth (in the Middle Fielde) 

 betwixt Keldy-gate and the SpeUowe-heads ; for in fower dayes 

 the said dozen shearers finished the saide flatte, and there is in 

 it 14 through landes and two gares ; one halfe of the said flatte 

 beinge (that yeare) sowne with massledine and the other with 

 cleane wheate. There was on this flatte 80 stookes on a lande, 

 one with another ; the best sort of sides are ocl. a peece, the 

 ordinary sorte are 3c7. a peece ; and in choosinge of a side, yow 

 are to holde them against the light, and are to see that they bee 

 well toothed ; and if soe bee they wante noe teeth, yow neede 

 not care howe small the teeth bee : yow are hkewise to minde 

 that they bee large, and weU casten ; and then for sharpinge 

 and grindinge of them, yow are neaver to grinde them on that 

 side the teeth are cutte on, but allwayes on the smooth side. 

 Wee aUowe the wives and children of those that worke with us 

 to gleane, soe longe as wee are shearinge, and on the landes with 

 them ; but soe soone as shearinge is done, and wee fall to mow- 

 inge, wee suffer them to gleane noe more till such time as aU 

 bee ledde ; whearefore om- manner is, soe soone as aU is shome, 

 to hire two to trayle the sweathrake, and gather that togeather 

 to the stooke-sides which was scattered in shearinge. Wee 

 neaver suffer any such to gleane as wee finde able, and unwil- 



* The country people still firmly believe, that unless the shearer cuts himself the 

 first time he handles the sickle, he will never be expert at that implement. It is 

 perhaps unnecessary to remark that the word shearers is never applied in the Xorth 

 to sheep-shearers. They are " clippers." 



