The English Peasantry and the Enclosure of Common FieldsSlater, Gilbert
History
The English Peasantry and the Enclosure of Common Fields
Slater, Gilbert
Agriculture -- England; Inclosures; Peasants -- England; Village communities -- Great Britain
During the early summer the herds are put at night into enclosures,
according to the species, and two tenants, chosen in rotation, keep
watch to prevent them from straying over the open fields. If they
escape, the watchmen are fined and have to make any damage good, but
the fines, and the amount assessed for damages, both go into the common
fund.
Early in June, the tillage being finished, the people go to the hill
grazing with their flocks. The scene is vividly described by Mr.
Carmichael, the general excitement, the men shouting directions, the
women knitting and chatting, the children scampering about. Sheep lead
the procession, cattle come next, the younger ones preceding the older,
the horses follow. Implements and materials are carried to repair the
summer huts. When the grazing ground is reached the huts are repaired,
fires lit, and food cooked. The people bring forward their stock into
an enclosure, and the constable and another man stand at the gate of
the enclosure and count each man’s stock separately to see that he has
brought only his proper souming. Then the cattle are turned out to
graze, and the “Shealing Feast” is celebrated by the singing of hymns
and the eating of cheese. The summer huts are of a beehive shape, and
are sometimes constructed of stone, and sometimes of turf and frail
materials.[85]
[85] The ruins of beehive huts all over Dartmoor, and of enclosures
like Grimspound, are conceivably evidence of similar customs in
Devonshire. Now, however, the care of the cattle pastured on Dartmoor
by the occupiers of adjacent farms, is a distinct occupation. Those
who follow it are called “Moor-men.”
Each tenant under the run-rig system is responsible for his own rent
only. Formerly the rent was paid partly in money, partly in meal,
partly in butter and cheese, and partly in cattle.
The common functionaries, the shepherd, cattleherd and marchkeeper,
are paid by their co-tenants for their services in seaweed, land and
grazing. The business of the marchkeeper is to watch the open marches
of the townland and prevent trespass. He may also have the duty of
watching the shore to see when the seaweed is cast upon it. Then he
erects a pole with a bunch of seaweed at the end, and the people
come down to the shore to collect the weed for manure. No tenant is
permitted to take seaweed till his neighbours arrive, unless the custom
prevails of collecting the weed in common, dividing it into shares and
casting lots.
When required by the proprietor or the people, the constable convenes a
meeting of the inhabitants. At such meetings the questions in dispute
are settled, after full discussion, by votes; lots are drawn if the
votes are equal.
“The closer the run-rig system is followed, the more are the unwritten
customs and regulations observed. The more intelligent tenants regret a
departure from them....
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