My line goes back to yeoman farmers in North Durham, along the borders, coincidently with the name YEOMAN. I have no real knowledge of the C18th goings-on in the area but they were devout non-conformists and attended church in Berwick, so must have travelled extensively in their social circle. If you are interested, I suggest that you start reading Thomas Hardy's novels which, although based in Dorset, give a fantastic picture of rural life in the C19th; surely not too different from the preceding years. From these, you will see the ritual of the hiring fairs and quarter day celebrations that were the country calendar. They had a lot more opportunities than we imagine and walking 6 "country miles" was a common occurrence. You can spot the calendar from the marriages, often on or around the quarter days. I live close to Weyhill Fair, which Hardy references as "Waydon" in The Mayor of Casterbridge. It was the oldest hiring fair in the country and many of the buildings are still there. John LOVE > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Mon, 2 Mar 2009 17:26:22 -0000 > From: "Russ Hogg" <[email protected]> > Subject: [DUR-NBL] Rothbury 1740 to 1800 > To: <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hello, > > I've been researching my HOGG ancestry recently, and my question is more historical > than genealogical, but I think that it falls within the guidelines for the list. > > This part of the HOGG family, and related families, lived in the Rothbury, Longframlington, > and Netherwitton areas in 1740 to 1800. They were mentioned in parish records as living at > Hope, Woodhead, Ritton White House, Hazon High House and other places. These appear to > be farms, and are remote from other settlements. > > I would imagine that farming in such a period would be a laborious, dawn-to-dusk business, > so there would not be much time available for socialising. > > All of the settlements are reasonably distant from one another, perhaps 3 to 6 miles, so how > did prospective partners meet? Once a week at market? How did they manage to visit each > other? My thinking is that an ordinary farm worker would not have been able to afford a horse, > but could they have borrowed a farm horse? > > Could marriages have been arranged, or semi-arranged, by parents? > > Regards, > > Russ Hogg > >