Here's another take on the fascinating "hind" discussion: I think you will find that, in Northumberland at least, the term hind was more of a description of the worker's status and terms of employment on a farm, rather than their actual duties. They were general agricultural workers, but in the farm pecking order (sorry!) they were on a slightly higher scale than, say, a simple ploughman,a herdsman or a shepherd. They generallly lived in "tied" cottages, meaning their accomodation went with the job-no job, no house. They were employed for one year at a time but were free to change employers, farms and districts when the contract expired. Some stayed with the same farms for their entire lifetimes, others moved about constantly. The date 12 May was significant in this regard, for this was considered the beginning and end of the farming year, the date on which the hind might be shifting elsewhere, or a contract renewed. In the north of England when I was a child in the 1930s this was called the "flitting", from the words "to take flight." Everything the family owned was piled on a cart, sometimes horse-drawn, and shifted overnight to a new location. The hind was usually provided with a free cottage, of varying quality, fuel for the fire, some vegetables such as potatoes or turnips, corn to make bread and a basic wage. They were also allowed to keep a cow and were provided with hay and grazing for the animal. In earlier times, the hinds were required to provide a bondager (usally a woman)to help at peak times and extra wages were provided to cover this. The bondager in most cases was the hind's wife, daughter or relative. I recall seeing bondagers at work around Haltwhistle and down the Tyne Valley. Most of them wore broad-brimmed hats tied down with scarves, aprons over woollen skirts, black stockings and big, hob-nailed leather boots. The ones I knew personally were fearsome folk who could swear like troopers, take on the hardest job going, but still offer a kind word and good advice. The much-treasured land girls, who came later, were, of course,an entirely different species. Alan Fletcher Hill, Hamilton,NZ

Further to all the recent comment re hinds. My stepfather was 'The Hind' on a large farm in North Northumberland from approx 1940-1960s. To all intents and purposes, he was the farm manager, being in charge of a herd of several hundred Friesian cattle for milking purposes and a very large area covering several farms which grew potatoes, sugar beet, oats and barley, and at one time would have been in charge of about 20 men, women and boys. He originally had a tied-cottage, but eventually bought his own house (with money obtained from selling his father's house upon his death). His first wife did help out on the farm when needed, but mainly looking after/feeding the chickens and helping out in the main farm house (a sort of unpaid servant or slave really). After approx 40 years with the same employer, he retired and got nothing, no gold-watch, no pension, nothing... Regards, Mike Simpson Penrith, NSW, Australia