>tithes generally consisted of sheaves of corn and and hay, presumably meadow >land was managed in some way. An open unenclosed field would not have been >practical. Locally, the lot system was operated. When the meadow was ready for cutting, little lads were handed markers, and ran through the field flattening a small trackway. The tenant then mowed exclusively between his marker and the next man's/ Open to corruption I would say, if you bribed your marker-lad to run at an angle or moved over a foot or two at the start. Still, a clout round the ear with a scythe or sharpening stone would deal with that. > Do you think the nursery rhyme of "Little Boy Blue" would have >been making reference to ways of dealing with the problem of keeping cattle >in the "right" places in this system? Lads did have to monitor the cattle feeding on their commons and waste grazing was generally well away from the hay meadows. There was trouble if you cattle got into any field where they were not supposed to be - but if they had meanwhile had a good tuck in, could be worth it. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society

Thank you Eve. However, I would like to know if there is evidence of the meadows being enclosed in some way to stop cattle from getting on to the part of land that was growing winter fodder, i.e. hay. If there was no enclosure at all, what was to stop them walking onto the grass and grazing it, just as they would on the common grazing land. You could send a boy or two to keep a handful of animals in the right place but even then it would not be an easy task without some form of fencing, hedges and/or ditches. If you have ever tried to herd sheep and take them to another field without using dogs, then you will know how hard it is. I remember trying to do this with three adults and four or five children. It was very nearly impossible and this was in enclosed fields, albeit fairly large ones. One Little Boy Blue alone would have been useless. Perhaps the horn was his early warning system to call out the whole village. Audrey ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eve McLaughlin" <eve@varneys.demon.co.uk> To: "norman.lee1" <norman.lee1@virgin.net> Cc: <OLD-ENGLISH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 1:17 AM Subject: Re: [OEL] Common vs Open > > >tithes generally consisted of sheaves of corn and and hay, presumably meadow > >land was managed in some way. An open unenclosed field would not have been > >practical. > Locally, the lot system was operated. When the meadow was ready for > cutting, little lads were handed markers, and ran through the field > flattening a small trackway. The tenant then mowed exclusively between > his marker and the next man's/ Open to corruption I would say, if you > bribed your marker-lad to run at an angle or moved over a foot or two at > the start. Still, a clout round the ear with a scythe or sharpening > stone would deal with that. > > Do you think the nursery rhyme of "Little Boy Blue" would have > >been making reference to ways of dealing with the problem of keeping cattle > >in the "right" places in this system? > Lads did have to monitor the cattle feeding on their commons and waste > grazing was generally well away from the hay meadows. There was trouble > if you cattle got into any field where they were not supposed to be - > but if they had meanwhile had a good tuck in, could be worth it. > > -- > Eve McLaughlin > > Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians > Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society >