The Office of Cowherd, Swineherd, Shepherd and Dairymaid

The cowherd ought to be skilful, knowing his business and keeping his cows well, and foster the calves well from the time of weaning. And he must see that he has fine bulls and large and of good breed pastured with the cows, to mate when they will. And that no cow be milked or suckle her calf after Michaelmas, to make cheese of remain; for this milking and this remain make the cows lose flesh and become weak, and will make them mate later another year, and the milk is better and the cow poorer. And he ought to see that the avers be well supplied with forage, and well kept in winter and summer, as he shall wish to answer, and that no cow or aver be flayed before his superior has seen it and known by what default it died. And no fire or candle shall be carried into the cowhouse, except in the manner aforesaid.

And every year, from each vaccary, cause the old cows with bad teeth, and the barren, and the draft of young avers that do not grow well to be sorted out that they may be sold in the way aforesaid. And every night the cowherd shall put the cows and other beasts in the fold during the season, and let the fold be well strewn with litter or fern, as is said above, and he himself shall lie each night with his cows.

The swineherd ought to be on those manors where swine can be sustained and kept in the forest, or in woods, or waste, or in marshes, without sustenance from the grange; and if the swine can be kept with little sustenance from the grange during hard frost, then must a pigsty be made in a marsh or wood, where the swine may be night and day. And then when the sows have farrowed, let them be driven with the feeble swine to the manoirs and kept with leavings as long as the hard frost and the bad weather last, and then driven back to the others. And if there is no wood or marsh or waste where the swine may be sustained without being altogether kept on the grange, no swineherd or swine shall be on the manor, except only such as can be kept in August on the stubble and leavings of the grange, and when the corn is threshed for sale, and as soon as they are in good condition and well, let them be sold. For whoever will keep swine for a year from the cost of the grange alone, and count the cost and the allowance for the swine and swineherd, together with the damage they do yearly to the corn, he shall lose twice as much as he shall gain, and this will soon be seen by whoever keeps account.

Each shepherd ought to find good pledges to answer for his doings and for good and faithful service, although he be companion to the miller. And he must cover his fold and enclose it with hurdles and mend it within and without, and repair the hurdles and make them. And he ought to sleep in the fold, he and his dog; and he ought to pasture his sheep well, and keep them in forage, and watch them well, so that they be not killed or destroyed by dogs or stolen or lost or changed, nor let them pasture in moors or dry places or bogs, to get sickness and disease for lack of guard. No shepherd ought to leave his sheep to go to fairs or markets, or wrestling matches, or wakes, or to the tavern, without taking leave or asking it, or without putting a good keeper in his place to keep the sheep, that no harm may arise from his fault.

Let all the lord’s sheep be marked with one mark, and let no ewes be milked after the feast of Our Lady, for they will mate more tardily another year, and the lambs shall be worth less; and let no sheep be flayed before it be seen and known for what fault it died, for if the ewe died before shearing then must the skin be worth a fleece, and if it died after shearing then the shepherd must answer for the lamb and the fleece and the fresh carcass with the skin. And if a wether die before shearing he must answer for a good skin and for the carcass, if it be fresh; and if it be after shearing he must answer for the fleece and for the fresh carcass and the skin and the hog. Let no lamb be given or marked, nor any wool or skin be given, unless before the bailiff. Let good gelded sheep with good wool be with the ewes at the time of mating. Let the ewes and the wethers and the hogs be inspected three times a year by men who know their business, and the draft picked out and sold in the way aforesaid.

The dairymaid ought to be faithful and of good repute, and keep herself clean, and ought to know her business and all that belongs to it, She ought not to allow any under-dairymaid or another to take or carry away milk, or butter, or cream, by which the cheese shall be less and the dairy impoverished. And she ought to know well how to make cheese and salt cheese, and she ought to save and keep the vessels of the dairy, that it need not be necessary to buy new ones every year. And she ought to know the day when she begins to make cheese and of what weight, and when she begins to make two cheeses a day, of how much and of what weight, and then the bailiff and the reeve ought to inspect the dairy often and the cheeses, when they increase and decrease in weight, and that no harm be done in the dairy, nor any robbery by which the weight shall be lessened. And they ought to know and prove and see when the cows make a stone of cheese and butter, and when the ewes make a stone of the same, that they may be able the more surely to answer in the account. No cow shall be milked or suckled after Michaelmas, and no ewe after the feast of Our Lady, for the reason aforesaid.

The dairymaid ought to help to winnow the corn when she can be present, and she ought to take care of the geese and hens and answer for the returns and keep and cover the fire, that no harm arise from lack of guard.