Now! Then!

Entries for 1641

There is material for April, May, June, July, August, September, November, December 1641:

1 April 1641: Henry Best of Elmswell (Driffield) weighs his wool for a purchaser from Beverley
1 April 1641: Tips on bringing ewes and lambs to market in the East Riding today, Easter Monday
25 April 1641: The mole-hunting season begins in the Yorkshire Wolds
3 May 1641: On the day of the discovery of the True Cross, Driffield folk start moving their livestock out of town to high summer pasture, endangering crops
9 May 1641: Sheepwashing preparatory to shearing at Elmswell (Driffield)
11 May 1641: William Simpson of Little Driffield takes a break from threshing to shear Henry Best’s sheep at Elmswell
21 May 1641: Six corn-wains from villages east of Driffield pass slowly through Elmswell on their way to Malton
6 June 1641: Under a waning gibbous moon, armed with a penknife and sticky-willy unguent, a shepherd castrates Henry Best’s lambs at Elmswell (Driffield)
7 July 1641: Henry Best of Elmswell (Driffield) starts haymaking
19 August 1641: Henry Best of Elmswell (Driffield) begins to harvest mixed grain, and gleaners wait in the wings
16 September 1641: Henry Best of Elmswell (Driffield) begins to harvest peas, and describes the technique required
4 November 1641: Henry Best of Elmswell (Driffield) boils tar and pitch to mark his sheep
5 November 1641: Henry Best of Elmswell (Driffield) lays his wagons up for the winter
11 November 1641: At Martinmas, Henry Best starts cutting willow at Elmswell (Driffield) to make farm implements
18 November 1641: How Henry Best of Elmswell (Wolds) got his straw into optimal condition for the arrival today of the thatcher
22 November 1641: Snow falls at Elmswell (Driffield), and sheep farmers jostle for low ground and feed
12 December 1641: John Sugden causes panic in Bradford and Pudsey with news of the imminent advent of genocidal Irish Catholics