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A
MEDIEVAL YEAR IN ENGLAND:
OCTOBER
Whatever it cost thee, whatever thou give,
Have done sowing wheat before halowmas eve.
T. TUSSER |
The advice is
sound, for this is the end of autumn. Plowing the fallow and
harvested fields began around Michaelmas at the end of September, as
soon as they were cleared. The plowing and sowing of the
winter crop of wheat and rye will go on as long as may be, hoping to
make an earlier crop come spring. But plowing and planting
should all be finished by Hallowmas at the month’s end, or surely no
later than Martinmas, i.e. before mid-November, supposing the weather
holds good for that long. But it’s an ill
wind that blows no one good and October good blast,
To blow the hog mast |
is a wish for strong winds to blow beech nuts and acorns down from
their trees, “mast” being the nuts and any other autumn fodder to be
found in woodlands by the swine kept there by the swineherd from
harvest’s end to the first snowfall. Alas for the swine, they
are far to expensive to keep over the winter and so are well-fattened
on mast until cold weather sets in. Then they are killed and
salted as ham and bacon, except for a sow kept so her spring litter can
provide “sucking pig” come the end of Lent. Four pigs of
about 280 lbs. each given enough ham for an average farm family, and
their soft meats – the liver and kidneys and sweetbreads – make good
eating now, while their blood goes into black puddings and all the rest
into winter stores. Now, with the first frosts in the ground, is the time for carting the
winter’s timber to be stored in ricks for fuel. At the end of
plowing the cattle are stalled for the winter. The danger of
bracken-poisoning for cattle and horses ends, and at mid-month, in
Yorkshire at least, the horses that have been summered on the moors are
brought down from the hills. The autumn fairs go on, particularly ewe and tup sales for shepherds,
and hiring fairs for those who lost their place at Michaelmas quarter
day and are looking for new work for the winter. For hunters, the roe and hare are in season (from September).
Hawking is popular this last month of autumn, and bird-netting goes on
and will until Lady Day near the end of March. It’s said that if in the fall of leaves in October, many leaves wither
and hang on the bough, it betokens a frosty winter and much
snow. But then again: If ducks do slide at Hallowmastide
At Christmas they will swim. |
Hallowmas - All Hallows Eve - Halloween is October 31, the eve and
vigil of All Saints Day - All Hallows Day, a fast day in the Church in
preparation for the feasts of the dead on All Saints and All Souls Days
at the beginning of November. Common belief is that ghosts
and powers of evil are abroad this night. Many people burn
bonfires and parade around the fields with torches and old rhymes and
chants against the evil. There is begging from door to door
for soul-cakes to feed the wandering spirits of the dead roaming the
earth tonight, and games of fortune-telling and divination are supposed
to be particularly effective now. In some places the night is
known as Nutcracker Night because cracking and eating nuts are among
its traditions. London in 1416 made it the law that all better-class householders must
hang a lighted lantern with a fresh whole candle in it outside their
house each night form Allhallows evening to Candlemas Day (from
October’s end to early February). The year has made the long turn into winter by the time the month ends,
with harvest and planting done, for good or ill, depending on how they
went. Winter’s work and waiting lie ahead. 
October 1439
- Margaret
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