What to do on the farm each month
- Written
- 1580 edition; first printed, as a hundred points, in 1557
- Place
- Cattiwade, Suffolk
- Language
- Early Modern English
- Kind of source
- manual
- Reading time
- 3 minutes
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Intensity
- Low
“Blowe horne for sleapers,” Tusser tells the farmer at harvest, “and chéere vp thy reapers.” Each month of his farming year comes with a list of jobs like this one, packed into short rhyming lines easy to remember while working.
Thomas Tusser (about 1524–1580) was a choirboy at Wallingford and then at St. Paul’s in London, a pupil at Eton, and a student at Cambridge. For about ten years he served William, Lord Paget, at court, probably as a musician. Then he married and took up farming at Cattiwade, in Suffolk, where he wrote A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie (1557). He kept enlarging it, and by 1573 it had become Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie, joined to as many points of housewifery. The edition of 1580, the year he died in London, was the last he saw through the press.
The book follows the farmer’s year from September, because a new tenant usually took over a farm at Michaelmas, at the end of that month. Each month has a “husbandry” in longer four-line verses and, before it, an “abstract” that boils the same advice down to numbered points of two to eight short lines. Each point matches the longer verse with the same number. This page gives 34 points from the abstracts.
Tusser writes from his own farming in Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex, and his advice fits the eastern counties. He knew that customs differed between “champion” country, farmed in large open fields, and “woodland” country of enclosed farms, and he says so. His verses tell a farmer what he should do, not what happened on any one farm. Historians use them, with Fitzherbert’s Book of Husbandry (1523), as a main witness to Tudor farming. Later writers said Tusser never prospered at farming himself, and one account has him die a prisoner for debt. His will, though, shows that he owned two small farms and was owed a large sum by his brother.
Watch who does each job. Maids pick seed, a boy follows the plow, and the wife runs the dairy. Watch also for the moon and the saints’ days. Tusser times his work by both, and England still used the old Julian calendar, so his saints’ days fell about ten days later in the season than the same dates do now.
The edited translation, in simplified modern English. Bracketed words were added for clarity; [...] marks a cut. Tap a note number to read the note. Point at or tap a phrase to see the words as printed behind it. Phrase links checked in a separate review.
September
Have some rye [sown and] green before Michaelmas1 comes.
With sling or bow, keep the grain2 from the crow.
Drive the hive,3 my good dear, for wax and for honey. No driving of a hive till five years are past.
Get the bracken4 home, to brew with and bake, to cover the shed dry overhead, to lie under the cow, to rot under the stack, to serve to burn for many a turn.
October
Maids, little and great, pick the seed wheat clean. Good ground craves choice seed. Thwack the flails lustily, lest the plow lack seed.
Whoever sows in rain has weeds to his pain. But worse shall he fare who sows bad seed.
Coarse grain, much bran; the baker curses it.
November
Put barley to malting;5 lay flitches [sides of bacon] a-salting. Through folly too careless, much bacon goes rancid.
Thresh barley you shall, for the dealer to malt. Otherwise thresh no more than for your own store.
Rid the chimney of soot, from top to the foot.
December
[When it is] no season to hedge, get the beetle [mallet] and wedge. Cleave all the logs now, for kitchen and hall.
House the cow that is old while winter holds.
Help the bees, sweet dear, with water and honey.6
January
My good gardener, make the garden fine. Plant garden peas, and beans if you please. Plant raspberries and roses, young roots of those.
The timely buyer has his firewood cheaper.
February
Sow peas, good girl, when the moon is past full. Then sow fine seeds while the moon grows.7
Boy, follow the plow, and harrow enough. So you shall harrow till all is covered.
March
March dry or wet, go plant the hop8 ground. Young roots well prepared prove always best. Give the hop a great hill to grow at will. Cut the long old roots away from the hop.
For a garden, the best [position] is south-southwest.
Good peas and leeks make soup for servants.
April
Set the hop its pole; make the hole deep.
The man provides the cow; the wife runs the dairy.9
May
Allow five ewes to every cow.10
Watch the bees in May for swarming away. Both now and in June, mark the master bee’s11 tune.
Sow fine basil to grow in a pot. Sow fine seeds now, [as] before you saw how.
June
Wash the sheep to shear them, so that the sheep may go bare.
If the meadow is grown, let the meadow be mown.
Hops favor malt; hops raise prosperity.12 Read more of hops as time shall need.
July
Go, sirs, and away, to ted and make hay. If storms draw near, then cry, “Cock it quickly!”13
Two good haymakers are worth twenty boasters.
Get the dry flax in for spinners to spin. Now mow or pluck your brank or buck [both buckwheat].
August
Blow the horn for sleepers, and cheer up your reapers.
Come home, lord,14 singing; come home, grain bringing. It’s merry in the hall when beards all wag.15
Sell butter and cheese; at good fairs16 few lose. At fairs go buy, to supply what the home wants.
Notes
- The feast of St. Michael and All Angels, September 29. Tusser starts his farming year here, because a new tenant usually took over a farm at Michaelmas. back
- Tusser’s corne means grain of any kind. Here it is the seed just sown, which the longer verse guards against pigeon, rook and crow. back
- To drive the bees out of a hive so that its honey and wax can be taken. back
- Brake: bracken, ferns and brushwood. A commentator of 1710 noted that in Norfolk it was the light fuel used for baking and brewing. back
- Barley was soaked in water and then dried in a kiln to make malt, for brewing ale and beer. back
- Winter food for a hive running short. In the longer verse for December, Tusser sets the water and honey, with rosemary, in a dish full of sticks inside the hive. back
- Tusser follows the common belief that the moon governed growth. In the longer verse he says peas and beans sown in the waning moon “rest and arise” with it. back
- A climbing plant whose flowers are used in brewing beer. Tusser says they make it strong and help it keep. Hops came to eastern England from Flanders around 1500 and were widely grown in Suffolk by Tusser’s time. back
- Making butter and cheese was the housewife’s work. In the longer verse, her dairy season runs from the start of April to St. Andrew’s Day, November 30. back
- Ewes were still milked in Tusser’s day. In the longer verse he promises that five ewes to each cow “shall double thy dairie.” back
- Tusser calls the leader of the hive a master. It is in fact a female, the queen. Before a second swarm leaves, the young queens make a piping sound that can be heard outside the hive. back
- Thrift here means doing well, not saving money. In the longer verse Tusser says hops strengthen the drink, so that well-brewed beer keeps long. back
- To put hay into cocks, small heaps that shed the rain. To ted is to spread new-cut grass out to dry. back
- The harvest lord was the lead reaper, who set the pace for the rest. Tusser advises paying him a penny or two more. back
- An old proverb for a merry feast, where everyone is eating and talking. The 1878 editors trace it to an English poem of the early 1300s. back
- Yearly markets. In the longer verse Tusser names St. Bartholomew’s Day (August 24) and Stourbridge Fair, held each September in a field near Cambridge. back
Gréene rie haue some,
er Mihelmas come.
Have some rye [sown and] green before Michaelmas comes.
- The feast of St. Michael and All Angels, September 29. Tusser starts his farming year here, because a new tenant usually took over a farm at Michaelmas.
With sling or bowe,
kéepe corne from Crowe.
With sling or bow, keep the grain from the crow.
- Tusser’s corne means grain of any kind. Here it is the seed just sown, which the longer verse guards against pigeon, rook and crow.
Driue hiue, good conie,
for waxe and for honie.
No driuing of hiue,
till yéeres past fiue.
Drive the hive, my good dear, for wax and for honey. No driving of a hive till five years are past.
- To drive the bees out of a hive so that its honey and wax can be taken.
Get home with the brake,
to brue with and bake,
To couer the shed
drie ouer the hed,
To lie vnder cow,
to rot vnder mow,
To serue to burne,
for many a turne.
Get the bracken home, to brew with and bake, to cover the shed dry overhead, to lie under the cow, to rot under the stack, to serve to burn for many a turn.
- Brake: bracken, ferns and brushwood. A commentator of 1710 noted that in Norfolk it was the light fuel used for baking and brewing.
Maides little and great,
pick cleane séede wheat.
Good ground doth craue
choice séede to haue.
Flaies lustily thwack,
least plough séede lack.
Maids, little and great, pick the seed wheat clean. Good ground craves choice seed. Thwack the flails lustily, lest the plow lack seed.
Who soweth in raine,
hath wéed to his paine.
But worse shall he spéed,
that soweth ill séed.
Whoever sows in rain has weeds to his pain. But worse shall he fare who sows bad seed.
Grosse corne much bran
the baker doth ban.
Coarse grain, much bran; the baker curses it.
Put barlie to malting,
lay flitches a salting.
Through follie too beastlie
much bacon is reastie.
Put barley to malting; lay flitches [sides of bacon] a-salting. Through folly too careless, much bacon goes rancid.
- Barley was soaked in water and then dried in a kiln to make malt, for brewing ale and beer.
Thresh barlie thou shalt,
for chapman to malt.
Else thresh no more
but for thy store.
Thresh barley you shall, for the dealer to malt. Otherwise thresh no more than for your own store.
Rid chimney of soot,
from top to the foot.
Rid the chimney of soot, from top to the foot.
No season to hedge,
get béetle and wedge.
Cleaue logs now all,
for kitchen and hall.
[When it is] no season to hedge, get the beetle [mallet] and wedge. Cleave all the logs now, for kitchen and hall.
Howse cow that is old,
while winter doth hold.
House the cow that is old while winter holds.
Helpe bées, sweet conie,
with licour and honie.
Help the bees, sweet dear, with water and honey.
- Winter food for a hive running short. In the longer verse for December, Tusser sets the water and honey, with rosemary, in a dish full of sticks inside the hive.
Good gardiner mine,
make garden fine.
Set garden pease,
and beanes if ye please.
Set Respis and Rose,
yoong rootes of those.
My good gardener, make the garden fine. Plant garden peas, and beans if you please. Plant raspberries and roses, young roots of those.
The timelie buier
hath cheaper his fier.
The timely buyer has his firewood cheaper.
Sow pease (good trull)
the Moone past full.
Fine séedes then sowe,
whilst Moone doth growe.
Sow peas, good girl, when the moon is past full. Then sow fine seeds while the moon grows.
- Tusser follows the common belief that the moon governed growth. In the longer verse he says peas and beans sown in the waning moon “rest and arise” with it.
Boy, follow the plough,
and harrow inough.
So harrow ye shall,
till couerd be all.
Boy, follow the plow, and harrow enough. So you shall harrow till all is covered.
March drie or wet,
hop ground go set.
Yoong rootes well drest
prooue euer best.
Grant hop great hill
to growe at will.
From hop long gut
away go cut.
March dry or wet, go plant the hop ground. Young roots well prepared prove always best. Give the hop a great hill to grow at will. Cut the long old roots away from the hop.
- A climbing plant whose flowers are used in brewing beer. Tusser says they make it strong and help it keep. Hops came to eastern England from Flanders around 1500 and were widely grown in Suffolk by Tusser’s time.
For garden best
is south southwest.
For a garden, the best [position] is south-southwest.
Good peason and léekes
makes pottage for créekes.
Good peas and leeks make soup for servants.
Set hop his pole,
make déepe the hole.
Set the hop its pole; make the hole deep.
Man cow prouides,
wife dairie guides.
The man provides the cow; the wife runs the dairy.
- Making butter and cheese was the housewife’s work. In the longer verse, her dairy season runs from the start of April to St. Andrew’s Day, November 30.
Fiue eawes alow,
to euerie cow.
Allow five ewes to every cow.
- Ewes were still milked in Tusser’s day. In the longer verse he promises that five ewes to each cow “shall double thy dairie.”
Watch bées in May,
for swarming away.
Both now and in June,
marke maister bées tune.
Watch the bees in May for swarming away. Both now and in June, mark the master bee’s tune.
- Tusser calls the leader of the hive a master. It is in fact a female, the queen. Before a second swarm leaves, the young queens make a piping sound that can be heard outside the hive.
Fine bazell sowe,
in a pot to growe.
Fine séedes sowe now,
before ye sawe how.
Sow fine basil to grow in a pot. Sow fine seeds now, [as] before you saw how.
Wash shéep for to share,
that shéepe may go bare.
Wash the sheep to shear them, so that the sheep may go bare.
If meadow be growne,
let meadow be mowne.
If the meadow is grown, let the meadow be mown.
Hops fauoreth malt,
hops thrift doth exalt:
Of hops more réede,
as time shall néede.
Hops favor malt; hops raise prosperity. Read more of hops as time shall need.
- Thrift here means doing well, not saving money. In the longer verse Tusser says hops strengthen the drink, so that well-brewed beer keeps long.
Go sirs and away,
to ted and make hay.
If stormes drawes nie,
then cock apace crie.
Go, sirs, and away, to ted and make hay. If storms draw near, then cry, “Cock it quickly!”
- To put hay into cocks, small heaps that shed the rain. To ted is to spread new-cut grass out to dry.
Two good hay makers
woorth twentie crakers.
Two good haymakers are worth twenty boasters.
Drie flax get in,
for spinners to spin.
Now mowe or pluck
thy branke or buck.
Get the dry flax in for spinners to spin. Now mow or pluck your brank or buck [both buckwheat].
Blowe horne for sleapers,
and chéere vp thy reapers.
Blow the horn for sleepers, and cheer up your reapers.
Come home lord singing,
com home corne bringing.
Tis merie in hall,
when beards wag all.
Come home, lord, singing; come home, grain bringing. It’s merry in the hall when beards all wag.
- The harvest lord was the lead reaper, who set the pace for the rest. Tusser advises paying him a penny or two more.
- An old proverb for a merry feast, where everyone is eating and talking. The 1878 editors trace it to an English poem of the early 1300s.
Sell butter and chéese,
good Faires few léese.
At Faires go bie,
home wants to supplie.
Sell butter and cheese; at good fairs few lose. At fairs go buy, to supply what the home wants.
- Yearly markets. In the longer verse Tusser names St. Bartholomew’s Day (August 24) and Stourbridge Fair, held each September in a field near Cambridge.
Page images of the original object or of the printed edition, from the libraries and archives that hold them. The pages shown are copied here where the holder marks them public domain; titles link to the holder's own viewer. Click a page to see it full size.
Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie, ed. W. Payne and S. J. Herrtage (London, 1878)
Internet Archive (University of Toronto, Gerstein Library copy). pp. 31–127 (image numbers n60–n156). Not in copyright, as the Internet Archive record states; published 1878.
The edition our text follows, read against these page images. It reprints the 1580 edition, the last Tusser saw through the press.
New translation from the Early Modern English text of the 1580 edition of Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie, as reprinted by W. Payne and S. J. Herrtage (London, 1878).
34 of the 379 numbered points in the twelve monthly abstracts, about 9 percent. The longer monthly husbandry verses, the “other short remembrances” after some abstracts, and the lists of seeds and herbs are not included. Each point is given whole.
Tusser’s words and word order are kept. Spelling and punctuation are modernized, and “thou” and “thy” become “you” and “your.” Words no longer in use, or whose meaning has changed, are replaced by modern ones, each listed in the unit notes, for example “trull” (girl), “conie” (dear), “crakers” (boasters), “chapman” (dealer) and “share” (shear). “Corne” is given as “grain,” since in American English corn means maize. Where verse puts a word out of its usual place (“Gréene rie haue some”), the order is straightened. Words in brackets are ours, added where a line leaves out a word. The rhymes are mostly lost.
- Original
- Text as printed in the named edition or on the object, read from page images. Edition: Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie: The Edition of 1580 Collated with Those of 1573 and 1577, edited by W. Payne and Sidney J. Herrtage (London: English Dialect Society, Trübner, 1878), pp. 31–127. Digital text: Project Gutenberg eBook 51764, a transcription of this edition, copied by code and read against the page images of Internet Archive item fivehundredpoint08tussuoft (University of Toronto copy). The editors’ footnotes on the readings of 1573 and 1577, their endnotes, and their glossary are not copied. Tusser’s text only, with his own point numbers.
- Editor’s review
- Not yet.
- Specialist review
- Not yet. Readings a specialist should confirm are listed for later review.
- Rights
- Original: public domain. Edition: being checked.
Sources for the notes
- Tusser, Thomas. Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. Edited by W. Payne and Sidney J. Herrtage. London: English Dialect Society, 1878. The text, pp. 31–127; the matching husbandry verses for each kept point; the preface; the “Biographical Sketch of the Author,” pp. xi–xxviii; the endnotes cited in the notes; and the glossary entries cited in the unit notes, with Hallomas (on the calendar). Internet Archive fivehundredpoint08tussuoft; Project Gutenberg 51764.
- Lee, Sidney, ed. Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder, 1899. “Tusser, Thomas,” pp. 379–381. Internet Archive dictionaryofnati57stepuoft.
- Prothero, Rowland E. English Farming Past and Present. London: Longmans, Green, 1912. Chapter 4, “The Reign of Elizabeth,” pp. 90–97 (Fitzherbert and Tusser). Internet Archive englishfarmingpa00ernluoft.
- Skeat, Walter W. An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 3rd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1898. Entries Ban, Flail, Flitch and Malt. Internet Archive etymologicaldict00skea_1.
- Langstroth, L. L. A Practical Treatise on the Hive and Honey-Bee. 3rd ed. New York: C. M. Saxton, Barker, 1860. Pp. 31 and 121–122 (the queen; piping before a swarm). Internet Archive practicaltreatis00languoft.