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Medieval to 16th century | 17th - 19th century | Garden Restoration | The Nonsuch Restoration Project

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Thomas Tusser's List of Husbandly Furniture
(or Tools and Equipment) for the Farmyard

 


Barn locked, gose ladder, shortpitchforke and long
flail, straw-fork and rake, with a fan that is strong;
Wing, cartnave and bushel, peck, strike ready hand,
get casting sholve, broom and a sack with a band.

A stable well planked, with key and a lock,
wlls strongly well lined, to bear off a knock:
A rack and a manger, good litter and hay,
sweet chaff and some provender every day.

A pitchfork, a dungfork, seive, skip and bin,
A broom and a pail to put water therein:
A handbarrow, wheelbarrow, shovel and a spade,
a curry comb, manecomb and a whip for a Jade.

A buttrice (a farrier's tool) and pincers, a hammer and nail,
an apron and scissors for head and for tail:
Whole bridle and saddle, whit leather and nall,
with collars and harness, for thiller (the shaft-horse) and all.

A panel and wantey (rope or leather girdle), packsaddle and ped (a pannier),
a line to fetch litter, and halters for head.
With crotchis (crooks and hooks) and pins, to hang trinkets theron,
and stable fast chained, that nothing be gone.

Strong exeltred cart (a cart with an axle-tree), that is clouted and shod,
cart ladder and wimble (auger), with percer (a piercer) and pod (box hung on cart to hold implements):
Wheel ladder for harvest, light pitchfork and tough,
shave (spokeshave), whiplash well knotted, and cart-rope enough.

Ten sacks, whereof every one holdesth a coome (half a quarter),
a pulling hook handsome, for bushes and broom:
Light timbrel and dung crone (staff with hoooked end), for easing sir wag,
shovel, pickaxe, and mattock, with bottle and bag.

A grintsone, a whetstone, a hatchet and bill,
with hammer and English nail, sorted with skill:
A frower of iron (a frow, for splitting laths), for cleaving of lath,
with rule for a sawpit, good husbandry hath.

A short saw and long saw, to cut a too logs,
An axe and an adze, to make trough for thy hogs:
A dovercourt beetle (wooden mallet, studded with nails), and wedges with steele,

strong lever to raise up the block from the wheel.

Two ploughs and a plough chain, two coulters, two shares,
with ground clouts and side clouts for soil that so tares:
With ox bows and ox-yokes, and other things mo (more),

for ox-team and horse-team, in plough for to go.

A plough beetle, ploughstaff, to further the plough,
great sod to asunder that breaketh so rough;
a shed for plough, and another for blocks,
for chimney in winter, to burn up their docks.

Sedge collars for ploughhorse, for lightness of neck,
Good seed and good sower, and also seed peck:
Strong oxen and horses, well shod and well clad,
Well meated and used, for making thee sad.

A barlie rake toothed, with iron and steel,
like pair of harrows, and roller doth well:
A sling for a mother, a bow for a boy,
a whip for a carter, is hoigh de la roy.

A brush scythe and grass scythe, with rifle (bent stick on the butt of a scythe-handle) to stand,
a cradle for barley, with rubstone and sand:
Sharp sickle and weeding hook, hay fork and rake,
a meake for the peas (hook at end of five foot handle), and to swing up the brake.

Short rakes for to gather up barley to bind,
and greater to rake up such leavings behind:
A rake for to hale up the fitchis (tares, vetches) that lie,

a pike for to pike them up handsome to dry.

A shuttle or Skein, to rid soil from the corn,
and shearing sheaves ready for sheep to be shorn:
A fork and a hook, to be tampring in clay,
A lathe hammer, trowel, a hood or a tray.

Strong yoke for a hog, with a twitcher and rings,
with tar in a tarpot, for dangerous things:

A sheep mark, a tar kettle, little or much,
two pottles of tar to a pottle of pitch. (pottle = two quarts)

Long ladder to hang all along by the wall,
to reach for a need to the top of thy hall:
Beam, scales, with the weights, that be sealed and true,
sharp moulespare (mole-spear) with barbs, that the moles do so rue.

Sharp cutting spade, for the dividing of mow,
with skuppat (spade to dig ditches) and skavel (ditch spade of a differing shape and use), that marsh men allow:
A sickle to cut with, a didall (triangular spade) and crome (dung rake with very long handle)
for draining of ditches, that nois thee at home.

A clavestock (chopper to split wood) and rabetstock (a rabbet-plane, a joiner's tool), carpenters crave,
and seasoned timber, to pinwood to have:
A Jack for to saw upon fuel for fire,
for sparing of firewood, and sticks from the mier.

Soles, fetters, and shackles, with horselock and pad,
a cow house for winter, so meete to be had:
A sty for a boar, and a hogscote for hog,
a roost for thy hens, and a couch for thy dog.


 


Please also visit Old London Maps on the web as many of the maps
and views available there have plans and depictions of gardens from
the medieval period through to the late nineteenth century.

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