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The Village Labourer

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Sharron

Sharron Report 28 Jan 2020 19:30

Most of us have them in our trees and I expect a tidy few of us have read the book but I was delighted to find it free on-line

It is on Internet Archive

Allan

Allan Report 28 Jan 2020 21:03

I've got quit a few Village Idiots in my tree, and I'm proud to be carrying on the tradition

Sharron

Sharron Report 28 Jan 2020 21:11

I am village idiot too.

RolloTheRed

RolloTheRed Report 29 Jan 2020 15:53

You'll enjoy this then.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47350/piers-plowman-the-prologue

Sharron

Sharron Report 29 Jan 2020 16:30

No I won't.

maggiewinchester

maggiewinchester Report 29 Jan 2020 20:05

Sharron, I got as far as the contents, then started researching the 1795 food riots! Seeing who was living then, where they were living, and what job they had.

The Suffolk lot were definitely ag labs, though they were also market gardeners, and went into engineering when mechanized agricultural machinery came to pass.

I was an ag lab for a while, even lived in a tied cottage.
We tended to sing songs, rather than quote from books, as we worked.
I'm sure that's what ag labs did in the past, too.

Sharron

Sharron Report 29 Jan 2020 21:25

I think, with the dearth of education at the time, that there was a thirst for ideas and learning.

This was at a time when there was the beginning of capitalism and enclosure. It was a time of great change.

A bit later but the WH Hudson 'Shepherds Life' is a good read and pretty relevant .