"Cold showery weather. Sold to John Martedale a fat cow for £6" 20 Feb 1761
The Farming Year: February 1761
Commentary:
February was a month for indoor work, when Isaac Fletcher’s focus was often on his legal and business activities. When the weather allowed, outdoor tasks could be undertaken in preparation for the coming year: hedging; clearing water courses; burning lime to spread on the fields.
In 1761, the year from which the extracts below are taken, February was a cold, wet month. Mundane legal work (writing wills, leases etc) occupied much of Fletcher’s time. The ‘window lists’ he refers to were the schedules for collecting the Window Tax, a duty based on the number of windows a house had. The barley and cheese taken from him at the beginning of the month were goods distrained for non-payment of tithes, which, as a Quaker, he refused to pay. As well as worshipping at the meeting at Pardshaw Hall each Sunday, Fletcher also attended the Quaker meetings for church affairs: the ‘Preparative meeting’ of the congregation at Pardshaw Hall, and the monthly meeting of Quaker congregations in the Cockermouth area, held the following Tuesday. The main outdoor activity at Underwood was re-stocking the garden, for which Fletcher laid out considerable expense.
Fletcher’s ‘man’ at this time was William Scott, his farm servant from November 1759 to April 1761. The identity of the ‘gardener’ is not known. William Lawson, employed to clear out a ‘beck race’, was a drainer and hedger living in Dean, who did work for Fletcher over several years.
The £6 that Fletcher got for his cow was the equivalent to about 60 days pay for a skilled working man - and was probably more or less an average price for a cow at that date.
Diary
Sun 1st February 1761. So ill could not go to the Meeting. I am to return the window lists with the names of the assessors & collectors from Michaelmas to Lady Day on 7th February to Egremont. Taken from me by John Carlisle, warden, & Isaac Johnson, assistant: barley 3 bushels value 16s 6d; 1 cheese: 1s [Total]: £0 17s 6d.
Mon 2nd. Unwell. Nothing remarkable. Moderate weather; mercury 30.5.
Tue 3rd. About the gardens. Planted the wallnuts & chesnuts. A warm sunshine day.
Wed 4th. Planting out the flowering shrubs & trenching in low garden. Drew two window lists: 25 houses; sum £1 17s 6d. Assessors: John Fawcett, John Carlisle. Collectors: William Allason & self. Sent them to Lawrence Harrison inclosed in a letter to be sent to Egremont on 7th day to be allowed by Comissioners.
Thu 5th. Gardener planting the beans. Fine weather. Man at Whitehaven.
Fri 6th. Sent to Cockermouth for the strawberry plants sent there by T. Fleming. Lancelot Wilson here about some alterations in his will. Drew the same over again & wrote a lease between Jane Head, William Calvert & self to Jonathan & William Scott of part of Brandlingill land & Cleaty Bank. Yearly rent 36£; term 3 years from the 25th March next.
Sat 7th. Planted all the strawberries & finished the banks. Cold day; some showers.
Sun 8th. At Meeting. Very cold & great showers of snow.
Mon 9th. Went with wife to Cockermouth. Sent gardener to Papcastle for strawberry plants. Bought of William Tate 3 lime trees @ 3d (9d); 100 thorns (1s 6d); 26 July flowers @ 1½d (3s); 13 auriculas @ 1½d (1s 6d); 6 double pinks (2d); seeds &c. (5d). Cold showery day.
Tue 10th. Gardener planted the strawberries & finished the same. At William Steel's taking instructions for will making. Cold day; snow showers.
Wed 11th. Drew William Steel's will which was long & great variety of cases. A very cold frosty day.
Thu 12th. At Meeting. Finished & executed William Steel's will. A thick snow in the afternoon.
Fri 13th. Wrote a lease between John Watson & John Norman, yearly rent £18 for land & sheep. A rainy day; snow gone.
Sun 15th. Was at the Meeting. Preparative Meeting after. Stormy.
Mon 16th. Went to Cockermouth. With sundries about business. Heavy showers.
Tue 17th. Was at the Monthly Meeting. A fine day.
Wed 18th. Last night executed Brandlingill lease. Making the barley ready for malt. A cold day.
Fri 20th. Cold showery weather. Sold to John Martedale a fat cow for £6; to return him again 2s 6d. To carry her this day week to Bridgefoot.
Sat 21st. At [Cockermouth]. In the warehouse. To go through the books as soon as I can. Very great showers of rain.
Sun 22nd. At Meeting. Sent man to hire a maid servant. Still wet unsettled weather.
Mon 23rd. Went to Cockermouth. Snow & rain.
Tue 24th. At home. William Lawson here about casting the beck race for James Porter & self.
Wed 25th. W. Lawson begun for me this day in the beck. Moist weather with frequent showers.
Thu 26th. Wrote Lancelot Wilson's will over again with some alterations. A hard gale of wind from the SSW & rain.
Fri 27th. About the beck race this day. Wet in the forenoon; moderate after.
Sat 28th. A very wet day. William Lawson threshing.
Extracts from The Diary of Isaac Fletcher of Underwood, Cumberland, 1756-1781, edited by Angus J L Winchester (Kendal, 1994).
