Thu 7th. This day got all the Croft oats cutt: about 150 shocks. Extraordinary fine corn & lost but little in the shake.
The Farming Year: October: Commentary
The following extracts come from the earliest surviving volume of Fletcher's diary, for 1756. At that time he was particularly careful to note the weather and to include a reading from the barometer he had bought earlier in the year. It was a wild and wet October in 1756, with a late harvest of oats. The violent storm which swept in on the 7th caused major destruction in Scotland and a storm surge up the Solway Firth; this year’s harvest was one of the worst in the mid-18th century.
Much of Fletcher’s time in October 1756 was taken up with overseeing building work, not only at Underwood but also at Mossergate, a property he had inherited from his father, which was farmed by a tenant. John Usher, who was ‘mending the houses’, was a waller and slater who lived at Pardshaw Hall. The ‘Ewcrag’ slate which Fletcher acquired at Loweswater would have come from the Yewcrag quarries on Honister.
The ‘Mozer free rent’ which Fletcher took to Egremont was the sum paid annually from Mosser township to the lords of Egremont barony. When the tenants in Mosser bought the freehold of their farms in 1625, the free rent of 13s. 4d. was apportioned between them and continued to be collected and paid at Egremont each year. Why the township paid 16s. 2d., rather than 13s. 4d., in 1756 is not clear.
Diary
Sat 2nd October 1756. Employed in the garden & about the corn. Had the taylors & very heavy rain in the afternoon. Wind about SW. Mercury 28.9.
Sun 3rd. At the Meeting in the morning. Stormy weather & blew very hard from SSW. Mercury 28.7.
Wed 6th. Sheering the Croft oats. Cold showry weather; wind about west. Got a cart load into the house.
Thu 7th. This morning from 12 until 4 had a violent storm of wind from the west. It tore up abundance of large trees by the roots, uncovered many houses, & did abundance of damage all over the country. Mercury 28.5. This day got all the Croft oats cutt: about 150 shocks. Extraordinary fine corn & lost but little in the shake. Many has suffered much that way last night.
Fri 8th. Yesterday had it blowing pretty strong from about NW with frequent showers of hail & rain. Was righting the corn for there was not one shock standing in all the neighbourhood. Got about 5 cart load. Pretty moderate all this day; cold northerly wind. 29.15.
Sat 9th. Went to Mossergate & got the great doors hung. Afternoon unroofed old backhouse. Very wet weather & a great wind from south. Mercury 28.9.
Sun 10th. At Meeting in the morning. Got home about 2 p.m. Nothing remarkable. Cloudy weather but pretty moderate with some rain. Wind SSW. 28.8.
Mon 11th. At Cockermouth. Very wet weather. 28.6.
Wed 13th. Had John Usher junior mending the houses. Very cold weather & a strong west wind with showers of rain. Corn continueth very wet; some to shear. 28.5.
Thu 14th. Should have had eight carts for slate this day, but the weather was so very wet that they referred it until tomorrow. A great flood in the afternoon; wind south. 28.3.
Fri 15th. Got 8 cart load of slate this day from Watson & Grundel. Showry weather but pretty warm & moderate; wind about south. 28.4.
Sat 16th. Moderate weather with some showers of rain; wind east. 28.7. This day got all the oats shorn. Quantity in the Croft: 150; Bank: 70. In all about 220 shocks oats.
Mon 18th. Went to Egermont this morning to the court. Paid John Benson for Joseph Fawcett Mozer free rent 16s 2d. Wet showry weather in the morning; pretty fair after. Wind easterly. 28.8.
Tue 19th. Attended the Monthly Meeting in the forenoon. Got in two cart loads of oats in the afternoon.
Wed 20th. Had wrights, a waller & slaters at work. Wet weather in the forenoon; after pretty fair. Wind southerly. 28.9.
Thu 21st. Had wrights & slaiters. Was this day employ among the corn. Got all the corn housed.
Fri 22nd. This day caryed from home to Mossergate 8 cart loads of old slate. Moderate weather; wind easterly. 29.1.
Sat 23rd. Got two cart loads of Ewcrag slate from Church Stile in Loweswater. At Mossergate about slaters &c. Fine weather; wind ditto. 29.4.
Tue 26th. Had 3 slaters & a wright at Mossergate: mostly there attending them. A strong east wind; cloudy & very cold. 29.4.
Wed 27th. Had two slaters at ditto. Nothing remarkable. Very fine moderate weather & a cold east wind. 29.5.
Thu 28th. Finishing out the work at Mossergate & slating the penthouse at Underwood. Fine weather; wind SE. 29.6.
Extracts from The Diary of Isaac Fletcher of Underwood, Cumberland, 1756-1781, edited by Angus J L Winchester (Kendal, 1994).
