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| Ghosts Archive 1963 |
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 Ghosts news, views, gallery and archive brought to you by Weird Wiltshire Introduction Latest News News Archive Longleat House Sign of an Angel Bewley Court Red Lion Westbury Pool Maud Cunnington Wardour Castle Manor House Hotel Devizes Castle Kings Arms Malmesbury Abbey Lacock Abbey Avebury Manor Littlecote Manor Lydiard House Gallery Postcards Wallpaper Links |
First Published March 2 1963 When Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night 'Oh! the Downs high to the cool sky, And the trail where the shepherds pass; And the lark's song and the wind's song, And the scent of the parching grass!' John Galsworthy. AT what time the sheep was introduced into Britain is not known - the skeleton of one is shown in Avebury Museum - and our Saxon forefathers certainly kept sheep, for the name is of Saxon origin. The shepherd in every country holds a place of dignity all his own, for his is the oldest occupation in the world - the shepherd's crook is older than the husbandman's plough or the warrior's sword. The wealth of England in Middle Ages was counted wool, and tradition has it that the first 'Woolsack,' the seat of the Lord Chancellor in the House of Lords, was filled with Wiltshire wool. Small wonder was it that the head shepherd was somewhat of the 'king' of the farm workers, claiming the best hay and anything else necessary for his flock. They devoted their lives to their charges, often spending more time with them than with their family. Such a one was Harry Pinchin, shepherd for more than 60 years. For 15 years he and his wife and family lived in the only cottage on Martinsell, the hill just beyond Wootton Rivers, near Savernake Forest. He had seven children and his wages were 10s a week! No wonder his wife used to go stone picking and other jobs on the farm, and washing at the farmhouse, for she said there was 'never so much as a penny left over for a reel of thread' from his wages. Yet when he was given £5 for winning the prize for best fat lambs at Marlborough Fair, he spent most of it on sheep bells! Harry Pinchin would tell of a queer experience he once had on Martinsell. He had gone to tend sick lambs and heard Pewsey Church clock strike midnight, when all the ewes 'started a-hollering, all 300 of 'em.' His dog bolted away over the Downs, 'with a chi-yi-yi-yik,' the only time it had ever been scared of anything. 'To this day, I don't know what it were, but it fair gallered I.' He stood by the pens and listened and all was quiet, but as he stood he felt his hair 'as if 'twere straight up under me cap. I'd rather be in any number of thunderstorms than go through that again.' Another such shepherd was George Pearce, who was shepherd at Knook. When he took sheep to Warminster Fair his master used to give him the money for the sheep sold to bring home - and he carried it in his boots for safety! When out on Knook Down, he sometimes saw little lights bob up and down. He told his master of this, and he agreed to spend the night with the shepherd to see if he saw any thing too. He did and they marked the place. The 'Government people' sent soldiers, who 'dug about, and found guns and swords and dead bodies,' and where the lights were a large box of valuables and money. They gave the shepherd £2. George Pearce told many tales of his clever dogs. One, for the only time in his life, ran off when they were folding sheep, back a mile to a widow's cottage, where he had often had a bone or a drink of water. The shepherd, following, found a rough sailor had just set about the poor woman, but when the dog appeared he rushed into the coal-house and the dog kept him there until his master fetched a policeman. The night before Wilton Fair the shepherds used to have a fight, the winner being acclaimed the 'best shepherd' until next Fair. This was said to have taken place at the Wheatsheaf Inn, near the fairground. It was also said the shepherds slept that night on the floor of the Inn, in a circle, each with his head on his dog - thus guarding his most valuable possession - while the dog guarded his master. In the Devizes district the yearly Fair was on August 6, on the top of Tan Hill, in All Cannings parish. This had been held from time immemorial, until it was discontinued in 1933. Only once before had it not been held, in 1637. The shepherds in All Cannings were the Franklin family, who for three generations - at least - were in charge of the flocks on Tan Hill. Mr George Franklin, now 76, tells of the head shepherd, having 12s 6d. a week, and his house, while he only had 10s. They had charge of 500 sheep each. He says a man from Cheverell used to make sheep bells and bring them to Tan Hill Fair for sale - there were many sizes at different prices, and the different tones were obtained by the flakes of brass and other metal beaten into the bells. The shepherds used to compete with each other as to which had the most and best toned bells on their flock. John Nash, the All Cannings' blacksmith (great-great-grandfather of the present family) used to make shepherd's crooks from discarded gun barrels. In all his time on All Cannings Downs, Mr Franklin declares he never saw 'anything worse than himself!' But the tale is told of two other shepherds, Tod Beake and George Tasker, who, about 100 years ago were watching their sheep, together with a lad, near the Wansdyke, on the tip of Tan Hill. They suddenly heard the sound of horses and men approaching and the lad ran and 'never stopped till he got to Cannings.' The two men stood their ground and saw a funeral procession of black horses drawing a golden coffin on a wagon, on the top of which was a crown. When it drew level with the shepherds the whole thing disappeared into thin air. Then the men's nerve gave, and they ran too. 'Me fustian cap rose right off me head.' George Tasker told his family. After spending the proverbial 'seven years in Sundays' (over 47 years) in the sole company of his sheep and his dogs, no wonder the shepherd became somewhat of a weather prophet and a philosopher. He had his queer beliefs, too. No old shepherd would think of counting his lambs until all had been born. If asked how many lambs he had his answer was usually, 'Oh about 20 doubles and 30 singles - I'm not sure!' My grandmother, however, was taught to count by her grandfather's old shepherd and he counted in his own way - 'ain, tain, tether, mether, mimp, heater, slater, lora, dora, dick,' etc. And that old shepherd went to his long rest in the old shepherd fashion, with a lock of his sheep's wool between his fingers - so, some folks say, that St Peter should know that he, as a shepherd, could not often go to church. Back to 1963 index |
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