The 17th Century Almanac for September – Cod, Corsairs & Ship Money
The 17th Century almanac for the month of September – Harvest Home, the end of the farming year. ‘Harvest ends its busy reign, and leaves the fields their peace again.’
In the 17th Century, this was also a time to haul in the catch of cod, herring and pilchards, salted for the winter ahead. But, in the 1600s, pirates increasingly preyed upon fishing fleets. They devastated coastal communities, seizing and enslaving thousands. The King’s navy needed Ship Money.
17th Century Life and Agricultural Labour in September
The 17th Century it took longer to gather in the harvest than today. Reaping by hand took time. Harvest Home did not normally come until September. The last load of grain was carted into the barns, decked out with branches and celebration. All who had laboured in the fields were treated to ‘horkey’ or ‘kern’ – a harvest supper of goose, plumb pudding, strong beer, gifts, singing and dancing.
However, the work did not stop. As today, harvesting the peas, beans and vetches came after the grain crop. Children, old and poor now worked to glean the fields, picking up what they could of the dropped grain and beans. Next came the turn of the horses, cattle, pigs, piglets and geese to root and graze the stubble – known as ‘Shake Time’ – until Michaelmas.
After the first frost, boys herded pigs into the woods to fatten on acorns and beach nuts. Old cows and crones (old ewes) were also fattened up for slaughter (in early November). It was a time to geld bull calves and tup rams, and shut boars in their sty to stop them roaming after the sows. Farmers wives collected honey and wax, smoked bees and protected hives for winter. They gathered hops and picked fruit. Men cut, split and stacked timber for winter fires and for building.
Threshing, Seed Corn & Chaff – hawking & hunting
Before the end of the month, about half of the grain crop had to be threshed, winnowed, sieved and sacked, sold off, cashed in to pay rents, dues and tithes. Girls and boys worked alongside the men in the barns, picking out seed corn for the next year. They stored chaff and straw for fodder. And they gathered ferns, or ‘brakes’, as winter bedding for store cattle.
By late September, swallows, martins, gannets, terns and shearwaters begin their migration. Wild geese, swans and ducks start to arrive and starlings gather. Owls hunt the stubble at night, while hares are seen on it by day. Those who could afford to in the 17th Century went hawking or hunting.
Cod, Corsairs & Ship Money – Atlantic trade, piracy & slaves
With September’s moon came the first shoals of pilchards off the Cornish coast, liquid silver in the moonlight, a harvest of another sort. We often forget how important fishing was as an industry in the 17th Century. It supported huge numbers of people in coastal communities. It also provided vital winter protein for the growing inland towns and cities, as well as valuable revenue for the exchequer.
Newfoundland Cod & Merino Wool – Atlantic triangular trade
Each September the English cod fleet left the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. This was a major industry, involving over 300 barques and some 4-5,00 seamen. From May until September, they fished, gutted, salted, dried and packed cod. They shipped the dried white fish back across the Atlantic to Spanish and Portuguese ports such as Bilbao and Porto. It was sold as bacalao.
The fleet then shipped Spanish Merino wool (to feed England’s looms), wine, iron and timber home to West Country ports. Bringing in valuable revenue and excise duty, this was the first Atlantic triangular trade. The fleet set sail again for Newfoundland in February and March.
However, by the mid 1630s, ever increasing numbers of ships and seamen were lost as they approached home waters. Barbary Corsairs seized them. In 1635, these pirates seized some 87 ships, 1,160 seamen and £96,700 of cargo.
Barbary Pirates & Dunkirker frigates – need for Ship Money
The Barbary Corsairs were not afraid to raid ashore to take slaves. They came ashore at places like Marazion, Penryn and Looe. In 1636 alone (a plague year), they seized over 1,000 Cornish men, women and children, shipping them to North Africa to be sold in the slave markets of Salé and Algiers.
In the North Sea and Channel, ‘Dunkirker’ frigates preyed upon English fishing boats and coastal shipping. These were Flemish privateers in the employ of Spain, operating out of Nieuwpoort, Ostend and Dunkirk. Those who were unable to pay a ransom were consigned to row Spain’s infamous galleys.
These attacks were one factor that prompted
In order to counter these attacks, Charles I attempted to extend the Ship Money tax to all counties in England. The intention was that all should contribute to financing the navy – not just the coastal counties. It was a Cornish MP, William Noy, who first proposed the extension of Ship Money in Parliament, in 1634. None would question this idea today.
The Harvest Moon, Autumn Equinox & a lunar eclipse
The seasons have always driven farming and fishing. In the 17th Century, the state of the moon also dictated their activity. It drove the rhythm of planting and reaping, as well as the tides. This year, the Harvest Moon will rise on 3 September to be full on the 18th. It will be a Super Full Moon. This will coincide with a partial lunar eclipse in the early hours of Wednesday 18 September, over UK from 03:12 to 04:15.
The Autumn Equinox will quickly follow after the Harvest Moon. This is a time of equal day and night, when the sun crosses the Equator. It is often associated with bad weather, gales and breaking storms. This year, the Autumn Equinox will occur on 22 September. Any gales of wind are likely to come on top of the full moon’s spring (high) tide.
Michaelmas – herring, old crones & Lucifer’s blackberries
September the 29th was and is Michaelmas. It was an English quarter day, the start and end of the farming year. New contracts were let, yearly rents, dues and tithes paid. Labourers were paid and laid off after the harvest. Gleaning ended for the poor. Those who could feasted on fresh herring and fattened crones.
All venerated St Michael, or the Archangel Michael, as the Angel of the Lord, the supreme commander of the Heavenly Host, the protector of the church and faithful, the patron saint of soldiers and of fishermen. It was St Michael who cast from Heaven the angel Lucifer – the fallen angel, the morning star, Venus, the King of Babylon, Satan himself.
If you are partial to eating blackberries from the hedges, remember that they should never be picked after Michaelmas. When St Michael cast Lucifer from Heaven, the Devil landed on earth in a bramble bush. Every Michaelmas since, he spits on the blackberries in his spite and spoils the crop.
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Whether you are carting Harvest Home, hauling in your catch or munching blackberries, I wish you fruitful calm and freedom from piracy. As ever, if this email is not the full and plentiful store barn you hoped for, please tell me what is missing.
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In the meantime, this website includes more posts and articles about life in 17th Century Britain, Europe and the Americas at Historical Notes and Maps. These include notes and pages on the impact of the Little Ice Age and The General Crisis of the 17th Century. They include articles on the English Revolution and Great Rebellion. They also include Pike and Shot Warfare and battles of the English Civil War.
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