84 THE PEASANTS YEAR
circumference of a man's head, or that of a cord stretching from
his knee to the sole of his foot,1 and the Luttrell Psalter shows us
.men walking in the fields each carrying two sheaves to put on to
the great pile.2 Gloves were worn to protect the hands while at
work, and these were usually issued freely by the lord to his
men.3
After the corn was cut and put into sheaves the Church's
portion—the tithe—had to be selected.4 We see this being done
by Cain in the Towneley play of Cain and Abel, and may there
glimpse something of the grudging spirit with which many
men paid their dues to Holy Church.5
Now the heaviest part of the year's work was over, and the
strips in the common fields all stood bare, and once again the
cattle wandered over them to seek what they could. This they
were allowed to do until the time came for the autumn ploughing.
Then they were moved away from the field that had stood
fallow for a twelvemonth and there a third and last ploughing
preluded the planting of the wheat and other seed for the coming
year. On the other fields manuring or marling were all that was
necessary, and the peasant then turned towards home and to
making provision for the coming winter. First, such fruits and
nuts as were available were gathered and stored; then, the supply
of winter fuel had to be assured. The right of taking timber from
the nearby woods wd!fe jealously controlled, and it was only such
dead wood or timber not exceeding a certain dimension that was
at the peasant's disposal. The cutting down of oak or ash, with-
out permission, meant a fine at the Manor Court; and, in general,
the lord's officers were here, there and everywhere, on the look
out for over-zealous appropriators of wood. Yet wood was essen-
tial, not only for fuel to help pass the long winter nights, but
also for the thousand and one things about the medieval home.*
1 Delisle, op. cit. 309. Cf. Gras, Economic and Social History of an English
Village, 235.
2 Luttrell Psalter9 Pis. 97, 98.
8 Eynsham Cart, n, Ixxxiv; V.C.H. Berks, 176.
4 See Owst, Literature and Pulpit, 261. For a long discussion (with
references) of the reasons for believing that tithe was normally deducted
from the corn crop in sheaves and on the fields, see R. Lennard, Econ, Journ.
(Supplement), Feb. 1936, 173. Tithe is here more fully discussed on p. 330.
6 Towneley Plays (E.E.T.S.), 15.
6 For further details and references, see p. 229.