WET WEATHER OCCUPATIONS 85
Even when the wood-pile was large enough, and turves or peat
had been stored wherever possible, much remained to be done.
In some parts (especially in East Anglia) the sedge was cut, for
this was well known to make the very best thatch; bracken was
gathered in great quantities to be used as bedding for the cattle
in the coming winter. The stubble, which had been left standing
when the corn was cut, was now gathered, either for thatching
or bedding, or to be cut and mixed with hay as fodder. If it was
not thus wanted, it was often ploughed in and allowed to rot and
thus nourish the soil.1
In wet weather there was always plenty to do in threshing the
corn. The lord, of course, was able to have his done in his great
barn, but the peasants probably made shift with the more
cramped space under a lean-to against their house, or anywhere
which was dry and sufficiently large to allow of the easy
swinging of the flail. This was made of two pieces of wood
(frequently thorn) tied one to the other by a leathern thong. The
worker stood over a pile of corn and by a rhythmical circular
motion brought one end of the flail down smartly on to the ears,
thus dislodging the grains of corn. Once this had been done, it
was necessary to separate the chaff and straw from the grain.
This they did either by winnowing the whole with a fan so that
the lighter husks of the chaff were blown away leaving the grain,
or by tossing it up in the air near the doort>f the barn so that the
breeze could catch and bear away the chaff, leaving the grains of
corn to fall to the ground. The chaff itself was not wasted, but swept
up and mixed with damaged corn and used as food for the beasts.
The advent of Christmas saw the bad weather bringing
work in the fields to a standstill; and, once the peasant had made
his preparations outlined above and threshed his corn, he could
estimate what return he had received for all these exacting
labours throughout the year. We, unfortunately, have no exact
means of knowing this, for no kind of peasant's accounts have
survived, or indeed, in all probability, ever existed. We can only
make an estimate based on figures obtained by an analysis of the
yield on the lord's demesne, and from what has already been
said, it is unlikely that the peasant's land would yield equally
well. Nevertheless, this is our only method of approach, and so
1 See Medieval Lore, 105, 106.