In message <f13f19+2mj2_at_eGroups.com> "Toread DuDerysi" writes:
>>
>> Why assume cottars don't have cattle? They don't have enough to
>> provide a full ox team but that's going to require a herd of at
>> least twenty, possibly thirty. Then there are sheep, pigs and
>> other livestock. Probably the definition of a stickpicker is
>> someone who has no livestock at all.
>
>I think the actual legal definition of a cotter is someone who doesn't
>have any cattle. Someone who does is a carl. Someone with a team is
>doing very well for a carl.
Not according to TR pg 40. To qualify as a full carl "... a man must
have a plough and a full team of eight oxen." It also says they need
42 cows including the oxen to support this. Given that a half carl
usually has 21 cows anyone with much less than that will be a cottar.
Of course it doesn't follow that all cottars will have cows, I
suspect the majority don't but even one milk cow is worth having
from a practical point of view.
--
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/