a pregnant woman is advised against eteð fearres flæsc oððe rammes oþþe buccan oþþe bæres oþþe hanan oþþe ganran 'eating bull's flesh or ram's or buck's or bear's (?boar's) or hens or ganders'

Notes:

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology:

"large carnivorous or omnivorous mammal of the family Ursidae," Old English bera "a bear," from Proto-Germanic *bero, literally "the brown (one)" (source also of Old Norse björn, Middle Dutch bere, Dutch beer, Old High German bero, German Bär), usually said to be from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown." There was perhaps a PIE *bheros "dark animal".

Greek arktos and Latin ursus retain the PIE root word for "bear", but it is believed to have been ritually replaced in the northern branches because of hunters' taboo on names of wild animals (compare the Irish equivalent "the good calf," Welsh "honey-pig," Lithuanian "the licker," Russian medved "honey-eater"). Others connect the Germanic word with Latin ferus "wild," as if it meant "the wild animal (par excellence) of the northern woods."

bear

beef hríðer, hrýðer

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

spit roasted beef a major item of diet at Yeavering
more than half the diet of meat was beef
beef from fattened bullocks was feast-day food
Anthimus
"At Anglo-Saxon West Stow, cattle are the second most common farm animals..., beef would still have provided the bulk of the meat for the inhabitants of the site, ...as a single cow can provide up to ten times as much meat as a single sheep or goat..."

Medical:

broth made from beef marinated in vinegar and oil, cooked with salt, dill and leek was recommended for stomach trouble
'flesh from cattle' (hrytheres flæsc) is slow to digest
geong hryþer 'young cattle' beoð eaðmelte 'be easy-digested'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Western & South-Western counties raised more cattle and thus ate more beef
'grass beef' ready to eat in midsummer

Etymology

c. 1300, "an ox, bull, or cow," also the flesh of one when killed, used as food, from Old French buef "ox; beef; ox hide" (11c., Modern French boeuf), from Latin bovem (nominative bos, genitive bovis) "ox, cow," from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow." Original plural in the animal sense was beeves.

Notes:

The Anglo-Saxons used the names of the animals for both states, the Normans were the ones to use separate words for the raw and cooked states.
hrither = horned cattle, ox, cow, heifer (the ox is the male whilst the cow is the female. A heifer is a young female that hasn't calved yet.)

Literary:

eaten by novice monks from Bury St. Edmunds
eaten by the hlaford or lord
Æthelgifu left St. Albans 'a fattened animal ready for slaughter' (an slegeryther) for a feast in her name
Denewulf, bishop of Winchester had to pay annually as rent 'two animals, one salted the other fresh' (tu hrieðeru oþer sealt oþer fersce).
The Laws of Ine included 'two old animals' (tu eald hriðeru) in the food rent payable from ten hides.
Ic heó gefreóge écelíce ðæs gafoles ðe hió nú get to cyninges handa ageofan sceolan of ðam d%le ðe ð%r ungefreód to láfe wæs ðære cyningfeorme ge on hlutrum alaþ ge on beóre ge on hunige ge hryðrum ge on swýnum ge on sceápum 'I free them for ever from the impost which they have still to pay into the king's hand, from that portion, which was there left unfreed of the royal purveyance, whether in pure ale, or in beer, or in honey, or in oxen, or in swine, or in sheep'

Species and Find sites:

beef

bull, ox bula, fearra

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

leechdoms says bull's flesh is the slowest to digest and pregnant women should avoid it
late mylt hryþeres flæsc gæten - & hiorota - buccena is wyrrest & ramma - & fearra & þa þe swiðe ealde beoð on feoþorfotum nietenum 'late digesting cattle flesh, goat's and hart's, bucks is worst and ram's and bull's and those which very old be of four-footed beasts'

Notes:

Literary:

Wene ge þæt ic ete fearra flæsc oþþe þara buccena blod drince? 'Thynkest ye, that I eate the flesh of oxen, or drynke the bloude of male goates? Libri Psalmorum Coverdale Bible 1535

Species and Find sites:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

"male of a bovine animal," c. 1200, bule, from Old Norse boli "bull, male of the domestic bovine," perhaps also from an Old English *bula, both from Proto-Germanic *bullon- (source also of Middle Dutch bulle, Dutch bul, German Bulle), perhaps from a Germanic verbal stem meaning "to roar," which survives in some German dialects and perhaps in the first element of boulder (q.v.). The other possibility [Watkins] is that the Germanic word is from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell."

An uncastrated male, reared for breeding, as opposed to a bullock or steer.

bull

bullock bulluca

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

meat from specially fattened bullocks was a feast-day food

Medical:

Notes:

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

Old English bulluc "young bull, bull calf," from Proto-Germanic *bulluka-, from the stem of bull (n.1). Now always a castrated bull reared for beef.

bullock

C

cat cat, catt

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Season:

N/A

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Notes:

Literary:

695-700 the Liber Eliensis records 'consequent famine prevailed with the result that men ate horses, dogs, cats and human flesh'

Species and Find sites:

Etymology

Old English catt (c. 700) "domestic cat," from West Germanic (c. 400-450), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz (source also of Old Frisian katte, Old Norse köttr, Dutch kat, Old High German kazza, German Katze), from Late Latin cattus.

The near-universal European word now, it appeared in Europe as Latin catta (Martial, c. 75 C.E.), Byzantine Greek katta (c. 350) and was in general use on the continent by c. 700, replacing Latin feles. Probably ultimately Afro-Asiatic (compare Nubian kadis, Berber kadiska, both meaning "cat"). Arabic qitt "tomcat" may be from the same source.

The Late Latin word also is the source of Old Irish and Gaelic cat, Welsh kath, Breton kaz, Italian gatto, Spanish gato, French chat (12c.). Independent, but ultimately from the same source are words in the Slavic group: Old Church Slavonic kotuka, kotel'a, Bulgarian kotka, Russian koška, Polish kot, along with Lithuanian katė and non-Indo-European Finnish katti, which is from Lithuanian.

cat

cattle hryþer

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

late mylt hryþeres flæsc gæten - & hiorota - buccena is wyrrest & ramma - & fearra & þa þe swiðe ealde beoð on feoþorfotum nietenum 'late digesting cattle flesh, goat's and hart's, bucks is worst and ram's and bull's and those which very old be of four-footed beasts'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

"What we seem to see at West Stow is a self-sufficient agricultural village where cattle are kept for a variety of purposes including both meat and milk production."

Etymology

mid-13c., "property" of any kind, including money, land, income; from Anglo-French catel "property" (Old North French catel, Old French chatel), from Medieval Latin capitale "property, stock," noun use of neuter of Latin adjective capitalis "principal, chief," literally "of the head," from caput (genitive capitis) "head" (from PIE root *kaput- "head").

Notes:

see also beef
other words are used of cattle in differing senses:
- ceápe in the sense of 'saleable goods'
- %ht in the sense of 'stock, cattle'
- feoh in the sense 'money, property, FEE'
- orf and neát in the sense of 'beast, animal, cattle'

Literary:

cattle and corn are mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as being lacking in certain years
Ð%m landbúendum is beboden ðæt ealles ðæs ðe him on heora ceápe geweaxe híg Gode ðone teóðan d%l agyfen 'to farmers it is commanded, that of all which increases to them of their cattle, they give the tenth part to God'

Species and Find sites:

cattle

chicken cicen

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Notes:

seems to denote the babies of the hen (see hen)
see my page on Poultry and Eggs

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Etymology

Old English cicen (plural cicenu) "young of the domestic hen, the young of any bird;" by early Middle English, "any chicken," regardless of age, from Proto-Germanic *kiukinam (source also of Middle Dutch kiekijen, Dutch kieken, Old Norse kjuklingr, Swedish kyckling, German Küken "chicken"), from root *keuk- (echoic of the bird's sound and possibly also the root of cock (n.1)) + diminutive suffixes. By regular sound changes it should have become Modern English *chichen; the reason it didn't is unknown. Generic words for "chicken" in Indo-European tend to be extended uses of "hen" words, as hens are more numerous than cocks among domestic fowl, but occasionally they are from words for the young, as in English and in Latin (pullus).

chicken

cow cu

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

"At Anglo-Saxon West Stow, cattle are the second most common farm animals..., beef would still have provided the bulk of the meat for the inhabitants of the site, ...as a single cow can provide up to ten times as much meat as a single sheep or goat..."
- marks on the bones show the tongue was removed which "is a substantial piece of meat."

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

kept for milk and meat; male non-breeding calves culled; some kept for work; old, barren and young animals that were not thriving would be culled in Autumn.

Etymology

"female of a bovine animal," especially the domestic ox, Middle English cu, qu, kowh, from Old English cu "cow," from Proto-Germanic *kwon (source also of Old Frisian ku, Middle Dutch coe, Dutch koe, Old High German kuo, German Kuh, Old Norse kyr, Danish, Swedish ko), earlier *kwom, from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow."

Applied to the females of various large animals from late 14c.

Notes:

An adult female that has had a calf (or two, depending on regional usage).

Literary:

According to Rectitudines Singularum Personarum a male slave was provided with a metecu (food cow) every year.
mete-cú 'a cow that is to furnish food'
ne án oxa [MS. oxe] ne án cú ne án swín næs belyfon ðæt næs gesæt on his gewrite 'not an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was left, that was not set down in his writ' of King Williams' Domesday Book

Species and Find sites:

cow

D

dog

dog hund

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Season:

N/A

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Notes:

Literary:

695-700 the Liber Eliensis records ' consequent famine prevailed with the result that men ate horses, dogs, cats and human flesh'

Species and Find sites:

Etymology

"quadruped of the genus Canis," Old English docga, a late, rare word, used in at least one Middle English source in reference specifically to a powerful breed of canine; other early Middle English uses tend to be depreciatory or abusive. Its origin remains one of the great mysteries of English etymology.

The word forced out Old English hund (the general Germanic and Indo-European word, from root from PIE root *kwon-) by 16c. and subsequently was picked up in many continental languages (French dogue (16c.), Danish dogge, German Dogge (16c.)). The common Spanish word for "dog," perro, also is a mystery word of unknown origin, perhaps from Iberian. A group of Slavic "dog" words (Old Church Slavonic pisu, Polish pies, Serbo-Croatian pas) likewise is of unknown origin.

duck æned, ened, enid, duce

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Notes:

Literary:

dop-enid - dipping duck, moorhen fen-duck, coot

Species and Find sites:

Domestic duck (mallard) Anas platyrhynchos bones found at:

West Stow (5th - 7th c)

Etymology

waterfowl, natatorial bird of the family Anatidae, Old English duce (found only in genitive ducan) "a duck," literally "a ducker," presumed to be from Old English *ducan "to duck, dive". Replaced Old English ened as the name for the bird, this being from PIE *aneti-, the root of the "duck" noun in most Indo-European languages.

In the domestic state the females greatly exceed in number, hence duck serves at once as the name of the female and of the race, drake being a specific term of sex. [OED]

duck

F

flesh

flesh fl%sc, myrten

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Season:

N/A

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

Old English flæsc "flesh, meat, muscular parts of animal bodies; body (as opposed to soul)," also "living creatures," also "near kindred" (a sense now obsolete except in phrase flesh and blood), from Proto-Germanic *flaiska-/*fleiski- (source also of Old Frisian flesk, Middle Low German vlees, German Fleisch "flesh," Old Norse flesk "pork, bacon"), which is of uncertain origin; according to Watkins, originally "piece of meat torn off," from PIE *pleik- "to tear," but Boutkan suspects a northern European substratum word.

Notes:

Literary:

Se ðe forstolen fl%sc findeþ and gedirneþ 'he who finds stolen flesh and keeps it secret'
Ðé má ðe man mót on lenctene fl%sces brúcan 'any more than flesh may be eaten in Lent'
Ne %nig man myrtenes %fre ne ábíte 'no one may ever eat myrten' [flesh of animals that have died a natural death]
Gif þeów ete his sylfes r%de 'if a slave eat [flesh] during a fast of his own accord'
gebréded flaesc 'roasted flesh'
Gif mon his heówum in fæsten fl%sc gefe 'if a man during a fast give flesh to his family'
Gyt fl%scmettum ic brúce for þám cild ic eom 'still fleshmeat I consume because a child I am' says the novice of the colloquy
Gyf hit on lencten gebyrige $ þæ þonne þ%re fl%scun geweorð on fisce gestriéne búton $ þis forgenge sié 'if it (the time for giving a contribution of food (including flesh meat)) happen in Lent, that then the value of the flesh may be taken in fish, unless this arrangement be impracticable'

Species and Find sites:

flitch flicche, flicce

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Season:

N/A

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology:

"side of bacon," Middle English flicche (c. 1200), "side of a slaughtered animal," especially the salted and cured side of a hog, from Old English flicce "flitch of bacon, ham," from Proto-Germanic *flekkja (source also of Old Norse flikki, Middle Low German vlicke "piece of flesh"). Not immediately from flesh (n.), but perhaps from the same PIE root, *pleik- "to tear".

The Flitch of Dunmow was presented every year at Little Dunmow, in Essex, to any married couple who could prove they had lived together without quarrelling for a year and a day, a custom mentioned in early references as dating to mid-13c., revived 19c.

Notes:

Literary:

detailed in a funeral feast; '7 pence for ale and 2 ores, 1 ore for bread and another ore for a flitch [of bacon] and for a buck' (seuen peniges at hale 7 taw ore 7 an ære at bræad 7 hoþær hæræ at an flychca 7 at an buch)
glossed as perna = latin for ham

Species and Find sites:

flitch

fowl fugel, fugol, fugul

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

sele him etan gewyrtodne hen fugel 'give him to eat a hen fowl dressed with herbs'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology:

Old English fugel "bird, feathered vertebrate," from Proto-Germanic *fuglaz, the general Germanic word for "bird" (source also of Old Saxon fugal, Old Frisian fugel, Old Norse fugl, Middle Dutch voghel, Dutch vogel, German vogel, Gothic fugls "a fowl, a bird"), perhaps a dissimilation of a word meaning literally "flyer," from PIE *pleuk-, from root *pleu- "to flow."

Displaced in its original sense by bird (n.); narrower sense of "barnyard hen or rooster" (the main modern meaning) is first recorded 1570s; in U.S. this was extended to domestic ducks and geese.

Notes:

Literary:

fugls, fugles - birds / fowl
brim-fugel - sea-fowl / sea gull
fen-fugelas - fen-birds / fen-fowl
fugol-cyn - fowl-kind
fugelian - to fowl or catch birds
hám-hæn - domestic fowl? 'home hen'
the fowler in the Colloquy catches many birds in several different ways

Species and Find sites:

Domestic fowl (Gallus sp.) bones found at:

West Stow (5th - 7th c)

fowl

G

gander

gander ganra, gandra

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Season:

Culinary:

Medical:

a pregnant woman is advised against eteð fearres flæsc oððe rammes oþþe buccan oþþe bæres oþþe hanan oþþe ganran 'eating bull's flesh or ram's or buck's or bear's or hens or ganders'

Notes:

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology:

Old English gandra "male goose," from Proto-Germanic *gan(d)ron (source also of Dutch gander, Middle Low German ganre), from PIE *ghans- "goose"). OED suggests perhaps it was originally the name of some other water-bird and cites Lithuanian gandras "stork."

goat

goat bucca, buch, gat, hæfer

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Mettas him beoð nytte þa þe god blod wyrceað swa swa sint scilfixas finihte & ham & wilda hænna & eall þa fugelas þe on dunum libbað - & pipiones $ beoð culfrena briddas & healfeald swin - & gate flæsc ... 'Meats which work out good blood are...; shell fishes, and those that have fins, and domestic and wild hens, and all the fowls which live on downs, and pigeons, that is, the young chicks of culvers, and half grown swine and goat flesh...'
a pregnant woman is advised against eteð fearres flæsc oððe rammes oþþe buccan oþþe bæres oþþe hanan oþþe ganran 'eating bull's flesh or ram's or buck's or bear's or hens or ganders'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

"Both sheep and goats are present, although sheep bones vastly outnumber goat remains. It is possible that a small number of goats were kept for a specialized purpose such as dairying." West Stow Husbandry

Notes:

a buck is a male goat
many words relate to the keeping of goats

Literary:

Wene ge þæt ic ete fearra flæsc oþþe þara buccena blod drince? 'Thynkest ye, that I eate the flesh of oxen, or drynke the bloude of male goates? Libri Psalmorum Coverdale Bible 1535
gáta hús - a goat-house
gáta loc - an enclosure for goats
gáta hierde - a goat-herd
stán-bucca - a mountain buck
wudu-bucca - a wild / wood buck
wudu-gát - a wild / wood goat
the goat-herd of the Colloquy is allotted milk and a kid
detailed in a funeral feast; '7 pence for ale and 2 ores, 1 ore for bread and another ore for a flitch [of bacon] and for a buck' (seuen peniges at hale 7 taw ore 7 an ære at bræad 7 hoþær hæræ at an flychca 7 at an buch)

Species and Find sites:

Etymology:

Old English gat "she-goat," from Proto-Germanic *gaito (source also of Old Saxon get, Old Norse geit, Danish gjed, Middle Dutch gheet, Dutch geit, Old High German geiz, German Geiß, Gothic gaits "goat"), from PIE *ghaid-o- "young goat," also forming words for "to play" (source also of Latin hædus "kid").

The word for "male goat" in Old English was bucca or gatbucca until late 1300s shift to 'he-goat, she-goat'.

goose gós, gose

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Ne ete fersce gós 'do not eat fresh goose' unless it was salted - advises Leechdoms
leechdoms says góse fiþru 'goose wing' was a wel meltende mettas 'well digesting meat'
ne ete fersce gós . . . ne fersc swín ne náht ðæs ðe of mórode cums. Gif hé hwilc ðissa ete síe ðæt sealt 'do not let him eat fresh goose or fresh pork or aught of that which comes out of a decoction of wine and herbs (has been cooked with wine and herbs?). If he eat any of these, let it be salted'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Geese were probably grazed on grass like at gandran dune (gander down/hill) mentioned in the boundaries of Tichborne
could be fed on straw and course grains

Etymology:

"a large waterfowl proverbially noted, I know not why, for foolishness" [Johnson], Old English gos "a goose," from Proto-Germanic *gans- "goose" (source also of Old Frisian gos, Old Norse gas, Old High German gans, German Gans "goose"), from PIE *ghans- (source also of Sanskrit hamsah (masc.), hansi (fem.), "goose, swan;" Greek khen; Latin anser; Polish gęś "goose;" Lithuanian žąsis "goose;" Old Irish geiss "swan"), probably imitative of its honking.

Notes:

see also the game page on goose

Literary:

from Pennant's British Zoology. 'The Goshawk was in high esteem among falconers, and flown at cranes, geese, pheasants, and partridges.'
glosses specify wild goose, grey goose and white goose as well as goose fowl
in the Laws of Ine (688-694), the food rent from 10 hides included ten geese and twenty hens
from Barton to Bury St, Edmunds Abbey iiii ges 7 xx hennen '4 geese and 20 hens'
from Tivetshall an gos 7 v hennan 'one goose and 5 hens'

Species and Find sites:

Bones found at:
- Bishopstone, Sussex - mid 5th century onwards
- West Stow - 5th to 7th
- Ramsbury, Wiltshire - late 8th to early 9th
- Ipswich
- Medmerry Farm, Selsey, Sussex
- Flaxengate, Lincoln - late 9th

goose

H

hen

hen he[æ]nne, cwén-fugol

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

leechdoms says hænne flæsc 'hen flesh' was a wel meltende mettas 'well digesting meat'
sele him etan gewyrtodne hen fugel 'give him to eat a hen fowl dressed with herbs'
a pregnant woman is advised against eteð fearres flæsc oððe rammes oþþe buccan oþþe bæres oþþe hanan oþþe ganran 'eating bull's flesh or ram's or buck's or bear's or hens or ganders'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

could be fed on straw and course grains
It is likely that the Anglo-Saxon hens may have had resemblances to the modern Dorking breed.

Etymology

"the female of the domestic fowl," Old English henn "hen," from West Germanic *hannjo (source also of Old Frisian henn, Middle Dutch henne, Old High German henna), fem. of *hanan- "male fowl, cock" (source of Old English hana "cock"), literally "bird who sings (for sunrise)," from PIE root *kan- "to sing."

The original masculine word survives in German (Hahn "cock"), Swedish, Danish, etc. German also has a generic form, Huhn, for either gender of the bird. Extension to "female of any bird species" is early 14c. in English.

Notes:

Likely to have been a prestige food and also an invalid food
see also Poultry and Eggs

Literary:

in the Laws of Ine (688-694), the food rent from 10 hides included ten geese and twenty hens
from Barton to Bury St, Edmunds Abbey iiii ges 7 xx hennen '4 geese and 20 hens'
from Tivetshall an gos 7 v hennan 'one goose and 5 hens'
the will of Æthelwyrd left one day's food rent to the community at Christchurch to be paid at Michaelmas which included iiii hæn fugulas '4 hen fowls'
In Æthelreds time the toll for bringing a hamper into London was one hen or five eggs.
The Gerefa had to construct ge eac henna hrost 'also a hen roost' in winter.

Species and Find sites:

Bones found at:
- Old Down Farm, Hants - 6th century
- Bishopstone, Sussex - mid 5th century onwards
- West Stow - 5th to 7th
- Ramsbury, Wiltshire - late 8th to early 9th
- Ipswich
- Medmerry Farm, Selsey, Sussex
- Flaxengate, Lincoln - late 9th
- Hamwih (Southampton)
- Skeldergate, York - 10th

horse hors

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Season:

N/A

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

"solidungulate perissodactyl mammal of the family Equidæ and genus Equus" [Century Dictionary], Old English hors "horse," from Proto-Germanic *harss- (source also of Old Norse hross, Old Frisian, Old Saxon hors, Middle Dutch ors, Dutch ros, Old High German hros, German Roß "horse"), of unknown origin. By some, connected to PIE root *kers- "to run," source of Latin currere "to run." Boutkan prefers the theory that it is a loan-word from an Iranian language (Sarmatian) also borrowed into Uralic (compare Finnish varsa "foal")

The usual Indo-European word is represented by Old English eoh, Greek hippos, Latin equus, from PIE root *ekwo-. Another Germanic "horse" word is Old English vicg, from Proto-Germanic *wegja- (source also of Old Frisian wegk-, Old Saxon wigg, Old Norse vigg), which is of uncertain origin.

Notes:

At West Stow
- "In contrast to the pigs, horse bones appear in very small numbers."
- "Overall, the butchery marks on horse bones is similar to that seen on the other domestic animals....
- On the whole, however, the butchery marks on the West Stow Anglo-Saxon horse bones appear to be associated with butchery for food. West Stow Husbandry.

Literary:

695-700 the Liber Eliensis records ' consequent famine prevailed with the result that men ate horses, dogs, cats and human flesh'

Species and Find sites:

Equus caballus bones found at:

Ramsbury - Middle Saxon
Hamwih
West Stow (5th-7th c)

horse

human

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Season:

N/A

Culinary:

Medical:

Notes:

Literary:

695-700 the Liber Eliensis records ' consequent famine prevailed with the result that men ate horses, dogs, cats and human flesh'

Species and Find sites:

Etymology

human

K

kid

kid ticcen, hécen

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

leechdoms says ticcenu 'kids' beoð eaðmelte 'be easy-digested'
ticcenes geallan 'bile from a kid'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

c. 1200, "the young of a goat," from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse kið "young goat," from Proto-Germanic *kidjom (source also of Old High German kizzi, German kitze, Danish and Swedish kid), of uncertain origin.

Notes:

The word occurs in local names, e. g. Ticcenes-, Ticnes-feld

Literary:

Nime %ghwylc híwr%den of %lcum húse án lamb . . . æfter þám ylcan gewunan nymað $ hécyn 'give every family from each house one lamb . . . after that same manner consume that kid'
the goat herd from Rectitudines is alloted i · ticcen · of geares geogoðe gif he his heorde wel begymeð · '1 kid from the year's young if he cares for his herd well'

Species and Find sites:

Capra hircus bones found at:

West Stow

L

lamb

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Spring lamb is available from early Spring until the Summer. It is very tender but does not have as much flavour as lamb later in the year as it has not had as much time to graze. It should be cooked simply.
Autumn lamb is available from the Summer until December. It has had more time to graze and grow thus developing stronger flavours that can take more adventurous cooking.
Lamb from Christmas until the following Spring is called 'hogget'. Hogget has a pronounced flavour, which works well with seasonal root vegetables.

Etymology

Old English lamb, lomb, Northumbrian lemb "lamb," from Proto-Germanic *lambaz (source also of Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Gothic lamb, Middle Dutch, Dutch lam, Middle High German lamp, German Lamm "lamb"). Common to the Germanic languages, but with no certain cognates outside them. The -b has probably been silent since 13c.

The Old English plural was sometimes lambru. A symbol of Christ (Lamb of God), typified by the paschal lamb, from late Old English. Applied to gentle or innocent persons (especially young Church members) from late Old English

Notes:

at Hamwih one fifth of the animals were killed at just under a year; at West Stow nearly half.
"We might therefore conclude that either
- the West Stow farmers' were very successful and could afford to slaughter large numbers of female lambs, or
- sheep are being traded in and out of West Stow"

Literary:

Nime %ghwylc híwr%den of %lcum húse án lamb . . . æfter þám ylcan gewunan nymað $ hécyn 'give every family from each house one lamb . . . after that same custom consume that kid'
the sheepherd's right is that he have i · lamb of geares geogeðe '1 lamb from the year's young'

Species and Find sites:

found in burials at:

Cotgrave, Northamptonshire, 6th c.
Burwell, Cambridgeshire (lamb chops)

M

meat

meat mete, %tes

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Season:

N/A

Culinary:

Medical:

Bríw his mete wið ele 'dress his meat with oil'
Gif his mete gemyltan nelle 'if his meat will not digest'
Heald ðonne georne ðæt se mete sí gemylt 'observe then carefully that the meat be digested'
Ðam men ðe hine ne lyst his metes ne líþes 'for the man that does not care for his meat or leeth'
Ðanne þeó br%de geswáte nim ðæt swót 'when the roast meat sweats, take that which exudes'

Medical:

Etymology

Middle English mēte, from Old English mete "food, nourishment, sustenance" (paired with drink), "item of food; animal food, fodder," also "a meal, repast," from Proto-Germanic *mati (source also of Old Frisian mete, Old Saxon meti, Old Norse matr, Old High German maz, Gothic mats "food," Middle Dutch, Dutch metworst, German Mettwurst "type of sausage"), from PIE *mad-i-, from root *mad- "moist, wet," also with reference to food qualities, (source also of Sanskrit medas- "fat" (n.), Old Irish mat "pig;").

Notes:

unfortunately mete also means food
%tes also means 'eatables or food'

Literary:

Mete bygeþ 'buys meat'
Ðæt is heora bíwist w%pnu & mete & ealo & cláðas 'this is their provision weapons and meat and ale and clothes'
He n%fre mete onféng bútan ðý Drihtenlícan dæge 'he never took meat except on the Lord's day'
glossed for Latin succidia 'leg/side of meat esp. (salt) pork/bacon; cutting in joints; slaughtering' = eald-hryðer-fl%sc which is just a compound of old-beeves-flesh
Mægen mon sceal mid mete fédan 'a man must feed strength with meat'
Gífernys biþ ðæt se man %r tíman hine gereordige oððe æt his m%le to micel þicge mid oferflówendnysse %tes oððe w%tes 'greediness is a man's eating before the time, or taking too much at his meal with superfluity of meat or drink'
Múþa gehwylc mete þearf m sceolon tídum gongan 'every mouth needs meat; meals must there be at times'
sn%ding-hús - an eating-house, a place where cooked meat is sold
Sittan æt or tó sw%sendum to sit at meat, take a meal
Ðæt hé him on tíde mete sylle 'to give them meat in due season'
br%ding - roast meat
Gif man næbbe smeámettas sylle man twám & twám twá fl%scsande & tó heora %fen-þenunge sylle man twám & twám fl%scsande oððe óðre smeámettas 'if anyone does not have delicacies give them either or two meat-dishes and to them at supper give either or a meat-dish or some-other delicacies'
$ [man] þ%re fl%scun geweorð on fisce gestriéne 'let the worth of the meat be got in fish'
Gif þu þa nydþearfe witan wille þonne is þæt mete and drync and claþas 'if you want to know what is needful, [I will tell you;] it is meat and drink and clothes'

Species and Find sites:

mutton

mutton scipâtere

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

The meat of naturally reared animals contains only unsaturated fat, moreover these animals produce three times as much protein as fat.

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Mutton is at least two years old. Mutton is available year-round but is best, and most readily available, from October until March. It has a much stronger, gamier flavour than lamb.
For hundreds of years, mutton was the staple meat of the British household, considered superior in texture and flavour to lamb. Changes in farming and cooking lead to mutton's sudden decline and for the last fifty years mutton has almost disappeared from our shops and restaurants.
Until recently mutton was four years old.

Notes:

literally 'sheep-eatings'

Literary:

In Rectitudines Singularum Personarum the 'esne' or 'slave-labourer' is alloted ii · scipâteras ' 2 sheep-carcasses' which would be mutton

Species and Find sites:

found in burials at:

Shudy Camps, Cambridgeshire, 7th c. (hind leg of sheep or goat)

Etymology

"flesh of sheep used as food," c. 1300, mouton (c. 1200 as a surname), from Old French moton "mutton; ram, wether, sheep" (12c., Modern French mouton), from Medieval Latin multonem (8c.), probably [OED] from Gallo-Roman *multo-s, accusative of Celtic *multo "sheep" (source also of Old Irish molt "wether," Mid-Breton mout, Welsh mollt), which is perhaps from PIE root *mel- (1) "soft."

The same word also was borrowed into Italian as montone "a sheep," and mutton in Middle English also could mean "a sheep" (early 14c.).

O

Ox

ox fearra, oxa

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Etymology

"the domestic Bos taurus" (commonly meaning the castrated males, used to pull loads or for food), Middle English oxe, from Old English oxa "ox" (plural oxan), from Proto-Germanic *ukhson (source also of Old Norse oxi, Old Frisian oxa, Middle Dutch osse, Old Saxon, Old High German ohso, German Ochse, Gothic auhsa), from PIE *uks-en- "male animal," (source also of Welsh ych "ox," Middle Irish oss "stag," Sanskrit uksa, Avestan uxshan- "ox, bull"), said to be from root *uks- "to sprinkle," related to *ugw- "wet, moist." The animal word, then, is literally "besprinkler."

Also used from late Old English of the wild, undomesticated bovines.

Notes:

Literary:

Hlówendra fearras fl%sc 'the flesh of lowing oxen'
Wene ge þæt ic ete fearra flæsc oþþe þara buccena blod drince? 'Thynkest ye, that I eate the flesh of oxen, or drynke the bloude of male goates? Libri Psalmorum Coverdale Bible 1535
ne án oxa [MS. oxe] ne án cú ne án swín næs belyfon ðæt næs gesæt on his gewrite 'not an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was left, that was not set down in his writ' of King Williams' Domesday Book

Species and Find sites:

P

peacock

peacock páwa

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Season:

N/A

Culinary:

Medical:

fuglas ða ðe heard flæsc habbaþ páwa swan æned 'fowls that hard flesh have peacock, swan, duck'

Notes:

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

c. 1300, poucock, po-cok, "bird of the genus Pavo," especially an adult male, from Middle English po "peacock" + coc. Po is from Old English pawa "peafowl" (cock or hen), from Latin pavo (genitive pavonis), which, with Greek taos is said to be ultimately from Tamil tokei, but perhaps it is imitative: Latin represented the peacock's sound as paupulo. The Latin word also is the source of Old High German pfawo, German Pfau, Dutch pauw, Old Church Slavonic pavu. Middle English also had poun "peacock" from Old French paon.

Noted for its strutting gait, imposing magnificence, and the ostentatious displays of its beautiful tail, the peacock in his pride is one with his tail fully displayed.

Its flesh superstitiously was believed to be incorruptible (even St. Augustine credits this). "When he sees his feet, he screams wildly, thinking that they are not in keeping with the rest of his body" [Epiphanus].

pig

pig swein, eofer-swin, færh, fearh, ferh, bearg, bearug

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Traditionally usually culled in Autumn and early Winter as the cold is needed to stop the vast quantity of meat going off.
Castration usually takes place while the pig is very young, at about two or three weeks of age.

Etymology

Middle English pigge "a young pig" (mid-13c., late 12c. as a surname), probably from Old English *picg, found in compounds, but, like dog, it's further etymology unknown. The older general word for adults was swine: if female, sow, if male, boar. Apparently related to Low German bigge, Dutch big ("but the phonology is difficult" -- OED).

Notes:

see also swine
pigs seem to have been more prevalent a the start of the settlement at West Stow, possibly because they breed quickly and would aid the commencement of farming.
pig bones at West Stow show butchery marks on
- the skull - decapitation, brain and tongue removal (the animal's brain could be used to cure and soften it's skin - I have done this with Will Lord on a Stone Age course!)
- the forelimbs - showing that the lower legs were removed and meat from the shoulder
- the hindlimbs - across the pelvis, the lower limbs and meat removal
- the feet - "Pigs feet may have been an Anglo-Saxon Favourite."
- One pig tibia shows a severe infection (possibly as the result of a fracture) on the distal portion of the midshaft. It has been suggested that the fractures were a result of tethering pigs by their hind legs. The livelier pigs may have broken their legs by pulling against the tether. West Stow Husbandry

Literary:

swein - swine, pig
bearg, bearug - a castrated boar, a barrow pig. A male pig that has been castrated or rendered incapable of reproducing before it reaches sexual maturity.
eofer-swin - boar pig, male swine
færh, fearh, ferh, - farrow, litter, little pig
foor, fór - a pig, hog
mæstel-bearh - a fattened barrow pig
stig-fearh - 'sty-farrow', i.e. a young pig to keep in a sty
Âhteswán gebyreð stífearh & his gewirce ðonne hé spic behworfen hæfð 'the owned-swain is allotted a sty-farrow and his perquisites when he the bacon prepared has'
gyme eac swan þæt he aefter sticunge his slyhtswyn wel behweorfe · saencge · ðonne bið he ful wel gewyrces wyrðe 'observe each swain that he after killing his slaughter-swine well attends to it, singes it, then be he full well made worthy' [The nature of the perquisite may be illustrated from later documents. The swineherd of Glastonbury Abbey received as perquisite one sucking-pig a year, the entrails of the best pig and the tails of all the others which were slaughtered in the Abbey. -v. Andrews's Old English Manor.]
pigs are not to be eaten in the bible
DE PRECIO CUJUSLIBET ANIMALIS SI AMITTATUR ... porcus viii ð 'About the price of any animal if it is missed ... pig 8 pence'. the price for pig comes between cow and human!

Species and Find sites:

Sus scrofa bones found at:

West Stow (5th-7th c) with butchery marks

pork

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

ne ete fersce gós . . . ne fersc swín ne náht ðæs ðe of mórode cums. Gif hé hwilc ðissa ete síe ðæt sealt 'do not let him eat fresh goose or fresh pork or aught of that which comes out of a decoction of wine and herbs (has been cooked with wine and herbs?). If he eat any of these, let it be salted'

Notes:

Literary:

Species and Find sites:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

c. 1300 (early 13c. in surname Porkuiller), "flesh of a pig as food," from Old French porc "pig, swine, boar," and directly from Latin porcus "pig, tame swine," from PIE root *porko- "young pig." Also in Middle English "a swine, a hog" (c. 1400).

R

ram

ram ram

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Season:

Culinary:

Medical:

a pregnant woman is advised against eteð fearres flæsc oððe rammes oþþe buccan oþþe bæres oþþe hanan oþþe ganran 'eating bull's flesh or ram's or buck's or bear's or hens or ganders'
late mylt hryþeres flæsc gæten - & hiorota - buccena is wyrrest & ramma - & fearra & þa þe swiðe ealde beoð on feoþorfotum nietenum 'late digesting cattle flesh, goat's and hart's, bucks is worst and ram's and bull's and those which very old be of four-footed beasts'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Notes:

Literary:

At Boile on the Canterbury lands, the provision of food in return for weeding service was three quarters of wheat, a ram, a pat of butter, a piece of cheese of second quality from the lord's dairy, salt, oatmeal for cooking a stew, and all the morning milk from all the cows in the dairy. [I presume this would be given to the group and not just to one man, or to every man!]
Ic wille ðæt gé fédaþ án earm Engliscmon . . . Ágyfe mon hine . . . án sconc spices oððe án ram weorðe iiii. peningas 'I wish that ye feedeth one poor Englishman . . . Let him be allotted . . . one shank of bacon or one ram worth 4 pennies' Athelstan's Ordinance

Species and Find sites:

Etymology

Old English ramm "male sheep," also "battering ram, instrument for crushing or driving by impact," and the zodiac sign; earlier rom "male sheep," a West Germanic word (cognates: Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch, Old High German ram), of unknown origin.

Perhaps [Klein] connected with Old Norse rammr "strong," Old Church Slavonic ramenu "impetuous, violent."

S

sheep

sheep sceap, scep

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

one leechdom calls for sheep's flesh to be avoided; a second says sheep's flesh and none other is to be taken

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

ruminant mammal, Old English sceap, scep, from West Germanic *skæpan (source also of Old Saxon scap, Old Frisian skep, Middle Low German schap, Middle Dutch scaep, Dutch schaap, Old High German scaf, German Schaf), of unknown origin. Not found in Scandinavian (Danish has faar for "sheep") or Gothic (which uses lamb), and with no known cognates outside Germanic. The more usual Indo-European word for the animal is represented in English by ewe.

The plural form was levelled with the singular in Old English, but Old Northumbrian had a plural scipo.

Used since Old English as a type of timidity and figuratively of those under the guidance of God. The image of the wolf in sheep's clothing was in Old English (from Matthew vii.15); that of separating the sheep from the goats is from Matthew xxv.33.

Notes:

West Stow:

"sheep and goats are the most common animals in the faunal assemblage, making up just under 50% of the large domestic mammal bones"
"We might therefore conclude that either
- the West Stow farmers' were very successful and could afford to slaughter large numbers of female lambs, or
- sheep are being traded in and out of West Stow"
"Sheep bones outnumbered goat by a factor of 100:1" West Stow Husbandry

Literary:

Ic heó gefreóge écelíce ðæs gafoles, ðe hió nú get to cyninges handa ageofan sceolan of ðam d%le ðe ð%r ungefreód to láfe wæs ðære, cyningfeorme, ge on hlutrum alaþ, ge on beóre, ge on hunige, ge hryðrum, ge on swýnum, ge on sceápum 'I free them for ever from the impost which they have still to pay into the king's hand, from that portion, which was there left unfreed of the royal purveyance, whether in pure ale, or in beer, or in honey, or in oxen, or in swine, or in sheep'
sn%ding-sceáp 'a sheep to be killed for eating'

Species and Find sites:

Ovis aries bones found at:

West Stow

LAMB: a sheep up to 14 months old that hasn’t given birth, most commonly eaten from five months upwards. The meat is tender, with the fillet and rump being the most prized cuts. Traditional roast leg or shoulder will come from an animal this age.

MILK LAMB: 2 weeks-3 months old. Soft, tender texture and very subtle flavour.

SPRING LAMB: 3-7 months old. Tender texture and mild flavour.

WINTER LAMB: 10-12 months. Widely thought to be the best eating quality.

HOGGET: 15 or 16 months old. Darker meat with a richer, stronger flavour than lamb. Lends well to slow cooking, although hogget loin can be quickly pan-fried. The telltale sign of a true hogget are the first two teeth emerging.

MUTTON: 2-5 years. Very strong flavour and needs long, slow cooking to tenderise and break down the tougher meat fibres. We recommend asking your butcher how old the mutton is before you buy, to help you know what to expect regarding cooking time, flavour and texture.

Daylesford Organic

swine

swine swin, swyn, swín, swýn

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Mettas him beoð nytte þa þe god blod wyrceað swa swa sint scilfixas finihte & ham & wilda hænna & eall þa fugelas þe on dunum libbað - & pipiones $ beoð culfrena briddas & healfeald swin - & gate flæsc ... 'Meats which work out good blood are...; shell fishes, and those that have fins, and domestic and wild hens, and all the fowls which live on downs, and pigeons, that is, the young chicks of culvers, and half grown swine and goat flesh...'

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

Etymology

Old English swin "pig, hog, wild boar," from Proto-Germanic *sweina- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian Middle Low German, Old High German swin, Middle Dutch swijn, Dutch zwijn, German Schwein, Old Norse, Swedish, Danish svin), neuter adjective (with suffix *-ino-) from PIE *su- "pig" ). The native word, largely ousted by pig. Applied to persons from late 14c. Phrase pearls before swine (mid-14c.) is from Matthew vii.6; an early English formation of it was:

Ne ge ne wurpen eowre meregrotu toforan eowrum swynon. [c. 1000]
The Latin word in the Gospel verse was confused in French with marguerite "daisy" (the "pearl" of the field), and in Dutch the expression became "roses before swine."

Notes:

[As may be seen from the charters and the laws, swine were an important item in the livestock of the English. They were owned in large numbers, as appears from the passages given below, in which gifts of swine are recorded; references to their pasturage often occur, to the herd who had charge of them is assigned the second place in the list of those whose employments are defined in the Rectitudines Singularum Personarum, while the frequent occurrence of the word swín in local names, may be taken as further evidence. The value of swine, as compared with other domestic animals, is determined by the passages in the laws where the various animals are mentioned together.]

Literary:

gærs-swýn 'pasturage swine'
Weorþen hí swá geþr%ste mid hungre ðæt hi eton swýnen fl%sc 'may they be so tormented with hunger that they eat of swine flesh' Libri Psalmorum, Thorpe
pigs are not to be eaten in the bible
gyme eac swan þæt he aefter sticunge his slyhtswyn wel behweorfe · saencge · ðonne bið he ful wel gewyrces wyrðe 'observe each swain that he after killing his slaughter-swine well attends to it, singes it, then be he full well made worthy' [The nature of the perquisite may be illustrated from later documents. The swineherd of Glastonbury Abbey received as perquisite one sucking-pig a year, the entrails of the best pig and the tails of all the others which were slaughtered in the Abbey. -v. Andrews's Old English Manor.]
spic - bacon, lard, the fat flesh of swine
the gafol-swane 'tenant-swineherd' is expected to 'give each year 15 swine for stabbing, 10 old and 5 young [and] have himself whatever over that he rears' sylle aelce geare · xv · swyn to sticunge · x · ealde · & · v · gynge · haebbe sylf $ he ofer $ araere
fédels-swín - a fatted swine
gærs-swín - a swine paid for the privilege of using the lord's woods for the pasturage of swine
swína swaþu suesta - in a glossary listing parts of a pig (could it be pig's feet?) [swathu might be related to swathe meaning the path of footsteps...? An 8th c. gloss has suesta meaning 'swine shade' which is something else entirely... and that's the only reference to suesta I can find.]
Ic heó gefreóge écelíce ðæs gafoles ðe hió nú get to cyninges handa ageofan sceolan of ðam d%le ðe ð%r ungefreód to láfe wæs ðære cyningfeorme ge on hlutrum alaþ ge on beóre ge on hunige ge hryðrum ge on swýnum ge on sceápum 'I free them for ever from the impost which they have still to pay into the king's hand, from that portion, which was there left unfreed of the royal purveyance, whether in pure ale, or in beer, or in honey, or in oxen, or in swine, or in sheep'
ne án oxa [MS. oxe] ne án cú ne án swín næs belyfon ðæt næs gesæt on his gewrite 'not an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was left, that was not set down in his writ' of King Williams' Domesday Book

Species and Find sites:

W

wether

wether weðær

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Season:

all year

Culinary:

Medical:

Husbandry, Horticulture, Agriculture:

a castrated male sheep or goat

Etymology

"male sheep," especially a castrated one, Old English weðer "ram," from Proto-Germanic *wethruz (source also of Old Saxon wethar, Old Norse veðr, Old High German widar, German Widder, Gothic wiþrus "lamb"), literally "yearling," from PIE root *wet- (2) "year" (source also of Sanskrit vatsah "calf," Greek etalon "yearling," Latin vitulus "calf," literally "yearling").

Notes:

Literary:

Under the terms of the will of Athelwyrd, one day's food rent, which included a weðær, was to be paid to the community at Christchurch.
AEthelgifu left 7 wethers to St. Alban's from her Offley estate, and it is presumed that these were for slaughter.
Athelstan's ordinance gave one destitute Englishman on each of the royal estates one amber of meal and a shank of bacon or a wether worth fourpence every month.

Species and Find sites:

Resources:

The Birds of Old English Literature, Charles Huntington Whitman - https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27699063.pdf
Online Etymology Dictionary
Bosworth & Toller Old English Dictionary
Aefric's Colloquy
Leechdoms - Oswald Cockayne 1864
Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food - Anne Hagen (both volumes)
EAA 47 - West Stow Animal Husbandry, Pam Crabtree
National Geographic

Domestic Meat and Poultry

Index:

Cat Cattle (see Beef) Chicken Cow

B

bear bær

beef hríðer, hrýðer

bull, ox bula, fearra

bullock bulluca

C

cat cat, catt

cattle hryþer

chicken cicen

cow cu

D

dog hund

duck æned, ened, enid, duce

F

flesh fl%sc, myrten

flitch flicche, flicce

fowl fugel, fugol, fugul

G

gander ganra, gandra

goat bucca, buch, gat, hæfer

goose gós, gose

H

hen he[æ]nne, cwén-fugol

horse hors

human

K

kid ticcen, hécen

L

lamb

M

meat mete, %tes

mutton scipâtere

O

ox fearra, oxa

P

peacock páwa

pig swein, eofer-swin, færh, fearh, ferh, bearg, bearug

pork

R

ram ram

S

sheep sceap, scep

swine swin, swyn, swín, swýn

W

wether weðær

Cat
Cattle (see Beef)
Chicken
Cow