Page 25 - British Museum: SYTYGIB Medieval Castle

Peasant girls might also learn how to make medicines from herbs – which doesn’t mean you can rub the oregano from your kitchen cupboard on your pal’s skinned knee and pass yourself off as a doctor.
Hi, I seem to have a sword kind of poking right through me.
No problem – just rub this parsley on it.
Wherever their jobs were in the castle, it was a long a day for the children who worked.
In summer, they could start as early as 5.30am! And there was no early finish either – try 7pm on for size.
If that makes you feel lightheaded just thinking about it, perhaps the next task on your list should be ‘not getting your grumble on about doing a couple of tiny chores’.
Just a thought.
Do you ever wish . . . you could get closer to the animals that live in the countryside?
Perhaps you want to cuddle a cow or hug a horse? Well, be careful what you wish for.
In medieval times people in and around castles would have lived in close quarters to animals, which were kept for food, milk and their skins.
But that could be dangerous. There are several reports of pigs eAtInG children for example. If that happened, the criminal (i.e. the pig) could even be tried and would likely be sentenced to death – although to be fair that’s what probably would have happened anyway when it was sausage-making time.
On the plus side, many farm animals were much smaller then, so a full-grown bull was the size of
a modern calf, while sheep were only a third of the ones you see in fields today, which sounds super cute. Presumably hens were about the size of a kitten and you’d need a microscope to see a mouse.
Speaking of mice, people in castles didn’t tend to keep cats as pets as much as they do today – they’d mainly be there to catch squeaky creatures.
Dogs were usually used to hunt with, although people could grow very attached to them.
As well as cats and dogs, you might occasionally have come across monkeys, squirrels, parrots and even badgers being kept as pets in a castle.
Anyway, that’s enough of that – it’s time to take your badger for his daily walk.
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Chores