What did the swineherd do in Medieval Times?

Answer 1

A swineherd was responsible for pigs, from their birth to death. Many people kept small numbers of pigs and would tend them themselves, but a nobleman might keep a large group of pigs and employ a swineherd to feed and look after them.

Piglets would be born during March and the swineherd would check that each was fit and healthy and feeding from its mother - any sick piglets or runts would go straight to the kitchen as a delicacy for the nobleman's table.

Pigs were among the cheapest animals to feed, since for part of the year they would be turned out into woodland to forage for acorns and roots; many calendars show swineherds knocking the acorns from the late summer and autumn trees for their pigs to feast on.

The month of November saw the start of slaughtering of cattle and pigs for the lord's table. The swineherd would have to select the best animals for slaughter, which in the case of pigs was always done with the back of a heavy axe. The carcass would be bled and then thrown onto a small fire to singe off the stiff bristles from the skin of the pig. The swineherd then washed the carcass before delivering it to the cook in the manorial kitchen.

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Answer 2

A swineherd was tasked with looking after pigs, feeding them and clearing out the manure which would be used on the fields. By customary right going back to pre-Norman times the swineherd of each manor was expected to raise 15 pigs for killing annually (10 old and 5 younger), in some places more, retaining for himself any animals beyond that set figure.

The swineherd was also responsible for doing the slaughtering himself - this was carried out with the back of an axe on the pig's skull, in one hard blow. Then he had to singe the carcass over a fire to burn off the stiff bristles from the skin, scrape away any remaining bristles and wash the carcass ready for the kitchen.

In the commonly-illustrated "labours of the months" depicted in monastic calendars the killing of pigs is shown as the work for November or December.

Pigs were cheaper than many animals to feed, since they could be turned out into woodland during the autumn to eat fallen acorns and wild fungi - the swineherd is often shown knocking acorns from the oak trees to provide more of a feast for his animals.