It took me a while to realise that something was missing from this pastoral scene

Normally the tranquility would have been broken by the hissing of the resident flock of geese irritated by my presence here at Aireyholme Farm.

But today there was silence. And back home, it came to me: the geese are under lock down, housed indoors by order of DEFRA to prevent the spread of the avian influenza¹for, Department. 2022. ‘Avian Influenza: Housing Order to Be Introduced across England’, GOV.UK <https://www.gov.uk/government/news/avian-influenza-housing-order-to-be-introduced-across-england> [accessed 25 November 2022].

The pond is likely man-made, built in a shallow boggy re-entrant. It was probably in existance when the young James Cook’s family lived in a tied cottage at Aireyholme in the mid-18th-century. Indeed the stream may first have been dammed when Irish-Norse settlers began to use the location as an ‘Airgh‘, a Celtic word for an upland pasture or sheiling used in the summer²Morris, R.W. “Yorkshire through Place Names”. Page 139. David & Charles. 1982. ISBN 0-7153-8230-6.. By the Domesday Book this had evolved into ‘Ergun‘ and hence we get the element ‘Airey‘.

“Before the days of piped water supplies, village, farm and cottage ponds were far more numerous and essential for the watering of stock, the keeping of ducks and geese, and for the purposes such as steeping straw for thatching“³Hartley, Marie and Joan Ingilby. “Life and Tradition on The Moorlands of North-East Yorkshire”. Page 44. J.M. Dent & Son. 1990. ISBN 1 870071 54 9..

Whilst on the subject of geese, I am reminded of a 16th-century proverb offering advice against listening to untrustworthy people:

‘It is a foolish goose that comes to the fox’s sermon‘.

A proverb which still has relevance today.

• 1
  for, Department. 2022. ‘Avian Influenza: Housing Order to Be Introduced across England’, GOV.UK <https://www.gov.uk/government/news/avian-influenza-housing-order-to-be-introduced-across-england> [accessed 25 November 2022]
• 2
  Morris, R.W. “Yorkshire through Place Names”. Page 139. David & Charles. 1982. ISBN 0-7153-8230-6.
• 3
  Hartley, Marie and Joan Ingilby. “Life and Tradition on The Moorlands of North-East Yorkshire”. Page 44. J.M. Dent & Son. 1990. ISBN 1 870071 54 9.