Toad-under-a-harrow

At first, it’s all dreary drizzle, the kind that makes you question your decision to leave the comfort of indoors. But wait an hour, and the heavens part ways, allowing the sun to cast its golden glow upon Roseberry, turning it into a vision against the still brooding rain clouds.

A rainbow always spruces up a photo, and I seize the moment. Can’t be picky about the scenery, not when I’m on Aireyholme Lane, that age-old track that leads up to Roseberry Common. This lane doubles as a storage space for straw bales and bits of farm machinery.

That bit there? I reckon it’s a harrow, or more precisely, a Cambridge Roller. After ploughing, you use it to rough up the soil, breaking those clods and smoothing things over. It’s all about creating a soil structure, a tilth, suitable for planting seeds.

Hence, a common name for a Cambridge Roller is a ‘clod crusher.’ Back in the early 19th century, folks also used around the term ‘brake‘ for it¹Brockett, J.T., “A Glossary of North Country Words in Use; with their Etymology, and Affinity to other Languages; and Occasional Notices of Local Customs and Popular Superstitions”, E. Charnley, 1829, Page 40. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6-cQAAAAYAAJ.

Now, from that same era comes the saying ‘toad-under-a-harrow.’ It’s a vivid way of describing the plight of some poor chap. His wife, not content with her usual hen-pecking, wants the whole world to witness the humiliations she heaps upon him²Brockett, J.T., “A Glossary of North Country Words in Use; with their Etymology, and Affinity to other Languages; and Occasional Notices of Local Customs and Popular Superstitions”, E. Charnley, 1829, Page 309. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6-cQAAAAYAAJ.

“Ower mony maisters, ower mony maisters!
as the toad said when under the harrow.”

• 1
  Brockett, J.T., “A Glossary of North Country Words in Use; with their Etymology, and Affinity to other Languages; and Occasional Notices of Local Customs and Popular Superstitions”, E. Charnley, 1829, Page 40. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6-cQAAAAYAAJ
• 2
  Brockett, J.T., “A Glossary of North Country Words in Use; with their Etymology, and Affinity to other Languages; and Occasional Notices of Local Customs and Popular Superstitions”, E. Charnley, 1829, Page 309. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6-cQAAAAYAAJ