Mennor in the Fould?

[kiterunner]

I've finally found my 6xg-grandfather's will, from 1773, and this is the inventory:

Housall Goods 10:0:0
Two Horses 10:0:0
One Beast 3:0:0
Sheep 4:0:0
One Cart and other Utensils 3:0:0
Corn on Ground 4:0:0
Hay 1:0:0
Mennor in the Fould 1:0:0

(the numbers are the values in pounds, shillings and pence, but it looks as if the valuers rounded it up or down to the nearest pound.)

Housall obviously = Household, but what would the Beast be? A horse or a cow or what? And what on earth is "Mennor in the Fould"? Any ideas, please? By the way, he describes himself as a Labourer in the will but he seems to have been rather wealthier than the average labourer, doesn't he?

[JayG]

Beast I would of thought would be cows.

Well done on finding the will!

[Phoenix]

I wonder if the beast is an ox to pull the cart?

Could mennor be a dialect word for lambs? or ewes? What time of year did he die?

[kiterunner]

The inventory was made on the 12th of March 1773.

[Mark Dudley]

Fold appears to be a name for a farm: http://freespace.virgin.net/tony.smith/farms.htm

The only thing that occurs to me for mennor is manure - and I'm sure that ain't right.

[kiterunner]

How much manure would you get for a pound in those days, do you think?

[Olde Crone]

Kite

Do you think the "two houses" are actually two HORSES? It would be a bit odd if one beast were the value of a third of a house, lol!

A beast is defined in my dictionary as a quadruped, a bovine, so it's either an ox, a bull or a cow, probably an ox or a bull, at that value.

Mennir in the fould has me beat!

OC

[Jackie H]

I think you might be right about manure. If you Google "manure in the fold" there are a couple of other inventories listing it

[kiterunner]

I was sure it said two houses, but I'll check next time I go to the archives! I remember a hilarious horse / house mixup in a comedy series called "People Like Us" a few years ago.

Thanks for the manure suggestions, Mark and Jackie.