Cottage Economy

by William Cobbett, Verlyn Klinkenborg (Foreword)

William Cobbett wrote Cottage Economy , published in 1821, with a twofold aim. First, to promote his personal philosophy of self-sufficiency, which he viewed as the foundation of family happiness. And second, to "instruct country laborers in the arts of brewing beer, making bread, keeping cows, pigs, bees, ewes, poultry, rabbits, and other matters." The book has enjoyed classic status ever since. Though over 180 years old, Cottage Economy has lost none of its relevance or inspiration for anyone in search of what Cobbett called "a good living." Written with Cobbett's typical wit--and bulldog curmudgeonliness--it deserves its reputation as the founding bible of self-sufficiency and one of the greatest rural reads in the English language.

Genres: History, Economics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Food, How To, Gardening

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1823

About the author

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly. He was also against the Corn Laws, a tax on imported grain. Early in his career, he was a loyalist supporter of King and Country: but later he joined and successfully publicised the radical movement, which led to the Reform Bill of 1832, and to his winning the parliamentary seat of Oldham. Although he was not a Catholic, he became a fiery advocate of Catholic Emancipation in Britain. Through the seeming contradictions in Cobbett's life, two things stayed constant: an opposition to authority and a suspicion of novelty. He wrote many polemics, on subjects from political reform to religion, but is best known for his book from 1830, Rural Rides, which is still in print today.

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

With no sound foundation for many of his forceful assertions, William Cobbett comes over as very self opinionated. Like many politicians, he twists facts to support his beliefs with many statements having no scientific basis. According to Cobbett, I would be the worst example of degradation as I do not like sweet lard instead of butter and I drink tea when I should be drinking beer, so my health must be so much the worse for it.

I feel sorry for anyone who, in Cobbett’s time, took this book altogether seriously. As it was, I found it mildly amusing and interesting to see how far this arrogant author’s criticisms would reach into the habits of English society in the early 19th century. However, I can understand his objection to the drift of labour from the land to factories with poor working conditions.

On the positive side, I found it a useful insight into some of the thoughts of the time. Mrs Cobbett’s recipes added to the end of later editions were interesting.

[Danielle]

Really hates tea:

“The tea drinking fills the public-house, makes the frequenting of it habitual, corrupts boys as soon as they are able to move from home, and does little less for the girls, to whom the gossip of the tea-table is no bad preparatory school for the brothel.”

Also hates potatoes. I would venture to say he hates Irish, too.

The work as a whole was engaging and edifying. I don’t really think he’s an expert on what he discusses, but I think he means well. I’d want to check his suggestions with others from the time period to see how much they agreed with him.

I was pleased to hear him mention mangels - I’ve been eager to grow some of these lately and it’s fun to see his enthusiasm in regards to them.

[Scarlett Rue · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I was hunting around on LibriVox audio for something to listen to help me fall asleep one night. In the Public Domain there are a lot of light and easy books to listen to that are almost ASMR in their narration, put that with a relaxing topic, and I am out like a light. I used to listen to the Bible on Audible, but it kept merging with my dreams, and no one wants that.

The quest for me is to find a topic that is interesting but with a narrator that is conducive for sleep. I generally like the ones on the home economics. There are cookbooks, how to run a house (how many and which types of servants are needed for a particular size home and how much they should be paid), and even ettiquite books (When introducing a younger person to an elder the younger person is always presented first "Mrs. Old, I would present to you Mr. Young")

So, this book was written by William Cobbett (9 March 1763 ? 18 June 1835) who was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey, one of a popular agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign activity and raise wages, to bring peace and ease poverty among farm labourers and smallholders. He was born and raised on a farm and from a young age was given chores and responsibilites. So, he knew of which he wrote about in this book.


You need to imaging that these passages are read in the very soothing English accent of Philippa (no last name given) who makes this recording so great to listen to on an iPod snugged under the pillow at night before falling asleep. The following gives you some idea of what I am talking about. Apparently, casual racism against the Irish was very popular at the time, so don't get upset at me, this was just an example of the times. Well, since he was for restraint on "forign activity" it makes sense.

This was about the time Tea became popular, and began surpassing beer as the drink of choice:

"The drink which has come to supply the place of beer has, in general, been tea. It is notorious that tea has no useful strength in it; that it contains nothing nutritious; that it, besides being good for nothing, has badness in it, because it is well known to produce want of sleep in many cases, and in all cases, to shake and weaken the nerves. It is, in fact, a weaker kind of laudanum, which enlivens for the moment and deadens afterwards."

And so he then spends two chapters on exactly how to make and brew beer which is much better.

Don't get me started on the very in depth way he laid out the differences in price per bushel to make vs price per bushel in yielded income on potatoes vs grain for bread, and the amount of time and energy to produce both. It seems he is in favor of the bread:

"The thirty-two bushels of wheat, supposing a bushel to be baked at a time, (which would be the case in a large family,) would demand thirty-two heatings of the oven. Suppose a bushel of potatoes to be cooked every day in order to supply the place of this bread, then we have nine hundred boilings of the pot, unless cold potatoes be eaten at some of the meals; and, in that case, the diet must be cheering indeed! Think of the labour; think of the time; think of all the peelings and scrapings and washings and messings attending these nine hundred boilings of the pot! For it must be a considerable time before English people can be brought to eat potatoes in the Irish style; that is to say, scratch them out of the earth with their paws, toss them into a pot without washing, and when boiled, turn them out upon a dirty board, and then sit round that board, peel the skin and dirt from one at a time and eat the inside. Mr. Curwen was delighted with ?Irish hospitality,? because the people there receive no parish relief; upon which I can only say, that I wish him the exclusive benefit of such hospitality."

William Cobbett wrote this book as a way of providing an education to the men/women who were the backbone of the country at the time. This book served as an instruction on how to live good, not in richness of money, but having food, raiment, and health.

I am not too sure of who this man was but he seemed to have a very good grasp on the economy of the times, knowing to the penny and shilling how much a person should spend to do some kind of activity that should be done at home rather than being bought elsewhere. The point was to help a small land leaser with a cottage and a bit of land get the absolute most out of what he has with the least amount of actual money spent and in the best amount of time and which is the most healthful and beneficial to the family. He covers pretty much every aspect from the raising of animals, the types of harvest he should plant, the types of furniture and clothing that should be made/bought down to candles and rushes for lighting. I found the opinion that mustard is much more easily made than purchased.

"Why buy this, when you can grow it in your garden? The stuff you buy is half drugs; and is injurious to health. A yard square of ground, sown with common Mustard, the crop of which you would grind for use, in a little mustard-mill, as you wanted it, would save you some money, and probably save your life. Your mustard would look brown instead of yellow; but the former colour is as good as the latter: and, as to the taste, the real mustard has certainly a much better than that of the drugs and flour which go under the name of mustard. Let any one try it, and I am sure he will never use the drugs again. The drugs, if you take them freely, leave a burning at the pit of your stomach, which the real mustard does not."

And to top it all off - details on how to build an ice house for keeping ice.

" First begging the reader to read again paragraph 149, I proceed here, in compliance with numerous requests to that effect, to describe, as clearly as I can, the manner of constructing the sort of Ice-houses therein mentioned.

Hugh Grant is narrating that particular sentence in my mind...

Anyhow, since it is in the Public Domain, you can attempt to read the book online (good luck in that venture) or you can download it from any of the free audiobook apps. The content is very interesting from a historical perspective since it was written in the Regency period of 1820. Again the audio book version is something that shouldn?t be listened to while operating heavy machinery but it is something that will definitely help take you mind of whatever modern day problems we are facing and help you sleep at night. The narrator ? Phillipa is the best part of it. It took me almost 3 months to finish it because I kept falling asleep within 15 minutes of listening.

[A M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now this was a weird one. written in 1821 or so, this man had some interesting topics. besides the “wife is man’s property” which is of the time i guess, he also goes on a diatribe about how tea makes men effeminate and spends a good while discussing its lack of nutrition or purpose.

he kind of wins me over at the tail end where he absolutely dunks on the social and wealthy elite of england and how society damns starving poor people to death when he argues it’s natural law to try to fight for survival.

my favorite line is: “ that same human nature that tells me that I am not to cut my neighbor‘s throat and drink. His blood tells me that I am not to make him die at my feet by keeping him from food of which I have more than I want for my own preservation” like what a banger. couldn’t really tell what this man was saying nor were the pages numbered on my copy but it was an intriguing read nonetheless

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was a man of his times with strong views on what should make a happy and contented life. This required hard work and to minimise any waste of time. He was disparaging of issues he did not agree with. Modern PC readers could be offended by some comments, the answer to which is that you need to get a grip of the reality of his time. There is a lesson here, it is not possible to judge people for their views from 200 years ago as times have changed. Most people lived in relative poverty and times could be hard with frequent poor harvests.
Drinking homemade beer was better than the new habit of drinking tea, he viewed as being wasteful.
This was a good read with insights into times past.

[Lmichelleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

It amazes me how a two hundred year old collection of pamphlets written to encourage the labouring class in England can feel so relevant to my life today in rural America!

Laugh-out-loud funny at some parts, because, boy, does this guy have strong opinions and also no patience for those who lack common sense and gumption! Possibly also not very patient with anyone who disagrees with him.

Mangel-wurzels for feeding livestock such as pigs and cows is an idea I've heard Beth and Shawn Doherty speak about using on their farm. Maybe they were the ones who recommended this old book!

I listened to this on Librivox and enjoyed it very much!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at English rural life in the 1820s. Could be somewhat helpful, even in AD 2022, for those wishing to become less reliant on grocery stores.

His philosophy is interesting. I found myself agreeing with most of his ideas on domesticity and self-sufficiency, but am uncertain about his religious views. He seems to say that being well-fed and clothed will do more than proper religious instruction, to restrain sin.

[Barbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

For having been written in the 1820s, this book gives a detailed account on how to farm in all aspects, even comparing prices at the time.

Cobbett is super humorous even if that wasn’t his intent, making me realize how far we’ve come from being sustainable or knowing how to do basic things we take for granted.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fairly interesting. It's an interesting look at the downfall of the family and how the home has been manipulated into the downward spiral. I'm amazed at how large the production of the everyday home was!

[Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book you should read if you plan on running away to the wilderness of Montana. It is good advice given by the famous reformer for how to live self-reliantly.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting look into the past from an opinionated man. Some still rings true today, other things just amusing to the modern person.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting directions.

[David Mosley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cobbett seeks to teach labourers and tradesmen how they can produce much of their own food and drink so they will no longer be dependent on the Government (who taxes them too much) nor their local publicans (who poison them). Somewhat haphazardly, Cobbett goes through all the things he thinks someone with forty rods of land can do for themselves, namely: brew beer instead of tea; bake bread; raise a cow; chickens; pigs; a goat; enough vegetables for the table; bees; and more. The book rounds off with a few recipes from Mrs Cobbett.

What Cobbett lacks in food science he makes up for in passion for being self-sufficient. Cobbett sees tea as atrocious and the tea table fit only to teach boys to lazy and girls to be harlots. He is unaware of the health benefits, but he understands that the time taken to brew tea, in an age before electric kettles, could be put to better use. Cobbett also hates potatoes, but only because he sees them being eaten in place of bread. One could not come away from Cobbett's Cottage Economy with the tools necessary to live as he describes. The book is too much a product of its time. Nevertheless, this book can inspire us to do more, to be better connected to our food and drink and to work more for our meals. Many of the things Cobbett describes, when done well, are still cheaper when done at home than when we pay others to do them for us. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in food, brewing, and growing vegetables.

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book, if you want an insight into the lives of poorer people in the 1800s from the perspective of a man with an agenda to improve people's lot.

It's not a remotely useful book for people now who want to take up a more self sufficient lifestyle, but it might provide inspiration. Cobbett includes all kinds of suggestions about growing and grinding your own wheat, keeping a pig, brewing and other such things that make a household more efficient. He's very much trying to aleviate poverty by showing people how to live in more cost effective ways. The trouble is, the people who would have benefitted most from his ideas very likely would not have been readers, much less able to spend money on a book!

The main themes in Cottage Economy are, beer and bread versus tea and potatoes. Cobbett ascribes the decline of English achievement to the move from bread and beer to potatoes and tea as staples. He goes to some length to express why, including the most glorious treatise on what happens if you feed a pig on tea (it dies) as opposed to a diet of beer (it thrives, apparently).

If social history lights your candle, its a must read. An entertaining curiosity, it won't appeal to everyone, but has considerable charm.

[Rolandofeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable for the functional parts such as planting and beer brewing as a historical piece. The author has a extreme prejudice against the Irish and, in particular, potatoes. You have been warned.