gates, huge door hinges, locks, latches, bolts, and horseshoes.
The lord loaned these people land on which to live for their life,
called a "life estate", in return for their services. The loan
could continue to their widows or children who took up the craft.
Mills were usually powered by water. Candles were made from
beeswax, which exuded a bright and steady light and pleasant
smell, or from mutton fat, which had an unpleasant odor. The
wheeled plough and iron-bladed plough made the furrows. One man
held the plough and another walked with the oxen, coaxing them
forward with a stick and shouts. Seeds were held in an apron for
seeding. Farm implements included spades, shovels, rakes, hoes,
buckets, barrels, flails, and sieves. Plants were pruned to direct
their growth and to increase their yield. Everyone got together
for feasts at key stages of the farming, such as the harvest.
Easter was the biggest feast. When the lord was in the field, his
lady held their estate. There were common lands of these estates
as well as of communities. Any proposed new settler had to be
admitted at the court of this estate.

The land of some lords included fishing villages along the coasts.
>From the sea were caught herrings, salmon, porpoises, sturgeon,
oysters, crabs, mussels, cockles, winkles, plaice, flounder, and
lobsters. Sometimes whales were driven into an inlet by many
boats. River fish included eels, pike, minnows, burbot, trout, and
lampreys. They were caught by brushwood weirs, net, bait, hooks,
and baskets. Oysters were so numerous that they were eaten by the
poor. The king's peace extended over the waterways. If mills,
fisheries, weirs, or other structures were set up to block them,
they were to be destroyed and a penalty paid to the king.

Other lords had land with iron mining industries. Ore was dug from
the ground and combined with wood charcoal in a shaft furnace to
be smelted into liquid form. Wood charcoal was derived from
controlled charring of the wood at high temperatures without using
oxygen. This burned impurities from it and left a purer carbon,
which burned better than wood. The pure iron was extracted from
this liquid and formed into bars. To keep the fire hot, the
furnaces were frequently placed at windswept crossings of valleys
or on the tops of hills.

Some lords had markets on their land, for which they charged a
toll [like a sales tax] for participation. There were about
fifty markets in the nation. Ca