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A milkmaid, milk maid, dairymaid, or dairywoman was a girl or woman who milked cows. She also used the
As a result of exposure to cowpox, which conveys a partial immunity to the disfiguring (and often fatal) disease
A milkmaid, milk maid, dairymaid, or dairywoman was a girl or woman who milked cows. She also used the milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...
to prepare dairy products
Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in ...
such as cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
, butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food), spread, melted a ...
, and cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During product ...
. Many large houses employed milkmaids instead of having other staff do the work. The term ''milkmaid'' is not the female equivalent of '' milkman'' in the sense of one who delivers milk to the consumer; it is the female equivalent of ''milkman'' in the sense of '' cowman'' or ''dairyman''.
Cultural references
As a result of exposure to cowpox, which conveys a partial immunity to the disfiguring (and often fatal) disease smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) ce ...
, it was noticed that milkmaids lacked the scarred, pockmarked complexion common to smallpox survivors. This observation led to the development of the first vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. ...
.
Other
* The legend of the Dun Cow and the milkmaid who guided the monks ofLindisfarne
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...
carrying the body of Saint Cuthbert
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...
to the site of the present city of Durham in 995 AD.
* There is a famous painting by Johannes Vermeer entitled '' The Milkmaid'' ( 1658).
* Aelbert Cuyp
Aelbert Jacobszoon Cuyp () (20 October 1620 – 15 November 1691) was one of the leading Dutch Golden Age painters, producing mainly landscapes. The most famous of a family of painters, the pupil of his father Jacob Gerritszoon Cuyp (1594–165 ...
, another Dutch artist, created the drawing known as ''A Milkmaid'' (c. 1640–1650).
* The eponymous heroine of Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wo ...
's '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' (1892) works as a milkmaid.
* The folktale The milkmaid and her pail
The Milkmaid and Her Pail is a folktale of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 1430 about interrupted daydreams of wealth and fame. Ancient tales of this type exist in the East but Western variants are not found before the Middle Ages. It was only in the ...
is a cautionary tale about a milkmaid who spends her time daydreaming.
* The California native flower commonly called milkmaids
A milkmaid, milk maid, dairymaid, or dairywoman was a girl or woman who milked cows. She also used the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese. Many large houses employed milkmaids instead of having other staff do the wor ...
is named for its resemblance to the hat often worn by milkmaids.
* Kid Harpoon has a song called "Milkmaid"; the music video features actress Juno Temple.
* The "8th day" verse of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In some Western ecclesiastical traditions, "Christmas Day" is considered the "First Day of Christmas" and the Twelve Days a ...
" mentions "eight maids a-milking".
* The Philippines has a condensed milk brand called Milkmaid, a product of Alaska Milk Corporation.
* The San Francisco Milk Maid is cookbook author Louella Hill, author of ''Kitchen Creamery'' (Chronicle, 2014).
* The character Milkmaid in August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty ...
's ''The Ghost Sonata
''The Ghost Sonata'' ( sv, Spöksonaten, links=no) is a play in three acts by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. Written in 1907, it was first produced at Strindberg's Intimate Theatre in Stockholm on 21 January 1908. Since then, it has bee ...
''.
See also
* MilkmanReferences
{{Milk navbox Animal husbandry occupations Dairy industry Gendered occupations