An Act against Plowing by the Tayle, and pulling the Wooll off living Sheep (10 & 11 Chas. 1 c. 15) was an Act of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

passed in 1635. It was one of the first pieces of legislation to protect the rights of animals. The act was one of several proposed to deal with what the

Protestant Ascendancy The ''Protestant Ascendancy'', known simply as the ''Ascendancy'', was the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland between the 17th century and the early 20th century by a minority of landowners, Protestant clergy, and members of th ...

viewed as the barbarous practices of the

Gaelic Irish The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...

. The committee for preparing Acts (under

Poynings' Law Poynings' Law or the Statute of Drogheda may refer to the following acts of the Parliament of Ireland: * The acts of Poynings' Parliament, summoned to Drogheda in 1494–5 by Edward Poynings; or more specifically ** Poynings' Law (on certification ...

) on 26 July 1634 ordered the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and Solicitor-General to "make a draught of one or more Acts to be passed for restraining the barbaric custom of plowing by the tail, of pulling the wool off living sheep, of burning corn in the straw, of

barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

of standing trees, of cutting young trees by stealth, of forcing cows to give milk, and of building houses without chimneys". One other act arose from this order: "An Act to Prevent the unprofitable Custom of Burning of Corne in the Straw" (10 & 11 Chas. 1 c.17).

Ploughing by the tail

Especially in Ulster, the practice was to attach a short plough to a horse's tail. The simple plough was cheaper than one attached with a harness. The horse would stop in pain when the plough hit a rock, which made rocks less likely to damage the plough. In 1606, an

order in council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

prohibited the practice, with a fine of a

garron A garron or garran, from Gaelic ''gearran'', is a type of a small sturdy horse or pony. The term occurs in Scotland and in Ireland, and generally refers to an undersized beast. In Scotland, a garron is one of the types of Highland pony. It is th ...

. (The order was by

royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...

: an "act of state" rather than an "act of parliament".) The order was not enforced, and in 1612

Arthur Chichester Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625; known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester), of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 16 ...

, the

Lord Deputy The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is '' ...

, mandated instead a fine of 10 shillings, selling a monopoly patent for £100 per year to Sir William Udale to collect the fines. Udale earned £870 the first year. Administrators complained that Udale was charging only 2s6d, so that the fine served as a fee rather than a deterrent.JHCI v.1 p.45 In 1614 the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

suggested the fines should be used to pay for better ploughs, or replaced with corporal punishment. Nevertheless Udale's patent was renewed in 1623. Several petitioners from Ulster asked for the order's revocation.

Pulling of wool

Enforcement and repeal

A bill to suspend the 1635 act for ten years was transmitted and approved by Charles I in 1641,JHCI v.1 pp.210–211; 324–325 but never enacted as the 1641 Rebellion began a period of disruption. The 1635 act's repeal was demanded in 1646 by the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

s in negotiations with Lord Deputy

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. It was finally repealed in 1828 by one of

Peel's Acts Peel's Acts (as they are commonly known) were Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. They consolidated provisions from a large number of earlier statutes which were then repealed. Their purpose was to simplify the criminal law. The term re ...

for restating and consolidating laws (9 Geo. 4 c. 53). British Whig writers of the 1830s alleged that ploughing by the tail was still practised in the West of Ireland at that time. Such claims were denied by

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

s as propaganda.

References

Sources

;Primary: * * * Report of Commissioners:

Patent Roll The patent rolls (Latin: ''Rotuli litterarum patentium'') are a series of administrative records compiled in the English, British and United Kingdom Chancery, running from 1201 to the present day. Description The patent rolls comprise a register ...

, 16 James I. part iii. f.; reprinted in ;Secondary: * * * * * *

Ploughing by the tail

Pulling of wool

Enforcement and repeal

References

Sources

Citations

Further reading