Thomas Tusser facts for kids

Thomas Tusser (born around 1524, died May 3, 1580) was an English poet and farmer. He is most famous for his poem, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. This book was a bigger version of his first poem, A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie, which came out in 1557.

Tusser believed that the garden was a place for the housewife to manage. His book talked a lot about this idea. His poetry book was one of the most popular during the time of Queen Elizabeth I.

Early Life and Education

Thomas Tusser was born in Rivenhall, Essex, around 1524. His parents were William and Isabella Tusser. When he was very young, he became a chorister, which means he sang in the choir at St Nicholas' Collegiate Chapel in Wallingford Castle.

He was later chosen to sing in the King's Chapel. Singers from the King's Chapel often went on to study at famous universities like Oxford or Cambridge. Tusser, however, went to sing at St. Paul's Cathedral first. After that, he attended Eton College, a well-known school. He wrote about the hard times he faced at Wallingford and how strict Nicholas Udall was at Eton.

In 1543, he was accepted into King's College, Cambridge. He then moved to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. After leaving Cambridge, he worked for William Paget, 1st Baron Paget as a musician at court. After ten years, he got married and became a farmer. He settled in Cattawade, Suffolk, near the River Stour.

Writing About Farming

While farming in Suffolk, Thomas Tusser wrote A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie. This was a long poem made of rhyming couplets, which described the year on a farm. The publisher Richard Tottel first printed it in London in 1557. It was reprinted many times.

In 1573, Tottel published a much larger version called Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie. In this book, Tusser shared a mix of instructions and thoughts about farming. He also wrote about country customs. His work gives us a good look into daily life in Tudor England. He even wrote down many terms and proverbs for the first time.

In his famous book, he also listed ten things a perfect cheese should NOT be like:

• Not pale white, like a sick person.
• Not too salty.
• Not full of holes, like many eyes.
• Not puffed up or swollen.
• Not tough or leathery.
• Not poor or lacking.
• Not hairy.
• Not watery or mushy.
• Not full of maggots.
• Not made from burnt milk.

Tusser never stayed in one place for very long. He moved to Ipswich for his wife's health. After she passed away, he married again. He farmed for a while in West Dereham in Norfolk. Later, he became a singer at Norwich Cathedral. There, he found a good supporter in the Dean, John Salisbury.

Poem Examples

Five Hundred Points includes these simple rhyming lines: Swéete April showers, Doo spring Maie flowers.

It also has this well-known line: At Christmas play and make good cheere, for Christmas comes but once a yeere.

And another famous one: A foole and his monie be soone at debate, which after with sorrow repents him too late.

This last line is an early version of the proverb we know today: "A fool and his money are soon parted."

Later Life and Death

After trying farming again in Fairstead, Essex, Tusser moved back to London. However, a serious illness (the plague) in 1572–1573 made him leave. He found safety at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was listed as a college servant in 1573.

When he died, he owned a small piece of land in Chesterton, near Cambridge. His will shows that he was not poor, as some people have said. He had some of the good money habits he wrote about. The writer Thomas Fuller once said that Tusser "traded a lot in oxen, sheep, dairies, and all kinds of grain, but didn't make much profit." He also said that Tusser "spread his bread with all sorts of butter, yet none would stick thereon," meaning he tried many ways to make money, but none really worked out well for him.

Thomas Tusser died on May 3, 1580, when he was about 55 years old. An incorrect message in Manningtree, Essex, says he was 65.

According to John Stow's book Survey of London, Thomas Tusser was buried in a church called St Mildred in the Poultry, which no longer exists. The words on his tomb there said: "Here Thomas Tusser, clad in earth, doth lie, That sometime made the pointes of Husbandrie; By him then learne thou maiest; here learne we must, When all is done, we sleepe, and turne to dust: And yet, through Christ, to Heaven we hope to goe; Who reades his bookes, shall find his faith was so."

An old poem about Tusser from 1608 said: "Tusser, they tell me, when thou wert alive, Thou, teaching thrift, thyselfe couldst never thrive. So, like the whetstone, many men are wont To sharpen others, when themselves are blunt." This means he taught others to be careful with money, but he himself didn't become rich. Like a sharpening stone, he helped others, but didn't help himself.