Pigs on the Green?

Reprint of an article that appeared in the Summer 2011 Edition of Common Ground.

By Alex Killick, Friend and Denny Bottom resident

In years gone by ‘pannage’ pigs (domestic pigs kept in a wood, forest, or on common land, in order that they might forage for fallen acorns and the like) were kept on Rusthall Common. When I mentioned this to a member of the Friends of the Commons recently she enthusiastically declared: “I think I’d rather like that! Bring back the pigs!”

But should we bring them back to “follow the ways of their choosing!” (From a poem about pannage pigs, though I can’t remember who by). Should we revive this ancient practice and bring the commons to life once again with the sound of their snorting?

To answer this question perhaps we should look at what happens in the New Forest, where this custom continues to this day. Every year, at about this time, Commoners are allowed to let loose their pigs to clear up fallen acorns and nuts (which are poisonous to the ponies.) Apparently walkers sometimes find their peaceful reverie disturbed by a stampede of up to a dozen excitable pigs, but this excitement generally passes as quickly as it began.

On a personal note I would like to tell you about an encounter I had recently with a pig (or rather some pigs). I was at a garden party thrown by my partner’s boss and I noticed some pigs (of the rare breed variety) in the field opposite. They were waiting by the fence and I was immediately struck by the intelligence of their gaze, eyeing the guests speculatively as if to ascertain if there were any pig lovers present, who might bring them a treat. So myself and a friend went over and fed them windfall apples. They were very tame, like animals from a petting zoo, and kept up a companionable grunting all through the encounter (pig small talk?). I have read somewhere that pigs use up to 33 different vocalisations and are really quite chatty! I was so charmed I gave two of them my two favourites names: Beatrice and Eugenie (after the princesses of the same name). Afterwards they gambled away, one seeming to be chasing a butterfly. So, I don’t know about you, but I am definitely a convert. As Winston Churchill once said: “A dog looks up to you. Cats look down on you. Give me a pig. He just looks you in the eye and treats you like an equal.”

I rest my case.