Jethro Tull: the man who inspired the 1970s folk-rock band

Knowing my esteemed editor well, I know that she appreciates any oblique reference to rock music, and I have to confess I do value a group named after some historical figure. There’s ‘Franz Ferdinand’ and ‘Tesla’ (from Nikola Tesla), for example, ‘Judas Iscariot’, ‘Cousteau’ and ‘Louis XIV’, whilst ‘Dead Kennedys’ is perhaps a slightly irreverent naming from the ill-fated American dynasty. My fav though has to be ‘Jethro Tull’, named after an 18th-century agriculturist. It just so happened that the group’s agent was a history buff who came up with the name on the fly (as you do). It stuck, thank goodness, and the rest, of course, is history. Now, after all that, it’s time for us to consider the real Jethro Tull (1674-1741).

Great British Life: Jethro Tull's gravestone in St Bartholomew's churchyard, Lower Basildon.'To the memory of Jethro Tull, pioneer of mechanised agriculture, author of Horse-Hoing Husbandry, baptised in this church 30th March 1674, buried here 9th March' Jethro Tull's gravestone in St Bartholomew's churchyard, Lower Basildon.'To the memory of Jethro Tull, pioneer of mechanised agriculture, author of Horse-Hoing Husbandry, baptised in this church 30th March 1674, buried here 9th March' (Image: David Kemp/Creative Commons)

Most likely born at Basildon (not Essex, but Berks), on the Oxfordshire border, the agriculturist, writer, agronomist (crop production guru) and inventor Jethro Tull strode across its two component villages, Upper Basildon, where we can assume he was born, and Lower Basildon, where he definitely lies buried. We know that he was baptised in St Bartholomew’s Church, Lower Basildon, on March 30, 1674, which happens to be where he’s also now pushing up the daisies in the churchyard. He was the son of Jethro Tull Snr. and Dorothy née Buckeridge, a scion of Berks gentry. He grew up in Bradfield, which lies a little to the south of Basildon and was educated at St John’s College, Oxford, matriculating aged 17. Although he trained for the law, he appears never to have taken a degree yet was nevertheless called to the Bar in December 1693 (some sources plump for 1699 for this elevation). He also married to Susanna Smith from Burton Dassett (Warwicks), in 1699, a coupling that lasted over 40 years, then settled on his father’s farm at Howberry, near Crowmarsh Gifford (Oxon) where the couple had three children, two of them daughters. Connections with our part of the world abound.

Great British Life: Jethro Tull's seed drill. Jethro Tull's seed drill. (Image: Horse-Hoeing Husbandry Fourt Edition from 1762)

It was Tull who invented a wheeled seed drill (1701), which was his most notable achievement for which he’s therefore best known, and introduced new farming methods to his native county, his principal leap forward though being that mechanism for the economic planting of seeds in neat rows which replaced rather indiscriminate scattering of seed by hand. There had been ancient seed drills of sorts, but Tull is usually credited with reintroducing them to the modern world, in fact, it’s a fair bet that he was the brains behind the first English model which actually worked in an efficient manner. Later on, he also invented a horse-drawn hoe to assist soil aeration which also helped to eliminate weeds from between those carefully planted rows produced by his drill (some sources claim it was invented in the same year, 1701, with the horse-drawn hoe actually coming first of the two key inventions). Notwithstanding the doubt over exactly when his horse-drawn hoe appeared, there’s no dispute that both inventions were intended for both cereals and turnips. We can also believe Tull when he said that he’d not read any agricultural books prior to his inventions; he seems to have been an observer at this stage rather than a reader.

Great British Life: Entrance to Jethro Tull Gardens, Crowmarsh Gifford, Oxon. The white-painted half-timbered cottages in the middle distance include Jethro Tull's former home where he lived between 1700-10. Entrance to Jethro Tull Gardens, Crowmarsh Gifford, Oxon. The white-painted half-timbered cottages in the middle distance include Jethro Tull's former home where he lived between 1700-10. (Image: Christopher Hilton/Creative Commons)

Tull would operate his father’s farm in Oxfordshire for the first decade or so of the 18th century which is when he lived in a cottage in the village of Crowmarsh Gifford which sports a commemorative plaque these days. He went off on his own version of the ‘Grand Tour’ after that though, taking in France and Italy (1711-14). He was unwell and set off in search of warmer climes and a cure but took the opportunity to observe farming practices in these countries which then informed his innovations to come back in his home patch. An agrarian revolution was to occur in this country in the 18th century with men like Tull at its apex. These widespread changes involved large-scale introduction of enclosed fields, new farming techniques and crops, and the obsolescence of subsistence farming as commercial farming took over. Although this ‘revolution’ may to be fair have occurred over a longer period there’s no doubt that the pace of change accelerated in that one century, the time of Tull. He certainly practiced what he’d learned in Europe, believing, for example, that there was little benefit to be gained from constant manuring; in the south of France he’d noticed that ‘dunging vineyards’ was frowned upon. Tull would always claim, rightly or wrongly, that his inventions were sufficient to maintain the soil’s fertility; he was done with dung. Tull was acting under a misapprehension though in believing that the soil itself provided all the nourishment that plants required.

Great British Life: An aptly-named hostelry, 'The Plough' in Shalbourne. Jethro Tull owned a farm, Prosperous Farm close to the north-east boundary of today's parish from 1709 until his death. An aptly-named hostelry, 'The Plough' in Shalbourne. Jethro Tull owned a farm, Prosperous Farm close to the north-east boundary of today's parish from 1709 until his death. (Image: Stuart Logan/Creative Commons)

Meanwhile, in 1709, just prior to his European fact-finding jolly, Tull had bought his own farm, Prosperous Farm, at Shalbourne (then of Berks, today of Wilts), around four miles south of Hungerford, where he busied himself intercropping (i.e. growing two or more crops in close proximity), namely autumn-sown wheat with turnips, which were pulled in Spring, preparing the way for Viscount ‘Turnip’ Townshend who’d do the same kind of thing in Norfolk from 1730, leading to the county’s ‘four-course rotation’. Between seeding and harvest the farmer’s main foe was the weed and Tull’s horse-drawn hoe gave him a more efficient way of fighting back than hand-pulling or using primitive implements although Tull himself had been more concerned with breaking up the soil than waging war on weeds. His endeavours at Shalbourne would occupy him until the end of his days.

Whilst at Shalbourne Tull wrote The Horse-Hoing Husbandry (1733, with supplement 1740). The title is pleasingly alliterative. His ‘principles of tillage’ were published therein, and his methods were duly adopted by many landowners as his science proliferated, forming the basis for modern agriculture. It didn’t all come up roses for Tull though as there was quite a lot of opposition to his new-fangled ideas before they became generally accepted. Not only did Tull write but he also appeared in others’ writings; he popped up, for example, in Tobias Smollett’s The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771). Not all of Tull’s innovations were practicable at the time, however, there is no doubt that this forward-thinking rock star of agriculture helped to revolutionise what went on in the nation’s fields. He wasn’t to see it, but George III would be an enthusiastic supporter of agricultural improvement; Royal support for the countryside is certainly nought new. Tull did better than many modern folk who flee to the country. He embraced rural living in a way that few ex-townies do. He played the church organ on Sundays, with the church’s organ pipes providing the inspiration for his seed drill.

Great British Life: Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson, Hamburg, 1973. Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson, Hamburg, 1973. (Image: Photo: Heinrich Klaffs/Creative Commons)

Jethro Tull, agricultural pioneer and rock band inspiration, died on February 21, 1741 at Prosperous Farm, although his grave in the churchyard of St Bartholemew’s, Lower Basildon, gives a date of burial of March 9, 1740 which appears at first sight to be ‘interesting’ to say the least. This seeming discrepancy is due to use of Old Style and New Style dates, an Old Style date of March 9, 1740 being the equivalent of a New Style date of March 20, 1741. I feel that discussion of the calendar changes, Julian to Gregorian, and start of year adjustment, is outside the scope of this article but is nevertheless interesting and bound to feature on ‘The Chase’ at some point. ‘Jethro Tull’ the band was formed in 1967, meanwhile. Its discography confirming an impressive list of studio albums including Songs from the Wood (1977), Heavy Horses (1978), Stormwatch (1979) and the more recent Roots to Branches (1995) which may or may not be allusions to the group’s rural traditions… well, in its choice of name at any rate.