The time of sheep-shearing was celebrated by a rural feast such as Shakespeare has introduced in The Winter's Tale. The shearing took place in the spring as soon as the weather became warm enough for the sheep to lay aside their winter clothing without danger. John Dyer, in his poem entitled The Fleece (1757), fixes the proper time thus:—
"If verdant elder spreads
Her silver flowers, if humble daisies yield
To yellow crowfoot and luxuriant grass,
Gay shearing-time approaches."
Drayton, writing in Shakespeare's day (page 3 above), describes a shearing-feast in the Vale of Evesham, not far from Stratford:—
"The shepherd-king,
Whose flock hath chanced that year the earliest lamb to bring,
In his gay baldric sits at his low, grassy board,