From: Year of Wonder, by Geraldine Brooks p87

...if it had not been for a hirsel from my flock losing itself moor.


Do you know hirsel Dr bill? it a sheeping term..

from the same paragraph
I was following the trail of what i hoped was their scat along a clough at the edge of the moor...
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From: Year of Wonder, by Geraldine Brooks p125
the narrator is talking about dolls (poppets)
I would form the bodies of plaited grainstalks and fashion faces from the yellow clay that lay at the base of the sillions


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From: Year of Wonder, by Geraldine Brooks p126

...a farmer allowed them to sleep the night among his cows in their warm shippon.

The sheep on Auchtertyre and Kirkton Farms are separated into four different populations occupying different parts (hirsels) of the farm.

Wonder where "faldage" comes into play?

I forbear to jest, AS.

Dear of troy: I found a bunch of sites indicating that this is a French word, apparently a terrain feature. Perhaps cognate "sillon" is the groove on an old audio disk.