Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Seal (1793-1887) was a well-known Dorchester character, countryman and drover. He had a hat made out of hedgehog skins which it is said he wore to stop people patting him on the head.
He was a self-appointed overseer of Dorchester Market. When the authorities tried to sack him, he threw a fully-laden beehive at the official market custodian.
Before the railway age, the most important long distance travellers were drovers. This saw thousands of sheep, cattle and pigs being moved along roads to markets and abattoirs. Some of these journeys could be more than 100 miles. As a drover, Nat Seal had a particular talent of finding ways to avoid paying bridge and turnpike tolls. All types of meat would literally walk to market. Sometimes the lines of animals would be two miles long and householders would board themselves in until they had passed. Drovers used dogs to control their charges and these dogs would sometimes be sent home alone after a drove.
At Poundbury Fair in 1877, Nat Seal had a ‘drop of beer’ too much. During the evening he tripped over a hen-coop and broke three of his ribs from which fortunately he recovered. Commenting on his love of liquor, he knew he could save a lot of money. But he was glad he preferred the drink as he felt that if he had saved the money his relatives would quarrel over it when he was gone. Such was his notoriety, in the 1950s it was even possible to buy a Nat Seal knife. Engraved on the blade was a shepherd wearing a smock.
When Nathanial Seal died in January 1887, Dorchester not only lost its oldest inhabitant and a striking personality but also its last living link with the 18th century.
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