This is an account of pigs and pig-keeping from the 16th century to the 20th century, concentrating on the domestic, cottage pig, rather than commercial farming. In Victorian England the pig was an integral part of village life. Living in close proximity with its owners, fed on scraps and the subject of perennial interest, the pig when dead provided the means to repay social and monetary debts, as well as meat. While words associated with pig, such as hoggish, swineand pigsty and phrases such as greedy as a pig, associate pigs with greed and dirt, this text aims to show the pig's virtues, intelligence and character.