A milkmaid, milk maid, milkwoman, dairymaid, or dairywoman is a girl or woman who works with milk or cows. She milks cows and also uses the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese. Many large houses employ milkmaids instead of having other staff do the work. The term milkmaid is not the female equivalent of milkman in the sense of one who delivers milk to the consumer; it is the female equivalent of milkman in the sense of cowman or dairyman. In 1600s-1800s English "milkmaids" sold milk wearing a yoke holding two milk pails and vending vessels, and also decorated themselves for the London May Day procession.

Cowpox

As a result of exposure to cowpox, which conveys a partial immunity to the disfiguring (and often fatal) disease smallpox, it was noticed that milkmaids lacked the scarred, pockmarked complexion common to smallpox survivors. This observation led to the development of the first vaccine.

Cultural references