Earsh (noun) (Old English: ersc) was used in South and West England to describe a stubble field in which a grain crop – wheat, barley or rye - had been harvested, leaving short stubble or short stalks. The field is prepared for seeding by ploughing the stubble into the ground, or burning. It is frequently pronounced "ash". It is written also as arrish, arish, eddish or ersh.