Occupation or location?

[Maiden Stone]

At one time, men and working dogs were constantly together, even on Sundays, and at the parish church measures had to be taken to deal with noises and fights which inevitably disturbed the solemnity of the occcasion.
At Grappenhall in Cheshire the vestry ordered "... that the wardens of the parish shall cause the church during the time of divine service be kept clear from all dogs and bitches by hiring a person to whip and drive them out of the church.";
Persons appointed to perform this duty were known as dog whippers, knocknobblers, or sluggard walkers.
From "The Sutton Companion to Churches" by Stephen Friar.

So if we come across "knocknobblers" or "sluggard walkers" in a document we won't have to puzzle over what they were. 

[zenobia37]

Thanks very much to everyone who has replied, I have learned a lot! So it looks like he was in fact a dog whipper... Coincidentally some of his descendants four generations later moved to Baslow so there is a very remote chance they could have followed in Matthias' footsteps. At least he would have had a regular wage in a time that would have been difficult financially.