School: Ráth na mBeach (roll number 17129)

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1. A Churn

   

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   A Churn
   Collected by Mairéad Ní Speláin Woodville Crossmoliana
   Entered on:- 2adh lá Mí Meitheamh 1938
   We have a churn at home. It is about three years old. It is not a big[?] churn. It is blue in colour. It is a dash churn. It is about teo foot in height. We churn about once a month in summer and we do not churn atall in winter. My mother when she is going to churn first of all has the churn cleaned and then she gets the cream which is left in (bais) basins.The cream is got by spilling milk into clean basins for a day or night then it is skimmed and the top part of the milk is known as cream and the other part is known as skim milk. My mother throws the cream out of the basins into the churn. Then she puts in the "dash" or churn staff and she then puts on the lid. She shakes a pinch of salt on the lid for luck. She starts churning by moving the dash up and down. Sometimes in winter my mother pours hot water into the churn. To help the milk to break she will churn fast[?] When she has done she gets a dish and butter spades which are scalded with boiling water to keep the butter from sticking to them and takes it out. Then it is washed with spring water and salted and with butter spades made into rolls. Some people put "pisreogs" in churning. If a person believes in pisreogs is churning they would not let any person bring coal out of the house unless they would put down a sod of turf first because they would bring the butter away.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. agriculture (~2,659)
            1. butter and churns (~3,280)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Mairéad Ní Speláin

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Woodville, Co. Mayo