School: Urblereagh
- Location:
- Urbalreagh, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: M. D. Quigley
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1124, Page 231
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- XML School: Urblereagh
- XML Page 231
- XML “A Churn”
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- Nearly every family in my village have a churn. There is no churn in my house but I have often seen my neighbours churning.
A churn is three and a half or four feet high.
When a person is churning he or she uses a churn staff, which is a staff with a wheel on one end of it. This wheel can not revolve because it is bound on to the staff.
Nearly every family in my village has three milch cows and in summer can churn twice a week but in winter usually churn once a week.
If a stranger comes into the house while churning is being done he or she is supposed to say "God bless the churn" to show he does not wish ill luck on the work.
When the milk is half churned tiny yellow specks can be seen through it, but when it is churned huge yellow lumps can be seen on the surface of the milk. These lumps are the butter, the butter is then made into "messgains" with wooden spades called(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Betty Quigley
- Gender
- Female
- Informant
- Miss Marjorie Mac Laughlin
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Urbalreagh, Co. Donegal
