The houses of long ago were built of mud and stone, some with mud alone.
This is how the mud walls were made. First a layer of mud was put up, about a foot in height, next day a layer of rushes was put up and then trampled. This work was continued day after day until the wall was raised to a certain height. the sides of it were then cut and straightened with a short spade.
The roof of it was generally made of bogdeal and timber pegs were used instead of nails. When the rafters were put up there were [?] put across them and these were also bound to the rafters with timber pegs. While this house was being made nothing was bought