School: Gortahose
- Location:
- Gortachoosh, Co. Leitrim
- Teacher: F. Mag Shamhráin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0226, Page 472
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- XML “Homemade Toys”
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- My father told me that when he was a small boy he very often made spinning tops from spools or pieces of wood. With a pen-knife he cut away one end of the spool and pointed it. He made it smooth and fine by rubbing it to a rough sand-stone. With a nail he [scored?] out the track for the spinning cord. The cord itself was made of flax and a small piece of leather shaped like a penny was tied at the end of the string to prevent it slipping when the top would be a spinning.
In his grandfather's time he says spoons for eating eggs were made from pieces of wood. These when made were called crainsceens and were only used for a short time.
It was very difficult to keep them clean so they were burned and fresh ones made in a rough and ready fashion. Wooden mugs were also made and used for drinking purposes and for eating(continues on next page)
