School: Drumakill (roll number 6365)

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1. Old Crafts - Thatching

   

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   Long ago men went about thatching houses just as men go about doing carpenter work now. Oat straw was used and it had to be shaken out and made into long strong sheaves. The thatcher had an instrument called a "thatcher needle". It was a forked piece of iron attached to a wooden handle with this he caught the end of the straw and pushed it up under the old thatching. When the thatching was done they poured buckets of water down the thatch. When this was done the thatch lay flat and they raked it down with a rake and clipped the eaves to make it neat looking. Then they got sallow rods and pointed them. These were called "scolobs". They were placed along the thatch to keep it on and the points of the "scolobs" were stuck in the thatch.

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   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. trades and crafts (~4,680)
            1. thatching (~353)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Violet Somerville

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Drumleek South, Co. Monaghan

2. Old Crafts - Polish-Making

   

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   People long ago polished their boots with soot wet with water. Later they burned straw and mixed paraffin and turpentine with the ashes to make a better kind of polish.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit