School: Clashaganny (roll number 8051)

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1. On Churning

   

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   On Churning
   In mostly every old fashioned house there is a dash churn and it is a very useful article for making butter. Long, long ago it used to be that patent everyone used, but in later days they learned of a better and more easily worked one. There are various superstitions about churning which are even carried out to the present day for example, when the women of the house would be making a churning she would never neglect to put a piece of a coal under the churn for fear the fairies would run away with the latter. If a man came in to light his pipe the woman of the house would not allow him take that much of a coal for fear she would be deprived of all the butter and she would not let him go until he would take a turn at the churn. it is also an old superstition not to give milk away on May Day and it is also right not to let a stranger milk the cow on that special day because if he milks her in the name of the devil, the cow would have no more milk for the rest of that year. The way the churning is made is first when the cow is milked the milk is placed in a basin or preferably in a crock because it thickens quicker in a crock, and then it is put into the dairy in a clean cool place, and it is left there for a few days to thicken. Then it is taken in and churned for about a half an hour. If it is churned constantly the butter will be on top then. It is taken

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   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

   Nancy Boyle

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Ballydaly, Co. Roscommon