School: Ballyvaldon (roll number 10792)
- Location:
- Ballyvaldon, Co. Wexford
- Teacher: Máire, Bean Uí Shúilleabháin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0885, Page 290
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- XML “Manufacture of Linen”
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- Miss O'Connor (already mentioned in this book) has still fine samples of table + bed linen made by her mother well over 100 years ago. She (Miss O'C) gave me a present of a table cloth + sheet from her collection.Flax was dealt with as foll :-
It was pulled, The "bells" with seed taken off and the stacks bound in sheaves
Children working or going into the flax field had a flaxen belt tied round their wrists to prevent their being taken off by the fairies
The sheaves were "bogged", and then dried on ledges (ledged)
When dry the stalks were broken with a flax break. This latter consisted of two stout short planks laid edgeways on a wooden frame parallel and about 6" apart. Then there was a stick of wood pivoted at its end on an axle connecting one pair of ends of the planks
The flax was laid across the planks and the pivoted stick brought to bear on it breaking the wood of the stacks -
Miss O Connor says "flax breaks" as the(continues on next page)
