School: Ferbane (Convent)

On this page

1. Churning

   

   Share Share Post

   There is a churn at home. It is six feet tall, and six years old. The parts of it are:- Barrel, dash, lid and handle. There is a mark on the churn to tell you how much milk it holds. Butter is made once a week in the Winter, and in the Summer twice or three times a week. The mother does the churning and sometimes the children help. When strangers come in they take "a dash". If they do not, you would be a long time churning. The churning takes a quarter of an hour in the summer and in the Winter it takes half an hour. The churning is usually done now by hand. In some churns you turn the handle. There is a little glass on the lid of the churn and if there is no milk on the glass, it shows that the churning is finished; another sign is if the butter is in lumps inside. Water is put in hot and cold during the churning. The water is poured in to help the butter to come on. The butter is taken out with two little wooden patterns and put into a wooden vessel called a butter crock. The butter is washed with cold water, then it is taken out, and the water is thrown out.

   (continues on next page)

   

   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

   Rosie Gleeson

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Ferbane, Co. Offaly