School: Derrynananta

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1. Homemade Toys

   

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   young people in this locality a very interested in making Toys. They make horses, cows and pigs out of wood and they cut them out very neatly. Then they make stables and byres for those animals, and every day they bring food and drink to them. The young boys also amuse themselves by making bird cradles. They get sixteen sticks and put four standing against each other. Then put three on the four sides of the cradle. There is one little stick put across the centre of the cage and it is tied on one side and not on the other so that when the bird hops in on this stick it falls down and the poor bird is caught in the cradle.
   The children also make rag dolls by clothing small pieces of wood with various coloured rags.
   Long ago children amused themselves by making kites composed of lengths of light wood and paper.
   It was made so as to float in the air. To it was attached a long string and from this it floated into the air tugging at the string as if trying to get free.
   Cut a piece of a branch of the Elder tree to a length of nine or ten inches. Remove the pith then it looks like a tube. Then fold a piece of wet cloth into a ball and push that ball down the hollow of the tube. Make a similar ball and push it down the tube a small

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. social activities (~7)
         1. entertainments and recreational activities (~5,933)
            1. toys (~1,598)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Peggy Mc Govern

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Moneensauran, Co. Cavan

   Informant

   James De Lacy

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   81

   Address

   Moneensauran, Co. Cavan