School: Gaddyduff (roll number 16642)

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1. How the People Lived when my Grandfather was Young (continued)

   

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   handkerchiefs on the their heads as hats. The men wore castor hats in the winter time and straw hats in the summer. There werent any caps. They used to dye their clothes brown with that kind of crotter that grows on rocks. Clogs were the usual shoes worn but they never wore shoes only when they used to go the town or Church. At that time they used to carry them as far as the outside of the town and wear them into it. They wore stocking without feet and these were called martins and their caps were called tam a shanters. The bigest amount of tobacco that was bought was a penny worth. The people hadnt any bowls and instead they used wooden spoons. Noggins were the shape of big bowls. What was used instead of buckets was a wooden vessel with a long piece of wood going up the side; this was called a pigeon. The knives were made of old blades of hooks. They used no polish in those days; what they used was the black of the pot or burned straw. The men were very handy in olden times. The men knitted their own socks and the young girls spun their yarn. When you would want a suit made the tailor would have to come to your house and hand sew it.

   They had an unhanday way of working the land in those days. The usual way was making ridges with spades. In this way a lot of them set their potatoes. They had wooden ploughs so they only worked the mossy ground. Some of the people had harrows but the most of them harrowed with a big bush or grapes. One day Michael Ruadh a man from Effishmore walked to Derry and bought a harrow. He carried it home on his

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Patrick Quigley

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   13

   Address

   Gortnahunshion, Co. Dhún na nGall

   Informant

   Mr Quigley

   Relation

   Parent

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   56

   Address

   Gortnahunshion, Co. Dhún na nGall