to do the thatching They used to mix the straw with rushes, and if they had not any straw they used to use rushes. The needle which they used was of iron. It was about a foot and a half in length, and was made by the black smith.Erin GillThatching was a good old trade in this place in the olden times. When a man would be going thatching a house he would get four or five bundles of rods. First he would cut every rod about a yard long. He would put two points on every rod and put them steeping in a small river. Unless you would put them steeping they would bread when you would bend them. You would leave them on the water for two or three days. He would get the scythe andBernie Hughes