Emboldened writing is the part of the clip audible in the recording.
D253
<F Ess11>
<S BH & MC>
<G M & F>
<A 76 & ?>
<O FARM LABOURER & ?>
<C ESSEX>
<V NETTESWELL>
<D 25-04-52>
<I PW>
<L CN S119>
<T 8:18>
<MC No,
I was going to say. MC>
<BH I found xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx. BH>
<MC [!= laughs]
I bet you they think it ‘s too much. MC>
<BH Oh,
I do a good bit of carrying of hundredweights. BH>
<MC Can you really? MC>
<BH Yeah. BH>
<MC It ‘s really wonderful,
you know. MC>
<BH Oh yeah.
# I mean,
I can’t pick ’em up like I used to years ago.
It ‘s too xxx.
# But xxx xxx xxx.
If I xxx xxx a carter anywhere,
so I could just get over,
and,
you know,
I can be off with them.
# See? BH>
<PW Hmm. PW>
<MC # Oh yes.
Well,
I think it ‘s wonderful what you do.
Mind you,
I think working # on the land always uh keeps you very fit and well. MC>
<BH Oh yes. BH>
<MC xxx xxx +/. MC>
<BH Of course.
Bring it in at # haytime then.
# And harvest time.
A bit heavy +…
If you were out in the field all day long.
# Pitching.
Hay,
you know.
# Afore they had the sweeps.
You had to pitch it all up with a fork. BH>
<PW How do you do that? PW>
<BH And unload it.
# Now,
you see,
they # put it in and elevate up the straw and on the stack.
The sweep puts it up there.
# No pitching on wagons. BH>
<MC Now that was hard work.
I ‘ve tried that.
[!= laughs] MC>
<BH [!= laughs] BH>
<MC [!= laughs]
During the first war. MC>
<BH Yeah. BH>
<PW How did you do the harvesting in the olden days? PW>
<BH Oh,
we used to have a little reapers.
And I used to be boy at Mr. Coleman’s I used to ride off two horses on a little reaper.
# A man had to # put it off.
A rake.
# Have a rake and hold his foot up when he got enough to sheave,
he had a little rake in his hand,
he used to # slide it off the rack.
Then put his rack up again,
and go on far enough for another sheaf,
then # drop his rack,
and # put it off his +…
With a rake.
And when he had to come round to tie a band then. BH>
<PW Hmm. PW>
<MC Used you to work on the Berry farm? MC>
<BH Oh yes. BH>
<MC I don’t think you did it,
when I was +…
uh stayed there,,
did you? MC>
<BH No.
I don’t think +…
Not then. BH>
<MC No.
I don’t think you +/. MC>
<BH xxx xxx a good many years there. BH>
<MC Mmhm.
Your brother did. MC >
<BH # Yes. BH>
<MC Esther’s father. MC>
<BH Oh yes. BH>
<MC He did. MC>
<BH Yes.
Cecil.
Cecil.
Yes. BH>
<MC Yes. MC>
<BH # Yeah. BH>
<MC xxx so I remember that. MC>
<BH Yes.
I worked there a good many year as shepherd. BH>
<MC Oh. MC>
<BH For ’em.
# That ‘s when Cecil was young.
When I was down there. BH>
<MC Yeah.
Mmhm. MC>
<BH yeah. BH>
<PW You’d have to know a lot about sheep then. PW>
<BH Oh yes. BH>
<PW Uh did you know the names of them? PW>
<BH Oh yes. BH>
<PW Some [/] some [\] shepherds +… PW>
<BH Oh yes.
We did some.
But not when you got a lot.
We didn’t use to take no notice of that.
# Yeah.
They used to have a name some of them shepherds. BH>
<PW Uhhuh. PW>
<BH Which way would you think their heads ‘d be when +…
Which way way would they be looking when I used to go in the field in the mornings? BH>
<PW # Uh +… PW>
<BH North,
south,
or where would they be looking? BH>
<PW Uh south?
# West? PW>
<BH They ‘d be looking straight at me. BH>
<MC [!= laughs] MC>
<BH [!= laughs] BH>
<MC Ready for their food? MC>
<BH Yes.
xxx. BH>
<PW Ahhah. PW>
<BH And then when you got all those facing me. BH>
<PW Hmm. PW>
<BH Yeah.
They knowed [: knew],
you know. BH>
<PW They [/] they [\] knowed you # pretty well. PW>
<BH yes. BH>
<PW Ahhah.
# What [/] what [\] was this sickle you were # telling me about. PW>
<BH Oh,
that ‘s what we used to +…
afore the ‘chines [: machines] that was about.
I mean,
just like a little # bagging hook,
you know,
come [: came] round,
then it ‘d got all little sharp teeth,
like a saw,
very fine.
And you used to xxx xxx with them,
like xxx,
and put your sickle round,
# up the leg,
and carry it about,
that height or so off the ground. BH>
<PW Ahhah.
I don’t +…
Did they work hard in the olden days? PW>
<BH Yes.
Of course they did. BH>
<PW # Harder than now? PW>
<BH Yeah.
Of course they did.
There weren’t the things about to help lift now,
like there is now,
xxx things what # lift wheat,
stacks of wheat up and everything,,
ain’t they? BH>
||
<BH Quarters,
wheat.
And all that we ‘d lift it up into the threshing machine,
frail,
or bushel measure.
# And threshed. BH>
<PW # And how did you do that? PW>
<BH Hmm? BH>
<PW How did you # thresh it? PW>
<BH Oh,
in a threshing machine.
Turn the handle.
That blowed [: blew] the chaff away,
and all the dust,
and # separated the +…
half the kernels one way,
and # all kernels from xxx another way,
see?
What you call ‘off corn’.
# You know,
these split kernels.
# For chickens’ food that went. BH>
<PW Hmm. PW>
<BH # And you +…
And uh barley +…
If that weren’t threshed properly,
well,
you had to # chop it.
# You xxx a shovel,
and # xxx # xxx xxx xxx,
and # you have a chopper.
xxx bit square.
# See?
And a handle.
Got like choppers on.
# But +…
Supposed to do that.
Keep chopping,
see?
That [/] that [\] used to knock these xxx off what the machine ain’t.
See?
Else they wouldn’t have it like for malt and barley.
# Then we had another thing was better than that.
About as wide as that.
And a handle on.
Like a lawnmower,
you might say.
Keep on going like that.
That used to spin round like +…
You ‘d put the barley at xxx xxx,
you know,
and that used to chop these off beautiful.
That was tiring to keep on this +…
Like this all day.
# With this here roller,
you see,
you pull it.
# xxx it.
Right across the barn and back again.
That used to spin round. BH>
<PW Now that’s fine. PW>
<BH That was a better way than this here chopper.
They ‘d got a handle on like a shovel,
you see.
Straight handle.
What we call ‘a xxx’,
you know.
And you had to keep on like that.
Well,
use both handles,
used to.
Made you tired if you only had one.
because that was iron.
All at the bottom.
About # eighteen uh inches square,
some on [: of] ’em was.
# xxx xxx weren’t quite fit,
# but they wouldn’t knock the ails off.
# If you had got to get the ails all knocked off close to the ker- +…
off the kernel,
# that made more money,
for malting.
# See? BH>
<PW Hmm. PW>
<BH # Oh yes. BH>
||
<BH They had some straw had to be threshed down there. BH>
<OS They made straw hats on [: of] it. OS>
<BH The +…
Well,
I used to take all that straw.
xxx used to look lovely when it was tied up. BH>
<OS Yeah. OS>
<BH And that man used to +…
Oh,
that ‘s the only time I ‘ve seen the frail used.
But he used it right up till +…
Oh,
right up to xxx xxx getting xxx farmer. BH>
<OS Well,
I ‘ve used [/] I ‘ve used [\] a frail. OS>
<BH Have you? BH>
<OS Flail xxx +/. OS>
<BH Flail or frail. BH>
<OS Flail.
Some people call ’em ‘a frail’.
xxx Harper ‘s got one,
I think.
He gave Mr. Fisher one. OS>
<BH Did he? BH>
<OS Yes.
But I used to do it uh for my father.
well,
if he wanted a sample of corn +… OS>
<BH Hmm. BH>
<OS Before the uh threshing tackle had come +… OS>
<BH Mmhm.
You ‘d not yet uh +/. BH>
<OS And he wanted a bag of +…
Take a sample to market +… OS>
<BH xxx xxx. BH>
<OS I would knock it out on the barn floor. OS>
<BH Yeah. BH>
<OS And uh then this +…
# xxx off the uh straw.
Sweep up the [/] the [\] threshed # grain,
# and then,
winnow that.
you see,
get it all clean +… OS>
<BH Yeah. BH>
<OS And there was his sample. OS>
<BH xxx xxx.
Mmhm.
But +/. BH>
<OS But you had to be very careful,
otherwise you got a rare old concussion +/. OS>
<BH On top of the head. BH>
<OS xxx uh # across the back of your head there.
This thing came round. OS>
<BH And there. BH>
<OS Oh yeah.
# No.
Of course,
you ‘d have nothing to do with that.
Same as you can’t use a scythe. OS>
<BH [!= coughs]
Mmhm.
I +…
xxx very little.
I [/] I [\] have done a bit of it,
but # very little. BH>
<OS Hmm. OS>
<BH But when I went up to my place,
I wished I could have served ’em.
# There was one or two old sickles,
up there,
you know. BH>
<OS Mmhm. OS>
<BH They had got teeth in ’em,
then. BH>
<OS Yeah. OS>
<BH Like xxx teeth in ’em.
# And like a bagging hook,
only a finer thing.
A sickle. BH>
<OS Yeah. OS>
<BH That was called,,
wasn’t it? BH>
<OS A sickle.
They [/] they [\] +…
You +…
Only with those,
# the [/] the [\] corn was +…
Uh it was gripped,
with the left hand,
and then with the right hand,
a drawing [/] a drawing [\] motion. OS>
<BH Yeah. BH>
<OS Which sawed the hea- the heads off with a little bit of straw.
You see?
And that was how they # used to reap # before they used scythes. OS>
<BH Before they used scythes.
That ‘s right. BH>
<OS Mmhm. OS>
Transcription by Juhani Klemola and Mark Jones, 1999 See http://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/381/1/LSE_1999_pp17-30_Klemola_Jones_article.pdf and http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/ach-allc.99/proceedings/scott.html
