Tom continues, talking about the celebrations after the harvest:
Celebrations after threshing. Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.
After every big evetn like threshing, there would be a dance in the house. Local musicans provided music and everyone else danced.
Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.Celebrations after threshing. Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.
Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.
Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.
Celebrations after threshing. Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.
After every big evetn like threshing, there would be a dance in the house. Local musicans provided music and everyone else danced.
Image courtesy of the Hulton Archive.On completion of the work, everyone gathered in the house for tea or stronger beverages in celebration of securing the harvest for another year. The big machine would then move on to the next farm, and so the work progressed throughout the season.
At a later stage, some of the oats were taken to the cornmill and ground into oatmeal, which was used to make oatmeal bread or porridge, or as it is more commonly known locally - stirabout. In school we sampled other children's supply of oatmeal, which always seemed nicer than our own supply.
(This story was taken with the kind permission of the editor of
Drumloughan National School, Cloone 1905 - 1966.)