Local-Lore

  Old Sayings

1. If birds were flying low it was a sign of bad weather.

2. A watched kettle never boils.

3. You'll never cod an old hen with chaff.

4. He who laughs last laughs loudest.

5.One swallow never made a summer.

6. Birds of a feather will flock together.

7. One wedding leads to another.

8. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

9. One mans meat is another mans poison.

10. A stitch in time saves nine.

11. Never leave till tomorrow what you can do today.

12. The more hurry the less speed.

13. Make hay while the sun shines.

Customs

1. An old saying is if you went into a house and the woman of the house was churning if you didn't turn the handle of the churn a couple of times the butter would never come on the milk.

2. You should never walk under a ladder that was up against a house.

3.If there wasn't much fruit in bloom it was going to be a mild year.

4.If the birds eat all the berries off the bushes it was going to be a mild winter.

5.If it raining on Swithin's day it would rain for forty days.

6.If you are travelling and you meet a magpie or a red haired woman it was said to be very unlucky.

7.If a hen came into the house with a bit of straw in her tail a stranger was coming to visit.

8.A robin flying around the house was said to be a sign of death.

9.It was unlucky to strike a beast with an elder stick. Some people would not even burn it for firewood.

10.The wagtail was said to have three drops of the devils blood in it.

11.A foal or a calf born at Whit was considered to be very unlucky.

12.ST Brigid's cross was put in the houses as a protection against fires and diseases.

13.The rowan tree or the mountain ash was considered very lucky as a protection against witchcraft.

14.When entering a house the usual salvation was God save all here.

15.When you meet a newly born animal on the farm you were expected to say "God bless it."

16.The house leek was believed to save the house from fire.

17.Crickets in the house were said to be very lucky if you did the other crickets would come out and eat your clothes and socks. If the crickets left the house it was a sure sign something terrible was going to happen.

Tom and Declan 28/2/00.

Food

Back then people had no chips or icecream. Everybody had their own little garden in which they grew most of their own food.

They ate brown and white bread, oats, sweet Peggy's legs, honey, currant cake, can sweets, bulls eyes, clover rock, stirabout, (porridge) and they drank goats milk, cows milk and nettle soup. They kept the oat meal beside the fire to keep it warm. They had potatoes for dinner and sometimes pig.

Everybody used to love eating the pig's feet. They used the blood of the pig to make a pudding. Some of the pig was given to the family's neighbours. When the pig was killed Peter's salt was put on him. The pig was put into a tub for six weeks. After the six weeks were up the pig was taken out of the tub and more Peter's salt was put on it and the pig was put in the tub for another six weeks. The tub was covered with hay so that air would not get at the pig and make it rotten. They used to hang the pig from the chimney to smoke it.

The women of the house used to churn the cream to make butter. If you were out making hay a mug of buttermilk would be good for you. Bread was made at home. People would keep a large bag of flour . The bread was baked in a baker. Coals were put under the baker and some were put on the lid. The cake was put on the windowsill to cool. The children would sometimes steal a bit of the fresh bread. The vegetables were potatoes, cabbage and turnips and children would sometimes eat raw turnips on the way home from school. If the weather was hot the older people sometimes put a hand full of oatmeal in the gallon of water to make a nice drink in the hay field. The ate bread and jam for lunch and they brought it in a newspaper.

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