School: Urbal (roll number 13170)
- Location:
- Urbal, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Eamonn de Faoite
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1038, Page 363
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- XML “Butter Stealing”
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- At certain times there are herbs which grow and if eaten by cows will cause the butter fat to turn into oil when the milk is churned.
A churn of milk is being churned and appears to churn all right until it breaks but no matter how long or how well heated or cooled it never gathers into butter. The person thinks that the butter has been taken away by some other person. So great is this belief that any one coming into the house during churning operations must take the dash and churn before leaving.
If a person's butter is taken he sends for a sheet of new pins and puts them in a kettle. The kettle is kept boiling until at last some neighbour comes in. This is the one who has taken the butter and when he comes in he has brought the butter back again.
