School: Cornagon (roll number 15690)

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1. Dyeing (continued)

   

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   good dye. Then a lot of nettles are pulled and they were boiled in some clean water. Then the juice was taken off the nettles, and the wool was put into this and it was boiled again for about one hour. When the wool had taken a green colour it was taken out and it was washed to get all the pieces of nettles off it and it was dried and spun. Wool was also dyed by the olden people in former times from moss. The moss was gathered, (chiefly the yellow moss) first and it was washed in clean water so as to take every speck of dirt out of it. Then it was boiled in clean water for about a half-hour. Then the wool (which was beforehand washed in potash and water) was put into boil along with the water and the moss. It was let boil for another hour. Then the (moss) wool had a very faint yellow colour. It was washed in cold water so as to get all the bits of moss off it. Then again it was washed in cold water. Then it was dried. Then when it was well dried it was oiled before it was spun. The reason for oiling the wool before spinning it was, because the wool used to usually break and when the oil was put on it it did not break so often. The wool was spun and it was then made into hanks. It was sometimes sold and sometimes it was knit after being wound into balls. The articles that (are) were knit from home-spun wool lasted a very long time.
   Madge Rourke,
   Corrabarrack

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. trades and crafts (~4,680)
            1. dyeing (~134)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Madge Rourke

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Corrabarrack, Co. Leitrim