School: Mohill (B.) (roll number 12415)
- Location:
- Mohill, Co. Leitrim
- Teacher: Francis Flynn
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0215, Page 040
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- XML School: Mohill (B.)
- XML Page 040
- XML “Churning”
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- We have a dash churn at home. Its height is two feet two inches and the width at the top is one foot seven inches and it is one foot nine and a half inches at the bottom. It is four years old. There are parts called a peck, the lagon, a dash, a dabbler, and a lid. Butter is made twice a week in Summer and once in Winter. Everyone who is in the house when the churning is going on give a hand. If any strangers come in while the churning is going on they take a brash or if they say "God bless the work" it will do. There is a belief that if they go out without taking a brash the butter will not come. Some people do not (belief) believe this, but it happened long ago. There are five or six different sorts of churns namely a dash churn, a foot churn, a machine churn, a hand churn, and a churn worked with a horse or two asses. The people around this place churn with a dash churn. When they are churning they put in some hot water to make the job easy. When the dash is clean the butter is made. Butter-milk is used for making bread, and it is also given to pigs, and calves. When a woman is going to take off the butter, first she washes her hands, and gathers the butter in a wooden cup. Then she claps it and salts it, and(continues on next page)
- Collector
- John Finnegan
- Gender
- Male
