School: An Clochar (roll number 14705)

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1. Old Crafts (continued)

   

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   from Russia and India and flax which was purchased in many parts of Ireland, some of it locally. Rope-makers generally used hand-scutched flax instead of that scutched at the mills as the former was the better article for spinning purposes.
   The methods of making hand-made rope and twine may be described briefly as follows- The first thing done was to hackle the hemp or flax. A hackle is made out of a block of ash or oak timber about 18 inches in length 9 inches in breadth and 1+1/2 inches in thickness in which about one hundred steel pointed pins are inserted, vertically. The point of each pin being upper most. The flax or hemp is drawn several times across the pins in order to rid it of the "shoves" which adheres to it, even after the scutching. It is then considered dressed and ready for spinning.
   Brought then to the rope-walk the spinning begins. The tools in the rope-walk are a spinning wheel-

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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)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   May Gillespie

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal