School: Errigal Trough (roll number 15565)

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1. Food in Olden Times

   

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   Sowans or Flummery is an article of household diet which was very common for food in the last century. It is now almost extinct.
   It was used several times during the day in the houses of the small farmers, but chiefly at supper. The number of times per day sowans were used depended to a large extent on the circumstances of the peasants. In the bare season of the year, say the Lammas season, when potatoes were not to be procured, sowans three times per day was common food. Even some of the small farmers and their families took them in a tin can or large dishy to the mountain bogs, when working at their turf.
   Sowans were prepared in the following manner: -
   About 14 lbs of oatmeal, and say 3 1/2 lbs
   of mill seeds or ground oats with seeds or husk unfanned, was put into a crock and steeped with soft water until it became sour. It generally took 8 or 10 days.
   To hasten the operation of souring the mixture, the housewife generally added about a pint of sour buttermilk, and always took particular care to place a large iron spoon in the mixture, as the spoon was supposed to hasten the operations.
   When the whole was sour, the housewife had a large

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. products
      1. food products (~3,601)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   John Mc Elmeel

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Corry, Co. Monaghan