Survey of English Dialects recording in Gretton, Gloucestershire

Description

[Side 1] Jack talks about mowing corn by hand, lists implements used incl. 'fagging-hook' [= sickle with metal hook] and 'pick-thank' [= sickle with wooden hook], describes practice of drying corn in 'stooks' [= sheaves of corn set up in field to dry] and custom of 'leasing' [= gathering leftover corn after harvest], comments combine harvester creates considerable waste compared with traditional harvesting, talks about haymaking, explains women used to 'ted' grass [= to turn newly-mown grass and leave overnight to dry] and rake into 'wally' [= pile of mown grass] then use 'shuppick' [= pitchfork] to put hay in 'cocks' [= small heap of drying hay], describes traditional method of building 'rick' [= haystack] on 'staddle' [= raised platform on which stack is built to deter vermin] made from 'faggots' [= bundle of sticks] or 'hedge-brushings' [= hedge-clippings, cutting of brushwood], stresses importance of thatching to keep rain out, explains difference between corn-stack and hayrick. [Side
2] Jack talks about milking cows and making butter and cheese, explains skimmed milk drained directly to pigsty in past, discusses keeping pigs, recalls local children earning pocket money in past by collecting offal and peelings to be re-cycled as pig feed, reflects on fluctuations in market prices in farming, recalls Christmas activities in village and common prank of serving carol singers cider heated up with poker and sugar.

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Biography or history

Jack b. Gretton, aged 72, local school till aged 13, whole life in Gretton except during WW1; father b. Gretton; mother b. Gloucestershire.

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Physical and technical conditions

78 r.p.m., cellulose nitrate on aluminium

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