Tools & tillage: a journal on the history of the implements of cultivation and other agricultural processes (2.1972/1975)

THE CAS-CHROM

133


Fig. 2. Diagram of a one-piece caschrom. Henderson 87.
Diagram eines caschroms aus einem Stuck.

teenth century makes its existence in the pre-
vious century more than likely. The suggestion
has been made (Fenton 1962-3. 315) that it
could have evolved from spades of the cas
dhireach or Irish loy types, and if so, it might
be supposed that the oldest surviving caschroms
would be made of one piece of wood. What
evidence is there for this?
One-Piece Caschroms. In the parish of Ed-
derachyllis in Sutherland, the caschrom was de-
scribed as:
“a crooked piece of wood, the lower end
somewhat thick, about 2% feet (76 cm.) in
length, pretty straight, and armed at the end
with iron, made thin and square to cut the
earth.-The shaft above the crook is pretty
straight, being 6 feet (183 cm.) long, and taper-
ing upwards to the end, which is slender; just
below the crook or angle, which is an obtuse
one, there must be a hole, wherein a strong
peg must be fixed, for the workman’s right
foot, in order to push the instrument into the
earth” (OSA. 1793. VI. 288-9).
Based on this description, a diagrammatised
illustration was published by Sir John Sinclair
two years later (Sinclair 1795. 151) and again
by J. Henderson. Here it is described in detail
(fig. 2), with dimensions:
“In the parishes of Assynt, Edderachyllis,
Durness, and Tongue, the cascrom is in general

use. This is a kind of spade, a figure of which
is annexed. It forms an obtuse angle from the
angular point to the end where the iron em-
braces it.
From A to B the head, about two feet long;
from B to D the Shaft, about five feet long
from the angular point; C a piece of wood
about eight inches long, projecting to the right
side, which serves as a step for the right foot
to push the instrument diagonally into the soil;
the person holding the handle near the upper
end, gives it a jerk on the angular point, which
at the same time raises the lower part of it
with the soil, and throws it to the right side.
-The iron on the lower end is the shape
of a narrow Irish spade, about five inches
broad, having a socket which embraces the
wooden handle [recte, head], something like the
sock of a small Scotch plough” (Henderson
56-57).
The Sutherland evidence for the one-piece


Fig. 3. The caschrom in 1774. The hands are not in
a correct working position. Adam, facing p. 32. By
courtesy of The Scottish History Society.
Der caschrom im Jahre 1774. Die Hande befinden
sich nicht in der richtigen Arbeitsstellung.