DOI Artikel:
Bell, Jonathan: Wooden Ploughs from the mountains of Mourne, Ireland
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0048
WOODEN PLOUGHS
FROM THE MOUNTAINS
OF MOURNE, IRELAND
By
Jonathan Bell
Mourne ploughs are important in an Irish
context because they represent the only con-
tinuous local development of plough design
in Ireland during the last two hundred years.
This article will present a speculative recon-
struction of several evolutionary stages in
the development of these ploughs in which
their construction changed from lea plough
to that of increasingly sophisticated drill
ploughs. This change of function makes the
Mourne plough tradition relevant to general
theories of technological evolution. The rel-
evance is increased by the fact that the start-
ing point for the series to be described is the
Old Scotch plough, a plough from which
most improved Scottish swing ploughs were
also evolved.
Most evidence presented in this article has
been collected during fieldwork in the
Mountains of Mourne, a mass of granite hills
which rise to a height of 839 metres in the
south eastern corner of County Down and
c.50 km south of Belfast. Mourne ploughs
seem to have been most commonly used on
the Southern and Eastern lower slopes of
these hills and on the narrow coastal plain
surrounding them. The soils of the area are
sandy, glacial deposits, fairly easily turned
by horse ploughs.
Like most of the rest of Ireland, the
Mourne region has a long tradition of small
holdings, practising mixed farming. In the
nineteenth century the staple crops of the
area were oats and potatoes. These crops
flourish in the moist temperate Irish climate.
The old Scotch plough
By 1800, County Down, in common with
much of the rest of Eastern Ireland, was
beginning to receive the products of the
English and Scottish agricultural revolution.
Improved Scottish swing ploughs such as
James Small’s were being increasingly used
by gentlemen farmers, who found that they
were more efficient than those ‘in common
use’ (Dubordieu 49-50). The new Scottish
ploughs were however too expensive for
many small farmers, who still used ploughs
made by the combined skills of smith and
carpenter.
Temperature and rainfall for Kilkeel, Co. Down
Month
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
Jun.
Jul.
Aug. Sept. Oct.
Nov. Dec.
Max.Temp. °C.
6.2
6.9
9.3
11.9
14.3
17.4
18.1
18.1
16.1
13.1
9.11
7.0
Min.Temp. °C.
1.0
0.9
2.2
3.8
6.0
8.9
10.5
10.2
9.0
6.9
3.5
2.2
Rainfall (mms)
104
75
70
68
73
79
93
103
107
107
102
114
FROM THE MOUNTAINS
OF MOURNE, IRELAND
By
Jonathan Bell
Mourne ploughs are important in an Irish
context because they represent the only con-
tinuous local development of plough design
in Ireland during the last two hundred years.
This article will present a speculative recon-
struction of several evolutionary stages in
the development of these ploughs in which
their construction changed from lea plough
to that of increasingly sophisticated drill
ploughs. This change of function makes the
Mourne plough tradition relevant to general
theories of technological evolution. The rel-
evance is increased by the fact that the start-
ing point for the series to be described is the
Old Scotch plough, a plough from which
most improved Scottish swing ploughs were
also evolved.
Most evidence presented in this article has
been collected during fieldwork in the
Mountains of Mourne, a mass of granite hills
which rise to a height of 839 metres in the
south eastern corner of County Down and
c.50 km south of Belfast. Mourne ploughs
seem to have been most commonly used on
the Southern and Eastern lower slopes of
these hills and on the narrow coastal plain
surrounding them. The soils of the area are
sandy, glacial deposits, fairly easily turned
by horse ploughs.
Like most of the rest of Ireland, the
Mourne region has a long tradition of small
holdings, practising mixed farming. In the
nineteenth century the staple crops of the
area were oats and potatoes. These crops
flourish in the moist temperate Irish climate.
The old Scotch plough
By 1800, County Down, in common with
much of the rest of Eastern Ireland, was
beginning to receive the products of the
English and Scottish agricultural revolution.
Improved Scottish swing ploughs such as
James Small’s were being increasingly used
by gentlemen farmers, who found that they
were more efficient than those ‘in common
use’ (Dubordieu 49-50). The new Scottish
ploughs were however too expensive for
many small farmers, who still used ploughs
made by the combined skills of smith and
carpenter.
Temperature and rainfall for Kilkeel, Co. Down
Month
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
Jun.
Jul.
Aug. Sept. Oct.
Nov. Dec.
Max.Temp. °C.
6.2
6.9
9.3
11.9
14.3
17.4
18.1
18.1
16.1
13.1
9.11
7.0
Min.Temp. °C.
1.0
0.9
2.2
3.8
6.0
8.9
10.5
10.2
9.0
6.9
3.5
2.2
Rainfall (mms)
104
75
70
68
73
79
93
103
107
107
102
114