DOI article:
Bell, Jonathan: Wooden Ploughs from the mountains of Mourne, Ireland
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0052
50
J.BELL
Fig. 4. Mourne lea/drill plough showing big reest beneath the mouldboard. (U.F.T.M. Acc.No.
36.1976).
Wiesen-/Reihenpflug von Mourne (U.F.T.M. Acc. Nr. 36.1976) mit Stiitze unter dem Streichbrett.
ance of ‘wooden ploughs constructed upon
the old plan’ (Ulster Farmer, 20).
Metal swing ploughs, by their greater effi-
ciency, began to make the Mourne plough’s
function as a lea plough obsolete, and the
loss of this function eventually manifested
itself in the plough’s construction. The rec-
tangular hole in the beam through which the
coulter passed disappeared, and the false
reest became permanently fixed to the
plough. What was produced was an asym-
metrical drill plough.
Seaby claims that ploughs of this type
were probably still being made in Mourne in
the late 1950s (Seaby 85). The wooden parts
were made by wheelwrights and the shares
and plough bridles by blacksmiths. Six
plough makers are remembered in the area
around the fishing port of Kilkeel alone. An
individual plough maker’s work can some-
times be identified by small variations in the
plough’s construction. Mr. W. Norris of
Millbay, for instance, made stilts which
curved upwards to the handles in the same
way as the stilts of Scottish metal swing
ploughs. Other makers produced ploughs
with straighter stilts.
Metal parts of the ploughs are all made
from wrought iron except for the spatulate
downward turning tips of most shares which
are made from steel (fig. 9). These tips were
usually replaced every year, often being
forged from hammer heads. Shares of most
Mourne ploughs are similar to the grid share
of the Chilcarroch Old Scotch plough, ex-
cept for the absence of any feather. There are
two grid shares with feathers in the collec-
tion of the Ulster Folk and Transport
Museum, but these have no provenance
(fig. 9). The length of most shares (some-
times over 90 cms.) made the ploughs run
steadier and deeper. The cone formed by the
grid share fits tightly over the pointed ‘head’
of the plough onto which it was hammered
only when the plough was to be used. One
bar of the grid runs up over the head almost
to the breast of the plough, the others run-
ning along each side of the head. The bar on
the false reest side of the plough is usually 4
or 5 cms. longer than that on the big reest
side and the cone of the share is slightly
flattened on this side. The three bars on the
grid are joined around the top of the head.
When the share is hammered onto the
plough head the share point is continued on
the plough’s underside by the sole-plate
J.BELL
Fig. 4. Mourne lea/drill plough showing big reest beneath the mouldboard. (U.F.T.M. Acc.No.
36.1976).
Wiesen-/Reihenpflug von Mourne (U.F.T.M. Acc. Nr. 36.1976) mit Stiitze unter dem Streichbrett.
ance of ‘wooden ploughs constructed upon
the old plan’ (Ulster Farmer, 20).
Metal swing ploughs, by their greater effi-
ciency, began to make the Mourne plough’s
function as a lea plough obsolete, and the
loss of this function eventually manifested
itself in the plough’s construction. The rec-
tangular hole in the beam through which the
coulter passed disappeared, and the false
reest became permanently fixed to the
plough. What was produced was an asym-
metrical drill plough.
Seaby claims that ploughs of this type
were probably still being made in Mourne in
the late 1950s (Seaby 85). The wooden parts
were made by wheelwrights and the shares
and plough bridles by blacksmiths. Six
plough makers are remembered in the area
around the fishing port of Kilkeel alone. An
individual plough maker’s work can some-
times be identified by small variations in the
plough’s construction. Mr. W. Norris of
Millbay, for instance, made stilts which
curved upwards to the handles in the same
way as the stilts of Scottish metal swing
ploughs. Other makers produced ploughs
with straighter stilts.
Metal parts of the ploughs are all made
from wrought iron except for the spatulate
downward turning tips of most shares which
are made from steel (fig. 9). These tips were
usually replaced every year, often being
forged from hammer heads. Shares of most
Mourne ploughs are similar to the grid share
of the Chilcarroch Old Scotch plough, ex-
cept for the absence of any feather. There are
two grid shares with feathers in the collec-
tion of the Ulster Folk and Transport
Museum, but these have no provenance
(fig. 9). The length of most shares (some-
times over 90 cms.) made the ploughs run
steadier and deeper. The cone formed by the
grid share fits tightly over the pointed ‘head’
of the plough onto which it was hammered
only when the plough was to be used. One
bar of the grid runs up over the head almost
to the breast of the plough, the others run-
ning along each side of the head. The bar on
the false reest side of the plough is usually 4
or 5 cms. longer than that on the big reest
side and the cone of the share is slightly
flattened on this side. The three bars on the
grid are joined around the top of the head.
When the share is hammered onto the
plough head the share point is continued on
the plough’s underside by the sole-plate