At the cottage where I was born my parents kept pigs;
for domestic use and not for sale. In those days, restrictions
were limited. Pig-rearing was common among people living
away from the town. Even in built up areas many did the
same, providing the pig-sty was not too close to the house!
In fact, pigs, fowl and gardens were often the means whereby
families kept above the subsistence level. I cannot remember
any time of the years when sides (flitchins) of bacon
and large hams were not hanging in the pantry.
I can well remember the 'ritual' when a
pig was to be killed. First it was arranged for a butcher
to come over to the house on a given day. Shortly before
he arrived, boilers were filled with water, which was
brought to boiling point. Then a large round tub about
18 inches to 2 feet deep was got ready, and the pig laid
on a bench for killing.
For me, pig killing was always a gruesome
business. The poor beast was approached by the butcher
with a long, sharp knife, and his throat was cut. Ugh!!
The piercing squeals as the blood drained away were unnerving.
When dead, the carcase was placed in the tub of boiling
water and scraped to remove the bristles. I am not happy
telling this, but simply do so in order to illustrate
the way things were done when I was a boy. I will admit,
however, that I was happy to see the ham and bacon being
cooked in front of the fire.
Fire-places then were of the black, grate
type - a 4- or 5-barred well for the fire with a space
for the ashes underneath. At either side of the fire was
an oven - sometimes large - the top of which was called
a hob. Saucepans and kettles were brought to the boil
on the hobs. Two ways of cooking I well remember .....
one by a 'dutch oven' or 'toaster' and the other by 'meat
jack' or 'spit'. The 'toaster' was concave in shape, with
several hooks on which bacon or slices of meat were hung,
and the base was a kind of pan into which the dripping
fat fell as the bacon was cooking. It rested on 'strides'
close up to the fire-place bars. The 'strides' were loops
of metal about 18 inches long, with a hook at each end
of the loop, which enabled it to be hooked to the fire-bars.
The 'meat-jack' was used to hang a joint
of meat in front of the fire-bars, with a pan placed underneath
- resting on strides - to catch the dripping fat as the
joint was cooking. The 'jack' consisted of a length of
metal bracketed to the mantle-piece above the fire-grate,
having a hook on which the 'spit' hung. At the end of
the spit was a further hook to hold the meat. During the
cooking process the spit made a half-way rotating movement;
more often by the hand of one of the family, but sometimes,
if it was of better quality, by a winding, clockwork mechanism.
Fire-place and grate were recessed into the chimney breast.
Almost every day the grate was 'black-leaded' i.e. grate
polish applied and vigorously brushed until a nice bright
shine appeared .... rather hard work! I know, because
I have done it for my mother.
My parents, as did most, baked bread, brewed
beer and made wine. Many times did I help with the baking;
kneaded the dough, greased the bread tins, and helped
prepare the baking-oven. The oven, usually in an out-house,
was heated by burning wood and coal. When it was thought
the oven was sufficiently heated, the embers were withdrawn
and the tins of dough put in to bake. When making wine
we used balm for fermentation and many times I fetched
three penny-worth of balm from a local brewery. Speaking
of the brewery reminds me that wagon-loads of brewery
sugar (lumps as big as a boy's hand) were often seen in
the brewery yard .... well, will you condemn us if we
went furtively along the wagons to see if we could find
a bag of sugar with a hole in it? In view of the fact
that I was made to go to Sunday School twice a day, and
to church also, perhaps it was naughty of me.
The highlight of my Sunday School days was
the annual treat. This was held on the local cricket-field,
weather permitting. There we played games, took part in
sporting competitions, and scrambled for sweets thrown
by the teachers. One game amuses me when I think about
it: it was called 'kissing ring'. We would form a ring,
with one standing in the middle. As the game began, the
'ring' would walk singing around the one in the centre.
At a given signal, movement and singing would stop, and
the one in the middle chose one from the ring and kissed
him or her, as the case may be. I remember being disappointed
if I wasn't chosen. Later on, taking stock of myself,
I ceased to wonder why!
The Sunday School anniversary was not a
happy day. Our parents dressed us in the best they could
find, and we walked in procession around the streets.
Usually I was uncomfortable and embarrassed, conscious
that the clothes my parents could afford did not permit
me to keep up with the Jones's.
About once a week, a horse and cart would
tour the streets laden with lump salt, and sometimes with
white sand. It was brought by Gornal people who were continually
shouting 'Want any salt or lily-white sond today?'
At times we would be sent to get a piece of salt from
the cart. The cost I forget now, but it would probably
be a penny or twopence. The carter would saw a piece off
the large block. We never had any other kind of salt in
our house. I think sifted salt was then unknown. 'Lly-white
sond' I never did fetch from the cart. In fact, I do not
know what it was used for, but an older brother told me
it was used to sprinkle on the quarry floors of
a back living room. Presumably it was then lightly swept
over, thus leaving a slight shiny gloss on the quarries.
Another article used for cleaning was the
'bath brick'. This was more or less the shape and size
of a 9-inch ordinary brick. It was a whitish-grey colour
and was used to clean knives. This was done by wetting
the brick and then placing the knife flat on the brick
and rubbing it along sharply until the blade was clean
and polished. Many times it has been my job to get together
all the knives in the home and put some 'elbow-grease'
into the effort. If the knives did not shine, woe betide
me. I do not know what the brick was made of. I once asked
a geology tutor about the matter, but he had never seen
one.
I am not sure what period of the
20th century the author is describing. The article
was written in or around 1969, and the author appears
to be in his 60s. No mention is made of the Great
War, but I imagine it is either just before, or
just after this period.
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