Hi Elwyn,
I wonder if 'your' farmer bought a Fordson tractor, as that was the
franchise P&W p/l had, and whether they bought from dad as he sold
mainly in Down and Armagh? On one occasion I recall standing at the
bottom of a rather steep field (dressed in shorts like the lad in the
cover picture of the book) alongside the farmer, as dad demonstrated the
tractor ploughing up the field and harrowing it (P&W made ploughs and
harrows). He often commented that he thought that some farmers just
wanted their fields ploughed and had no intention of buying a tractor!
Anyway, dad got to the top of the seep rise and tried to turn, but the
slope was too great. Then he tried to reverse, when the front of the
tractor rose up before him (a bit like in the popular Irish Blessing),
so he called to us and we had to cling onto the front of the machine to
counterweigh it as he eventually got back down the hill. Dad later
remarked that the Irish stand their fields on edge so they can plough
both sites. :) He also confessed that he thought some of the terrain he
demonstrated on, whilst he could handle the tractor in those conditions,
was too dangerous for the average farmer to use a tractor and it gave
him some cause for concern.
Being in Belfast, we had electricity during the war, although the street
lights were gas. We got a telephone installed around 1945 so that the
firm could contact him in emergency. We were all admonished to not use
the phone, it's for business only!!! I still recall the number: 5557.
Fond memories. Thanks for mentioning the McDonald's book. Must write my
own memoirs sometime, when I get the time.
Gordon
On 24/06/2020 7:26 pm, elwyn soutter via CoTyroneList wrote:
Gordon,
I am glad you are enjoying the book. It made me laugh. I have a neighbour
who was brought up on a farm like that in Co. Down and he says it’s pretty
typical. He particularly recalled the arrival of the first tractor in the
late 1940s which he (as a young man) was wildly enthusiastic about. His
father however was very suspicious and preferred horses. Whenever the
tractor broke down, his father was quick to point out: ‘You don’t have that
problem with horses.” (Though actually you do). The horses were kept on
largely as pets till the end of their days because his father was so fond
of them.
Electricity was another controversial change. His father couldn’t see the
point of it at first. It was just as easy to light a paraffin lamp to milk
the cows, as flick a switch, was his view. However when someone invented
electric milking machines and it halved the time taken to milk the cows, he
suddenly came round to its uses. At first the only electricity on the farm
was in the milking shed. None in the house. No use for it there!
Elwyn
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