Chapter 16
1859, the third week of December Sunday It is good to have the hams hanging up in the hearth. Nothing smells better than smoked ham. Plenty of sausages as well. We have enjoyed the brawn these last weeks. Should eat well this winter, as long as we go steady. It’s been a bit drier these last few weeks, foggy mind and some frosts of a morning. Me and the lads have got some hedging work for William Parrott starting tomorrow. Well, to be honest, my eldest lad got us the work. He is a lot fitter and faster than me. He thinks that John Freeman put a good word in for us. We will find out tomorrow how much work there is. Nice and warm in The Stars last night. A lot of folk in. Tom Gibbons was there with his squeeze box. Most joined in with the singing. We got talking about the time the musicians played in the church. Folk were saying that it isn’t right singing hymns without music. According to Old Henry, the Curate had been asking about the time the church had musicians and a special gallery. Monday Still foggy when we set off for work. We do seem to get the fog sitting in Piddington for a lot longer than other places about. We had all our tools. Need to make a good impression. First time any of us have worked for William Parrott. The eldest lad carried his younger brother’s old dark blade. It’s his way of remembering the brother he lost. He would have been eighteen years old now, had he have lived. When we arrived, we were met by Edward Kirby, William Parrott’s trusted labourer. He showed us to the field. We were quietly pleased when we saw the poor state of things. I guess we have a different outlook. A farmer likes to see nice trim, stock-proof, hedges. A labourer likes to see the work ahead of him and there was plenty here. It is a big field. Edward said that we need to tackle the full length of two sides. Ditches needed diggin out as well. We could see that the other two sides aren’t far off needing laying. Starting to get overgrown with brambles and elder. Didn’t ask about them yet. Best to show what we can do first. Edward said that William will be along tomorrow to see how we are getting on. He said that he was supposed to keep us straight. I hadn’t worked with Old Edward before. I had heard that he was a good hedge layer. We needed to show that the three of us were hard workers and knew our hedgecraft. We set about it. I think Edward had expected to give us a bit of direction before we started. It wasn’t long before he said, “you three must have done a bit of this before!” We started clearing the shrub, cutting suckers and cutting the pleachers. Old Edward was keen to show the lads his axes. He was proud of his Elwell rounding axe from the Wednesbury Forge. He said, “I bought it in 1831 and I bloody loves it!” We chatted as we worked. Edward was very proud of his granddaughter Jane, nearly one year old now. He said that she keeps him on his toes. I was ribbing him about being an Oakleyite. Asked him if many folk in the village gave him the time of day. He told me that his parents were born in Piddington and he has been here for 30 years. He reckoned he would feel at home before too long. He told me that he still finds it hard without his wife Mary, even though she has been gone for ten years or more. He talked about the difficult times bringing up the littl’ns without her. Edward was keen to show the lads how to swing his heavy axe and how to get the cuts just right without cutting the pleacher clean off. "Put your hand to the makers name" he said, which is how you lift a heavy axe above your head. They are quick learners. I expect they will be after some heavier axes now. We stopped for bait and I asked Edward about the lightning strike in the summer. I had heard quite a few tales, but I knew Edward would give me a true account. “Fiercest bloody thunderstorm I’ve ever known” he said. “Late afternoon, we’d just led the hay into the yard. We had watched the dark clouds coming over Muzzle. William was keen to get the hay led in sharpish. Bloody great rain drops, cold as ice on our backs. There must have been a good dozen of us. We had got two full loads of hay on the wagons. Almighty thunder cracks.” The lads wanted to know about the lightning. Edward told us that he didn’t see the lightning. “William shouted at us to get under cover. Most got under the wagons or dived headfirst into the rick. Nobody was for poking their head out while the storm was overhead. Then, lots of shouting that the wagon’s on fire. That changed things a bit! I was worried for the horses. There was nothing we could do for the load. Went up like a good’n. Cart and all. Lucky the rest didn’t go up in flames.” Edward said, “We could do with a bloody good bonfire today to keep us warm!” He got his old tinderbox out and showed the lads how to use it. The boys held the mouths gaping wide when he added a small pinch of gunpowder from his leather pouch. They got a fire going and tidied up the brush. Fog didn’t clear all day. Dark before we knew it. A good day, Edward reckoned. A proper tidy job. My eldest paced it out. “Forty yards!” he shouted back. We start diggin the ditch tomorrow. Wednesday Still foggy in the village. Sun pokes through in odd moments, just to show us it’s still up there. Doesn’t get very high in the sky this time of the year. Birds are hungry. Fighting over the last of the seed heads. Squabbling over the berries. Petal likes to have us sit down of an evening. When she has everyone’s attention, she likes to tell us about her day at school. Last week she was excited to tell us about Mr Gilbert and Mr Brown bringing a special tree to the school. The children were told that it was a Christmas tree. All the children were excited about having a tree in the classroom and then being allowed to decorate it. Wednesdays are now her favourite on account of Mrs Gilbert coming down from the vicarage to play her piano. She told us that they have been learning carols. She says that some of her friends are going carol singing around the village and she wants us to take her this year. Petal told us all about the Nativity play they are practicing for. She had been hoping to be Mary but she has ended up as a shepherd. She wants me to make her a crook. I should be able to manage that. Apparently, Mrs Green tells everyone when to walk to the front and where to stand. Petal told us that Mr Green reads the story from the bible. She said that he is getting annoyed with the three wise men. Petal told us that he said “there is not a wise one amongst them!” Petal kept her special news to the end. She told us that today Mrs Green told all the children at school that they needed to keep a secret. She said that if all the children were very good and it is God’s will, she would have a new baby to put in the crib come next Christmas. We wondered if Mrs Brown’s baby might arrive in time for this Christmas. We decided that they would be in no need of a stable at Manor Farm. William Parrott has been keeping an eye on us these last three days. He seems happy with our work. We have been able to cut him a good load of logs from the hedge. The lads have stacked them proper. Should make good firewood given a bit of seasoning. Edward is quite particular with the way the etherings are bound along the top of the hedge. A bit different to how I have done it in the past. Thought best to let Edward have his way. Friday Good news is that we have got a good few weeks of work ahead of us. William Parrott wants to keep us on to do the whole hedge, the other two sides of the field as well. He said, “the smart new hedge is pleasing on the eye, but it has made the rest look worse than it did a’ fore.” Sources & Inspirations Edward Kirby hedge layer: Bicester Agricultural and Horticultural Association. The hedging and ditching competition for prizes offered by this Society took place on Wednesday 27th ult… Each competitor to cut and lay 15 yards of strong Ox-fence and scour one ditch in a workmanlike manner, within the space of 6 hours … 3rd prize to Edward Kirby, labourer, in the service of Mr William Parrott of Piddington. Oxfordshire Telegraph 6th March 1861 Edward Kirby & family:
Destruction of Hay and a Wagon by Lightning and Extraordinary Escape of Workmen On the 20th inst., during an unusually heavy storm, accompanied by thunder and lightning, at Piddington, Mr William Parrott, farmer, and fourteen of his workmen, took shelter under two wagon loads of hay and a rick, when the lightning struck one of the loads, set it on fire and destroyed it with the wagon. Mr Parrott and two assistants who were under the load that was fired, providentially escaped. There were two horses that had been removed from the wagons, and about fifteen people within a circle of 20 yards when the event occurred, and all escaped. Exertions were forthwith used, and another load drawn away, whereby the spreading of the flames to the other hay was prevented. Mr Parrott is assured in the Royal Farmers Insurance Office. Oxfordshire Telegraph 30th July 1859 The new baby at Manor Farm: Baptism 31st December 1859 Charlotte Brown, daughter of Thomas & Sarah Matilda, farmer. Note: The notation only records that Charlotte was born in December. We may never know if she arrived for Christmas Day. Author’s notes William Parrott, like his father William before him, played an important part in the life of the village. It is difficult to know for sure where he was living as a farmer towards the end of the 1850’s. In 1851 he was living with his father, mother, brothers and sister in the middle of the village working as a wheelwright. He married the widow Sarah Hickman in October 1856 and took over running the farm at Cowleys. At some time between then and March 1861 he and Sarah took over Rookery Farm in the village and may well have retained the land at Cowleys. In recalling events in the diary, I am assuming they made this move before the summer of 1859. A lot of different Parrots lived in “the Rookery” until the early 1900’s! Thanks again to my son-in-law, Sean Daly, for his contributions to the descriptions of hedgelaying. |