Animals on The Farm at Home

Barnaderg, Co. Galway

At home, we have cows, calves, pigs, sheep and horses. We have 4 horses, about 150 cattle, about 500 sheep, 2 pigs and 5 calves. We have 4 ‘milch’ cows called Polly, Blue, Whitehead and Red. To tie the cows, an oval shaped piece of iron with a clasp at the top is placed over the cow’s head and fastened at the top. This is fastened to the manger by means of a chain. The chains for tying are all bought in town, but long ago they were made at the forge. Dry straw is used under the cows as litter. When a man is driving cows, he says “Howa” Howa”.
Calves are not tied but are let run around the calf house. I never heard of any wonderful cow being in the place, but long ago there might have been.
When a man is calling cattle, he says: “Bruch”! “Bruch”!
When a man is calling horses, he says: “Pyeh”! Pyeh”!
When a man is calling calves, he says: “Bet”! “Bet”!
When a woman is calling hens, she says: “Tuic”! “Tuic”!
When a woman is calling ducks, she says: “Weet”! “Weet”!
When a woman is calling geese she says: “Badhy”! “Badhy”!
When a woman is calling turkeys she says: “Yeb”! ” Yeb”!

Collector: Mary Lynskey

Informant: John Lynskey

Place: Barnaderg, Co. Galway

Footnote: Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

This page was added on 27/04/2017.

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