Questions about Spades and Spadework

Reference code: FOL.QUES/17
Level of description: Series
Title: Questions about Spades and Spadework
Scope and content: 1. Were spades used as regular cultivating implements in the fields?
2. Were spades used more by one group of people than another, for example, by “small” farmers rather than men on large farms?
3. Was spadework ever carried out not by individuals, but by groups working in teams?
4. Did labourers employed for spadework provide their own spades?
5. Were different kinds of spades used in spring and in harvest, and if so, in what ways did they differ?
6. Within the last century or so, most types of spades used in Ulster had two ears or steps, one at each side; but is there any tradition in your area of older spades ever having had only one ear or step?
7. What other spade-like implements were used, like turf spaces, draining spaces, flachters, etc.? How were these used?
8. Do you know of any sayings relating to spades, or if they figured in customs or beliefs?
9. Can you supply local words for different parts of the spade?
10. Which spade factory produced spaces used in your district?
11. Did blacksmiths ever make spades, either occasionally or as a regular part of their work?
12. Can you provide measurements of a typical cultivating spade?
Width of blade at ears or steps.
Width of blade at cutting edge.
Length of blade.
Length of metal strips which attach the blade to the shaft.
Length of the shaft from the steps of the blade to the end of the shaft.
Was there a cross-piece at the end of the shaft?