| Description | Farming diary, no. 2.
This small, slim volume was originally an Exercise Book of The Royal School. It has a royal crest on the front cover and a multiplication table on the back cover. The writing is generally legible, but punctuation sporadic. Scots words and idioms appear often in the text. Most diary entries discuss routine agricultural work, such as thrashing, winnowing, caring for horses and ploughing, and conclude with a summary of the day's weather.
The writer also details his social interactions, the friends he meets, helps and sometimes shares a dram with. On Sundays he comments on the worship he attends with his wife Bella. Mr Mathieson occasionally visits Aberdeen, where his Mother stays. On these journeys he frequently sets off with oats and returns with coal. The period this diary covers is one of cold, wintery weather - the snow sometimes makes routine agricultral tasks difficult.
In the entry for Thursday 2 January 1879 he relates, in a typically restrained fashion, that Bella has given birth to their first born son. The birth is registered at Southbank on 16 January.
The action of the diary is limited to areas in and around Mr Andrew Mathieson's farm and Aberdeen: Balmuir, Afflock, Dunecht, Craigiedarg, Echt, Waterton, Skene and the city itself.
Some Scots words and idioms used in the volume: stots, shielock, strapper, winnow, baillie, puckle, byre, loon, redd-up, got lowsed, this length. |