| Description | Farming diary, no. 8.
This medium-sized volume has a worn brown cover with a black design, featuring birds, a floral branch, and containing the word 'Manuscripts', on the front The cover is broken and fragile at the spine. The diary's dates are written on a white sticker in the middle of the front cover. The volume is faintly lined and the writing is generally neat and legible (although the writer sometimes crams in the words which end an entry when he comes to the bottom of a page), but the punctuation is sporadic. Scots words and idioms frequently appear in the text.
Most diary entries discuss routine agricultural work such as: caring for horses and livestock, transporting crops, ploughing, thrashing, harrowing, planting, driving, maintaining equipment and facilities, maintaining roads, wisping, sowing, grubbering, winnowing, chain-harrowing, cross-ploughing, drilling, drag-harrowing, driving out dung, casting peats, covering in and putting out dung, delving, scouring ditches and burns, hoeing, cutting hay, harvesting, leading, drawing thatch, thatching. They tend to conclude with a summary of the day's weather. On Sundays Mr Mathieson usually worships at Church along with his wife Bella. Friends and relatives sometimes come to Balmuir for a visit.
The action of the diary is limited to areas in and around Balmuir, Mr Mathieson's farm: Balmuir, Corskie, Kirkhill of Midmar, Bervie, Castle Fraser, Gight, Aberdeen, Craigiedarg, Dunecht, Kirktown of Echt, Waterton, Kintore, Chalmer's Hill, Muir of Midmar, Affloch, Mains of Craibstone, Brimmond Hill, Walkerdale, Skene, Kinnernie, Graystone, Broomhill, Kinkell, Hillhead of Concraig, Borrowstown, Auchenclech, Westhills.
Notable events from this diary: unable to plough due to January frost; social meeting at Echt Free Church; sees ploughing match at Kirkhill of Midmar; leads psalmody in Church; a 'perfect hurricane' in February; reads from 'The Dairyman's Daughter'; Isa, Andrew and John ill with measles; attends funeral for Tom's wife in Aberdeen; Bella visits Aberdeen; reads from 'The Annals of the Poor'; sells Orkney cow for £7 at King Street Market, Aberdeen; visits John in Craibstone after his accident; fails to buy a cow at Echt Market; works well with young horse; the Balmuir cow calves; sows grass-seed despite 'too rough' weather; reads of the burning of Aberdeen Market on 29 April; enlists William Lovie to Anderson of Rashenlochie, Drumoak; hears 'The Elijah' in Free Church, Skene; receives £15 wages and pays James Duthie £3 for working the croft; thunder and lightning in early June; works three days for the 'carrier of the Lyne' and receives 10/6; buys new peat barrow made by Alex Williamson for seven shillings; leads psalmody in Church; the Laird visits work at mill lade of Craigiedarg; misses Coupland at the Mains and receives no pay; the body of the Earl of Crawford is discovered within the policies; feels unwell on Sabbath and returns to bed; views where thieves carried and buried the Earl of Crawford; enlists with Mr Rose of Kinnerie for the harvest; Mother and Mary visit Balmuir; frequent and vivid lightning in mid-August thunderstorm; David Adam gives a bushel of corn as a compliment; gets stung by a bee; pays David Adam 13/6 for driving peats; visits Alec Riddel and family, newly arrived from the West Indies; commences harvest at Kinnernie; Miss McKay gets married; enjoys 'harvest home' dinner, tea and ball on 10 October; gets mixture for Grandfather from Lessel's; Souter put on trial for the 'Dunecht outrage'; commences working on the roads; fast day at Echt on 2 November for Communion and the good harvest; James Cadenhead and Samuel Fraser kill a pig (9st 2lbs) at Balmuir; gets Willie Lovie enlisted to Donald Hillhead of Midmar; gives James Cadenhead 2lbs of tea for killing the pig; attends evangelistic meeting.
Scots words and idioms used in the volume: ribs (unploughed ridges), yoking, neepreet, drouth, mids, grubber, lowsing time, stirk, burn (stream), haughie, hems, shellocks, redd up, hackit, dyke, engaged (enlisted), yet (still), quey (heifer), kail, lade, midden, bishop (ramming instrument), cole, policies (estate grounds), easin, stooks, the length of (as far as), convoyed (accompanied), redd, clyack, bairns, grieve (head-workman on a farm), stackyard, hurly. |