| Description | Farming diary, no. 6.
This medium-sized volume was originally a school exercise book. It has a worn light blue cover with a picture of the poet Alfred Tennyson and four smaller nature scenes on the front; on the back cover there is a picture of fishing boat in sail. The diary's dates are written on a white stamp in the middle of the front cover. The volume is 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 appear often in the text.
Most diary entries discuss routine agricultural work such as riddling, thrashing, winnowing, ploughing, driving, caring for horses, and maintaining and repairing equipment and facilities. They conclude with a summary of the day's weather. On Sundays Mr Mathieson 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, Kintore, Corskie, Broomhill, Cadenhead's Park, Waterton, Nether Affloch, Dunecht, Skene, Gight, Walkdale, Backhill of Glack.
Some notable events from this diary: works for Seaton Henderson; very hard frost in November; fast day at Echt Free Church; gets engaged by farmer for winter half-year; Jane Aitken babysits at Balmuir; shows Andrew (his son) some pictures in a book; the Baillie visits Balmuir; at Mutual Improvement Association (MIA) meeting hears a talk on potatoes and Mr Stopani's reading on 'I don't know what'; breaks bolt on plough; attends MIA debate on knowledge; attends concert at Waterton School; attends lecture anent the Orkney Islands; attends MIA talk on Columbus; misses Church because of snow; reads an essay on self-improvement at MIA class; attends party and ball at Corskie; frost makes it hard to start the mill wheel; Davie, a horse, chockes and falls; snow in January; the bull chockes on a turnip; heavy snow in February; goes to Midmar for wood and returns with six larch trees; suffers 'sore head' (headache) on the Sabbath; a horse falls and brakes a shaft of the cart while driving; Davie chockes, falls and breaks both cart-shafts; the roads are too bad to attend Church; kills two swine; cow is sold by James Cadenhead; wind and snow in early March; joins squad of men to clear the Turnpike of snow; Bella and little John (their second son) visit Aberdeen; cannot plough due to frost.
Some Scots words and idioms used in the volume: lowsed, yoked, brock, burn (stream), feeing market, dang on, Muckle Friday, Baillie, ora, puckle, midden, dyke, redd up, byre, the length of, wisp, hackit, berestraw, lade. |