File:The land of heather (1904) (14586647349).jpg

Identifier: landofheather01john (find matches)
Title: The land of heather
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: Johnson, Clifton, 1865-1940
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, The Macmillan company London, Macmillan and co., limited
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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n in, the starchedthings were sorted out, while the rest — the towels,underwear, and sheets — were carefully folded andplaced in a pile on the floor, and a cloth laid over them.On this pile the housewife stood while she ironed thestarched goods, and by the time she had finished, theclothes beneath her feet were pressed so smooth thatto iron them would have been superfluous. June was the most notable month of the washer-womens year, for that is the time of the blanket-scouring.* The work could be executed after a fashionindoors, but the approved Scotch method is to put theblankets in a tub and tramp them clean with bare feet,and it is essential that there should be plenty of waterand likewise plenty of elbow-room. Therefore nearlyevery Drumtochty housewife seeks the burn in theFree Kirk hollow when she feels inspired to undertakethe blanket-washing. Usually two neighbors combinein doing the work. A fire is built by the streamside,and a great pot of water is suspended over it. Later
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A Village We LL Village Happenings 39 the women trundle down several tubs on their rudebarrows, and return for the blankets, which they bring,loaded in great heaps on the barrows, with a generoussupply of soap-bars on top. When everything isready, the workers remove their shoes and stockings,step into the tubs, and tread and splash the soapy waterabout with great energy. This tub dance is kept up,with occasional intermissions to turn the blankets oradd fresh water, until the blankets are thoroughly clean.Now follows wringing — a hand-twisting process inwhich two women work together. Then the blanketsare spread on the grass to dry. The whole operationseemed to me curiously primitive, but by the Drum-tochty folk it was considered the simplest, most natural,and best way to do such work that could be devised,and they asked me with wonder if we did not scourour blankets the same way in America. One result of the outdoor toil which fell to the lotof the village mothers was that they often

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