scott.livesey
Dealer - Purveyor
Hi,
[FONT="]While doing research at the county historical society, I found pieces of an old manuscript titled [/FONT][FONT="]faoistiní de gabha sean[/FONT][FONT="]. [/FONT][FONT="][/FONT][FONT="][/FONT][FONT="]It seems to date from the late 18[SUP]th[/SUP] century. Some of the text is in English, some is in Gaelic. I thought the section about making knives quite interesting. I have transposed it here, modernizing the language slightly and translating most of the Gaelic to English.[/FONT]
Some of the wisdom passed down to me on making the best edged tool.
The best time for creation of an edged blade are the days before the full moon in the month of the winter solstice. First is the making of the coal. An oak is selected from the sacred grove and cut down. All pieces are gathered and moved to curing house. The pieces cut last year are moved to the workshop of the coal maker and the new pieces put in their place in the curing house. The coal maker splits and chops the oak into uniform pieces then slowly heats them till all that remains are baskets of coal, the famous “ bhuiséal de gualaigh”. This is typically performed 5 days before the full moon.Second is making of the iron. Black sand that will stick to the lodestone naofais gathered at low tide as the moon rises. The sand is packed in bags made of virgin lamb’s wool then loaded on a donkey colt that has never carried a person. The sand is transported to the Teach leá iarainn, or melting house. The breogán chun leá iarann or crucible is removed from its shrine and cleaned. The bags of black sand and powdered charcoal and small containers of dried lamb’s blood, powdered lamb’s bone, and green pigment are placed by the crucible. All leave with the exception of the master maker who fills and seals the crucible as he was shown by the previous master. The crucible is buried in the oak coal which is then lit. All except the master take turns stoking the furnace or working the bellows. The master uses this 24 hour period to prepare the molds. As the moon rises 3 days before full moon, the crucible is removed from the fire, opened, the slag poured off, then the molds filled. The molds cool until the moon sets. The grindingThe blades are now ready to take shape. The blades are removed from the molds. The next day is spent grinding the blades on a special 8 foot diameter stone that is half submerged in water brought from Lough Conn. When the master is satisfied, the blades are returned to the furnace. The heat treatThe furnace has been emptied, refilled with oak charcoal and lit. As the moon rises 2 days before full moon, the blades are heated to orange, removed from the fire. After an hour, they are returned to the fire and heated to light red then removed. . After an hour, they are returned to the fire and heated to medium cherry. Great care is taken that the blades get no hotter than medium cherry. After 10 minutes, the blades are placed in a vat filled with one part lamb’s blood, one part cow urine, and one part water from the shores of Ringaskiddy collected at high tide. When cool, the blades are scrubbed with sand gathered from the beaches near Ballymacaw, then placed in the ice house. As the moon rises 1 day before full moon, the blades are heated to light cherry. Again care is taken that the blades get no hotter than light cherry. After 5 minutes, the blades are placed in a vat containing one part goose fat, one part whale oil, and one part lard that has been heated till smoke just begins to form. After an hour, the blades are removed and cooled in water from the shores of Ringaskiddy collected at high tide. When cool, the blades are scrubbed with sand gathered from the beaches near Ballymacaw, then placed in the ice house
As the full moon rises, the blades are heated to light cherry then the blades are placed in a vat filled with one part lamb’s blood, one part cow urine, and one part water from the shores of Ringaskiddy collected at high tide. When cool, the blades are scrubbed with sand gathered from the beaches near Ballymacaw. When clean, they are placed in the coolest part of the furnace and heated to light yellow, held for 2 hours, then cooled in water from the shores of Ringaskiddy collected at high tide three times. Before the moon sets, the blade is given a final sharpening. Final sharpening is on dark blue stone from Old Leighlin in County Carlow. The finished blade is said to be so sharp that the wool from a mature ram can be removed with a dozen strokes and the skin not broken. The same blade was used to remove the head of a lamb in a single stroke and show no damage..
it sounded like the process used in "The Secrets of the Viking Sword" that was a Nova episode. Vikings began settling in eastern Ireland starting about 500AD, their beliefs would meld with the native Druids. I wonder if the quench and soak in fats heated to smoking point(about 400F) would be similar to a marquench.
as my Grandmother would say, the manuscript is déanta as mo shamhlaíocht.
[FONT="]While doing research at the county historical society, I found pieces of an old manuscript titled [/FONT][FONT="]faoistiní de gabha sean[/FONT][FONT="]. [/FONT][FONT="][/FONT][FONT="][/FONT][FONT="]It seems to date from the late 18[SUP]th[/SUP] century. Some of the text is in English, some is in Gaelic. I thought the section about making knives quite interesting. I have transposed it here, modernizing the language slightly and translating most of the Gaelic to English.[/FONT]
Some of the wisdom passed down to me on making the best edged tool.
The best time for creation of an edged blade are the days before the full moon in the month of the winter solstice. First is the making of the coal. An oak is selected from the sacred grove and cut down. All pieces are gathered and moved to curing house. The pieces cut last year are moved to the workshop of the coal maker and the new pieces put in their place in the curing house. The coal maker splits and chops the oak into uniform pieces then slowly heats them till all that remains are baskets of coal, the famous “ bhuiséal de gualaigh”. This is typically performed 5 days before the full moon.Second is making of the iron. Black sand that will stick to the lodestone naofais gathered at low tide as the moon rises. The sand is packed in bags made of virgin lamb’s wool then loaded on a donkey colt that has never carried a person. The sand is transported to the Teach leá iarainn, or melting house. The breogán chun leá iarann or crucible is removed from its shrine and cleaned. The bags of black sand and powdered charcoal and small containers of dried lamb’s blood, powdered lamb’s bone, and green pigment are placed by the crucible. All leave with the exception of the master maker who fills and seals the crucible as he was shown by the previous master. The crucible is buried in the oak coal which is then lit. All except the master take turns stoking the furnace or working the bellows. The master uses this 24 hour period to prepare the molds. As the moon rises 3 days before full moon, the crucible is removed from the fire, opened, the slag poured off, then the molds filled. The molds cool until the moon sets. The grindingThe blades are now ready to take shape. The blades are removed from the molds. The next day is spent grinding the blades on a special 8 foot diameter stone that is half submerged in water brought from Lough Conn. When the master is satisfied, the blades are returned to the furnace. The heat treatThe furnace has been emptied, refilled with oak charcoal and lit. As the moon rises 2 days before full moon, the blades are heated to orange, removed from the fire. After an hour, they are returned to the fire and heated to light red then removed. . After an hour, they are returned to the fire and heated to medium cherry. Great care is taken that the blades get no hotter than medium cherry. After 10 minutes, the blades are placed in a vat filled with one part lamb’s blood, one part cow urine, and one part water from the shores of Ringaskiddy collected at high tide. When cool, the blades are scrubbed with sand gathered from the beaches near Ballymacaw, then placed in the ice house. As the moon rises 1 day before full moon, the blades are heated to light cherry. Again care is taken that the blades get no hotter than light cherry. After 5 minutes, the blades are placed in a vat containing one part goose fat, one part whale oil, and one part lard that has been heated till smoke just begins to form. After an hour, the blades are removed and cooled in water from the shores of Ringaskiddy collected at high tide. When cool, the blades are scrubbed with sand gathered from the beaches near Ballymacaw, then placed in the ice house
As the full moon rises, the blades are heated to light cherry then the blades are placed in a vat filled with one part lamb’s blood, one part cow urine, and one part water from the shores of Ringaskiddy collected at high tide. When cool, the blades are scrubbed with sand gathered from the beaches near Ballymacaw. When clean, they are placed in the coolest part of the furnace and heated to light yellow, held for 2 hours, then cooled in water from the shores of Ringaskiddy collected at high tide three times. Before the moon sets, the blade is given a final sharpening. Final sharpening is on dark blue stone from Old Leighlin in County Carlow. The finished blade is said to be so sharp that the wool from a mature ram can be removed with a dozen strokes and the skin not broken. The same blade was used to remove the head of a lamb in a single stroke and show no damage..
it sounded like the process used in "The Secrets of the Viking Sword" that was a Nova episode. Vikings began settling in eastern Ireland starting about 500AD, their beliefs would meld with the native Druids. I wonder if the quench and soak in fats heated to smoking point(about 400F) would be similar to a marquench.
as my Grandmother would say, the manuscript is déanta as mo shamhlaíocht.
