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A new spade

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I don’t actually have a new spade, however I found a poem I wrote some time ago, just a rough draft about spades. I don’t quite know why I am so fascinated by them; it all began when we visited Patterson’s Spade Mill at Templepatrick in County Antrim. The first time we went I thought it was called a spade mill because it was a watermill with blades on the wheel which were spade shaped – I have no idea why I thought that. The mill at Patterson’s is a mill in the sense of factory, so the spade mill is a spade factory.

Patterson’s Spade Mill is the last working water-driven spade mill in daily use in the British Isles. Before 1750, most spades in Ireland were made by blacksmiths, but by the early to mid-19th century, spades were produced in specialised mills

I had owned spades before, just ordinary garden spades, in a couple of different sizes for different jobs but I didn’t realise that a spade is a speciality implement and there’s over a hundred different types for all the different jobs – agricultural, building, road making, peat digging for which they might be needed. I was very moved, at the mill, by the stories of Irish men who went abroad during the Famine and ever since, and for many of them the only skill they had was digging. These men went across the world, building the roads, digging the canals, digging underground rail tunnels using their expertise and skill and the correct tool for whatever the job.

I came across a poem, only quite short at the moment but I have three versions… I wonder which is the best, and which I should now work on?

A good spade

I
A good spade is a fine thing
Made of beech or maybe ash
The iron blade sharp (keen) and bright
Or dulled with use
Wearing its dints and marks with honour

Slide your hand along the haft
Balance it across your palm
Then heft your spade across your shoulder
Feel its honest weight across your back.

II
A good spade is a fine thing
Slide your hand along the haft
Balance it across your palm
Then heft your spade across your shoulder
Feel its honest weight across your back
Made of beech or maybe ash
The iron blade sharp (keen) and bright
Or dulled with use
Wearing its dints and marks with honour

III
A good spade is a fine thing.
Slide your hand along the haft,
Balance it across your palm,
Then heft your spade across your shoulder.
Feel its honest weight across your back,
Made of beech or maybe oak,
The iron blade sharp (keen) and bright
Or dulled with use.
It wears its dints and marks with honour

© Lois Elsden 2018

Here is a link to a post I wrote about Patterson’s before:

https://wp.me/p2hGAs-MU

… and to the mill itself:

http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/place/patterson’s-spade-mill

 


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