Objektnummer
52/328
Beskrivelse
This is a small portable keg of the type commonly used for carrying cider, beer or other liquor into the harvest field. They are known by a variety of names, including 'costrels', 'bottles', 'beaver barrels' (in Hertfordshire) and 'firkins' (in South West England). This keg came from Oxfordshire. It is made from 19 pieces of oak, held together by four iron hoops, and has an iron carrying handle. It has the initials 'L.P.' at one end.
Fysisk beskrivelse
1 keg: wood [oak] and metal [iron]; good condition
Arkivhistorik
MERL 'Catalogue index' card – ‘… // DATE ACQUIRED: // GROUP: // NEGATIVE: // PERIOD: // PLACE OF ORIGIN: // NUMBER: // DESCRIPTION: …‘ ...In the past when most of the harvesting was done by hand, and the harvesters were often in the fields from dawn to dusk, working in the blazing sun, a barrel of cider or beer was kept close to hand in the cool shade of a ditch or hollow. Quite often there would be a keg for each reaper. Before drinking from the keg a cork and an air stop had to be removed, and if the keg were not too large or heavy, the harvester drank directly from it. If however the keg was large, a horn mug was used. The vent hole above the cork acted as a safety valve, in case the keg was left standing in the sun for a long time, or had been shaken in carrying it to the fields. // The kegs were usually made of oak, hooped with iron, and were often the work of country coopers. The heads of the kegs were usually made of a single, round piece of wood, the initials of the owner being engraved upon it. In early examples, the cord, by which the keg was carried or hung up in the house when not in use, was made of plaited horse hair, but later, leather thongs, tied by a knot or fixed to the sides of the barrel by wooden pegs, were common. In this example, however, the carrying handle is of iron. //
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