51/129

Thistles can either be cut down with a scythe, or bruised with a spud or ‘grubber’ before the seed is formed. It has a long wooden handle with a flat iron head in the shape of a thistle, with a cutting edge. Nothing is known of the origins of this thistle spud.

1 thistle spud: metal; wood; good condition

MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/129 // NAME: THISTLE SPUD // NEG NO.: 35/202 // STORAGE: ', Mediaeval writers on agriculture forbade the cutting down of thistles before St. John's Day (24th June) since, if they were cut earlier, each root would throw up three or four plants. An old rhyme says: "Thistles cut in May come again next day; thistles cut in June come again soon; cut then in July, they'll be sure to die".

Wood, Metal