68/140

Strickles such as this one would have been used during harvests as a means of sharpening scythe blades. They would have been coated in pig fat, contained in a strickle horn (also known as a grease horn) along with a fine sand and were especially common in areas where farmers did not have access to whetstone. Strickles would often be attached to a peg on the scythe to allow for easy use when in the fields. This strickle is likely to have been used with Strickle Horn 68/141 and was acquired by MERL as part of the Reverend Sharp collection.

1 strickle: wood

Object Research Project, July 2019, Diyva Srivastava - 'This is a wooden Strickle. It is 30cm in length and 5cm in width. It has a handle which is 11cm long. It has been used during the harvest as a means of sharpening scythe blades. The scythe is a tool specially adapted for cutting vegetation at ground level. The scythe is found in most areas of the world where grass and grain such as wheat, barley, oats or rye are predominant agricultural crops. The strickle would have been coated in pig fat, contained in a strickle horn (grease horn) along with a fine sand. They were common in areas where farmers did not have access to whetstone. Strickle would often be attached to a peg on the scythe to allow for easy use when in the field. The scythe appears to have developed during Roman times, though it probably wasn’t developed by the Roman. There were two kinds of scythe used, first one was shorter Italian model and another one was heavy Gallic kind. These Gallic scythes were made of soft steel with a strip of higher carbon steel sandwiched inside to provide the cutting edge. English scythe makers used this method to produce what were known as Crown blades in the UK until ‘Patent’ blades were invented. This Harvesting Strickle would have been used with a Strickle horn similar to 68/141. It was acquired by MERL as part of the Reverend Sharp collection. A strickle horn was used for carrying grease and sand to be applied to the strickle, giving it a rough surface, similar to sandpaper, allowing it to be used to sharpen the farmers' scythe and sickle blades whilst in the field.', The Sharp Collection of agricultural and dairying equipment was compiled by Reverend C. J. Sharp at Wonersh, Surrey. Reverend Sharp died in 1967 and the Museum acquired the Collection for £60 in 1968., MERL ‘Handwritten Catalogue’ form - ‘STRICKLE // Harvesting // SHARP COLLECTION // wood [pencil drawing].’, MERL Miscellaneous note, Ollie Douglas, 17 July 2014 – This object was on long term loan to Brent Museum from 2006 until 2014. It was used in the main display alongside a reaping hook (MERL 73/44) and a strickle horn (MERL 68/141).