51/131

This is a paddle for a coracle, a bowl shaped boat, keel-less boat designed for fishing on lakes and rivers. This paddle probably comes from Wales, and is of a type commonly used by fishers in the village of Cenarth on the River Teifi. The paddle is carved out of a solid piece of ash and has an oval handle which widens into a flat rectangular blade. The coracle is paddled by means of a figure of 8 motion, as any other movement would make it revolve in circles uncontrollably. The accession file contains a description on how coracles would be constructed.

1 paddle: wood (ash)

MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/131 // NAME: CORACLE PADDLE // NEG NO.: 35/206 // STORAGE: ', The coracle is a bowl-shaped, keel-less craft designed for fishing on lakes or rivers. It is very light, weighing anything from 7lbs. to 30lbs. according to the conditions in which it is to work. The fisherman carries the craft on his back from one pool to another, by means of a pair of leather straps fitted to the gunwale of the coracle. This paddle probably comes from Wales, for it is of a type still in general use by the fisherman of the village of Cenarth on the River Teifi. The Severn paddle has a much wider blade, and resembles a flat-ended spade for paddling a coracle that is oval in shape, as compared with the 'figure of 8' shape of Welsh coracles. The coracle is paddled by means of a figure of 8 motion, as any other movement would make the frail craft revolve in circles uncontrollably., Object research project, Further Afield, January 2024 - The original accession card, and previous entries within this catalogue record, assumed that fishers using these coracles were men, by using the word "fishermen". However, women have also been recorded as using these coracles for fishing. As a result, the term in the description has been changed to "fishers".