51/43

Flails were commonly used to thresh corn and other crops to separate the grain from the husks. They were used before the development of threshing machines. Threshing by flail provided winter work for labourers and was done on a threshing floor in a barn. A flail usually consists of a handle, a 'swingel' (the swinging part of the flail which hits the grain) and a 'swivel' joint to join the two together.

1 flail: wood [ash?], metal [iron] and leather

Citation in publication [H. J. Massingham, 'Country Relics' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1939)] –' Nor in crude fact is the blow of the flail, or of the "frail" or "thrail", as they call it in middle England, or of the "stick-an'-a-half", as...they call it in Essex, or of the "drashel" of Wessex, or of the "nile", a corruption of "nail", as they called it in Gloucester-shire, a usage quite obsolute. In the high uplands of Wales and the low uplands of East Anglia, small farmers still use the flail...// Two very good specimens hang in the Hermitage, one from Bucks, the other from Gloucestershire and given me by [page break] Mr Haines of Alderton who inherited his father's...The flail is an implement in two parts- the "hand-stave" of ash about 5 ft. long grasped in both hands, and the "swingel", usually of holly or blackthorn, that is thicker, stouter and shorted in varying proportions that its fellow for its office in beating out the corn on the threshing-floor. County styles differed in the connecting links between the two, but the orthodox one has a shouldered loop of green ash fitting by an iron pin to the flattened head of the handle so that it can swivel without obstruction. Another loop of raw hide or leather, but sometimes made of eelskin in Gloucestershire, fastens swingel to hand-stave by a similar loop as that which fits over the head of the latter. Sometimes the bridge between them is a chain, and the methods of attachment display those pleasing differences by which the localized arts and crafts kept faithful to the natural variations of their respective homes.' (pp. 75-76) [see also pp.76-77] [see also 51/45], MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/43 // NAME: FLAIL // NEG NO.: - // STORAGE: LOAN', MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: Flail // Accession number: 51/43 // Classification: THRESHING hand// Negative number: 60/16844 // Acquisition method: Gift // Acquired from, date: H.J. Massingham collection, January 1951 // Store: // Condition: // Recorder, date: // Description: (?) Ash swingle, iron swivel, leather binding deteriorating, some worm damage // Dimensions: Each limb 78 cm (one limb handle broken) // Associated information: // References:'

Wood, Metal, iron, Leather