Corn stooks at Ruaig
Postcard of corn stooks at Ruaig in the mid-20th century.
This postcard shows a field of corn stooks at Ruaig in the mid-20th century. The corn was cut and bound into a ‘sguab’ (sheaf) using two handfuls pulled from the sheaf to make a ‘bann’ (tie). These were lined up into an ‘adag’, a short double row of eight to ten sheaves.
The old men were very particular to line up the row of ‘adagan’ in the field so that you could see ‘gobhal na h-adaig’ (the gap between the sheaves) from one end of the field to the other. If cut slightly unripe because of the weather, the sheaves were turned every day until they ripened.
Harvesting was hard, thirsty work and a tin of ‘sùgh min-choirce’ (cold well water mixed with oatmeal) was kept in the shade of an ‘adag’ to provide a refreshing drink.
Black and white postcard of Ruaig.
Ruaig with corn sheaves in the foreground and L-R Taigh Eoghainn Iain na Hongs (Ruaig Post Office in the 1930s) and Taigh Dhonnchaidh or Alasdair Dhonnchaidh (Ruaig Post Office in the 1970s).