Interlinear glossed textmc_english_kent03_a| Recording date | 1976 |
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| Speaker age | 87 |
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| Speaker sex | m |
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| Text genre | personal narrative |
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| Extended corpus | yes |
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| | | Translation | Well now, I'm about to relate to you the whole of my life story, |
| | | Translation | and I can assure you that it will be a true one. |
| Standenpn_np:l
|
|
| Standen | Street | | Standen | Street |
| | Translation | I was born at Benenden, Standen Street, in the old Leasden House. |
| | | Translation | My father, he worked under the Wesley family for forty-seven years and he never had a day off. |
| groomnp:pred
|
|
| groom | gardener | | groom | gardener |
| | Translation | His job was groom gardener, |
| | | Translation | but like all other men on these farms, you kept getting it piled on to you |
| | | Translation | and finally he had to look after the cows, pigs, and everything else, |
| | | Translation | and soon as ever I got just big enough I had to go over there and help him, Saturdays and whenever I was at home. |
| | | Translation | And uh, it was all jolly hard work, |
| | | Translation | I could never carry a full bucket of water because I wadn't big enough. |
| | | Translation | But however, I used to struggle in to the old cows and bullocks and help father all I could, |
| | | Translation | and help him cut up the chaff with an old horse bi the name of Boxer, |
| | | Translation | and finally it got that I got just man enough to be houseboy. |
| | | Translation | Then I had to go round and help with the house, |
| | | Translation | and chop up the wood and such like, and do all odd jobs, run errands, and post the letters, and sometimes go and meet the postman. |
| | | Translation | Well as time went on, I got little better man, |
| | | Translation | and they wanted a carter boy to go with the old carter and the horses, so they put me along with him. |
| | | Translation | I didn't want the job, I told father I didn't want the carter boy job. |
| | | Translation | He said, You go and do as you're told. |
| backnp:other
|
|
| back | answer | -s | | back | answer | -PL |
| | Translation | And in them days it was discipline, no back answers, you had to do as you was told. |
| | | Translation | Anyhow, I went along with this old man, old Mr Barnes, he was a nice old man, |
| | | Translation | never heard that man swear in my life, I didn't, |
| | | Translation | and I never known him to grumble. |
| | | Translation | If there was anything you didn't do quite right, he'd always got patience enough to tell you about it. |
| | | Translation | Used to have a team of four great horses |
| | | Translation | and one of'em was very bad tempered, oh it was old Boxer, he'd bite you, he bit me several times. |
| | | Translation | He'd come right at you, he would, with his mouth wide open, |
| | | Translation | and he'd have you if you didn't get out of the way pretty quick. |
| | | Translation | But anyhow, I got wide-o to him, |
| | | Translation | I hit him one day when he come to me, I met him and I hit him right up the face with the butt of the whip. |
| | | Translation | He didn't come for me anymore. |
| | | Translation | But anyhow, we used to have to go to work and do the ploughing with'em, one in front of the other in them days, |
| | | Translation | and the old mare on the front, her name was Violet, I remember, |
| | | Translation | she was a rat-tailed old mare, she hadn't got any hair on her tail, only on the end, |
| | | Translation | and her name was Violet, |
| | | Translation | and that old mare, she knew far more about it than what I knew. |
| | | Translation | I used to have to hold the whip both hands if the wind blowed to keep it upright, this great long old whip, ten foot long. |
| | | Translation | But anyhow, I used to have to drive these horses, |
| | | Translation | and when they got out at the end, 'course that old mare knew her job, she used to go out and come back round again and off back up the furrow again. |
| | | Translation | And we used to have to go down to a, a field, down the lower end of the farm. |
| | | Translation | There was seven acres in it, |
| | | Translation | and we'd got to plough that in six days. |
| Saturdaynp:other
|
|
| Saturday | night | | Saturday | night |
| | Translation | That had to be done by Saturday night. |
| | | Translation | We used to get out at seven o'clock in the morning, |
| | | Translation | and unyoke at four in the afternoon. |
| clean'emv:pred=pro:p
|
|
| clean | ='em | | clean.INF | =3PL.OBL |
groom'emv:pred=pro:p
|
|
| groom | ='em | | groom.INF | =3PL.OBL |
| | Translation | And then carry on and clean'em, groom'em, cut chaff and various jobs, till tea time. |
| | | Translation | And then he would stop there till six o'clock and see to'em, |
| | | Translation | then I had to go back and stop there with'em till eight o'clock, |
| | | Translation | finish up what jobs there was, |
| water'emv:pred=pro:p
|
|
| water | ='em | | water.INF | =3PL.OBL |
| | Translation | and feed'em and water'em, and put their beds down and so on for the night. |
| | | Translation | And I had to be up there, up again half past six the next morning, ready for the next day's work. |
| hopnp:other
|
|
| hop | picking | time | | hop | picking | time |
| | Translation | I know sometimes when hop picking time, they used to grow a lot of hops in those days, |
| Cranbrookpn_np:g
|
|
| Cranbrook | station | | Cranbrook | station |
| | Translation | and uh, it was almost a constant job to and fro to Cranbrook station. |
| | | Translation | We used to start off at midnight, |
| | | Translation | and get down in the station so as to be first, or amongst the first, |
| | | Translation | and we was generally the first one down there. |
| inpn_np:l
|
|
| Cranbrook | station | | Cranbrook | station |
| | Translation | I put the horses' nose bag on down in Cranbrook station at two o'clock in the morning. |
| | | Translation | And 'course you was the first one to get unloaded, |
| | | Translation | or else that meant staying about there perhaps till seven o'clock that night. |
| | | Translation | I've seen hops all the way from the station right up to the old Hartley pub there, one load behind the other, |
| | | Translation | and some of'em, that was pretty late in the evening before they got away, |
| | | Translation | but we used to get back home again. |
| | | Translation | And I remember once when we went home, he said, well now, he said, when you've had a bit to eat, he said, you'd better go out to the forest and green and get a load of brush for the hop pickers. |
| | | Translation | That was for their fires. |
| | | Translation | So we had to go out to the forest and green there and, up in the wood, and get five hundred of brush. |
| | | Translation | And then we had to come home and unload them. |
| | | Translation | He'd tell you there was a load of hops ready for you to go away with the next morning. |
| | | Translation | That meant start by twelve o'clock again at night. |
| that'sdem_pro:s=cop
|
|
| that | ='s | | DIST.SG | =be.PST.3SG |
| | Translation | And that's how that used to go on all through the hop picking. |
| | | Translation | I never saw any money for it. |
| | | Translation | I worked hard and long days at home, but I never saw any money. |
| | | Translation | Well as time went on I got a bit dissatisfied. |
| | | Translation | My chums, they'd always got a few shillings when they went out, |
| | | Translation | they'd always got something to spend, but I hadn't, |
| | | Translation | and I told my mother, I said, I think I'd ought to have a little money, I said, All my pals have got some. |
| a-butteredv:pred
|
|
| a | butter | -ed | | a | butter | -PTCP.PST |
| | Translation | And uh, Oh, she said, You must remember where your bread's a-buttered, she said, You can't have it, she said, We can't afford it, she said, Probably they're better off than we are, |
| | | Translation | but they wadn't, you know, they didn't get any more money than my father did, but... |
| | | Translation | Anyhow, I could never get any money out of her. |
| always'veother=v:pred
|
|
| always | ='ve | | always | =have.PRS |
| | Translation | If there was a few coppers we'd always've a lot of rankling about it, |
| | | Translation | and one day I got a bit cheeky, something went wrong with my employer and me and he told me I'd better find a fresh job. |
| | | Translation | And that was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. |
| | | Translation | And Father, he come home, and he grumbled and groused at me rather about it, |
| | | Translation | but my brother Bob, he come down a few nights afterwards |
| | | Translation | and he said he'd heard of a job at Cranbrook under Mr Chopman, carter boy over there. |
| that'sdem_pro:s=cop
|
|
| that | ='s | | DIST.SG | =be.PST.3SG |
| | Translation | So that's where I went and I lodged wi-- 'long with Mr Rickman and his wife, he was carter. |
| | | Translation | And eh, I had ten bob a week, |
| | | Translation | and eh, I paid them seven and sixpence for my lodgings. |
| | | Translation | That left me half a crown to clothe myself and find my boots and one thing and the other. |
| | | Translation | However, that went on for some time, and when I went away, my old mother, she never put much in my clothes box. |
| | | Translation | Well I don't suppose she'd got the money to get it, or I remember I never had much. |
| | | Translation | But anyhow eh, my boots, they begun to get pretty dilapidated, |
| | | Translation | and he said to me, Well, I don't know, Boy, he said, You want a new pair of boots? I said, Yes, I keep getting wet foot. |
| Marchantpn_np:g
|
|
| Marchant | and | Tubbs | | Marchant | and | Tubbs |
| | Translation | He said, You'd better go down to Marchant and Tubbs, |
| | | Translation | that was a shop down in Cranbrook, |
| That'sdem_pro:s=cop
|
|
| that | ='s | | DIST.SG | =be.PRS.3SG |
| | Translation | and he said, That's where I always have my clothes, So you go down there and, and tell him you want a new pair of boots. |
| | | Translation | He said, You give'im what money you've got, he said, and tell'im you'll pay the rest when you've saved it up. |
| | | Translation | I went down there and I asked him for this pair of boots, and he wouldn't hear of it. |
| | | Translation | Well I went back home again, up to where I lodged, |
| What'sintrg_other:pred=cop
| | Translation | and he said, What's the matter with you, boy? |
| | | Translation | I said, Well he wouldn't let me have them boots, I said, I be afraid I'll have to manage with what I got. |
| | | Translation | He said, You won't, you know, he said. |
| Where'sintrg_other:pred_l=cop
| | Translation | He put on his jacket, Where's my jacket, mother, he said. |
| | | Translation | And he put on his jacket, he went down there, he come back with them boots. |
| hadn't'alv_aux=lv_aux
|
|
| had | =n't | ='a | | have.PST | =NEG | =have.PRS |
I'd'apro.1:a=lv_aux=lv_aux
| | Translation | He said, If that man hadn't'a let you had them boots, he said, I'd'a never bought nothing else off him. |
| | | Translation | So uh that went on, and as time went on, 'course I didn't spend anything then much, I used to keep putting this half a crown away till I got a few shillings together to buy what little bits I wanted. |
| | | Translation | But I was a long time, you know, getting myself clothed up. |
| | | Translation | And of course mi shirts and that, they wore out, |
| | | Translation | and, the landlady, she was good enough, used to wash'em and iron'em and get'em all ready for me, |
| | | Translation | they, they was more or less like a father and mother to me. |
| | | Translation | Well that man, he was a marvellous chap, great big fellow he was. |
| | | Translation | And he told me that during his young days, he said, We was like you, he said, We didn't have a bit more than enough. |
| Sundaynp:other
|
|
| Sunday | morning | | Sunday | morning |
| | Translation | He said, I remember one Sunday morning, he said, Laying a-bed, he said, Mother wouldn't let us get up. |
| | | Translation | She told us to lay there till she'd got the breakfast ready. |
| | | Translation | He said, And when we did get up and went down to our breakfast, he said, It was a, a suet pudding and a swede turnip. |
| That'sdem_pro:s=cop
|
|
| that | ='s | | DIST.SG | =be.PST.3SG |
| | Translation | He said, That was our breakfast, he said, That's all the grub there was in the house. |
| | | Translation | However, he said, As time went on, he said, We grabbled about and one went away from home and got a job and went away, and another one, he said, And we got through life somehow. |
| | | Translation | But that just tells you how hard that life was in those days. |
| | | Translation | And that man, after living like that, he grew into a man strong enough and big enough that he would carry a barrel of brimstone, |
| hundredweightnp:other
|
|
| hundredweight | | hundredweight |
| | Translation | he'd take that out of the waggon and carried it in the oast-house, and that weighed four hundredweight. |
| | | Translation | But he was a nice chap. |
| | | Translation | I worked with him until finally he, ehm, carried on, |
| | | Translation | I remember once, well we'd always got one mare there that used to breed a foal every year. |
| | | Translation | Well of course the time come along when she'd got to rest, |
| | | Translation | and eh, I, eh, was set to work with them two old oxen. |
| | | Translation | I didn't know nothing about'em, I'd been used to bullocks and that all my life, |
| | | Translation | I wadn't afraid of'em, |
| | | Translation | but eh I didn't know nothing what to say to'em or do or anything, |
| | | Translation | and Mr Chopman said, You'd better go and get them old oxen first, he said, You go round to George Head, he said, He'll tell you how to go on. |
| | | Translation | He was stockman, he used to work'em sometimes. |
| | | Translation | Well I went round the buildings and found him and we went out into the orchard, |
| | | Translation | and soon as we went in the gate the old bullocks, they begun to saunter away up towards us, |
| | | Translation | and he put the yoke on one of'em, that was old Winch, the one that worked the off-side, |
| saunteringv:pred
|
|
| saunter | -ing | | saunter | -PTCP.PRS |
| | Translation | and he held the end up and pulled the bow out, and Winder, he come sauntering up under the yoke, and he yoked him up. |
| That'sdem_pro:s=cop
|
|
| that | ='s | | DIST.SG | =be.PRS.3SG |
| | Translation | There, he said, That's how you do that job. |
| | | Translation | He said, I never show anybody anything, only once. |
| | | Translation | I said, Alright. |
| | | Translation | So he had the old bullocks out, |
| | | Translation | and he had'em up to the cart, |
| | | Translation | and they walked round, one of them did, the off-bullock, and stepped over the nib and they stood theirselves in position |
| between'emadp=pro:g
|
|
| between | ='em | | between | =3PL.OBL |
| | Translation | and he went up between'em and lifted the old pole up and put the plug in. |
| there'sother=other:predex
| | Translation | Now, he said, there's one thing you want to remember, he said, When you put that plug in, he said, tie it in with that bit of thong, he said, 'Cause that might drop out. |
| | | Translation | However, that went on, and I had these old bullocks, I had to go in the yard with a lot of cart, with some litter in there, you know, when they got dirty, straw and one thing and the other, and... |
| | | Translation | I know when I first went to go through the gate I got up against the post. |
| | | Translation | I assumed as if I wanted to get hold of'em like I did with the horses, |
| | | Translation | but that didn't work. |
| | | Translation | So after that I walked through myself and they used to come through alright, they would never to-- run into anything. |
| | | Translation | However, I carried on with these old oxen, |
| | | Translation | and then they'd got an old horse bi the name of Captain, he was very very deaf, |
| | | Translation | and I used to dress all the corn, |
| | | Translation | I used to have the old horse hooked on in front of'em and a long pole on him to lead'im, to guide him, |
| | | Translation | and I had these two old oxen on the roll, and the dredge coming along behind, I used to dress all the corn like that. |
| | | Translation | Marvellous old things to work with. |
| Sissinghurstpn_np:p
|
|
| Sissinghurst | Castle | | Sissinghurst | Castle |
andrn_pn_np
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|
| Bettingham | Farm | | Bettingham | Farm |
| | Translation | Now I carried on there till such times that they took over Sissinghurst Castle and Bettingham Farm. |
| | | Translation | And they wanted me to go down there with'em. |
| | | Translation | So I went down there and lodged with one of the workmen down there, |
| | | Translation | and I carried on there till finally I thought to myself, well I'll get married and settle myself down. |
| | | Translation | So I was twenty-two years of age then, |
| | | Translation | and uh he said to me, well, I told him I was gonna get married, |
| There'sother=other:predex
| | Translation | and he said, Well, he said, There's nowhere for you to live, he said, Only in the old tower. |
| | | Translation | Well, I said, That'd be alright I think. |
| | | Translation | Well, he said, I'll have it all done out for you. |
| Sissinghurstrn_pn_np
|
|
| Sissinghurst | Castle | | Sissinghurst | Castle |
| | Translation | That was in the old tower at Sissinghurst Castle there. |
| | | Translation | So he had it all done out and that was my first home. In a castle. |
| | | Translation | And I paid a shilling a week rent. |
| circumstancesrn_np
|
|
| circumstance | -s | | circumstance | -PL |
| | Translation | 'Tidn't everybody in my circumstances has lived in a castle for a shilling a week, is it? |
| | | Translation | However, that went on for some time, |
| | | Translation | and finally there was all sorts of tales about it, |
| | | Translation | and my first wife, she got pretty nervous about it, |
| | | Translation | and uh, we'd got a little dog, I think that heaped the coals on the fire. |
| | | Translation | One night we lost this little dog, |
| where'sintrg_other:pred=cop
| | Translation | and all of a sudden I said to her, I said, Well where's Stumpy? |
| | | Translation | Said she didn't know. |
| | | Translation | Well, I said, She must be here somewhere, I said, she couldn't have gone out, 'cause the door was shut. |
| | | Translation | Hunted all round, finally I went right up to the top in our bedroom, |
| | | Translation | and I met that little dog coming down. |
| | | Translation | That had got down, oh six or seven steps perhaps, from the top, or a little further, |
| shiveringvother:pred
|
|
| shiver | -ing | | shiver | -PTCP.PRS |
| | Translation | and she was standing there shivering and shaking, foaming at the mouth, she seemed frightened out of her life. |
| | | Translation | Well I picked her up in mi arms and stroked her and asked her what was the matter and brought her down. |
| | | Translation | And uh, after I got her down, you know, she licked herself and that, and she seemed to come round alright, |
| | | Translation | now, whether that dog saw anything or whatnot I don't know. |
| | | Translation | But I have heard tales since that, a dog can always see these things where a human being can't. |
| | | Translation | But anyhow, finally we came away from there and that was it. |
| | | Translation | And here I am now, back more or less on my own ground, not far from Benenden, |
| | | Translation | and I'm enjoying life very well up to the present. |
| | | Translation | I feel well and I keep carrying on. |
| eighty-seventhln_adj
|
|
| eighty | seventh | | eighty | seventh |
birthday'llnp:s=lv_aux
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|
| birthday | ='ll | | birthday | =will |
| | Translation | My eighty-seventh birthday'll fall next October, |
| | | Translation | and up till last summer I worked twenty yard of allotment, |
| | | Translation | and I was pretty fond of my garden, but I think I shall give it up now, have a rest, let somebody else carry on. |
| | | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] Was it more difficult working with oxen than with horses? |
| | | Translation | Well no, I don't think it was. |
| | | Translation | For one thing, they were more obedient than a horse. |
| | | Translation | If you said anything to'em they would respond. |
| | | Translation | A horse, sometimes, they are very self-willed, or a lot of them are, |
| | | Translation | although there is some, I've had some horses almost like a human being, they seemed to know pretty near as much as you knew yourself. |
| | | Translation | But a bullock, if you, what I mean to say, treated him right, you didn't dare be unkind to'im, to make'em nervous, |
| treated'emv:pred=pro:p
|
|
| treat | -ed | ='em | | treat | -PST | =3PL.OBL |
| | Translation | but if you treated'em right I always thought they was more obedient than a horse. |
| | | Translation | 'Course we always worked two together. |
| | | Translation | And the off-bullock never only had one syllable in his name. |
| | | Translation | Hence Winch and Winder, Pink and Piny, such names as that. |
| | | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] Is that so y-, they knew the difference if you called them? |
| | | Translation | Called them. Yes, and they would always know their place. |
| | | Translation | That off-bullock, if you was going to yoke them up, he'd always be the first one to come to you, |
| | | Translation | and his mate, he knew, he might be back there amongst all the others, but he'd find his way up there. |
| that'sdem_pro:s=cop
|
|
| that | ='s | | DIST.SG | =be.PST.3SG |
| | Translation | They was mates together and that's how they always worked. |
| Sissinghurstpn_np:l
|
|
| Sissinghurst | Castle | | Sissinghurst | Castle |
Castlevother:pred
|
|
| plough | -ing | | plough | -PTCP.PRS |
| | Translation | I remember once at Sissinghurst Castle ploughing a bit of ground down there, I had to bust this piece of ground up for to plant kale, |
| | | Translation | and I had one of the old-fashioned wooden ploughs, no wheels on it, just the foot, |
| | | Translation | and uh I had the two old oxen, one bullock in the furrow and one out, and the horses out of the furrow, they'd fo-, walk along and follow the edge of that furrow, |
| frognp:p
|
|
| frog | mead | piece | | frog | mead | piece |
| | Translation | and I ploughed all that frog mead piece, oh several acres of it, with two horses and two oxen. |
| | | Translation | Used to always have the oxen behind on the plough, all there was in it you had to give them time to pull out at the end, because they was a bit slow. |
| | | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] You ploughed with horses and oxen at the same time? |
| | | Translation | Yes. Yeah. Oh they wouldn't hurt a horse, they wouldn't gore him or anything like that. |
| | | Translation | They'd walk along, they used to work together alright. Yeah. |
| | | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] When did you last work with oxen on the land? |
| | | Translation | Yes. The only trouble with oxen was in wet, if the land was wet. |
| | | Translation | Now where they took their front foot out, they put their hind foot in, |
| | | Translation | they always do that, a bullock does, if he's walking, if you notice, and of course that trod the ground in such holes. |
| | | Translation | We never used to have them on the land when it was very very wet. |
| | | Translation | We used to have them now clearing the yards out, all the manure come out of the yards after the bullocks had been in there all the winter. |
| | | Translation | [INDISTINCT] They would always have you run on top of their mixon as we used to call it, the lump, and eh, to keep it tight so that it shouldn't ferment. |
| | | Translation | And, eh, sometimes if that was left a day or two, when you went up on that, they would go right down through it. |
| of'em'drn=rn_pro=lv_aux
|
|
| of | ='em | ='d | | of | =3PL.OBL | =would |
| | Translation | I've had them old bullocks sometimes, one of'em go right down in up to his belly. |
| | | Translation | Well the only thing to do was to shelve the cart up, take all the weight off their neck |
| | | Translation | and then tell them to start, and the one that was on the top, well he'd pull the other one out. |
| | | Translation | Oh yeah they'd pull one another out. |
| | | Translation | 'Course if you got a horse down in, mired in like that, that was a nasty business. |
| | | Translation | You had to get his cart out of the way and more or less dig him out. Yes. |
| Chopmanpn_np.h:appos
|
|
| Chopman | brother | | Chopman | brother |
| | Translation | But they were marvellous farmers, the Chopman brother. |
| | | Translation | There was a thousand acres of it all told. |
| | | Translation | Used to start off in the morning, you'd alwa- we always had to plough an acre, |
| | | Translation | it was the stumps round the field, used to have to plough from stump to stump. |
| | | Translation | They used to give you extra time to plough the outside. |
| | | Translation | But we always had to plough an acre. Seven inches deep, ten inches wide. |
| | | Translation | You've got to keep away from the edge, otherwise you wouldn't get it, especially in a short corner when you first started perhaps. |
| | | Translation | If you've got the full length of the field, then you could go a bit steadier. Three horses abreast. Yeah. |
| | | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] How would you do round the outside, did you, did you dig round the outside at all with spades? |
| | | Translation | Well yes, I, they used to dig the corners out, you know, where you couldn't plough in those days, |
| | | Translation | but we used to plough it all, most of it, keep going round and round till you'd ploughed it all you see. Yeah. |
| | | Translation | In those days, well, a workman's wage was about fifteen bob a week, you got on some farms, they'd give you fifteen shillings a week, |
| | | Translation | but more or less a lot of them only got thirteen shillings you know. |
| | | Translation | That wadn't a lot for a man to keep his wife and family on, was it? |
| | | Translation | 'Course they never paid any rent much, a couple of bob perhaps, eighteen pence, a couple of bob, hm. |
| ploughingnc
|
|
| plough | -ing | | plough | -PTCP.PRS |
| | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] Was it slower ploughing with oxen than with horses? |
| | | Translation | Well, I don't know. |
| | | Translation | I wouldn't, I think I would rather have a team of oxen than horses because they're steadier, and they always, uh, you've always got that bit of a sway, you got used to it, |
| | | Translation | and eh, well I think it was easier really, 'cause you, you sort of always knew what they was going to do. |
| | | Translation | 'Course a, a lot of these properly worked horses, they never make a mistake, not all day long, |
| | | Translation | but I think I would prefer oxen. Hm. |
| | | Translation | They're very easily and quickly subdued you know. |
| | | Translation | If you got a pair of oxen out, got'em roped to a post or something where you could get hold of'em and get the yoke on'em, |
| | | Translation | and then hook'em on to something heavy that they couldn't move, |
| | | Translation | and hook the other old oxen on in front of'em, |
| | | Translation | well you had to more or less drag them about, |
| | | Translation | but, if they had a day at that, they was, you know, pretty well cobbled, they, they didn't want to out up rough nu- much the next day. |
| | | Translation | They used to very soon get out of breath and hang their old tongues out. |
| | | Translation | Sometimes we've had'em sulk and lay down, |
| | | Translation | we used to go down to a stream if you was anywhere near one |
| | | Translation | and get a little old tin or a bottle or something, drop of water in it, put a few drops in their ear, they pretty soon jump up. |
| | | Translation | They didn't like that. Yeah. |
| | | Translation | They was faithful old things though. |
| | | Translation | I always liked them. |
| | | Translation | Only 'course these days, oh, they wouldn't, wouldn't be fast enough, nothing is fast enough today. |
| | | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] When did you last work with them on the land? |
| | | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] How, when did they disappear from the land? |
| | | Translation | Yeah, oh well now, I should think it was, I don't actually know, but I should think it was at the beginning of the last war, when these tractors begun come about. |
| That'sdem_pro:s=cop
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| that | ='s | | DIST.SG | =be.PST.3SG |
| | Translation | That's when I think they was more or less disarmed. |
| Sissinghurstpn_np:dt_s
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| Sissinghurst | Castle | | Sissinghurst | Castle |
| | Translation | Because Sissinghurst Castle, that was the last place down here in the south of England that oxen was worked. Yes. |
| | | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] So you-- |
| | | Translation | And eh, I think that was about the time that they, you know, went out, yeah. |
| | | Translation | I've got a photograph of them two old oxen back there. |
| | | Translation | And eh, 'course these tractors and that pushed the horses and the oxen off the farms. |
| | | Translation | Although at certain parts of the country I understand that they still work oxen. |
| ploughingnp:g
|
|
| ploughing | match | | ploughing | match |
| | Translation | I saw a photograph in the paper some time ago where a man was breaking two in to go in a ploughing match. |
| | | Translation | And he was driving them on a line like we used to hold the horses. |
| | | Translation | I often wonder how he got on with it, but it was quite interesting. |
| ploughingnc_np
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| ploughing | match | -es | | ploughing | match | -PL |
| | Translation | [INTERVIEWER] Did you used to enter ploughing matches when you were working with them? |
| ploughingnp:p
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| ploughing | match | | ploughing | match |
| | Translation | Well we never, we used to have a bit of a ploughing match, like, but never, I never went there with our oxen. No. |
| | | Translation | We used to take'em down to the horse show, a couple of them for, just for a bit of an exhibition. |
Text view • Utterance view
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