Perthshire's Rural Past - Farming

This short film describes the traditional farming year in Perth & Kinross during the early-mid twentieth century, when farm horses tilled the fields and large teams of men, women and children worked together to bring in the harvest. It is narrated by retired farmers and farm-workers, Jim Ogg from Methven, James McLaren from Dargill Farm, Willie Morton from Mireside Farm, ‘Tib’ from The Forge at Woodhill and Henry Kinnaird from Lethangie.

Jim Ogg describes a typical year, starting with spring ploughing, sowing and harrowing, through to harvesting the crop and bringing it in for the winter. James McLaren talks about the hard, heavy work involved in the potato harvest and the tradition of lifting green potatoes in August and September. He also describes how a stack was built and the importance of keeping it water-tight to prevent the grain from damage. Willie Morton describes how a horse mill was constructed and operated, with teams of between two and six horses driving machinery that powered threshing mills and other farm machinery.

Tibb describes what the farmworkers ate and drank while they were working in the fields, including a ‘greybeard of whisky’ which would be provided by the farmer during particularly hot weather; she also talks about women working on the travelling threshing mills. Henry Kinnaird describes how an ‘opening road’ was cut by hand around the perimeter of a harvest field before a horse-drawn binder came in to cut the rest of the field. In this way, the whole crop could be harvested without the binder damaging any of the standing grain.

Stewart Swan sings The Plooman.