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Hiring of farmservants and flitting on term days.

Fieldworkers
Date 24 May 1983
Track ID 81398
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1983.058

Original Tape ID

SA1983.058

Summary

Hiring of farmservants and flitting on term days.

Hiring markets were held at Hawick, Jedburgh, St Boswells and Earlston about six weeks before the half-yearly term days. In Hawick hiring used to take place outdoors, but latterly was inside in the mart. There was a big dance in the Hawick town hall afterwards. On term day farmservants flitted [moved house] with their belongings and children piled into a cart and sometimes someone playing a fiddle. Wat Crawford speaks of a time when he flitted as a farmservant.

Item Notes

The term days were the days to which farmservants' six-monthly contracts ran.

Recording Location

County - Roxburghshire

Parish - Cavers

Village/Place - Denholm

Item Location

Village/Place - The Borders

Language

English, Scots

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good