Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/534

394 upper stone of this quern is of granite, the lower of millstone grit. A curious memoir on this subject is given in the "Dublin Penny Journal," 1836, p. 296. Pennant has shown the use of the hand-mill in North Britain, as worked by two persons: an ingenious and simple expedient appears also to have been devised, hitherto, as we believe, unnoticed by writers on this subject, and shown in an illumination given in a recent German publication. (See the copy of this interesting drawing, in this volume, p. 404.)

"In presenting to the collections of the Institute, on the part of the Kilkenny Archæological Society, a specimen of the Irish Quern or Hand-mill, I wish to say a few words—not concerning the antiquity of this primitive contrivance, the use of which by this and other nations appears to be of very remote antiquity, nor in regard to the history of this quern in particular, any further than to place on record that, before it was deposited in the collection of the Institute, it had been in actual use in the humble cabin of a Kilkenny peasant,—but merely in explanation of the simple mechanism of its construction, and the mode of its use.

"The diameter of a quern varies from about 3 feet 6 inches to 2 feet, and some few are found even smaller. The lower stone having been hollowed or dished to receive the upper one, round holes about 3 inches in diameter were formed in the centre of each. Into the orifice in the lower stone was wedged firmly a piece of oak, through which an auger-hole having been bored, a pin or peg of the same material was inserted, projecting slightly above the surface of the stone. This is technically called 'the navel.' Across the corresponding orifice or hopper of the upper or runner-stone was also firmly fixed a piece of oak, having its under surface furnished with a socket to receive the head of the pin before alluded to. The runner-stone is thus poised a few tenths of an inch above the nether stone; and as this space is increased or reduced, the coarseness or fineness of the meal is regulated. This wedge does not entirely close the hopper, a space being left at each side to feed the quern with corn. Near the circumference of the upper stone a hole was drilled, into which an upright handle, about 10 inches long, having been inserted, the quern was complete.

"The quern, when required for use, was placed on the floor, a cloth having been spread beneath it, and the corn, previously highly dried in an iron pot, or on a griddle, was placed in a vessel within reach of the grinders. When everything is ready, two women take their seats on the ground, at opposite sides of the mill; and a handful of corn having been placed in the hopper, one seizes the handle and pushes the runner-stone round to the other, who dexterously returns the compliment to her companion. The stone thus soon acquires considerable velocity, receiving a fresh momentum as the handle passes each grinder; and, as the work proceeds, the mill is continually fed by handfulls of corn, the meal passing out by a notch cut in the rim of the nether stone.

"One quern serves for many families; and although the owner may chance to be in the poorest circumstances, yet no charge is ever made for the use of the machine, such a procedure being counted unlucky. It is very difficult to determine the age of many querns now in actual use, inasmuch as they have been handed down for many generations from mother to daughter; and as some ill fortune is ever believed to ensue when the quern is sold, the Bean-tighe, or 'woman of the house,' is extremely reluctant to part with this heir-loom, even though offered for it much more than the intrinsic value."