‘Tattie Hokers’

On our arrival at Coarse Clay Farm we were each given a big double sized sack. This was our mattress which we had to pack with straw. We were also given three blankets . From our trunks we took the sheets and pillows our caring mothers had packed. They had been well advised about all the things we would need by previous ‘tattie hokers’. So we also carried our own pottery, cutlery and table cloths (which were serviceable oil cloths the fashion of the day). Soon we had unpacked and set up our sleeping apartment, it looked like a hospital ward and the eating bothy like a canteen. We took pride in the appearance of our accommodation. We had one luxury – electricity.
On Our first evening the local policeman arrived and collected our permits. He brought them back the following afternoon and we had permission to stay three months in agricultural work. We were also given yellow identity cards. Our permits were also used to get ration cards. People with no settled address were given ration cards not books. We had permission three months but if anyone broke the law they were deported immediately. It did not take much for an Irishman to break the Scottish law. There were many Irishmen deported. At the end of three months we had to report to the police to get an extension to our permits.
On our first morning we were all tired and could have slept for hours on our straw mattress. Instead we heard our morning call. It was dawn and the forelady, as she was known, gage us the ‘shout’. The forelady was an older woman who did the bothy housekeeping and was paid Five shillings extra for the ‘shout’.
Out in the fields we dug the potatoes with potato grapes or diggers. This manual digging was called ‘hoking’. We worked in pairs one digging and one gathering. The young boy or girl that gathered had to wear what was called a .brath’ which was a rough potato sack opened and used around the body like an apron. On damp days the soil Stuck to the ‘brath’ and made it heavy and damp and uncomfortable. We were allowed ten minutes break in what was called a quarter and one hour for dinner. We were allowed our dinner hour when we worked four hours and this could be seven in the morning as we often started before three a.m. We worked for eight hours each day and usually finished early afternoon. After a snack on coming back to the bothy, we all went to bed until late afternoon when we gat up and had our main meal. The rest of the evening was free..
In the evenings we would mix with other squads who worked on neighbouring farms. We went to visit them or they came to There were many squads from Donegal. We found them friendly and entertaining people and great at Irish. Amongst them and ourselves were many musicians so the first thing we would do was to raise money for a melodeon or a violin. We would raffle a pack of cards or a bag of rationed sweets. We had many enjoyable evenings. We also had Saturday afternoon off which we used for going to our nearest town or village to shop and send our savings home to our families. We sent our savings by T.M.O (Telegraphic Money Orders). Because all the squads in Scotland and the seasonal workers in Lancashire sent their T.M.Os late on Saturday the Post offices in Achill were allowed to open on Sunday mornings to take their T.M.Os. When the money was sent we would say that ‘the money is all gone around by the lighthouse’. Our gaffer was a good man and made sure that the young ones always sent their money passed the lighthouse. He didn’t want them getting into bad habits while they were in his care.
We made friends with lots of people including local Scottish young people by attending their village halls and joining the Scottish dancing. We also made friends with many of the P.O.W.s (prisoners of war) who were sent from their camps to help on the farms.
German prisoners were all very young and never had enough to eat or never enough cigarettes. We often gave them our B.U. bread units (our bread ration). Working on the farm gave them a chance to steal coarse potato sacks which they made into slippers and sold. They once stole an old coat of mine and a few days later it was offered to me as a fine pair of slippers!
estants The Priest would curse them of the altar. One man went to work on the Protestant Church, at station time, people were asked to pay a half crown (two shillings and six pence), the man went up to pay his dues, he put his money on the table and told the priest where he got it, the Priest looked at him but he took the Ministers money anyway.