BLACK-SMITH

FARRIER  

Patrick Comerford - 2001 continuing a proud tradition

For many centuries the smith was the hub of village life. There, in the glow of the forge, their faces lit red by showers of bright sparks in murky gloom, people waiting for work to be done met those who were, simply waiting; Gossip and parish news were exchanged to the measured beat of the hammer on anvil and the hissing of steam. It was especially popular in winter  when the fires were roaring.

     In medieval times there was at least one smith in  every village, it would often be sited in the centre of the village, usually, strategically, at crossroads. The smith was in effect a miniature factory, turning out all manner of domestic utensils, agricultural equipment and craftmens tools, from ploughs to cooking pots, billhooks and boot scrapers.

Men of iron

Blacksmiths were among the earliest independent craftsmen, their own master, they contracted to do jobs rather than  work hours-though the hours they did work were long and arduous. A blacksmith had to acquire a formidable array of skills and be physically immensely strong-like Long fellows mighty man….with large and sinewy hands and the muscles of his browny arms are as strong as iron bands. He might have other jobs to do as well as smithing. The job of village barber often fell to the smith and many were not above a spot of dentistry. He was sought out as an advisor or oracle and he could conduct a form of marriage over his anvil. Partly this was a testament to his status in the community, and partly it was in reference to his seemingly magical mastery of the fire and iron. The process of extracting iron from the ground and shaping it into tools and weapons is about 4000 years old.

  All the metals previously worked by man were soft enough to be worked cold: -copper, tin, silver and gold. The shaping of iron however required great heat and once cooled it was harder than any other metal.

     The first blacksmith (so called because iron was known as blackmetal) were itinerant going from manor to manor and often smelting their own iron. Their favourite  material was always wrought iron - 99.9% pure iron, resistant to corrosion and easily shaped when hot. (This has largely been superseded by mild steel.) With the introduction of the blast furnace in the fifteenth century the production of iron was stepped up and taken out of the hands of the smiths and monasteries to become an industry in its own right. The smith set up his own workshop, bought his iron from the iron master and concentrated on what his skill could make of it.

   The blacksmith rarely worked alone. Most supported one or two labourers, apprentices and a mate who apart from undertaking the simpler jobs at the smith’s direction worked the bellows, welded the hammers and helped to look after the horses.

Home repairs

The development of gas welding meant that farmers could repair their own tools and equipment thus removing a major source of employment for the traditional blacksmith.