MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Gloria]

Can't imagine how, but, is it used for the plaiting/dressing up of shire horse's manes, they appear bedecked with straw and ribbons at agricultural shows???

[Stanley]

I don't think you are going to get it. Now bear in mind that I might be wrong! I once saw a man repairing a draught horse collar that had gone out of shape. Rather than rebuild it he used an iron almost exactly the same as this but not of such high quality to pack new straw into the 'pipe' formed by the cloth inside the frame of the collar. He put it in a few wisps at a time and rammed it home hard. So that's what I think it is, an iron for packing straw into horse collars or indeed any tubular construction of leather that needs packing. I've seen leather tubes packed like that used for something else but I can't recall what it was. Anti-chafing protection for mooring lines?

[Gloria]

Could have been used for stuffing a saddle. There are similar tools if you google, but nothing exactly the same.

[Tripps]

I was really hoping it was going to be an example of a 'needle in a haystack' . It's been as hard to find.

[plaques]

Which reminds me of the song by Jake Thackray.

The Hole.
Well I know it sounds ridiculous, I know it's awfully odd,
But I suddenly felt like giving that little hole a furtive prod.
So I popped my finger in and then I waggled it about.
But once I'd got the bleeder in, I couldn't get the bleeder out of the hole.
The hole!

I suppose the hook at the end is to get the bleeder out???

[Stanley]

Now we need another.....

[David Whipp]

I'd like a closer look a the notch/hook at the end of the tool.

For fear of gainsaying Stanley, it appears to be designed to draw something out or through other stuff (like yarn being drawn back through a hole?).

Or, if the tool is for stuffing as Stanley suggests, is the notch for unpacking the compacted straw already in the halter?

[Tripps]

" Now bear in mind that I might be wrong! "

Now that's not something you often see on here.

[Stanley]

The notch was to control the wisp of straw being rammed into the collar. Look at the shape of the handle, designed to fit comfortably in the hand when pushing hard. Try this one. Blacksmith made and very old.

[David Whipp]

For constipation in cows?

Or breaking up clinker in grates?

[Stanley]

No, and before you start, nothing to do with earwax or nose-picking!

[hartley353]

Its a cork screw.

[Gloria]

Clearly for screwing into something and pulling.

[Tizer]

Tool for removing the wooden bung from a beer barrel.

[Cathy]

An old fashioned latch possibly for a garden gate. I first thought it might be a special kind of key, maybe for something unusual.

[David Whipp]

For screwing into a bale of cotton - but I'm pretty sure plain hooks adequate for lifting?

I like the beer bung suggestion.

[plaques]

Whatever its purpose it has a left hand thread. Some kind of extractor for withdrawing something with a right hand thread.

[Stanley]

You're all on the right track with corkscrew and extraction. Very old and probably first made for use in an engine house.

[Gloria]

Is it for lifting a damper?

[hartley353]

Lifting wooden boards.

[plaques]

Way back in the 1840's (slightly before my time). The Chartists would "draw the plugs"on the boilers to prevent steam being raised. I have always thought these plugs enabled the boiler to be drained but I've never been sure if they are screw in plugs or bolt on plates. Not a Chartist plug drainer is it?

[Stanley]

P I've posted a paper on boiler insurance and the plug riots which might be of use.
Nobody is there yet, funnily enough Hartley touched on it in the discussion on the previous object.....

[chinatyke]

Something to do with a mixture of horse dung, straw and clay used for house building.

Are we back to David's "For constipation in cows? Or breaking up clinker in grates?"


Obviously multi-purpose:
1. It is used for breaking up clinkers in horse dung...
2. before mixing with straw and clay in an engine house...
3. and enlarging and trimming the holes that the Chartists had left ..
4. and ramming the plug into the holes.

[hartley353]

Could this item be used to remove gland packings.

[Stanley]

You've got it, it was used for digging the old hard packing out before starting afresh with new soft packing. We need a new one for you.