Hi' Listers, on yer Sam, your desciption fits the Wigtownshire dialogue perfectly, 'a' hae niver heard onybody in Wigtownshire say ' Howking' when referring to somebody diggin' Tatties. The word hoke means to dig with fork or spade in the present tense,Hok'n or Hoked is the past tense, and these words were generally reserved for the groups of contractors who come over from Ireland to Harvest the Tatties. [ as apt'ly put by Sam Heron ) The whole business was a war time measure to overcome the shortage of labour. Schools in rural areas of Scotland, and some in the cities and larger towns were involved in this scheme, to help the farmers, to set the Tattie Harvest and and lift the Harvest when ready. I was one of them, an' a more back break'n' job you would be hard pressed to find. We referred to this occupation as Tattie settin' an' Tattie liftin'. We were paired up and set some twonty yairds to lift and sort, we gethered into a wicker basket, the big to medium size tatties went into one sack and the smaller ones into another, later they would be wal'd for seed etc. There was no payment of money, the farmer usually agreed to a denner or twa o' tatties, at the en' o' the day, an' maist folks carried a wee poke for such, the farmer didnae like you stealin' his tattie bags. Weel Listers, I hae had my tippence worth, an' nae doot there wul be ithers wantin' tae dae the same. Happy Christmas to all. Len.

Enough enough, never mind the tattie howkers, how about the tattie scones? (scon not scone) add a little extra salt and some plain flour (all purpose?) to the left over mashed tatties, roll out on a floured board, cut into a round and then 4 triangles, cook both sides on a hot girdle (not griddle) and serve with butter - fandabidozy. Diana ________________________________ From: leonard miller logan <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, December 15, 2010 3:25:45 AM Subject: [WIG LIST] Re Tattie Hokers Hi' Listers,                   on yer Sam, your desciption fits the Wigtownshire dialogue perfectly, 'a' hae niver heard onybody in Wigtownshire say ' Howking' when referring to somebody diggin' Tatties. The word hoke means to dig with fork or spade in the present tense,Hok'n or Hoked is the past tense, and these words were generally reserved for the groups of contractors who come over from Ireland to Harvest the Tatties. [ as apt'ly put by Sam Heron ) The whole business was a war time measure to overcome the shortage of labour. Schools in rural areas of Scotland, and some in the cities and larger towns were involved in this scheme, to help the farmers, to set the Tattie Harvest and and lift the Harvest when ready. I was one of them, an' a more back break'n' job you would be hard pressed to find. We referred to this occupation as Tattie settin' an' Tattie liftin'. We were paired up and set some twonty yairds to lift and sort, we gethered into a wicker basket, the big to medium size tatties went into one sack and the smaller ones into another, later they would be wal'd for seed etc. There was no payment of money, the farmer usually agreed to a denner or twa o' tatties, at the en' o' the day, an' maist folks carried a wee poke for such, the farmer didnae like you stealin' his tattie bags. Weel Listers, I hae had my tippence worth, an' nae doot there wul be ithers wantin' tae dae the same.                                             Happy Christmas to all.                                                                                       Len. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Diana, Naughty of you to mention Tattie Scones because although it is presently 24 °C at 6.30 am, I am now having tattie scones, black-pudding, egg and bacon for breakfast. This is in addition to my normal breakfast of fruit. I could really do without it but the power of suggestion is so powerful when it comes to Tattie Scones. They are my all time number one favourite food; probably also because of the fantastic child-hood memories that they invoke. I always have "emergency" tattie scones and black-pudding in my freezer. One never knows when one needs a fix such as is happening this morning. My Granny in Kirkcolm used to make them on a table in front of the fire and cook them on a hot Girdle that was suspended over an open fire. This all happened in what we would call today the lounge or front room. My Granny was a wizard the way the scones just appeared with a few deft hand movements. I was allowed to mash the potatoes for her by using a gadget that was like a huge Garlic crushing device that held several potatoes and the "worms" of potatoes would just squeeze out; oh what memories. Every night a large pot of potatoes was cooked up for that evening's meal and any leftover tatties were made into scones the next day. There was nothing better than straight off the girdle and straight into the mouth. A little fried egg would fit nicely inside a rolled up Tattie Scone. When I was but a very young boy apparently my uncles used to bet me money that I couldn't stuff a whole Tattie scone complete with egg inside into my mouth at one go. I am told I could manage it. Sam Heron, Brisbane, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diana Henry" Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 4:31 AM Subject: Re: [WIG LIST] Re Tattie Hokers Enough enough, never mind the tattie howkers, how about the tattie scones? (scon not scone) add a little extra salt and some plain flour (all purpose?) to the left over mashed tatties, roll out on a floured board, cut into a round and then 4 triangles, cook both sides on a hot girdle (not griddle) and serve with butter - fandabidozy. Diana

Len, your comments on digging tatties whilst at school in Scotland mirror my own experience whilst a boy at a lousy decrepit private boarding prep school near Hawick in the late fifties and very early sixties. We all had small wicker baskets which we emptied into various hessian sacks. It was hard, dirty and unpleasant work for which we were paid nowt but the soon to be bankrupt school received "free" tatties. An ancient tractor and equipment dug up the tatties and scattered them in a rough row and some of us had the job of sifting the stones out although when the farmer or non-working teachers backs were turned we quickly jammed the stones in the bags as a mark of protest. Later on when it was really cold we were back in the fields picking the sprouts, often when covered in frost which tended to feeze our fingers to the bone. We hated that more than the tattie howking and I believe our parents never new what we did. I wonder if there is an expression for sprout howking because I can't recall one? Donald Main -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of leonard miller logan Sent: 15 December 2010 11:26 To: [email protected] Subject: [WIG LIST] Re Tattie Hokers Hi' Listers, on yer Sam, your desciption fits the Wigtownshire dialogue perfectly, 'a' hae niver heard onybody in Wigtownshire say ' Howking' when referring to somebody diggin' Tatties. The word hoke means to dig with fork or spade in the present tense,Hok'n or Hoked is the past tense, and these words were generally reserved for the groups of contractors who come over from Ireland to Harvest the Tatties. [ as apt'ly put by Sam Heron ) The whole business was a war time measure to overcome the shortage of labour. Schools in rural areas of Scotland, and some in the cities and larger towns were involved in this scheme, to help the farmers, to set the Tattie Harvest and and lift the Harvest when ready. I was one of them, an' a more back break'n' job you would be hard pressed to find. We referred to this occupation as Tattie settin' an' Tattie liftin'. We were paired up and set some twonty yairds to lift and sort, we gethered into a wicker basket, the big to medium size tatties went into one sack and the smaller ones into another, later they would be wal'd for seed etc. There was no payment of money, the farmer usually agreed to a denner or twa o' tatties, at the en' o' the day, an' maist folks carried a wee poke for such, the farmer didnae like you stealin' his tattie bags. Weel Listers, I hae had my tippence worth, an' nae doot there wul be ithers wantin' tae dae the same. Happy Christmas to all. Len. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message