As usual, all of you there are being most generous about giving those of us here (in this place and/or in this time) an education about what the life of our ancestors was like. I'm really enjoying this series...and wondering if the reason my ggg-grandparents went to Scotland from Ireland. I have one more question to throw in...tell me about the word "howking" please. Can you give me an indication of how it pronounced? It appears to be a corruption of some word...but what one? And what does it mean? The closest I can come to a tattie howking story is this: When I was two, I managed to slip and fall down the last two steps of the stairway in the front hall. (I doubt that I ever went higher at that time since it would take only those two steps to get to the roomy and "safe" landing.) In the process I broke my arm. Mother settled me and went to find my father. She came back with the news that they would take me to the doctor...as soon as Dad had picked up all the potatoes he had already dug. It was a "very long" wait while I sat and felt sorry for myself and a bit peeved that my father thought the tatties were more important than I was. Eventually I got old enough to understand that letting those potatoes burn in the sun would not have been a good Scottish thing to do at all. Again, thank you all for the stories you tell. It helps me share the old country in a way that my grandfather couldn't do for me. He was only 2 when he left there, and my great-grandparents both died before I was born. Kristy in Illinois On 12/12/10 8:04 PM, "Maisie Egger" <[email protected]> wrote: > SNIPPET: Interesting note from another lister: "There were strong connections > between Sligo/ Mayo/ Leitrim /Donegal and Scotland largely because of > agriculture in the early 19th century....

Kristy, Hoker is pronounced the same as in broker as in Stock-broker. Howker is pronounced the same way that one would say, - "How" are you today? - "How" with "ker" added. As with most of the old words we used they were from an older time in Scotland and were not necessarily a corruption of a current word. They were words as such in their own right. To "hoke' as a verb can mean to dig out or excavate. Hoke as a noun can mean the act of digging, excavation. In reality the Tattie Hokers didn't actually dig the potatoes out of the ground a device pulled by a tractor brought them to the surface and the Tattie Hokers collected them from the surface and put them in bags to be collected. The only hoking that they would do would be to kick the surface with their feet to see if any tatties were hidden from them. I remember when we were little our parents would get a farmer's permission after the potato fields had been dealt with for us as a family to go through the fields and collect for our own use the potatoes that had been missed by the Tattie- hokers. We always managed to collect plenty. Sam ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kristy Gravlin" <[email protected]> To: "Maisie Egger" <[email protected]>; "WIG LIST" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:54 PM Subject: Re: [WIG LIST] Fw: "Tattie Howking" - Ireland>Scotland, Potato Harvest > As usual, all of you there are being most generous about giving those of > us > here (in this place and/or in this time) an education about what the life > of > our ancestors was like. I'm really enjoying this series...and wondering if > the reason my ggg-grandparents went to Scotland from Ireland. > > I have one more question to throw in...tell me about the word "howking" > please. Can you give me an indication of how it pronounced? It appears to > be > a corruption of some word...but what one? And what does it mean? > > The closest I can come to a tattie howking story is this: When I was two, > I > managed to slip and fall down the last two steps of the stairway in the > front hall. (I doubt that I ever went higher at that time since it would > take only those two steps to get to the roomy and "safe" landing.) In the > process I broke my arm. Mother settled me and went to find my father. She > came back with the news that they would take me to the doctor...as soon as > Dad had picked up all the potatoes he had already dug. It was a "very > long" > wait while I sat and felt sorry for myself and a bit peeved that my father > thought the tatties were more important than I was. > > Eventually I got old enough to understand that letting those potatoes burn > in the sun would not have been a good Scottish thing to do at all. > > Again, thank you all for the stories you tell. It helps me share the old > country in a way that my grandfather couldn't do for me. He was only 2 > when > he left there, and my great-grandparents both died before I was born. > Kristy in Illinois