Corn binding brings back fond memories for Tyrone men

IN days gone by, things were done differently. Carts were hauled by donkeys, water was drawn from wells and, in the absence of electricity; tilly lamps were lit by the dozen.

While setting hands upon an 80-year-old corn binder might not mean that much to you or me, for a group of Tyrone men it has transported them back to the ‘good old days’.

Days filled with hard labour as skin bronzed under the merciless beating sun, skilfully handling a binder from sunrise to set – and when the work was done, gazing with satisfaction across a field peppered with stooks (bundles of corn stood on end in a field).

Those days are now a distant memory, but Dungannon man Johnny Fee relishes any chance to be taken back. Last weekend, Johnny and his friends paid a visit to Monaghan Vintage Club, where the main attraction was an Emyvale man’s binder.

The yellow binder was purchased from a company called Albion in England and now resides proudly on the farm of Jimmy McGuigan.

This binder would have been a hard pull in its heyday, by all accounts – taking the power of three horses to shift. In later years, it was converted to suit a tractor. On this occasion, it was being pulled by a 1964 Massey Ferguson 35. A certified piece of history, the men revelled at the opportunity to bask in memories of years ago – reminiscing over the 30 years’ worth of work done with equipment much the same as Jimmy’s.

If it wasn’t for Jimmy McGuigan and the likes, the traditions of corn binding would be tragically lost forever, buried below all the latest and greatest new inventions. But, much to the delight of Johnny Fee and other fellows like him, the tradition lives on.