No 205. Horse Mill Course.

No 205. Horse Mill Course.

Water Wheels for mills were very desirable. George Murray in his 1878 Catalogue stated
“ This Set ( of Mills) is fitted with a small steam engine, but the same arrangement can be carried out with Water Power where such is available. They have been brought out to meet the want of the present time, it being now a settled matter that with the present price of horses, it will not do to thrash a large farm with horse power, and while the portable Machines have recommendations they have many disadvantages.”

The portable Machines referred to above were travelling steam engine driven thrashing mills.

But water power was not everywhere available, needing a stream or a large ditch to fill the mill dam ready for thrashing. There was also the huge cost and work of building a water wheel facility. So most farms large and small and most crofts had a mill course for horses.
We forget nowadays that farm work with horses was not just a case of switching on the electric motor by pressing a button on the wall. Horses had to be bred, fed, watered, and stabled. They had to be trained. They were at times dangerous, a look at old death records show every now and again an accidental death. Accidents did happen, perhaps all too often. At the Bay in Stronsay a cart went over a young man, who died next day.
His stone reads, sadly, "In memory of our son James S. Hutchison, born 6-10-1888, died 28-1-1910.”

Horses were temperamental, the good and the bad. The patience of old time horsemen was infinite. Some horsemen were good, some were not, some were just pure magic with a horse. The “horseman’s word” was real, though no-one actually knew just what it was. I was privileged to know some of these horsemen.

A crofter would have at best one horse, a neighbour to lend another was useful. It was heavy work even with a small crofter’s mill, but they would not be thrashing a great deal at any one time. Still, even for that it was considerable effort to set it all up, horses harnessed and yoked to the poles.

The mill course would be built raised above ground level to allow the horses to walk round and round, a centre crown wheel gear driving a horizontal shaft below in through the barn wall to drive the thrashing mill.

In the barn wall was a small window called the “whoe hole”, situated just beside the feeding position of the mill. From there the crofter could shout to his horse “Hup” to get it moving, “Whoe “ to get the horse to stop. Hence Whoe Hole. Mostly the horses were well enough trained to obey, though a young horse might need a helper to look after it till it got used to the work, usually a small boy.

The one I knew best, now 87 and long retired in Orkney, was one such. His most memorable occasion was looking after a young horse while his father fed the mill. It led to an incident which he has not told his father about to this date!!

The horse slowed down, which spoiled the thrashing drumspeed. My friend picked up a small stone, as boys did, and threw it at the backside of the horse. Unerring in aim, the horse louped forward, there was an almighty crack and the drive shaft lay in two pieces.

The only comment from his father to his very quiet son as he dismantled the broken shaft en route to the blacksmith was “Boy, David, they chuist don’t make things like they used to do.” It was a long time ago!!

There were various methods of getting the drive to the Mill. One was to come in through the barn wall and drive a toothed pinion inside. This could transfer the drive to a flat pulley which could be disengaged or not as the feeder wished by a lever to move the flat belt sideways from the fixed pulley on the drum shaft to an idler pulley. It had the advantage of not stopping the horses and having to start them all over again, apart from being able to disengage the threshing mill instantly.

Another was a direct drive through toothed pinions onto the drum shaft.

The “whoe hole” and the “shaft hole” are wonderfully preserved and illustrated at Mary-Ann’s Cottage in Dunnet. Though now closed for the winter these holes can be seen from outside in the barn wall facing the car park. There is no better example in Caithness.

The shaft hole at ground level is now built up. The raised horse mill course was there when we boys were going down past the Cottage on our bikes to try our hands at fishing off Dwarwick Pier, though the iron work had long gone. It was finally levelled when the car park was being made for the present facilty. Worth a visit in passing.

.