Marta Elena Díaz García wrote:I did not work with oxes or with a plow. However, my parents did, not with oxes but with cows. My mother hated it because she had to control the cows while her father (my grand-father) "drove" the plow.
That work was very heavy for a girl (15-16 years-old). She always remember when the cows moved away from the furrow and broke two small apple trees. Her father scolded and punished her a lot because those apple trees were recently planted.
Impressive, Marta Elena. Thanks for the story about your mother and the ox-driven plow. I've never driven one myself, although I can sense it is no easy task. My cousin in La Puela has his
l.labieguin as a household decoration these days. I've been tempted, often, to run off with wooden plows that are obviously abandoned. I don't know how long the temptation will last because they are beautiful objects.
Recently, while walking in Algiers, I found this postcard of an ox-driven wooden plow in the Kabylie region. The Berbers from the mountains of Kabylie use it to plow through olive groves. Look at the padding on the oxen to prevent fraying. Also at the way the
xugu is tied to the
l.labiegu. I've always wondered why it was ox-driven plows in Asturias and Galicia and horse-driven plows in Brittany and Ireland. Anybody have clues?
Thanks for the equivalent in acres, Bob (less than 0.3 of an acre). Good to know as I am often confused between acres, hectares, British hectares, square feet, square meters...and dias de gues.
Here's the picture, a poor shot from my camera of a postcard, but it will give you an idea:
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Ia ablucante esi anecdota de tua mai trabayando conos gues, Marta Elena. You nunca nun trabayara col l.labiegu pero nun tien pinta de ser facil. Un primu na Puela tien sou l.labieguin na casa colgando de la l.lariega—pero de decoracion. Vei pouco vi un l.labieguin abandonau nuna casia valeira pa Oscos. Taba caendo el teau, asina que tuve a piques de marchar con el.
Ya un dia de la que caleaba por Arxel toupeime cona semeya (ver abaxo) d’un par de gues tirando d’un l.labiegu nos montes de Kabilia, a unos 70km al ueste de la capital. Los bereberes de Kabilia tienen un l.labiegu pa mover la tierra pente los olivares. Echa un gueyu al xugu ya cumo fain p’amarralo al l.labiegu.
Siempre quixe saber cumo ia que los gues tiran del l.labiegu n’Asturias ya Galicia, pero que en Bretana ya Irlanda son caballos. Dalgun de vos sabe por que?
Gracias pol equivalente n’hectareas del ‘dia de gue’, Bob (menos de 0,3 d’hectarea). Ia enguedeyoso eso de convertir sistemas de medicion ente hectareas, hectareas britanicas, pies cuadraos, metros cuadraos ya dias de gues.
Aiquei vei la semeya, que fixera cona camara a partir d’una tarxeta postal:
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