SCHOOL: Ring, Dalahasey | ADDRESS: Ring Commons, Co. Dublin
At the beginning of the worlk God created animals for mans use and benifit, therefore we should not ill-treat them, but to care them as much as they can, they are the cow, the horse the cattle and sheep. The cow is one of our faithfullest servants, she gives us milk butter and cheese when she is drove into the cowhouse in the evening a chain is put around her neck and fastened by a crook then she is given hay and milked she is milked into an enamel basis then she is given turnips and oats if the turnips was given to her before she is milked they would taste the butter. When we want to call the cow we call her pruggy, next to the cow ranks the horse – a useful farm animal when he is born he is called a foal when he is year old he is called a colt, then he is trained by our local horse-trainer to cart plough to mow to reap.
First he is trained to his harness and he must learn to go quickly and slowly whatever his master wishes he must not kick bite or have any will of his won there is a name given to the horse generally Jack Jimmy or Paddy. There are race horses also which are trained to hunt jump and to carry a jockey on his back.(Only) only two miles away from us was bred and trained the famous racehorse Reynoldstown who won the Grand National two years in succession he was bred by Mr. Richard Ball Reynoldstown House Naul County Dublin. Next are the sheep, the farmer rears sheep for the market from them he gets wool of which caps stockings gloves are made. In spring the sheeps have their little lambs which are reared for the Easter market. In the yeaning time they must be watched carefully, when they (their, they are) have their lambs they are fed with turnips and oats to keep up the supply of milk to rear thelambs, sheep are quiet and need not be tied.
Bibliography
“The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0783, Page 51” by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.