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Encyclopaedia of the North East

W - Wash house to whisky

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A large printed capital letter W with ladles, distillery equipment, a sword, clothes irons and a washing dolly.

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wash-house n 
A building set aside for the cleaning of laundry. 

Today the wash-house is known as a 'laundrette'. Modern fabrics and technology have contributed to the passing of the steam filled communal rooms where traditionally women toiled elbow deep in boiling water scrubbing and starching heavy fabrics.

Charcoal iron. A pointed oval shaped steel box full of charcoal, with a lid with an ornate brass and wood handle.

Charcoal iron (late 19th cent.)

ABDUA:16553

Washing dolly. A wooden pole about half a metre long with a plunger shaped part made of copper at the bottom.

Washing dolly, for agitating laundry (late 19th cent.)

ABDUA:15909

Block iron. A rounded triangular box metal box with a wooden handle and a hatch on the back, next to a similarly shaped solid block of rusty iron which fits inside.

Block iron, made in the Falkirk founderies (mid 19th cent.)

ABDUA:15902

Goffering iron. A small torpedo shaped piece of iron at the end of a long rod with a wooden handle, next to a similarly shaped but hollow piece of iron on a stand.

Goffering iron, used for delicate materials (mid 19th cent.)

ABDUA:19592

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whisky n 
A type of spirit obtained by distilling the mash of cereals usually barley.

As I geed our the Brig o Dee 
I met Geordie Buchan; 
I took aff his hied, and drank his bleed 
An left his body standing

"A Bottle of Whisky", Notes on the Folklore of North East Scotland, Rev. Walter Gregor 1881 

Smuggling was common in Buchan and throughout the whole country. In fact, the country folk had no other means of raising money with which to pay their rents and the lairds were quite alive to that fact
Stories of the Buchan Cottars Before the Year 'One', W. Littlejohn, 1929

Toddy ladles. Left to right: ladle made of horn, wooden ladle with a double helix twisted handle, wooden ladle with a turned handle, two wooden ladles with twisted horn handles, a ladle made of bone, and a silver ladle.

Toddy ladles (late 18th - early 19th cent.)

ABDUA:18271, 18305, 18282, 18276, 18289, 18273, 18295

Still Pot Head Still

Pot head from a whisky still at Birss, Aberdeenshire (late 18th - early 19th cent.)

ABDUA:18744

Worming gear. A black metal pot with a pipe coming out of the top horizontally, and then into a downward spiral with four turns before straightening put horizontally and going through a broken piece of wood.

Worming gear from a whisky still in Aberdeenshire (late 18th - early 19th cent.)

ABDUA:18746

Funnel. A large turned wooden funnel.

Wooden funnel for filling whisky bottles from Banffshire (19th cent.)

ABDUA:18441

Glass bubbles. A set of twelve small glass bubbles each with a number engraved on them, in a circular wooden box lined with red fabric. The inside of the lid has a paper label which says GLASS BUBBLES, For proving spirits, Made by CAESAR ALTRIA, Mathematical Instrument Maker, ABERDEEN. A table with the numbers on the bubbles corresponding to strengths of alcohol is underneath.

Glass beads made in Aberdeen used 'for proving spirits' (c1860).

ABDUA:18741

Flask. A large curved rectangular flask, about a foot wide.

Flask used for smuggling whisky from Kinaldie, Kinellar, Aberdeenshire (late 18th - early 19th cent.)

ABDUA:18742

Sword stick. A hollow knobbly wooden stick almost a metre long, next to a steel sword blade with a similar wooden handle.

Exciseman's sword-stick (late 18th - early 19th cent.)

ABDUA:18734

W - Wash house to whisky