Page 54 - The Ashley Book of Knots
P. 54
OCCUPATIONAL KNOTS
tied. This was undoubtedly without premeditation; the flies were
bothering her at the time, and her initial step was in the right
direction.
245. The BINDER KNOT is tied in a wisp of straw that is bound
around a sheaf of grain. The two ends are brought together and laid . ,
up with a strong right-handed twist. The doubled end is then laid
back on itself and the bight or loop so formed is thrust up to the right
under the binding. The method of tying this knot is shown as ~ 1135
in several progressive drawings among the BINDER KNOTS, a chapter
for which this knot is the prototype.
246. The knot tied by a mechanical binder is an OVERHAND BEND
. - .... ..withbighrs tucked instead of the ends. Binder.twine. is JlJoos.e-twisted_ .....
material similar to spun yarn, but wiry in texture. It is impractical to
tie this knot for the purpose by hand. '::: •
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The remaining knots on this pa e a ply to flails, which even in -
America are still used occasionally or t reshing small crops of grain,
although the mechanical threshing machine has superseded it where
grain is grown in commercial quantities. Flails are also employed for
threshing beans and peas.
The implement appears to have been fully perfected many cen-
turies ago, and very few refinements have been added since Cain is
alleged to have killed Abel with one. Some authorities state that it
was invented in medieval times, but it would seem to be older, and
the knowledge of it possibly reached Europe from Egypt or Asia at
the time of the Crusades. 248
Practically all flails are jointed with rawhide, although I have seen
2.49
them tied with cord, rope, tanned leather, rags, and shoestrings. It is
necessary that the joint should pivot as well as hinge, which accounts
for the elaborate nature of some of these fastenings.
247. This is a FLAIL KNOT from Diderot's Encyclopedia (1747)'
Small steamed and bent wooden yokes are lashed with rawhide I I
thongs, let into circular grooves which are cut around the ends of the I
• I
handle and the swingle, so forming two swivel joints. The rawhide I ,
;-, I
,
connecting strap is tied in a BECKET HITCH (#1900). , "
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,
,
248. A flail joint from Bristol County, Massachusetts. I have never \
,
seen this particular knot elsewhere. 25 0
249. This is a common fastening on flails. See STRAP HITCH ~ 1 i04.
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,
250. A flail from Chester County, Pennsylvania. The strap is rove
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three times through the slit, and then the end is hitched around all
three turns, forming something in the nature of a BECKET HITCH •
•
(*11}O0), although it is more a lashing than a hitch. •
•
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251. A turn having been taken around the oke, X turns hold • ,
the thong securely in the groove of the handle. he two ends are reef
knotted together (~1104). 251
252. In this, two round turns are taken about the yoke, and then
frapping turns (#110<), at either side of the handle, hold the thong
snugl in the groove. The average flail has a handle between four
and our and a half feet long, and a swingle twenty-four to forty
inches long. The length of the handle varies with the height of the
thresher, and the weight and length of the swingle depend on the
kind of grain to be threshed.
