Walter Dickson

Walter Dickson is from Tawley in Co. Leitrim. He began his working life as a small farmer, as did his father. He discusses lapping the hay and how this was done. He also did some thatching as a young lad and shares some details on the process. He recalls a local wheelwright and describes the procedure of making a wheel for a cart. Also remembered is the entertainment at night with the gramophone and the dancing. Walter recalls Mary’s Bridge which was built in 1817 and talks about the legend behind it. He maintains that people long ago were happier than they are now and remembers that people had more time for each other. He recalls learning the craft of stonemasonry forty-five years ago. He describes how the stone would “wear your fingers off” and that the pay was small, nobody had much money. He began working with field stone and moved on to sandstone from quarries. He talks about the quarries in the area at the time. Stonework took great skill and Walter was involved in making many fences and ditches and did a fair share of dry stone walling. He remembers the last stone house built in the locality which was in the middle of the 1950s.