JOU!tNAL OF THE COUNTY DONEGAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY Tfieri -hi---the middle of· -1943. home·- sptin -cam-e under the Textile Ratfoning Scheme and prices eased C:ons.tderably. Later 1n the same ye_ar· r~resentatives of the producers met officials from Gae~tarra ~rid Industry and Commerce. As a. . result Of the Agreement arrived af · the Government promulgated the Homespun Emergency Order (1943) according to which all homespun had to be sold to Gaeltarra Eireann f.or re-sale to the trade. In addition Gaeltarra un-dert-Ook to put into effect elSJborate schemes tor ·the improvement and extension of the industry. It was felt by many in South-West Donegal that homespun was- at last established on a firm and enduring bw:iis. But "the besit laid schemes of mice arid men gang aft agley." The aftermath ··of war has again made itself felt. Homespun has fallen on lean times, and its future lies in the lapof the gods. • • • • NO':MS ON HAND MAlNUFACTURiING EQUIPMENT . ANCIENT AND MODERN DISTAFF AND SfP!liNDW 'Thf m-0.st prlmi•tive 1aippa.ra.tus is the distaff and spindle-, representations of which are to be seen on the ·earliest Egyptian monuments. The distaff was a stick or staff upon which a 1bundle of prepared wool was loosely !bound for feeding to the spindle, and which was attached to· the waist-1belt at the lefthand slde. The spindle was a smaller piec·e of wood tapering at one ·end, at the extremi·ty of which was a notch through which the yarn passed to prevent that on the spindle from un-winding While a fresh piece was being spun. ~he other end was provided with a disc . of. slate or stone to give it weight and. assist it .in rotating. By a dexterous twirl of the hand the Sl>indle .iWas made to .51Ptn round :while the weight of .the spindlewhorl made it re•cede downwards. During 1tbis time ·the spinster fed to_ it a thin sliver of· wool which ~:?.$. being converted into yam while th~. twisting lasted.· \When a new length .had be·en spun the thread was. removed from thie notch, wound on the spindle and the process repeated. .171 THE SPINNING WliE'EL - An improvement on the foregoing method was to ·sell; the spindle in a frame and make it revolve by a band passing over a wheel driven · either by· occasional impe·tus from the hand or by a treadle-this·constitute the spinning-wheel;, which is said to have been invented in Nuremlberg as recently ·as · 1530.* The most improved form ot spinning-wheel is that· known as the small or "Saxon" wheel which was formerly used exclusively for the ~pinning of :f11ax, but later became very popular for woolspinning. With a few exceptions it is the only wheel used f'or wool~ spJnning in South Doneg1al to-day. It h:as ia bloiblbin o:r ,..:pirn" with: separate motion plac·ed on the spindle, Which hirus lbEmt arms eiatled a "heck'' tor winding the yarn on the .boblbln. The spindle and bobbin reV'olve •at different rates, the revolutions · of the spindle gi'Ving the twist, and the difference of' the rate causing the winding on. Later a wheel. was invented that could spin two'threads, -and :then iii 1764 ~ame the spinning-jenny invented by James ·IIargreaves of Blackburn; and time marched on from the s'Pinntrig-wheel. THE HAND LOOM · .The -loom may lbe reckoned as amongst the earliest of man's inventions. Yet, notwithstanding its v:ast iwge, iV\ery liltt1e impirovement was effecited in it in tiMs. .country, down to the advent of the late Con:;:" gested DLsltl'licts Board m 1893. The shuttle was thrown from one .hand to the other through the warpshed. There was no motion or other dev1ce :for 1draiwtng 1a1Way th0 woven cloth. It had ·to be rolled by hand on to the cloth-lbeam Whlle a simUai' len1g:th o;f !Wal'IP was uinrolled from the warp beam. When the Congested Dis·triets Board undertook the improvement of homespun it called to its' as·sistance the late Mr. W. J. D. Walker, Glenibanna ·Mills, County Down. Within a short time Mr. -Walker produced an improved hand-loom for wool-weaving and he, without taking ou~ any patent rights, placed the 1nventlon at the disposal of the BJ:>ard for wea¥ers in congested districts. 10. These looms were supplied w· local weavers on the
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