 |
| Irish Farriers at the Barracks, Waterford, 1909 |
More than one Sherlock Holmes story involved the ingenious application (or removal) of horseshoes, so it's safe to say that if Sherlock Holmes was a real person and if he was around today, he'd be right at home solving mysteries like who the people are in photos, how they relate to each other and what's going on.
It's perfect for St Patrick's Day!
Here's what we know: The photo belongs to the National Library of Ireland and is believed to be from 1909. The place is the British Army barracks at Waterford, Ireland, where a regiment of the Royal Field Artillery was stationed. The man at the anvil may or may not be someone called Sergeant Murray. And that's it.
In 1909, all of Ireland was still part of Great Britain, as it would be until 1921. But Ireland was headed down the road of revolution and "troubles", including the Easter Rising of 1916.
Were these fellows Irish or English? They might have been military farriers, or they might have been Irish civil employees.
One of the most immediately striking things about this photo is the variety of aprons worn by these men. The farrier at the anvil would be the master, as designated by the fringe on his apron, not to mention his commanding presence. History tells us that farriers who worked at the anvil (as opposed to farriers who worked under the horses) fringed their aprons in order to be able to quickly wipe off the anvil face. As time went on, the fringed apron became a critical identification: You could walk into a forge where six men like this were working, and you could immediately spot the person in charge.
But wait. As with most things in the farrier world, there's an alternate explanation. Another history reference claims that the fringed apron designates the nailmaker. The fringe even looks a bit like a row of nails hanging from the apron.
I always wondered if there might be a third theory: the fringe signified a near-death experience in the forge. Almost get kicked in the head? Cheated death again? Cut a notch on the hem of your apron. By the time someone advanced to master farrier, the apron hem might look like fringe. But that's just my theory, here's Wendy Fraser's reference:
I always wondered if there might be a third theory: the fringe signified a near-death experience in the forge. Almost get kicked in the head? Cheated death again? Cut a notch on the hem of your apron. By the time someone advanced to master farrier, the apron hem might look like fringe. But that's just my theory, here's Wendy Fraser's reference:
"If you ask a smith today why the edge of his leather apron is fringed he will probably tell you that at one time he was regarded second only to the King in importance. Seated on the right hand of King Alfred at a feast he caused the tailor to feel jealous. The tailor proclaimed that his craft was older than that of the smith, but the smith reminded the tailor that he had first forged the tailor’s scissors to enable him to cut his cloth. As the feast continued the tailor crawled under the table and slyly snipped the edges of the smith’s apron."
But in this case, the fringed hem is on the apron of the man who appears to be in charge. Three of the men are looking at him, with deference, while he and the other two men look directly at the camera.
The head farrier actually has two sets of fringe. The bottom hem of his apron is fringed, and the top is as well, but only on the left side and middle.
They are all wearing clean shirts and seem to be tidied up for the photo. Don't you wonder how long they had to hold those two hind feet up for this photo to be taken? No doubt they carefully chose the horses to be used in the photo.
Can you see that there are two strikers at work here; you can barely see the one on the left, but he is poised to strike. He probably had to freeze in that position, with the hammer raised.
One dead giveaway that the photo is posed is that Sgt. Murray is tilting what appears to be a finished shoe toward the camera; it wouldn't require two strikers at this stage. Perhaps he's also showing off his hammer, which looks quite new. A set of shoes, presumably waiting to be nailed on, lie on the stones to the left of the anvil.
The Waterford barracks anvil is not mounted on a stump or any sort of stand. Perhaps the wooden block was devised to act like a sled for dragging it in and out of the forge--or maybe they dragged the anvil out just for this photo. It has rope handles at either end.
Notice that the barracks stableyard is paved with irregular stones. It's not level in any sense of the word. Other photos of the barracks show very precise paving with stone blocks. But this is what the original cobblestone streets were like. They particularly looked for round stones and an ideal cobblestone street looked sort of like a sheet of bubble wrap, made of stone.
It is hard to imagine that farriers would prefer to shoe on such a surface, since the horses would be less sure on their feet. Yet there are tie rings in the wall behind them. Also, the stones would be difficult to clean and the horse on the left has already deposited manure on the stones. There were no high pressure hoses in those days to wash off the stones.
 |
| Detail: The waist skirt of Sgt Murray's apron is fringed as well as the leg hem. |
They are all wearing clean shirts and seem to be tidied up for the photo. Don't you wonder how long they had to hold those two hind feet up for this photo to be taken? No doubt they carefully chose the horses to be used in the photo.
One dead giveaway that the photo is posed is that Sgt. Murray is tilting what appears to be a finished shoe toward the camera; it wouldn't require two strikers at this stage. Perhaps he's also showing off his hammer, which looks quite new. A set of shoes, presumably waiting to be nailed on, lie on the stones to the left of the anvil.
These German farriers photographed a few years later, during World War I, didn't wear aprons at all. However, at this time, the German military was experimenting with glue-on shoes and shoes made of compressed paper. Would they really provide stable jackets for grooms while neglecting the farriers' safety by not providing aprons? Chances are that those big loose pants were reinforced to prevent nail-through. Either that, or the farriers were required to be so precise that a clinch-ready hoof wall never grazed their legs. (Flickr photo via CraftyDogma)
The Waterford barracks anvil is not mounted on a stump or any sort of stand. Perhaps the wooden block was devised to act like a sled for dragging it in and out of the forge--or maybe they dragged the anvil out just for this photo. It has rope handles at either end.
Notice that the barracks stableyard is paved with irregular stones. It's not level in any sense of the word. Other photos of the barracks show very precise paving with stone blocks. But this is what the original cobblestone streets were like. They particularly looked for round stones and an ideal cobblestone street looked sort of like a sheet of bubble wrap, made of stone.
It is hard to imagine that farriers would prefer to shoe on such a surface, since the horses would be less sure on their feet. Yet there are tie rings in the wall behind them. Also, the stones would be difficult to clean and the horse on the left has already deposited manure on the stones. There were no high pressure hoses in those days to wash off the stones.
 |
| A group of sergeants in the British Royal Field Artillery stationed at Waterford, Ireland around the time of the farrier photo. Notice that they all have moustaches! The fellow standing third from left, decorated with two medals, has an inverted horseshoe on his sleeve, denoting that he is farrier sergeant. Is he the head farrier in the forge photo? (National LIbrary of Ireland photo) |
These types of streets, alleys and courtyards were made for the safe slow steps of horses pulling loads, horses who were shod with toe and heel calks that would ideally slip into spaces around the stone to give traction. The streets were constructed with filler between the paving stones that would accommodate a calk.
 |
| Detail: Farrier sergeant emblem on sleeve |
The flip side to this is the theory that round-top stones would possibly have offered some frog contact for the foot that was jacked high up above the ground by high heel calks. Bruised frogs and soles must have been problems with horses new to the city streets.
What did I miss? What do you see in this photo?
 |
| Bonus photo: The regimental mascot at Waterford was--no surprise--an Irish wolfhound. Apparently they were a type of dog (sighthounds), not an actual breed until a British army officer began selectively breeding them. According to the files, this photo was actually retouched back in the day to improve the hound's conformation. (National Library of Ireland) |
Photo source: National Library of Ireland
Additional information: Brief History of the Farrier by Wendy Fraser
Additional information: Brief History of the Farrier by Wendy Fraser
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal
Read this blog's headlines in your Facebook news feed when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page
