Sir, – When I was about 11, I used to help on the bog by catching the sods thrown up by my father and filling the barrows for stronger adults to wheel out for spreading. Our bog was deep and my father dug down well under the water table to excavate the “stone” turf near the bottom. This turf had a much higher calorific value than the less dense “sods” higher up the geological scale, and was highly prized. It was tough and dangerous work.
My teacher had informed us that bogs grew on an average rate of a foot every 200 years.
On this particular bog hole my father was struggling near the button with an inconvenient, knotty piece of long-dead elm tree root. Cursing quietly, he bemoaned his misfortune as he laboured to dig around it, all the time watching in case the high bank slipped or the water dam broke and he was either entombed or drowned. I, unconcerned with such trivialities, counted the “floors” of turf from the top of the bank to where my father was now standing and came up with a total of 14. Now 14 multiplied by 200 comes to a total of 2,800. I announced to all within earshot that when the particular offending root was growing on the Ice Age alluvials, the pharaohs were on the throne of Egypt. My father glowered up from the bowels of the earth, “Pull in the barrow and never mind the fecking Pharaohs!” That’s the thanks I got for my history lesson. – Yours, etc,
PJ MALONEY,
Cloneyheigue,
Co Westmeath.