Foreword

This year’s edition of the Down Survey is dedicated to one subject – farming in County Down. It marks another step forward in increasing access to our collection but is also the result of an enjoyable and fruitful partnership between two former members of staff of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, a former member of staff of the Ulster Museum and a former and present members of staff of Down County Museum. None of this would have been possible without the financial assistance of three organisations – The Northern Ireland Museums Council, the Museums Association and last but by no means least, the Friends of our own museum. The Northern Ireland Museums Council provided a grant towards fees and expenses for research provided by Jonathan Bell and Mervyn Watson and also for the publication of this book. The Museums Association, through a Monument Trust Fellowship, gave Brian Turner the opportunity to pass on information about objects and photographs relating to farming in our collection. The Friends provided the extra funds required to complete the whole project and for this, as always, we are very grateful. This is only the first part of Brian’s contribution through his Fellowship – the second half will be spent on completing documentation of our unique collection of photographs taken by Tommy Gribben of Dinanew, Loughinisland and which was researched by Brian in his first few years at Down County Museum. His work on this will culminate in publication as the 2010 Down Survey. Our farming related objects were collected largely during the 1980s, in the early stages of the museum development. It was felt necessary to make the collection at that time because many items were just about to disappear with the last of the ‘horsepower’ generation. Some of these objects gain their significance from particular local associations, such as a wooden plough from the Mournes, while others are rare survivals in a regional and even national context, for example County Down truckle cars. The invention of a County Down engineer, the Ferguson tractor and linkage system, revolutionised world farming so it is particularly fitting

Ballydugan mill, derelict before its restoration by Noel Killen. The flour mill was built in 1792 by a company owned by John Aughinleck of Strangford. DJ41/877/01/01

that we have one of his tractors in our collection. As a whole, the collection is significant as a record of the equipment used on a County Down farm from the late nineteenth to mid twentieth century. More importantly, when accompanied by images from our extensive photographic archive, the collection documents the lives of farmers in our county.

Very few other local museums, and none in County Down, have collected this type of material. Elsewhere, other collections of this type are often left as a number of random objects which are not assessed and interpreted in relation to their particular area and circumstances. As our headquarters is based in an eighteenth century gaol there is no appropriate display space for such material within the current site, as it has been developed. The model farm in the country park at Delamont was identified some years ago as a more suitable option but these plans were not implemented. However, we do have the advantage, and potential, of a garden at the rear of the site where there is space to design and build a display gallery specifically for the most important objects in this collection. We hope that this book will demonstrate the significance of our collection and support the case for developing such a purpose built gallery for its permanent display. In the meantime, a temporary exhibition, open

Farmers meeting on a country lane, probably near Ardglass. This is typical of D J McNeill’s opportunistic photography – he didn’t even stop to get out of the car but simply photographed his subjects through the windscreen! DJ05/03/78/02 A student from the Mr Keyes’ Agricultural class at the Technical College, on a farm visit, 1981. DJ48/02/46/06

from December 2009 to April 2010 and organized in partnership with Monaghan County Museum, will provide a tantalizing glimpse of some of this collection.

The main purpose of the book, and proposed display space, is to increase access to our collection, interpret it and set it in its context. This is in line with our overall policy, Forward Plan and Collections Management Plan. As farming was, and still is, one of the main industries of County Down it is essential that this is properly recognised in our collection, exhibitions and publications. There is still of course, great potential for more work in this area – researching the history of some of the farms mentioned in this book could be a substantial but rewarding exercise for the future.

M Lesley Simpson August 2009

Students from the College on work experience in 1982, dipping sheep. DJ48/02/89/07. All photographed by D J McNeill.

Fig 1 Ploughing near Hillsborough in 1783. The ‘common’ wooden plough is pulled by four native ponies known as ‘garrrons’. The collars and other parts of harness shown are made of twisted straw known as súgán. (W Hincks, Courtesy of the Linenhall Library, Belfast).