We always tried to have the turf cut by the 22nd May and then there was generally a few days with little to do because, when a new man or woman was engaged, there would be a few days holiday before they started for the season.

Two good hot weeks could leave the turf in clamps and while this was happening we could mould the potatoes. We always had the spuds in the ground at 22nd April, and the corn sown. There was an old phrase, ‘cuckoo corn’, relating to the fact that the cuckoo was always heard from 20th to 22nd April. Any sowing after that was ‘cuckoo corn’. Another old saying was, ‘If the cuckoo sings on a bare thorn, sell your cow and buy corn.’

George also describes: