In
his dark forge with its soot-stained walls, the blacksmith in his thick
leather apron, sleeves rolled up, pulls on the chain of his bellows, which
whine as they scatter sparks and grey smoke. The piece of iron he holds
in his left hand, at the end of long tongs, turns red. He takes it out
of the coals and puts it on the anvil.
With
his right hand he takes hold of a heavy hammer with which he strikes the
iron. When it has reached the required shape it is plunged into a nearby
bucket of water.
The
blacksmith’s art was to be seen in many forms: in an axe blade, plough,
hoe; in other words, the majority of agricultural implements.
He was also
the locksmith and often the cartwright; he would make all the parts of
barrows and carts. He would fit the wheels with a thick metal tyre. A clever
instrument, (a "roulette"), enabled him to measure the length of the metal
tyre. He was also the village farrier; as well as shoeing horses, he would
shoe donkeys, the poor man’s horse and also oxen and cattle, as they were
also used for pulling ploughsor carts.
