VIII.

NOTES ON AN OLD COAL-WORKING AND A WOODEN SHOVEL FROM ORMISTON, Y KENNETB . . M H WHITE, M.lNST.M.E.

Read March 1941.29, During the working of the Four Feet Seam from Limeylands Colliery, Ormiston, by the Ormiston Coal Company Ltd., a number of "Rooms" (i.e. roadway e Stoop-and-Rooth f o s m metho f workingo d ) communicated with old uncharted coal-workings of the same seam during March 1938. s impossibli t I o statt e e preciseth e dat f thes o eworkingsd ol e , sinco en plans or other dated records regarding them exist. It is possible only to approximat e tim historicay th b eo t e l reference fro d e evidencan smth e e workingoth f s themselves; both sources sugges e coal-workingth t o t s be about two hundred years old. The Letters of John (p. 97) prove that miners live worked dan Ormiston di same th en i 1727n ni d an , Letters (p. 38) it is mentioned that about 1730 the manager of the coal COAL-WORKIND ANOL G FROM ORMISTON, EAST LOTHIAN3 12 .

mine at Ormiston "was to inform Cockburn how many fathoms of rock t through givo cu t n estimate s a e werb e tim wa th o ;t e ef o enecessar y afterwards worke wa th d o an ,d repor o t s o t t progress." The seams then worked were naturally those most easily reached, and sinc Tranene eth t Splint, DiamonFou1 . r No Feet d d an Seam, s outcrop or come very near to the surface in the vicinity of Ormiston, these seams have been worked during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and their "wastes" have been encountered frequently by more recent workings. d Fou ol e positio re Th Feeth f no t •workings, wher e woodeth e n coal shovee fixe b y s referencfound b dy e wa 6-incl th ma , o t he Geological Survey Sheet, Edinburghshire IVa, S.W. r Haddingtonshiro , , S.WIX e . The workings lie about midway between the farm buildings of North e Monktonhallth Main d an s , Ormiston d Macmerran , y Brance th f o h Londo d North-Easteran n n Railwaye valle occupieth w no n yI .y b d e railwath d alonan y g whic e Bellyforth h d Burn flows e Fouth , r Feet Seam is only some 15 feet below the surface. No superficial evidence now exists to mark the- entrance to this old working, but entry was ba yshor t stair-pi a poin t a tt neae presenth r t railway e bottoTh . m s encounterewa t opi f thid dol s recentl e coursth f workinn yi o e e th g seam. The underground evidence shows tha workinge th t s have been entirely fille r floodeo d d with water, until recent mineral operations caused this wate "seepo t r lowea o "t r probabls leveli t I . e therefore tha Bellye th t - ford Burn flooded into the workings (this burn even at the present time often overflows its banks during excessive rain) causing the involuntary abandonment of the mine. Involuntary it must have been, as the old '' faces'' are standing on good coal, which to-day is being worked. Although the old workings are haphazard and irregular in their layout, it is evident that some cars beeeha n e supporgive th e roosidesd e th o n an t fTh f o .t galleries are so near the surface that no great roof pressure could be experienced. But precautions had to be taken against any fall of roof, as this would caus holea surfacee "sitr eo th n "o , especiall "covere th s ya " fee w f sofonls i o tfe tyfee a 2 rock f surfac1 o taboud o t s an 0 e1 t clad yan gravel. For this reason, the system was designed to uphold the surface, f timbes supporto it withoue r keeo us fo re rooT e p.th fth t securee th , roadways have been driven about 3-g- feet wide, and cut in the shape of an elliptical arch abou fee3 t inche 3 t s interestin s i high t I . noto gt e that in present-day coal-mining, where considerable roof or side pressures have to be overcome, the circular and elliptical arched roadway is being extensively used, as being the strongest. The section of the seam is show fign n"holeinge i . Th 1. bees "ha n e centrseame donth th n f ei eo , the top coal dropped, and then the bottom coal lifted, exactly as is being don thin ei s minere presene seath th y mt b a s t stooptimee Th .s lefn i t 124 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1940^41.

o support e rooe irregularth ar tf d manan , y approximate onl fee3 y t square. The e roadwayheighth f o s tprevente ha s e employmenth d f o t "bearers," i.e. women who carried out the coal on their backs in baskets ROOF ~ FAKEV RRECI-AY

MINERS Zl" TOP COAL. * Houeo" HERE.

BOTT COAL .

PAVEMENT — SANDS-TOME.. Fig. 1. Section of Four Feet Seam. or creels. No rails have been used in the roadways, and the coal has been pulled, probably by women, along the pavement in "slypes" or sleds, by a light harness fastened to the shoulders of the "drawers" (%. 2) . thesn I e abandoned workings e woodeth , n coal shovel already referred to had been left at the face of "what was the Main Road. On breaking

Fig . Drawer2 . . throug thin o hs face shove th es discovered s coatewa l wa t dI .wit ha thick wet oxidized scum or yellow ochre, •which, together with long im- mersio watern ni , account e excellenth r sfo t preservatio woode th f no . The shovel (fig. 3) has been carved from one solid piece of beech wood, and is 35 inches long overall. The handle is carved like the handle of an ordinary garden spade, but the curved shoulders show that the implement has been designed for lifting only, and not for digging. The shaft is rounded and tapers from'If- inch at handle to 1-J inch at shovel end. The shovelling part is 9 inches long and has been about 8 inches wide, but about e missings on i t shovee d a s \\an side Th splis f . wa e ha on lincof t n ho time shod with showirons i s naia ,y njusb s i l t holesti possibld an , e that when the part split off, the iron shod or shoe was removed for fitting to another shovel. AN OLD COAL-WORKING FROM ORMISTON, EAST LOTHIAN. 125

It is also possible that other "graith" or coal implements have been workingsd ol e t th whe lefbu e roadn ,i tnth s were openee actioth o ndt of the fresh air, numerous falls of roof occurred within a few days, preventing further exploration. A compariso shovee th f no l with othe wooded rol n shovel interestings si . In the Scottish National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh there are a numbe f woodeo r n shovels t onle ye , on y thafroe b s sai i tma coa o dt l mine (fig. 4) . •rffl On comparing it with a pointed peat spade ~~H having square shoulders for pressing down inte peaoth t inclines witi e foote hth on , d to doubt if this shovel was a type which could be used in practical mining—even the primitive mining of the beginning of the eighteenth century. To shovel coal with this so-called coal shovel would seem to be a misuss functioit f o es signifiea ns it y b d d woodeol shape e nTh .shove l discovered t Ormistoa roundes nha d shoulder trud san e shovel shape, which definitely supports it s coaa claie lb shovelmo t . .oflS In order to define the age of the old wooden shovel interestins i t i , noto gt e that e beginninth e nineteentht a th f go century no "small coal" was allowed to be filled by Pig . Sketc 3 woode.d ol f ho n shovel. the miners. The market then demanded coal no smaller than 2 inches to 3 inches, and to secure this with expedition and certainty the miners were required to use "brander" or "brandered" shovels, these being iron shovels with wooden handles, the shovel part being composed of prongs or bars set 2 inches to 3 inches apart (fig. 5). The smaller coal dropped through thes ee coabeins barth wa ls gsa filled. smalo n t l coalBu , suc wouls ha d have accumulate thesf di beed eha n used, was found in the old workings. Similar "brander" shovels may be seen t coaa l depote presenth t a susee t ar fillintimen di d an g, coal bags from wagons so as to leave out the "smalls." Confirmation for the foregoing inferences is provided by the following extract from a contract, dated llth March 1811, between Messrs Landers & J. Durie, the lessees of the coal on the lands of Elphinstone in Parish, which bounds Ormiston Parish, and a number of colliers. This contract stipulates that bottopi t e "thmfillee th b t e witda o t coal he sar brandered shovel inche2 s s wide " (McNeil's Tranent, . 174d showp an ) s that this type of shovel was in common use near Ormiston at that time. This fact metaphorically throws our old wooden shovel back into the 126 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1940-41,

eighteent s knowi h t centuryi n w a periotha r No .fo t d between about e beginninth 174e nineteentd th 5an f o g h century, minin n Ormistogi n ceased, and that the old class of slave miners had removed from the district t seemI . s reasonabl supposo et e they remove Traneno dt t district where mining was the chief occupation of the inhabitants, while in

Peat Coal spade. shove ?)l( . Brandered shovel. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Ormiston with its numerous market gardens the inhabitants mostly followed agricultural pursuitsy casean , n I thi. s temporary cessatiof o n minin n Ormistogi t difficulno s ni understando t t e stratth s aa , there ear undulating and considerably faulted. Thus, coal worked at the outcrops would soon meet with faults which would require proper toold an s machiner o crossyt d whean , n crossed would need, among other things, pumping-plant to deal with water. It was not then considered worth while to expend capital on such work, and not until the nineteenth century did coal-mining in the district again become a trade. It would seem, then, CUP-MARKED STONES OF NORTH UIST AND BENBECULA. 127 that the wooden shovel belongs to the period to which Cockburn's Letters s forcei e o concluderelatet don d an , tha t belongi t abouo st t 1730, which makes it therefore over two hundred years old. The Director e Ormistoth f o s n Coa. Ltd.Co l , realisin e historicagth l value of their discovery, decided to present the shovel to the Scottish National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh, in the knowledge that ib woul preservee db bese th t n di possibl e way. An even higher antiquity migh deducee tb d fro mdiscovera y made since the foregoing notes were written. A shaft sunk from the surface to the Four Feet Seam was encountered about 50 yards from the shaft used in workingsd somewhas i ol t i e th d an , t puzzlin present-dao gt y mining folks to find that no coal has been worked from this shaft. Now Prof. Gxanville Poole, in his researches into the development of underground haulage, states that "durin e seventeenthgth century yard0 6 s considere wa s e dth maximum distance to extend the workings from any shaft, due to the expense and laborious method of drawing the coal underground. It was, therefore, the custom to have another shaft sunk in advance." Thus these old workings might very well belone seventeentth o gt h century t asbu , no records hav t beeeye n foun provo t d e that there were coal workingn si Ormiston at that time, the date must be assumed the eighteenth.