Faggots

[doofaloofa]

Any one got anything advice on tieing faggots?

A good knot or cheap burnable tie

[gregorach]

Well, the obvious cheap, burnable tie is a withy, which you can also gather from the woods at the same time - simply take a willow shoot and twist it to make it flexible. The withy can be split if need be. They don't take modern cordage knots very well, so you'd probably be best off using a clove hitch. Other options include dogwood, clematis, and ivy... You can also strip the fibres from nettle stems easily - just strip off the leaves, bash the stem flat, split it lengthwise, and peel the outer fibres off the woody core. They're a bit happier about taking knots too. There's absolutely no need to buy anything for the job.

[Odsox]

Back in the day the faggots were made from apple tree prunings and the tie was a piece of honeysuckle stem. I remember making them as a boy picking up the prunings from under the standard apple trees on cold winter days.
Gregorach is right you can't tie knots, the binding honeysuckle or "woodbine" was twisted together where they met and the ends folded back and tucked under themselves.
Easier to do than describe.

[Cassiepod]

Wrong kind of faggots.... I was thinking the edible ones....

[Ellendra]

Wrong kind of faggots.... I was thinking the edible ones....

Still nicer than what I thought when I read the title. I was about to start lecturing!

(For anyone who didn't know, in the US "faggot" is a derogatory term for gay male.)

[doofaloofa]

Thanks guys

I'll do some field research a report back on my success

@Ellendra...

Do you know the origens of the usage?

[Mrs Moustoir]

Interesting little article on coppicing and faggot making in the Central Brittany Journal.

http://www.thecbj.com/coppicing-and-faggot-making/

I always think about the waste when people born the twiggy branches as a bonfire after felling a large tree.

[Odsox]

I always think about the waste when people born the twiggy branches as a bonfire after felling a large tree.

Sign of the times I'm afraid.
Time was when faggots had a multitude of uses, well several anyway.
Haystacks and strawstacks were always built on a neat layer of faggots to keep them off the wet ground, and talking of wet ground, faggots were used in field draining placed on top of the underground drain pipes to stop the soil from washing into (and blocking) the pipes.
In Kent where apple growing (prunings) and hop growing went together, faggots were essential in lighting the charcoal fires in oast houses, and even earlier they were used for the same purpose in iron smelting, but that was a wee bit before my time.

[Green Aura]

I love it when have have threads like this (and Odsox, of course). I can't offer any information but I'm learning lots.

And Ellendra, I'm afraid it isn't only a US term.

[oldjerry]

I always think about the waste when people born the twiggy branches as a bonfire after felling a large tree.

and talking of wet ground, faggots were used in field draining placed on top of the underground drain pipes to stop the soil from washing into (and blocking) the pipes.


Going back a bit further,pre - enclosures(or Armageddon as I see it!) I'm pretty sure they were used INSTEAD of the pipes.

[Skippy]

I've made faggots and like the replies above have used several type of binding material.In addition to what has been mentioned I've used grasses, and even raspberry offcuts (brambles work too but are a pain to use) for smaller faggots than the one shown in your picture.
As far as the humour of their name goes I recall last year a BBC4 programme with Lucy something which looked at different rooms in the house and the kitchen was one room. She was told that in the Tudor period there were small faggots only a couple of inches thick and these "mini faggots" were termed pimps. True or not it did make us all smile when firing our oven.


Pete

[diggernotdreamer]

don't forget benders, pimps faggots and benders, in a woodland near you

[doofaloofa]

With faggots on my mind i had a look round the area I'm cutting, and ivy seems to be the material available

Any one got a good link to a faggot making tutorial or some such?

On a seperate note, despit checking the 'Notify me when a reply is posted' box, I'm not getting notified by e mail. Which is tiresome

[Skippy]

don't forget benders, pimps faggots and benders, in a woodland near you

Go on then what is it you call benders? Not a term I've come across.

edit , my daughter has just come in the room as I was posting and has told me that bender is the robot from futurama so I should have known that

Pete

[diggernotdreamer]

A bender is a shelter made by bending soft wood into a dome shape and then stretching a canvas or similar over the top.