World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Women
After this breaking in, she went to a Wiltshire dairy-farmer who
possessed forty to fifty cows in milk. He was prejudiced against women
workers, and Miss Matheson’s first day was not a happy one. Writing of
it afterwards, she said: “I arrived on a Saturday. On Sunday morning I
assisted with the milking, and found I was expected to milk at least
eight or ten animals. My four weeks’ training had simply taught me
_how_--there had been little time for practising new accomplishments.
Consequently my employer told me he would not require me after the
end of the week. This announcement was a shock, and exceedingly
discouraging. However, I toiled through that week, and at the end of it
was asked to stay. Soon I was milking from eight to fifteen cows twice
a day; had full charge of the churns and pails, took the milk to the
station to meet the London train, looked after the poultry and helped
on the land--harvesting, threshing, spreading manure, etc.”
Of course, such work meant rising at five, and by the time Miss
Matheson returned from her evening drive to the station it was nearly
seven, but the station drive was, she said, a pleasurable duty, “for
the sight of the London train reminded me that I still lived in the
world.”
Miss Matheson spent seven months on the Wiltshire farm, and the farmer
on her departure paid her the compliment of engaging three girls to
assist him. She then went to the Prince of Wales’s farm on the Duchy of
Cornwall estate, where she is still working.
This farm specialises in stock-breeding, and the herd is a large and
valuable one. With cows to milk, calves to rear, bulls to groom and
exercise, food to prepare, bedding to change, the work is perpetual,
for there are only three workers to tend the animals, and people
in charge of stock must work seven days a week. During the winter
the cattle claim all the time and attention, but in the summer
Miss Matheson manages to help on the land in addition. When autumn
came, Miss Matheson’s employers at the Duchy farm began to wonder
if she would be able to stand the winter work, but she hastened
unhesitatingly to reassure them. The work certainly needs pluck and
endurance, both physical and mental. The handling of bulls, for
instance, demands no small amount of nerve. “I have had one or two
adventures with the bulls,” wrote Miss Matheson to a friend, “and
though I must confess I tremble at times, I manage to hold my own. Of
course, I could get help if I asked for it, but I do dislike asking.
It gives one such an only-a-girl sort of feeling, and then again I am
always afraid to let anyone know that sometimes I am afraid.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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