tonewood for a town crier's trencher

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

Jack Campin

2011-12-24 00:08:42 UTC

One of the town criers of Dalkeith (south of Edinburgh) in the
18th century was Beetty Dick, who I wrote about years ago:

http://www.campin.me.uk/Dalkeith/Market/Market.htm

She got people's attention while walking around the streets by
belting a wooden trencher with a spoon.

My main source was John Kay's illustrated book about Edinburgh
characters:

http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page492.html
http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page493.html
http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page494.html

I just got an email from somebody who seems to want to impersonate
her in a re-enactment. And is wondering what kind of trencher to
use. When I tried to demonstrate this in a talk a few years ago,
I used a pine breadboard and a wooden spoon - the sound was fine,
but one or other of them broke, I forget which.

What kind of timber would you go for if you wanted to do this?
I think elm is resistant to splitting, and it's widely used by
craftsman-turners locally; also it grows around Dalkeith. But
is it the best choice acoustically? What were 18th century
trenchers and spoons usually made of?

It would be a bonus if you could eat off it without getting poisoned.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k
Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland
mobile 07800 739 557 <http://www.campin.me.uk> Twitter: JackCampin

Kevin Hall

2011-12-24 00:15:23 UTC

Permalink

Post by Jack Campin
One of the town criers of Dalkeith (south of Edinburgh) in the
http://www.campin.me.uk/Dalkeith/Market/Market.htm
She got people's attention while walking around the streets by
belting a wooden trencher with a spoon.
My main source was John Kay's illustrated book about Edinburgh
http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page492.html
http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page493.html
http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page494.html
I just got an email from somebody who seems to want to impersonate
her in a re-enactment. And is wondering what kind of trencher to
use. When I tried to demonstrate this in a talk a few years ago,
I used a pine breadboard and a wooden spoon - the sound was fine,
but one or other of them broke, I forget which.
What kind of timber would you go for if you wanted to do this?
I think elm is resistant to splitting, and it's widely used by
craftsman-turners locally; also it grows around Dalkeith. But
is it the best choice acoustically? What were 18th century
trenchers and spoons usually made of?
It would be a bonus if you could eat off it without getting poisoned.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
k
Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU,
Scotland
mobile 07800 739 557 <http://www.campin.me.uk> Twitter: JackCampin

Try maple or sycamore. If you find a nice bit with birdseye or flame figure
it will not only sound good and be durable but will look good as well.
Finish with one of the edible finishing oils like walnut oil etc. and Robert
is your avuncular relation. If it's good enough for fiddles and archtops,
it's good enough for trenchers.

KH

Tony Done

2011-12-24 22:34:31 UTC

Permalink

"Jack Campin" wrote in message news:bogus-***@four.schnuerpel.eu...

One of the town criers of Dalkeith (south of Edinburgh) in the
18th century was Beetty Dick, who I wrote about years ago:

http://www.campin.me.uk/Dalkeith/Market/Market.htm

She got people's attention while walking around the streets by
belting a wooden trencher with a spoon.

My main source was John Kay's illustrated book about Edinburgh
characters:

http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page492.html
http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page493.html
http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume9/page494.html

I just got an email from somebody who seems to want to impersonate
her in a re-enactment. And is wondering what kind of trencher to
use. When I tried to demonstrate this in a talk a few years ago,
I used a pine breadboard and a wooden spoon - the sound was fine,
but one or other of them broke, I forget which.

What kind of timber would you go for if you wanted to do this?
I think elm is resistant to splitting, and it's widely used by
craftsman-turners locally; also it grows around Dalkeith. But
is it the best choice acoustically? What were 18th century
trenchers and spoons usually made of?

It would be a bonus if you could eat off it without getting poisoned.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u
k
Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU,
Scotland
mobile 07800 739 557 <http://www.campin.me.uk> Twitter:
JackCampin

*****************

Interesting question. Sycamore, as suggested by Kevin, was used for butchers
blocks, so it would be somewhat traditional. I made a heavy kitchen table
top out of it, it looked great with the pale silky sheen. What might they
have made trenchers of in those days? Oak? there would have been plenty of
that around. Beech? Durable and resistant to splitting, wooden spoons
are/were made of it. Boxwood? Very hard and tough and used in heavy duty
situations like mallet heads.

Tony D

Kevin Hall

2011-12-25 03:54:31 UTC

Permalink

Just did a bit of snooping about on the net and found references to
trenchers made of maple, cherry and even teak. Beech would make logical
sense since it was certainly easily available in Britain at the time in
question, and is still relatively cheap at least in my neck of the woods.
Bushlot owners have a hard time finding a market for beech in this part of
Ontario, so much of it is used for firewood. That's a shame because it is
a very pleasant and useful timber.

Maple is certainly tough and would provide a good strong ring when used for
a percussion instrument. Cherry is beautiful, quite stable and
considerably easier to work than hard maple. Either are easy to finish,
being tight-pored. I like black cherry as a tonewood.

KH

JimLowther

2011-12-25 04:33:40 UTC

Permalink

Post by Kevin Hall

Just did a bit of snooping about on the net and found references to
trenchers made of maple, cherry and even teak. Beech would make logical
sense since it was certainly easily available in Britain at the time in
question, and is still relatively cheap at least in my neck of the woods.
Bushlot owners have a hard time finding a market for beech in this part of
Ontario, so much of it is used for firewood. That's a shame because it is
a very pleasant and useful timber.
Maple is certainly tough and would provide a good strong ring when used for
a percussion instrument. Cherry is beautiful, quite stable and
considerably easier to work than hard maple. Either are easy to finish,
being tight-pored. I like black cherry as a tonewood.
KH

I seem to remember Beech being a popular choice for butcher blocks and
food trays in part because there is something natural to the wood that
works as a disinfectant.

Best wishes,

Dr. Jim Lowther