Old-time drink switchel recalls early days spent cutting hay on the farm

Union Leader ^ | August 3 2002 | STACEY COLE

[2Trievers]

THE OLD-TIME DRINK, Switchel, frequently called by different names, was used as a thirst-quencher on the farm in days gone by. I have always known this special summer-time drink by the name of switchel. However, over the years it has acquired many names, possibly as many as the ingredients it was constituted with.

A Dover reader recently phoned to inquire what the ingredients of switchel were. Having never made up a batch myself, I turned to Peter Farrow’s The Yankee Trivia Book, with the added sub-title: Rescued from Oblivion, published in 1985, by Lance Tapley of Augusta, Maine.

Farrow wrote: “Switzel, sometimes called swizzle, occasionally miscalled sprill, most commonly harvest drink or harvester, it was a concoction of vinegar, molasses or brown sugar, pure, cold spring water, and whatever else you might care to add in the way of spice — ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg, or a handful of crushed mint. Made up by the gallons for the harvest hands, particularly during haying. Right bracey!”

As a lad of five or six, I may have tasted this drink, but I can’t be sure. Somewhere about that age while visiting Grandfather Cole’s farm, he allowed me to go into the field with the hired men during haying. When the men got thirsty they would pour a drink from a large jug into a dipper. As the dipper was passed around from hand to hand, I was offered a swig. I remember thinking how grand it was to be treated as an equal by the hired hands. I must confess, though, as far as the taste of the concoction was concerned, I have but one recollection — that being the taste of chewing tobacco left on the dipper rim by the men who drank before me. As much as I admired the men as they worked at haying, I did not enjoy the taste of chewing tobacco. When the dipper was passed around again, I denied being thirsty even though I was. I chose to remain so until I could ride back to the barn on top of a load of hay.

Back at the farm, after the wagon was backed beneath the hay fork to be unloaded, I was unloaded. One hired hand man handed me down to another that was standing on the ground. Free to run, I hustled into Grandma’s kitchen to quench my thirst. The water was cold, piped into the kitchen sink directly from a hillside spring.

Thirst taken care of, I hurried back to the barn to watch the hay being unloaded. The giant fork was positioned by a hired hand just right so that a great gob of hay was lifted straight up until it engaged with a track and was shunted into the barn. The oldest man worked the fork at the load while two other men in the barn decided where in the mow the hay should be dropped. Disengaging the fork for a return load was their easy work. Their hard work came mowing away the hay into the far edges of the barn. One had to be rugged to mow-away loose hay. Years later when I first had to mow away hay, I found out for myself how uncomfortable strained stomach muscles could really be.

Although haying in Grandfather’s time was mostly by hand, by the time I came along he no longer mowed his fields with a scythe or raked it with a bull rake. Pitching hay on the load with a pitchfork also had been mechanized. He used a two horse team to mow with and a one horse side delivery rake to gather the hay into windrows. A mechanical loader was used to pick up the hay from the windrow to be dropped onto the wagon. Hay balers, even if they had been invented at that time, were certainly not in common use. In 1929, grandfather sold the farm and never did use a tractor for field power.

Although my memory has somewhat dimmed, I still vividly recall one experience while riding on top of a load of hay. Navigating the road out of the field was a bit tricky as it was a steep and narrow way that led up to the main highway. The two horse team was pulling the heavy load up grade when one of them became startled. Suddenly it crowded back on the other horse and the load overturned. Quick as a wink, I found myself eating gravel. Slightly stunned, I remember hearing one of the men holler, “Stacey’s under there — get him out!”

I recall having a difficult time breathing and after what seemed to be an eternity I felt the tight grip of a hand on one arm. Shortly thereafter, I was pulled out. While the horses were being unhitched and the wagon uprighted, I chose not to wait for another ride and walked the a quarter-mile back to the farm.

At the house, Grandmother gave me a glass of ginger ale, my favorite drink. I found it much more acceptable than that swig of what may have been switchel.

Mr. Cole’s address is P.O. Box 55, West Swanzey, 03469.

[2Trievers]

I wish Inge_CAV were still here to talk with you guys about baling ... but that's where he is right now ... cutting and raking and won't be home 'til nightfall! LOL &;-)

[LibWhacker]

COUNTRY BOY
HAYSTACK CALHOUN

Haystack Calhoun hailed from Morgan’s Corner, Arkansas. He was soft spoken and kind to the core. Standing 6’4” and weighing 640 pounds, he had measurements of: 24inch arms, 72inch chest, 67inch waist, thighs 54 inches and calves 32 inches. A normal breakfast included a pound of bacon, a dozen eggs, a pound of sausage, a dozen and half-hot biscuits and at least a half dozen gallons of milk. The tempo increased for dinner when the table was loaded with five pounds of meat, a mighty healthy serving of spuds, beans, carrots, corn, peas, and a repeat on the breakfast portion of milk and biscuits.

How did Calhoun get his start in wrestling? He was scuffling behind the barn on the family farm at Morgan’s Corner when spotted by a couple of strangers who were hunting. They talked him into heading for the big city. Training for months on the fine art of wrestling, he first appeared on a card in Texas.

It would take him little or no time to pin one opponent. So that often he was booked against two grapplers who both weighed more than 200 pounds.

The horseshoe Calhoun wore around his neck was a good luck charm from the farm. It went around the ring post before action started however. When strength was considered, Calhoun ranked up there. He could toss two bales of hay into the barn loft with just one pitch, lift a steer, bend a horseshoe into an “S” shape, and they say he once smashed two by fours into kindling merely by jumping on the timber.

[2Trievers]

Oh that's SO wonderful LW! Thanks! &;-) *grin*

[Khepera]

---

Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

Title: HAYMAKER'S SWITCHEL
Categories: Beverages
Yield: 6 servings

1 c Brown sugar
1/2 ts Ginger
1/2 c Molasses
3/4 c Vinegar
2 qt Water

In haying season, farmers used to take their "nooning" (midday dinner) with
them, including a jug of Switchel to wash the meal down. Although Switchel
was usually straight, farmers have been known to spike it with hard cider,
or
even brandy which Down easters usd to say, "got the hay in the barn in half
the time." Mix together, add ice and chill.

-----

[Khepera]

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (yes vinegar)

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup sugar or honey

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 cup oatmeal (optional)

tap water to make 2 quarts



This is a very old recipe, imported from our Yankee neighbors to the north, and before that, from Nova Scotia. Did you ever wonder what folks used to drink in the days before soda pop, and when lemons were out of season? Why Switchel of course. Instead of lemon juice, it uses a tangy combination of flavorful apple cider vinegar, molasses and ginger to make a summertime treat which will whet your whistle better than any modern thirst quencher I've ever run across.

First get out a two quart pitcher. Measure the vinegar, molasses, sugar or honey and ginger into it. Add cold tap water to fill. Stir to dissolve everything and serve in tall ice filled cups. Traditionally, oatmeal was also added to the mixture, to give it a little body, and improve the flavor. I am ashamed to say I have never prepared it with the added oatmeal, so if anyone does, please let me know what you think. This beverage takes a little getting used to. It is strongly flavored, nothing bland about it. It tastes best when it has mellowed overnight, blending the ginger with the molasses. It does quench your thirst better than anything else on a hot summer day though, and of course, costs next to nothing to prepare. I have also tried heating it in the winter time and drinking it as a hot toddy, it is actually quite delicious this way.

[Khepera]

Ginger Switchel




1/2 Cup Brown Sugar or White Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Ground Ginger
1/4 Cup Molasses
3/4 Cup Vinegar (cider)
2 Qts. Water


Mix well and chill

[Khepera]

Indian Apple Haymakers Switchel 1 gallon of cold water
2 cups white sugar
1 cup molasses
1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 apple juiced
3 teaspoon ginger
1 lemon sliced

Switchel is an old Indian drink. It is nothing more then water seasoned to taste.
Stir all ingredients together, put it in jars with covers and refridge it.

[2Trievers]

Thanks .... I saw those. They are great. I think I know more about switchel than I ever wanted. LOL ... and still have no great DESIRE to taste it! But would do so, if someone else made a batch ... you game? &;-)

[Khepera]

I prefer long island ice tea

[LibWhacker]

Okay, now you've gone and done it. I'm bookmarking this thread right now. Those recipes for ice-cold switchel actually look like they'd be very refreshing after a long, hot day of bailing hay. Might even make up a batch and give it a try, 2Trievers -- after I come off this diet I'm on. That's a lot of calories! :-)

[2Trievers]

Cheers! &;-)

[2Trievers]

Let me know if you need a designated driver ... I'll come to drive you home! &;-)

[Consort]

I'd rather fight than switchel.

[LibWhacker]

Yes! I'd walk a mile (or even drink some switchel) for a ride in a Porsche!

[2Trievers]

LOL ... easier to do than you might think! &;-)

[tacticalogic]

The most vivid memory I have of putting up hay involves a large copperhead stuck in a haybale. I've never been able to throw a bale that far again.

[2Trievers]

I'm laughing ... but it ISN'T funny! What's a copperhead doing in a field. I thought they were pretty much woodland creatures. &;-)

[strela]

The most vivid memory I have of putting up hay involves a large copperhead stuck in a haybale.

Yeesh ... good thing about copperheads is that you can usually smell them before you see them. They smell like cucumbers.

Once, I was cleaning out a corner of my property where tall grass had grown around the water meter, and a copperhead had wrapped itself around the water cutoff valve down in the hole. If I hadn't smelled it or if the wind had been blowing in the wrong direction that day, I would have stuck my hand down in there to clean it out.

As it was, Mr. Copperhead met Mr. Ratshot after I flushed him out, which I found out later was illegal (they're protected now).

[2Trievers]

Maybe one of these would have helped! &;-)

[tacticalogic]

The hay was baled from a pasture next to a lake, and there was some woodland nearby. He was probably there for the frog buffet. I grabbed the twine and hauled the bale up onto my knee to bounce it onto the wagon. About that time his head appeared from the the other end of the bale, and about 8" from my face. His mouth was open, and I swear those fangs were already dripping! The bale went completely over the wagon and about 3 layers of bales that were already on it, and I fell over backwards.