2 20 HISTORY OF COHASSET. 



sheep cared for its fleece, then the flocks were gathered 

 into the barnyards to be sheared. 



One by one they would be caught and thrown down on 

 one side upon the barn floor ; and while some person held 

 down the sheep's head another would "snip snip" with a 

 pair of huge spring shears until half the fleece would roll 

 off the upper side of the sheep, and then by deftly turn- 

 ing over the patient animal the rest of its superfluous wool 

 would be shaved off in one large, soft, warm roll. Then 

 the sheep was permitted to scramble up on its feet and to 

 run bleating into the flock, feeling too naked and queer to 

 be very proud. 



The unpleasant task of washing* the wool prepared 

 it for the carding process. Carding in later years was 

 done at a mill, but earlier, at home with card combs made 

 by fastening a multitude of wire stubs to the side of a 

 little slab of wood. Carding the wool separated the fibers 

 and rolled them into soft, fluffy rolls two thirds of an inch 

 thick and about twelve inches long. These little rolls 

 were ready for the spinning wheel, itself homemade from 

 spoke to spindle-head. 



Many were the days when ambitious housekeepers in 

 Cohasset worked at their wheels to make a large record of 

 yarn. One end of a roll would be twisted upon the little 

 steel spindle and held by the thumb and forefinger of the 

 left hand, while the right hand set the big wheel revolving. 

 The little spindle turned rapidly, but instead of winding 

 the soft roll upon itself, the wool was twisted into a thread 

 by slipping off the end of the spindle at each quick turn 

 until twisted hard enough, when it was allowed to wind up 

 on the inside part of the spindle. 



Another card roll was spliced on by a dexterous twist, 

 and again the wheel went "whiz" and "whir" until the 

 spindle was wound full with smooth, stout yarn. 



* Sheep were washed before shearing. Men living to-day remember the scenes 

 of sheep washing in the shallow water at the margin of Lily Pond. 



