It's that time of year again where farmers are out harvesting the hay and straw from the fields, including my family. Haymaking has been a highlight of my summers ever since I was a young and it struck me this year that perhaps one day no one will be growing and harvesting crop from our fields, and that seemed like a perfect tale for my project.
I came home hot and tired after driving the tractor around the fields, rowing up the hay for my mum to come and bale it up after me. I then sat in the chair, picked up my banjo and the lyric "If we go much higher, we'll tangle in the wires" came to me whilst I was remembering past years of haymaking. Some years we'd bring the hay home from fields in the village and under orders from Uncle Alan, the bales would be stacked up so high that we'd have to duck, or in one case jump off the trailer, so that we didn't hit the telegraph wires over the road.
I probably wasn't a very useful worker to have in the fields when I was 12 years old, not strong enough to throw the bales, nor patient enough to drive the tractor. This year however I was honored with the task of driving! This was what sparked the idea for the verse about my uncle's old Massey Ferguson, as my dad was arguing with Uncle Alan that I shouldn't drive the Massey incase it blew up as it was so old! The original lyrics described the dangers of driving the tractor, but after trundling around the field on it, I developed a soft spot for the machine and I didn't want to offend it, nor my uncle.
Head over the Haymaking Song page to hear the whole track.
Comments