riddlin fences

• Format: Manuscript
• Language: English
• Subjects: English language > Dialects > Newfoundland and Labrador; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/elrcdne/id/69677

riddle n Materials cleared from the land were used to build fences. Fence forms varied even within study areas. "_Stake and longer_" fences domi- nated the Avalon at the end of the last century. A post or stake was driven into the ground every 8 feet or so and 2 or 3 horizontally placed posts or "_longers_," each around 16 feet in length, were tied to the posts with withes or _gads�_ (Fig. 18A). Alternatively the longers were tied to the upright posts by homemade tree-nails or "_trunnels_," or secured with strips of bark. Along the Cape Shore, and to a lesser extent near St. John's, sticks and branches were woven between either the vertical posts or horizontal rails and were referred to as _"wave_," "_bush_," or "_riddlin_" fences. Another variant was the picket fence, formed of closely-spaced vertical sticks which were nailed or tied to the horizontally laid "longers."[S]3[S] This type usually enclosed the kitchen garden. [reverse] p. 107 - Wattled or "wave" fences existed in Ireland in the seventeenth century and the concept of interlacing pliable rods was popular in Irish vernacular architecture early in the nineteenth century. The "wave" or "riddlin" fences of the Avalon may be an adaptation of this distinctive technique or may have developed independently in the study areas. Used I and Sup Not used Not used Reverse side of R_13742