Survey of English Dialects recording in Stisted, Essex

[Side 1] William talks about starting work aged 12, lists first jobs incl. trimming thatching straw and as 'stock-boy' [= farm worker helping to look after livestock], discusses first wages and long working days looking after horses at Brookes Farm, talks about work on steam-plough and describes incident when engine exploded, comments worked on current farm since 1916, reflects on transition from horse power and manual labour to introduction of threshing-machine and tractors, recalls trimming horses with ribbons and brasses. [Side 2] William demonstrates commands given to horses when ploughing, describes use of 'shim' [= horse-hoe/shallow plough for hoeing up thistles and weeds], reflects on changes in farming incl. decline in practice of fallow land, recalls shepherd often grazing sheep in field to tread wheat in, lists crops grown locally, recalls transporting wheat by horse and cart to mill at Halstead, to Chelmsford and Colchester, and to barges at Heybridge Basin (Maldon), compares physical demands of manual work in past with farm work now.