Thirling

[Compound2632]

I'm hoping someone can explain thirling to me, particularly how its application to railway wagons assigned to the use of particular collieries is related to what I understand to be the feudal origin of the term, whereby a tenant could grind his wheat at his lord's mill and no other?

 

Prompted by this discussion:

 

[Nick Holliday]

My response to the similar thread:-

There is an excellent article by E McKenna in Issue 34 of the much-missed Railway Archive, covering the wider issue of Private Traders' Wagons in Scotland.  Thirling was introduced by the NBR in 1887, partly with a 'political' intent, as the agreements usually included a clause that the trader would oppose, or at least not support, any proposal by the other company for any new scheme in the area. Eventually the NBR had 7,662 thirled wagons, and the Caledonian 4,770, for eight coal masters. In 1892 the warring parties agreed to stop the practice, and the CR, with shorter contracts, ran theirs until around 1911, whereas the NBR, with 25 year contracts, lasted longer.  Some where extended, as with Nimmo and Baird, because the contracts were sometimes open ended, based upon the lifetime of the coal lease, and it is believed the Baird arrangement only finished in 1938, with the formation of Bairds and Scottish Steel Ltd.

The article contains a bit more information about the idea, but the above is a reasonable synopsis for the moment.

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, Nick Holliday said:

My response to the similar thread:-

 

Likewise:

Very interesting. I had supposed it was a primordial practice! But I see how the term keeps its original meaning: these coal masters were seen by the railway companies at least as their feudal tenants, bound to use the company's wagons only and abjure the other company. I suppose the coal masters must have been offered very favourable terms. 

[Caley Jim]

Thirling is a term also used in farming circles to describe how hill sheep will always head to an area of hillside which they know well and so know where the best grazing is.  They are said to be thirled to that part of the hill. A late friend of mine who had been a shepherd described how, when sheep were returned to the hillside after winter, you could see some heading in one direction and others in another.

 

I cannot understand why so many of those across the pond seem to be 'thirled' to a former President, but that is getting into politics which have no place here.

 

Jim

[Compound2632]

35 minutes ago, Caley Jim said:

Thirling is a term also used in farming circles to describe how hill sheep will always head to an area of hillside which they know well and so know where the best grazing is.  They are said to be thirled to that part of the hill. A late friend of mine who had been a shepherd described how, when sheep were returned to the hillside after winter, you could see some heading in one direction and others in another.

 

I cannot understand why so many of those across the pond seem to be 'thirled' to a former President, but that is getting into politics which have no place here.

 

But in the case of the sheep, the word is being used metaphorically - they are not legally bound to graze only that area of hillside but act as if they were. The American case reminds us that the root of the word is the same as "thrall" - these people are enthralled, and not in a good way!

[Caley Jim]

Another word used, perhaps more commonly, for sheep, is to describe them as being hefted to the hill.

 

Jim

[Compound2632]

9 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

Another word used, perhaps more commonly, for sheep, is to describe them as being hefted to the hill.

 

This phenomenon is known to me from a lifetime of summer holidays at a farm on the western side of the Howgill fells. When walking the fells one will find that the sheep on a particular part of the common fell all have the same mark. The farmers bring the sheep down for lambing, shearing, dipping, etc. and only rarely have to do any sorting out of their neighbours' sheep from their own. 

[Nick Holliday]

Returning to railways....

This is the full wording from the Railway Archive magazine article

Thirled Wagons (Railway Archive No 34)

 

The term `thirled wagons' referred to a peculiarly Scottish practice and related to a system introduced by the North British Railway in 1887, in which the company purchased traders' wagons and then assigned them solely to the traffic of that trader. In some cases, new wagons were purchased with funds loaned by the trader and then `thirled' to that trader. In one case, the NBR actually paid for new wagons to be thirled to a trader in an area where competition for traffic was particularly fierce. Indeed, it was competition for traffic with the Caledonian Railway, or rather the avoidance of it, that lay at the root of the NBR's adoption of the thirling system.

The NBR had long enjoyed a virtual monopoly of traffic in the mining area of New Monkland, which lay between Bathgate and Airdrie. However, the CR had plans to tap into the area and it was the purpose of these thirling agreements to bind traders to the NBR for a number of years, usually twenty-five, or for the duration of the trader's coal lease. The agreements usually included a clause requiring the trader to oppose, or at least not support, any scheme of new lines by a rival railway company, i.e. the Caledonian. In the years 1887 to 1891, the NBR spent £166,578 acquiring 5,891 wagons from twenty-six coalmasters. Some of the agreements included provisions to increase 'the number of thirled wagons as traffic grew and, by 1910, the total number of such wagons on the NBR had grown to 7,662. Not to be outdone, the CR retaliated by securing thirling agreements with coal masters in the heart of the Lanarkshire coalfield, around Hamilton, Motherwell and Wishaw. Agreements were made in 1890 to 1892 with eight coal masters for a total of 4,770 wagons but these were of much shorter duration than those of the NBR and most expired before the end of 1911. In 1910, the number of CR thirled wagons had reduced to 3,275 wagons on the traffic of four coal masters. In contrast, some of the NBR thirling agreements, particularly those with James Nimmo Ltd and William Baird & Co. Ltd, lasted well into the post-Grouping period. It is believed that Baird's agreements were terminated only on the formation of Bairds & Scottish Steel Ltd in 1938. In March 1892, the general managers of the NBR and CR agreed not to enter into any further thirling agreements but those already in place had to be left to run their course.

 

The topic is also covered in Mike Williams' book on Caldeonian Wagons, including this extract:

 

DETAILS OF THE THIRLING AGREEMENT (From Caledonian Railway Wagons – Mike Williams)

The following extract from the agreement with John Watson covers the salient points of the relationship. The first party was the Caledonian Railway; the second party was Watson. The CR General Manager reported in July 1890 that the agreement had been signed.'

The first party shall, with all reasonable despatch, provide and thereafter maintain and renew at their own expense not less than 750 eight-ton coal wagons, that is to say, 500 during this season, or by 31st December, 1890, and the remaining 250 in the following spring, or by 31st March, 1891, which wagons shall, during the subsistence of this Agreement, be appropriated to and used or employed by the parties hereto exclusively for the traffic of the second party's collieries at Eddlewood, aforesaid, and at Earnock on the first party's Railway, consigned by the second party on and by the first party's Railways, and shall not be used or employed for any other traffic than that of the second party on or via the first party's Railways.

The said wagons shall be the exclusive and absolute property of the first party, and shall at all times be maintained and renewed by them, and shall bear their ordinary nameplate, and shall also be marked as follows, vizt., John Watson's Eddlewood and Earnock Collieries.'

 

[Compound2632]

10 minutes ago, Nick Holliday said:

In the years 1887 to 1891, the NBR spent £166,578 acquiring 5,891 wagons from twenty-six coalmasters.

 

The Midland assigned £1,000,000 in 1882 for purchase of PO wagons in its system, eventually purchasing 66,813 wagons "at a fair valuation". Assuming that no additional funds were allocated, that's an average of £14-19-4 per wagon; the North British was paying on average nearly twice that: £28-5-6. So either the Scottish wagons were on the whole in significantly better condition than the English wagons the Midland was buying up, or the North British was paying over the odds in order to gain long-term commercial advantage. (Or the Midland board voted additional funds that aren't reported in the usual sources.)

 

At the end of 1905, the average market value of a Midland open wagon was about £66 [Valuation of Midland Railway Carriage Stock as at December 1905, Midland Railway Study Centre Item 77-11822].

[Nick Holliday]

To complete the piece regarding Caledonian thirling:-

HE WAGONS INVOLVED

Eight coal companies entered thirling arrangements with the Caledonian. The CR numbers of 4,371 wagons and their dedicated users are shown in the table below. The numbers allocated to these wagons occupied two large blocks from 51725-54124 and 57200-58670, plus 56500-56999. These numbers indicate that they were charged to the capital account.

The 900 old wagons in the table were taken over by the Caledonian from the coal companies. The new wagons were all built by the Caley except for one batch of 200 from Pickering. The CR numbers were 52825-53024, originally Cadzow Coal numbers 500-699, but probably taken over by the CR as soon as they were built.

Solid buffered wagons to Diagram 22 predominated, with the exception of the 800 wagons numbered 57400-57999, 58271-58370 and 58371-58470, all of which were built to Diagram 46, the sprung buffered development of Diagram 22. Random numbers, mostly in the 50XXX series, were allocated to a further 749 wagons, making 5,120 wagons in total.

When the thirling arrangements reached their expiry date, John Watson Ltd threatened legal action over a claim to purchase the 1,000 thirled wagons from the Caledonian. The Board of Directors wrote to Watson, stating their willingness to facilitate settlement.4 The remaining parties to the thirling agreements seem to have handed the rights to their wagons back to the Caledonian.