Dagloners
were men, although some women (daglonsters) and even children also
worked for a daily wage. A
dagloner
was a worker
who worked for a
boer
but did not
live on the boer's farm, so he himself had to provide food, clothing,
living quarters for his family and other needs. In Flanders as a
whole in 1822 a dagloner earned 1 - 1.5 Francs per day, a woman 0.6 -
0.9 Francs. If only the man worked his wife could afford to provide
only a basic diet of porridge (possibly made with milk), soup and
potatoes.
So to supplement this meager diet she had to work and often the
children too, especially if they were numerous, as they usually were.
In the earlier somewhat more prosperous period around 1800 with a
man's earnings she might have been able to add some rye bread and
sometimes some cheese and occasionally, herring.
Around 1820 the working
dagloner in the winter ate at:
5:30 am: rye bread and a
cup of coffee adding a herring or bacon to that:
8:30 am: rye bread, coffee
and herring; possibly cheese or bacon
12:00 p.m.: potatoes, soup with
noodles and some greens but no meat, or porridge made with milk when
available
3:00 p.m.: rye bread with
cheese or herring
6:30 p.m.: rye bread with
stewed (mashed?)
potatoes
On
Sundays sausage or some beef or pork would be added.
In the summer the work day was longer, running from
5 am to 7:30 p.m.; the meal times were adjusted
accordingly.
Most
dagloners, being the sons of farmers, tried to find a piece of land
they could rent, perhaps 1/10 to 1/5 of an acre on which they grew
food for their family. A goat
for milk
and
rabbits
for meat
often were kept in separate quarters in the house!. They often would
buy little pigs and fatten them for 6 to 9 months, sell one or more,
but slaughtered and preserved one for family use as hams and bacon
which were soaked in brine of 4 - 6 weeks and then smoked. In these
various ways they could they could save their earnings for other
essential but expensive needs: Shoes which might cost earnings from 5
days' work!
The
family usually lived in a thatched cottage built
in the
wattle-and-daubstyle
like the one below.2
Work
was sometimes hard to find and seasonal. For example, a dagloner
might work full time for a farmer in May and June on two
hectares
of flax. While it grew he would go to Holland to cultivate beets. The
flax would mature in about 100 days, giving him another 7-8 days of
work
harvesting
flax
and put it to soak in water ('retting') to loosen the fibers.
Depending on the weather, retting might take up to 8 weeks. Then
after washing, drying, beating of
the stalks to loosen the fibers,
followed by combing, the flax fibers would be ready for
<--spinning3 and then
weaving4--> into
linen.
In August
the dagloner would go back to the flax field to cultivate it, often
using just a hoe and pick, to prepare for seeding
the next crop.
If
a dagloner had the capital to purchase a loom he might contract with
the farmer to spin and weave the flax from this field. However most
could not afford to buy a loom but they might rent one from a
contractor who would provide a loom and often flax too. In return he
would require the dagloner to the spin and weave the flax he had
provided into linen. In either case, after the wife had spun the flax
fibers the dagloner would weave it into linen fabric. Because farming
work fell off in the autumn, spinning and weaving would be a way for
the dagloners family to make a living in the winter.
Fortunately for the dagloners, the machines
available in the factories early in the century tended to to break
the flax fibers. This probably explains the persistence of the
cottage-based linen
industry
right up to the end of the 19th century, long after cottage-based
wool spinning and weaving of wool had been displaced
to factories that did this more cheaply.
The dagloner's children often would obtain work
beginning in their 10th or 11th year! In
"weeding
gangs"
of 30 to 40 children were assembled by a 'weeding boss' who
contracted with farmers to have their fields weeded and would move
them from field to field. Each child would would work daily from dawn
to 7 - 8 in the evening to earn about the half the wage of an adult
dagloner. The 'weeding boss' often had a grocery story as a sideline
which mothers were expect to patronize to assure their children found
work with the 'boss'!
The
dagloner's wife found little work outside their
cottage: perhaps a few days a week in February laying the flax in
water to soak ('retting') and 2 weeks work at the end of March
planting
potatoes.
She might find a month work weeding (click onpicture) but
from the end of March to the end of April she was usually unemployed.
In June she probably could work a few days in the flax
field.
There
is no doubt that the dagloners and their families who at the bottom
of the economic ladder suffered most during 'hard times'!
Some
probably glimpsed the possibility that their children
might do better if they had an education.
1Source:
"Het Land van Waas" by Prosper Thuysbaert, published in 1913
as Volume 32 of the "Annalen" of the the Historical Society of
Waasland
Extracts of Chapter VII of that article were provided by
Alfred Van der Gucht, President of the Historical Society of
Waasland 2Photo courtesy "Domein Bokrijk (B)"
<http://www.limburg.be/bokrijk/tour.html> 3Painting by Hendrik de Braekeleer 4Drawing by Vincent Van Gogh
Dagloners
were men, although some women (daglonsters) and even children also
worked for a daily wage. A
dagloner
was a worker
who worked for a
boer
but did not
live on the boer's farm, so he himself had to provide food, clothing,
living quarters for his family and other needs. In Flanders as a
whole in 1822 a dagloner earned 1 - 1.5 Francs per day, a woman 0.6 -
0.9 Francs. If only the man worked his wife could afford to provide
only a basic diet of porridge (possibly made with milk), soup and
potatoes.
So to supplement this meager diet she had to work and often the
children too, especially if they were numerous, as they usually were.
In the earlier somewhat more prosperous period around 1800 with a
man's earnings she might have been able to add some rye bread and
sometimes some cheese and occasionally, herring.
the stalks to loosen the 
fibers,
followed by combing, the flax fibers would be ready for
<--spinning3 and then
