Memories were stirred by a column last week that mentioned a set pot – a cauldron used to boil water (or cook food in large amounts) on an old fashioned kitchen range.
Now Thomas Winterbottom of Milnsbridge says he remembers another Yorkshire kitchen item from the past: a piggin, which he describes as a large enamel jug that was used to carry hot water from the fire to the tin bath or to the washing machine.
The word piggin has actually been around since the 14th century and referred to a wooden pail with a handle that would have been used for the same purpose as described by Mr Winterbottom. The enamel jug was its obvious younger cousin and would have been much in use in those days before bathrooms when working families would use a tin bath in front of the kitchen fire that would be filled with hot water.
Mum and dad would use it first, followed by children according to age, with the water being occasionally topped up using the piggin. The water would get murkier with each washing and mother would, of course, have to take care not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
I'm sure the word piggin has been used in other contexts, such as: “wipe your piggin feet” or: “pass my piggin beer”or: “where's the piggin baby?” Or even: “Pass the piggin piggin, we need more hot water.”
