When the flax is sufficiently watered it is taken out of the pond and beaten by an implement called a swingle. |
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A flail is a simple device made up from two pieces of wood a handle or staff about five feet long and a swingle that is about two feet long. |
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The handle of the flail was raised until the swingle was shoulder high and then brought down firmly. |
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The first operation in dressing flax is to swingle or beat it, in order to detach it from the harle or skimps. |
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Back in the 1960s, Eugene Concert Choir artistic director Diane Retallack fell in love with the sound of the Swingle Singers. |
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