I. Now you remember the last time we were talking we were really up in Little Langdale a lot of the time, and you were telling me about a lot of things that went on there. But I want to go back a bit further. You were born in Little Langdale?
R. Yes. There was the 'Three Shires' which was the 'Tourists Rest' and so they cut Bridge House out, and she got compensation and she brought the Tourists Rest.
I. Now she was brought up herself - she was Allonby, is that right?
R. Her second marriage was, she was Lewis before she was married, and then she was married to Bowness and he was killed in the quarries. Left her with seven little children, one a week old. No pension, no money, nothing came in, all she had to do was to sit down and make shirts at a shilling - you know those tough working shirts
I. She had to buy in the materials? And make them?
R. And then she did try to do a bit of spinning, but she was never quick enough on the spinning - you'd got to be very quick
I. How did she get by on that?
R. Well how did she? She said she'd give them a crust and she would have nothing, `cos she had nothing. The farmers no doubt, the farmers that she knew would give her bits and pieces, and then her health dropped so she had to go out of the Inn into the cottage
I. Then how long was it between that her first marriage, then she got married again?
R. Yes, she got married again, married father, there was four of us. So she'd eleven altogether.
I. Now she found time to do other things besides raising children.
R. Oh yes, she sat up with people, she nursed people, she laid them out, she brought children into the world, if she was there the doctors never bothered to come. When anyone went for the doctor he would say well who is there? Oh Mrs. Allonby's there, oh well I'll not bother to come until morning. You see it was totally different to what it is today. There was no going to hospital, there was no hospital, so you didn't go to hospital.
I. And where did she learn?
R. She always knew, came naturally to her I expect.
I. There was nobody else from whom she learned?
R. No, unless It was her aunt, she was brought up with an aunt she hadn't a mother and father, she was brought up with an aunt and it was this aunt that left her Bridge House, and she always had that.
I. But she was relied on for everything. Now tell me about this, if she was relied on to sit up with someone, I mean she was nursing them, was she skilled with medicines?
R. The doctors would leave the medicine. She could only administer it couldn't she, but there was no putting you to sleep in those days, no pain killers, or no nothing in those days, you just suffered.
I. Was there paregoric?
R. Aye, but she never used anything; she only had the medicine that the doctors brought. The doctor used to come round, and he'd have three bottles. If it was a cough it was a brown bottle, if it was stomach it was a white bottle, and if you had pains it was a pink bottle - that was later on, mother was still alive then. But administering those medicines was a simple thing, she was sitting up with them, she had the Inn, she always had the Inn you know, but night time after she was finished she would set off to Blea Tarn, and she'd walk to Hallgarth, she'd walk to High Park, walk wherever she had. There was an old lady a Mrs. Dixon before her who used to go and there was another old lady from the Lancashire side a Mrs. Brownley
I. She would get a message from somebody saying -
R. That's right, and she had to be prepared you see, she knew this child was coming and she would be prepared, and of course they always said if it was her going out in her blue coat she was either bring 'em in or taking 'em out. She'd be laying them out and she'd be -
I. So she was really the midwife? For the Valley?
R. Oh yes. After a long time. There was other ladies before her. But for a very long time she was the only one and she never lost a child, and she never lost a mother, and she never had twins, she never had a set of twins.
I. Do you know how many she helped?
R. Oh I don't know.
I. But it was everybody.
R. Oh everybody went for her.
I. But she'd no official training?
R. No they wanted her to take a certificate, but she wouldn't, because she said she hadn't been hospital trained. But after that if you've any sense at all you can always help an invalid can't you. If you've any sense at all. Of course people had to suffer, of course If you were very ill the doctor came every day, other than that -
I. How long did she stay with a woman after she'd been -
R. Oh she would stay quite a while, she would see to the baby, she would bath the baby, she would see they were alright and there was something to eat, and then she went back again next day to see all was alright. She'd go back for a few days either mornings or nights, she'd go back.
I. Always on call?
R. Oh yes, there was nothing else. There was nothing only dog carts in those days you know. There was no motor cars.
I. What did she get in return?
R. Nothing, she didn't want anything, she didn't charge anything, didn't want anything; neither did I, we never charged anything for anything we did. You just did it because it was friendship wasn't it.