Ubiquitous - Pocket Knife - Paddy

Ubiquitous – Pocket Knife - 3165433
Ryan,Patrick Anthony

The conventional pocket knife is a timely design that has remained a popular tool to this day. My ubiquitous item dates back to the early 1900’s, a pocket knife that has lasted through generations and has come to rest in my hands. Its purpose, like most of its kind is generally for odd jobs in which a cutting tool is necessary, however this particular knife holds greater meaning to me and my grandfather who passed it on to me, a family heirloom entrusted to me to look after.

The knife was given to me by my grandfather unexpectedly while visiting him in his Geelong West home. “I want you to have this Paddy, it was my grandfather’s knife that he used on the farm, he handed it down to me and now I’m giving it to you.” The knife was well crafted and the two folding blades remained sharp. The white enamel handle was smooth and a small brand “Nest” had been imprinted in the steel where the knife hinged. However, to my Granddad, it was more than a knife; for years he had contemplated giving the knife to my Father or Uncle and for him to give such a precious thing to myself was a hard decision to make. Recently Granddad was diagnosed with lung cancer and for a number of months he was bed ridden, this was a very hard time for him where he quite literally faced death. After presenting me the knife, he has said since overcome the cancer and was a difficult thing for him to pass down. He was letting go of something dear to his heart, “I wanted you to have it before I die, so it wasn’t lost once I’m gone.”

My Granddad, Matthew Ryan, moved to the farm at the age of 14 with his Grandfather Martin Ryan. “He used this knife everyday, for all sorts of things,” Matt began to tell me. “He had a saying, never leave home without your knife, a shilling and a piece of string.” In the early 1900’s Matt explained that a shilling would generally get you out of trouble, and sure enough Martin always had the coin tucked away somewhere in his coat. The knife was obviously a useful tool to have handy especially on the farm and the string also had numerous applications, “If something broke it could be tied back and trimmed with the knife. If not the shilling would generally get him out of a fix.” Matt spoke of his grandfather with a high level of respect, he was a hard man who worked long days on the farm, and as Matt grew older he too worked alongside. We began talking of his life on the farm and the hardships they faced growing up in the harsh Australian bush. “Martin had a short fuse,” Matt told me, “he often had outbursts when things went pear shaped.” One particular occasion occurred while my Granddad wasn’t home, Matt had a loyal dog that he owned and looked after, however one day it decided to dig under the chicken coop and cause some trouble with the chooks. Martin came out to see what all the commotion was about and saw that Matt’s dog had killed some of the chickens, he grabbed the dog, dragged it to the shed and hung it on a rope around its neck. Matt returned home to find his dog strung up, dead.

The conditions that the early 20th century farmer’s faced were dramatic and life was hard on the harsh Australian land. Dorothea Mackellar’s famous Australian poem “My Country” contains the lines 'A land ... of droughts and flooding rains' a line too familiar in many farming households throughout European settlement and today. Australia is the world's driest inhabited continent; only Antarctica has less rainfall. Our nation is prone to droughts, sometimes lasting several years. The fact was, if things went wrong on the farm it could mean the difference between surviving and not. This was the reality of Martin’s life and his long days in the conditions he worked in would have been extremely hard to cope with. It is very easy to take for granted the simple things that we have now that simply weren’t available in his time.

Martin suffered from Parkinson’s disease, an unrecognized disease at the time, however was in fact the reason behind his attainment of the knife. Martin traveled to Melbourne in an effort to get some sort of medical advice for his shaking hands, in doing so he came across the knife salesmen and purchased it while in Melbourne. Matt also suffers from Parkinson’s in his old age. Martin’s hands were very shaky often making it hard to work on small hands-on jobs. Matt explained with demonstration how Martin held the knife shaking vigorously and smiling remembering also his two handed beer drinking technique. “I’ve got it now, your old man will probably get it, and one day you’ll probably have it too.” “Martin was a very self conscious man,” Matt explained to me, “It was because he was a bit embarrassed about his condition.” Martin didn’t like being seen by guests with the shakes and often didn’t eat when they had company for dinner. “I remember the dogs used to bark when a visitor was coming up the dirt road, this gave Martin time to grab a few swigs of whiskey to ease his shakes a little,” Matt said with a grin. Matt explained to me how he can now have a laugh about having Parkinson’s comparing himself to his Grandfather who never liked to speak of it. “People linked the shakes to alcoholism in those days.”

The pocket knife was purchased in Melbourne and thought to have been imported from England. Matt told me that it would have been quite expensive and quite an impressive knife to carry around. The most interesting part of the design to me is the fact that these same knives are still produced in this day and age. The conventional folding knife has lasted the test of time and is widely used today for odd jobs around the home and workplace. Martin used the knife for all sorts of things, he worked a dairy farm milking cows and also grew onions and potatoes. The farm was located in Cororooke and was part of the first family purchases of land from this particular estate. His home was built on the 250 acre block and the adjacent road to the land is still known today as “Ryan’s Lane.” Eventually Martin moved to Colac where he developed his own farm, this is where Matt came to live in 1945. The knife was used on the farm for various different purposes from general maintenance, to skinning rabbits, even cutting his toe nails.

Martin came from a family of nine children, however only recently it has been uncovered that this is so. Originally it was thought that he was only one of eight children, however going through records it was found that Martin had been named after his late brother who died very young, in infancy. Most likely Martin would not have known of this throughout his life, even Matt was unaware until recently. It is quite astonishing that information like this had been kept under wraps. Martin died at the age of 79 in 1955, and the knife was given to Matt. It has always been a dear heirloom to Matt and I hope that I can treasure it myself with the same respect.