Esca i encenalls

What is

What it takes to light a fire without matches.

• Esca: tinder. Very dry matter prepared to ignite with a single spark (DCVB).
• Encenalls: in Mallorca, in plural, the small firewood and dry leaves to start the fire (DCVB, Mall.). (In other areas encenall is carpenter's shavings.)
• Foguer: iron ring that is struck against the firestone (flint) to get sparks (DCVB, Bal.).

How is

• Esca de bolet: prepared tinder fungus (Polyporus encouragingius).
• Esca de garrover: the rotten wood of the carob tree, which serves as tinder and fertilizer (DCVB, Mall.).
• Esca de caramutxa: deflowered caramutxa charcoal, to light the pipe (Mall., Men.).
• Foguer: wrought iron ring or link; pedra foguera: flint.
• Encenalls: twigs, dry leaves, pine needles (specific Mallorcan materials to be verified).
• Misto d'esca: sulfur-free match that makes embers and does not flame.

How is fa

• The esca is collected in the forest or in the old carob tree and dried.
• The foguer is forged by the ferrer ( ferro forjat ).
• The encenalls are collected daily in the field and kept next to the foganya ( foganya i estris del foc ).

Com s'usa

1. Hold the bonfire stone with the ladder on top.

2. It is hit with the foguer: the spark falls on the esca and makes embers.

3. The ember is blown into a nest of encenalls until a flame comes out.

4. Thicker firewood is added. The fire in the campfire was covered at night so as not to have to relight it (per custom).

Vocabulary

• esca: tinder; also fishing bait (same term, longline ).
• esca de garrover: rotten carob wood (Mall.).
• esca de caramutxa: caramutxa charcoal for the pipe (Mall., Men.).
• foguer: iron link (Bal.).
• pedra foguera: flint.
• encenalls: small firewood and leaves for lighting (Mall.).
• encenall: in Mallorca, also slap, hit with the hand (DCVB).
• «Esca del primer pic»: person who lights up immediately, irritable.
• «Esca de bolet»: beating (Mall.).
• «Cada pesca vol una esca»: Majorcan saying.

History

-c . 1400: «ferint de la pedra en l'esclavó, devallaria lo foch en la escha» (Sermons de sant Vicent Ferrer, DCVB).

• 19th-20th century: matches (mistos) and the lighter replaced it.

On veure'n

• Museum of Mallorca, ethnological section (Wall) (foc pieces to be verified).
• Algarrobales of Migjorn and Llevant: the old garrover wood, today (to verify collection).

Why is it design

• Three-piece system: stone, iron and esca; none works alone.
• Waste converted into a resource: the rotten wood of the carob tree is tinder and fertilizer.
• Scale of fire: from the spark to the ember, from the ember to the embers, from there to the firewood. Design by stages.

For the project

• Workshop: lighting a fire with foguer, pedra foguera and esca de garrover (Sant Antoni, foguerons).
• Piece: Mallorcan ignition kit (forged foguer + local esca) as an object.

Sources

• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=esca
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=encenall
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=foguer

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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