Carballedo Lugo zoadeira bullroarer

zoadeira / zoa / rombeta

Source term: zoadeira (aerofono libre)

zoadeira / zoa / rombeta = Galician names for the cord-whirled free aerophone

At recess in the Lugo village of Carballedo, children tied wooden rulers to a cord and set them spinning in the schoolyard air until they hummed — the zoadeira, also called zoa or rombeta. It was mostly the boys' doing, though a few girls spun them too. Across Galicia the same whirled slat once had work beyond play: it was sounded to drive animals off the fields, and to spook cattle by aping the drone of the horsefly. By the time it reached the Carballedo schoolyard, the zoadeira had dwindled to pure toy.

No concello de Carballedo (Lugo) nós mesmos atabamos regras de madeira ao extremo dun cordel facéndoas xirar no aire durante os recreos no patio do colexio.

In the municipality of Carballedo (Lugo), we ourselves tied wooden rulers to the end of a cord and made them spin in the air during school recesses in the schoolyard.

Consello da Cultura Galega, Zoadeira, zoa, rombeta

Particulars

Object

General Galician form: a 13-15 cm wood or cork slat with a terminal hole and cord; at Carballedo children tied wooden rulers to a cord and whirled them in air.

Function

Children’s school-recess toy at Carballedo.