WOMEN AND FARM WORK IN TAMIL FOLK SONGS 115 which 'women are rarely seen as prime agents in political, military or even economic life'. On the other hand, he points out: If we are concerned with 'being', then the exclusion of women would reduce history to futility. We cannot understand the agrarian system of small cultivators without examining inheritance practices, dowry and the familial development cycle—the 'economy' can only be understand within the context of a society textured in these two kinds of ways. The 'public' life arises out of the dense determinations of the 'domestic' life. (Thompson, 1977: 21) The present study of women's work songs, however, involves equally both the 'public' and the 'domestic' sphere and shows how far these two sectors of activity coalesce in the context of work songs in Tamil Nadu. These songs are not merely a vivid portrayal of the occupational activities of the women whether it is irrigating the field or harvesting the crops but also a powerful commentary on domestic relationships and situations in patriarchal Tamil society. Therefore reflections on the social structure as it emerges from these work songs will also be commented upon in the course of this paper. AGRICULTURAL WORK SONGS: KALAVU PADAL—WEEDING SONG Right from the Sangam age onwards till the present times, peasant women have played a key role in agricultural activities. Weeding was done primarily by women of the Paraiyar, Pallar or Eyirriyar caste. The Purananuru Tamil work dating back to the early Christian era defines such women as 'Kadaisiyar', (Purananuru, 1923: 61.1) a term used to indicate their economic status of being female agricultural labourers. Another Sangam work called Perumpanatruppadai gives a detailed description of Eyirriyar women smoothening and weeding the field with furrows which had an iron tip called konghu (Perumppanatruppadai, 1931: 80-97). > Weeding is a task that precedes the planting of seeds and also follows it. As the green shoots of the paddy come up, poisonous or wild weeds also sometimes grow along with them and have to be pulled out by the roots immediately. Weeding is a tedious task which the women relieve by singing. The songs are usually addressed to the peasant lads. In a song from Olappalayam in Tirunelveli district, the woman sings: 0 lord of the irrigated fields [the word used is vayakkal, a sort of sluice] 0 Ponnusami of the arable lands come to guard the women engaged in weeding Digging a well by the mountain ^ Harnessing two Mayilai bulls