Meanwhile, up on the Roof

The chimney sweep came today and insisted on ascending to our roof to perform some magic ritual or other with an instrument which he lowered down the chimney of our sauna stove. Having satisfied himself that all was well up there he tackled the flue in the more conventional manner from ground level and using a vacuum contraption. Whatever happened to the old men (they always seemed to be old) who travelled from house to house with a bundle of brushes and rods on their backs? Tech appears to have caught up with them all and indeed passed them out.