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01
[BM] Among folk like.
[TM] Mm Hm
[BM] I'm so oot o touch I dinna ken fit the
machines are for.
[TM] So you used to grow, what would you grow
for crops?
[BM] Oh well, ye jist, ye jist hid yer oats,
and yer, and yer eh, hay and yer neeps an, at wis jist aboot
it like
[TM] So what would you have to buy in, if anything?
[BM] Well, I suppose ye brought in yer grass
seed, a yer manure and lime and stuff like at like. Ah. You
couldna afford tae buy much in, ken?
[TM] No, and did you have enough milk to sell
or just enough?
[BM] We just had enough for oorsels. I've
seen us hae three coos sometime, but it was usually jist two
ken.
[TM] And you planted…. Hello (Mrs McKinnon
coming in)
[JMcK] How's it going?
[TM] Days on the farm
[JMcK] Oh yes.
02
[BM] I wis jist saying, we hardly hid tae buy onythin intae
the Bog ken, as I said till him we couldna afford tae buy
anything in.
[JMcK] The eggs, would have bought the groceries.
[BM] Oh aye
[TM] So you sold eggs.
[BM] Oh aye, oh that wis fit kept the hoose.
[TM] That was the cash crop
[BM] The sell off of the sheep noo woulda
I suppose bought the manure and the bigger items ye ken.
[TM] Would you eat mutton as well.
[BM] I dinna suppose we'd a eaten much mutton
really na, we didna eat a lot of beef either like.
[TM] You wouldn't have had the chance I suppose.
[TM] But you'd probably sell the calves.
[BM] They were usually kept until aboot, I
suppose, three year aul. Then they woulda gaen awa store,
ready for fattenin.
[TM] So how did you harvest the oats in those
days, before the combine harvester.
[BM] Jist the binder, jist the binder.
[TM] And would the mill come round
[BM] Aye, the mill come roon, yes. Latterly
of course we had a barn mill o wer own like.
[TM] Of your own
[BM] Aye, a shrunk version of the traivellin
mill aye.
[TM] And when the travelling mill was coming
round would they grind the meal as well.
[BM] No, no at hid tae go, ye jist, ye jist
thresh yer crop and then ye woulda putten sey much in a cart
and off ye went tae the mill tae get that made intae meal.
And youda gotten hame yer meal and yer dist and sedge which
wis get in among the hens and the tattie pot for the hens
ye ken.
[TM] Would the miller keep part of the meal
as payment or?
[BM] No, I dinna really ken how at worked.
03
[JMcK] Some kept their percentage, and others would have sent
a bill.
[BM] Aye, aye, I dare say it woulda been kept
sey much in oor case probably.
[TM] Were you raised on a farm as well.
[JMcK] No, though my father worked on a farm
for a while. I lived for a while in Aden, when it was still,
a farm
[TM] When it still had a roof. Beautiful building.
[JMcK] Yes, yes it's a shame, it's a shame seeing
it go to rack and ruin.
[BM] I'm nae affa taen on wi is chalets that
they're proposing puttin in tae Aden.
[TM] I'm not too impressed with that either.
[BM] In fact, aye, at wis a present tae the
folk, it wis gifted tae the people, it wisnae gifted tae Hoseasons
or nithin like at.
[TM] I thought it was the councillors who made
the decision, and so they should be doing what the people
want of course, but they usually don't I suppose.
[BM] No, no.
[TM] Yes I heard about that yesterday actually.
[BM] There's gaen tae be trouble because they've
nae richt tae ony privacy.
[TM] That's right, there's going to be people
traipsing across the land all the time. Well it'll be alright
if they are just chalets, but if the business folds and they
have to be sold em..
[JMcK] But it was gifted.
[TM] Yes in the factor's office. What were you
up to.
[JMcK] I was the factor's ??? And he was factor
of Crichie estates and Aden estates, Pitfour estates, lots
of ???? laughs.
[TM] Mm hm..
[TM] Did you ever come across a farmer named
John Strachan.
[JMcK] John Strachan
[TM] He kept a farm at Crichie.
[JMcK] Oh it would have been about, that would
have been about eh.
[TM] That was in the fifties.
[BM] Oh you would have been.
[JMcK] It was the sixties, it was the sixties. I started work
in 1960. But eh, I had, I think it's affa at isn't it, I think
I left it at Aden, a wages book
[BM] Aye, at's at Aden aye.
[JMcK] The agreement for the men starting work
in Aden estate, you know it was all written in a book, but
it's at Aden now.
[BM] It wis a, aye, a contract on the employee
side as well.
[TM] Right
[JMcK] Yes, I wisnae aware that there was written
contracts then but eh,
[TM] I suppose they came in maybe after the
first World War.
[JMcK] Yes, well because this went back, went
back to the twenties that book I had.
[BM] I think so aye
[TM] Do you remember, you mentioned that your
father had a couple of farm hands as well, ???
[BM] No, no.
[TM] Oh you just remember them being on other
farms.
[BM] Aye. No, no we jist hid eh, there jist
wis work for…
[TM] For the family.
[BM] For, one like really ken.
[TM] Now what about that other tune.
[BM] Aye, trying tae get on Newton's Hashie,
but I canna get the tune till it.
[JMcK] I hivna heard it hiv I?
[BM] Trying to mind the tunes, because so
many of them can be switched around.
[TM] Yes.
[BM] ??? It's very similar.
[JMcK] well if I mak a cup of tea or a cup of
coffee with a..
[TM] Then it'll come back. Book was made during
the war, your brother's book?
[TM] Or
[BM] No, it's at?
[TM]
04
[BM] Oh that woulda been later that at wis made, aye. At,
aye, at sang wis actually, ma sister wrote at sang during
the war.
[TM] The Newton's Hash.
[BM] Aye, because of course it's dig for victory
is the slogan at Newton's aye ahin. Ye ken?
05
[TM] So your brother would have gotten these songs from ?
[BM] Well I suppose he woulda relied mebbe
on ma sister's book an a ye see, for some o them ye ken.
[TM] The same songs.
[BM] Oh aye, aye, it's, there's some strangers
like. Hums to self. Aye, there's some up to date kinda eens
like.
[TM] Is that a Jimmy Rogers one, 'Jealous Heart'
[BM] I couldna tell ye.
[TM] Red River Valley, there's a number of Irish
ones.
[BM] Aye.
[TM] Lili Marlene. Bonnie Strathyre. Remember
that one?
[BM] Mm hm.
[TM] Oh well, if you feel like singing any of
these I'd love to hear them.
Kilmarnock Bunnett.
[BM] Aye.
[TM] The Fair Maid of Kenmore would have been
one of the older ones.
[BM] Aye, uh huh, and Sail Away Strathardle,
and eh, eh, Bonnie Strathyre mebbe would be aul songs aye
[TM] And Bonnie Strathyre maybe. Before the
gramophone records.
[BM] Aye, mm hm.
[TM] You know the tune to Strathardo.
[BM] Fits the wordin o it for a start.
[TM] In a far foreign land
06
[BM] In a far foreign land I am ???? and dreamin o the days….
O but I'd hae tae, I dinna mind it a that well. I'll hae a
go at it.
In a far foreign land I am ???? and dreamin
o the days o lang syne
O a wee ??? hoose in the hielans, a chield hame that wis mine
In fancy I still see the ???, the heather and hills o the
glen
The kind wee auld folks and their canty auld ways,
o I wish I could see them again
For it's o to be back in Strathardle, the hameland
is dearest tae me
My hairt it aye sighs for Strathardle, and will till the day
that I die
Foor lang, lang years I've been roamin, on oceans and lands
ower the sea
But they shrine in my hairt is Strathardle, Strathardle and
bonnie Glenshee
I can still see ma faither and mither, my brithers
and sisters and freens
It seems but yester e'en since we gaithered aroon the fireside
in the e'en
The joys and laughter that circled are scattered sey wide
through the Glen
The auld kirk, the auld school, the dance and the green
The lassies and lads side by side.
O to be back in Strathardle, the hameland that's
dearest tae me
My hairt it aye sighs for Strathardle, and will till the day
that I die
Foo lang a the years I've been roamin, on oceans and lands
ower the sea
But the shrine in my hairt is Strathardle, Strathardle and
bonnie Glenshee.
[BM] At's at een.
07
[TM] Quite a range of songs, all kinds.
[BM] Mm hmm.
[JMcK] Is it safe to come in
[TM] It is safe to come in
08
[TM] Did you have a range of any kind
[BM] Just an open fire, an open fire, and
then fit we ca'd the bink, the high bittie at the side o the
fire, which the big pot stood on one side, sorta in ower the
edge o the, and then a big huge kettle sat on the ither een.
[TM] Did you have a ?
[BM] Yes, we had two ??? aye.
[TM] Where would they get the peat.
[BM] At wis jist at top o wir, on the top
side o wir arable ground. It wis a moss ye see.
[JMcK] It was good peats.
[TM] How would you cut it
[BM] Well,
[TM] One of those special spades.
[BM] Aye, there's various, there's two methods
a daein it like. Ye can cut it either doon the wey, or ye
can cut it fae, fae the front ye ken. Whit we ca breastin.
Oors wis a daen wi breastin like, jist wi a peat spad, spad
wi a lug up one side it ye ken, cut yer
[TM] So it cuts the two sides of it at once.
[BM] No, ye jist had one side.
[TM] No, but I mean it cuts the bottom and the
sides when you take out the piece.
[BM] Cuts the bottom and up the side aye,
yes. We took aff the first turf, it's taen aff and laid doon
for ye tae stand on again ye see.
[TM] And then you just, cut down the whole way,
a couple of layers.
[BM] Well, we wis fortunate we could, we aye
pieced doon tae the heart ye ken, everything was aff like,
it wis right doon tae the flint and fit ever ye'd got in there.
And ye jist went alang taken aff this bank and then ye cut
anither sod and come down. At the finish o the war, there
wisnae enough coal and things like at, so the coal merchants
were needin peats, so we at at time, we wis handlin aboot
15,000 barras o peats.
[JMcK] A lot of work.
[TM] How big is a barrowful
[BM] Well, it's supposed tae be a dizen, supposed
tae be twelve peats, well the loon, there wis a loon, well
I needna say at because my father, maist places the loon ran
barras and men filled ??? ye ken. My father aye thocht that
if ye wis big enough tae run a barra, ye wis big enough tae
cast yersel and nae hae a man body takkin advantage o ye,
ye ken. So we didnae, I didnae hae much barra'in, because
by that time we wis that busy at we got intae sledges, for
the horse, and ye took aboot three barra faes on a sledge
ye see with a horse. So things altered when ye get intae big
business. Laughs.
[TM] How big were the peats themselves.
[BM] Oh well, when they come oot, I mean ye'd
be spikkin aboot
[TM] Six inch square?
[BM] Four, five inch, say five by six and
aboot …
[JMcK] Just over a foot.
[TM] ??
[BM] Aye.
[TM] And they'd be wet and heavy
[BM] Oh aye, they'd come doon tae aboot half
that like fan they were dried oot.
[TM] How did you dry them?
[JMcK] The sun believe it or not
[BM] Aye, the sun and the wind.
[TM] In the Scottish summer.
[TM] So would you just stack them up in little
piles or?
[BM] Aye, well when ye wis barra'in them oot
for a start ye sort a tipped them oot in ra's, jist lang ra's,
and they sat like at for a day or twa until they sorta firmed,
so that they could be handled, and then ye spread them oot
a roon aboot and they lay like that for a day or two until
they hardened mair, and then ye pit them up in fit we ca'd
rickles ken, ye set them up on their end and rickle them on
top o that.
[TM] How many in a rickle.
[BM] Oh, I suppose ye'd mebbe hae twenty or
so peats, it's difficult tae say, depends..
[TM] On how big they are.
[BM] Aye.
[TM] And then they'd just sit like that until
they are completely dry.
[BM] Yes.
[TM] And then you barrow them, or sledge them.
[BM] Well ye gaed in wi the horse and cairt
ye see then, and jist chucked them in ower the cairt. And
when ye come tae the coal folk buyin them, we could ging intae
the lair, intae fit they ca'd the lair, that wis the, the
ground efter the moss taen aff it, and there wis jist this
one sod on top o the hard, we used tae ging in wi the motor
lorries and put on the leaf load, and then we hid a load on
bank oot on the hard, the real hard, and we cairried oot tae
fill up the ither half.
[TM] Mm Hm..
[BM] The larry come in and it never really
stoppit. Ken. Ye filled up a the bags ye see and the larry
actually come in and the driver never actually stoppit, he
jist sorta carried on, they would jist be thrown in ower,
and somebody wis stowin them on the larry, so he didnae really
hae tae stop for fear he stuck.
[TM] Sink slowly into the peat.
[BM] Well there jist was a wee bit ye see,
so he woulda hae stuck in far, but it was better if he could
keep the thing moving ken.
[TM] So when you got them back to the house
would you stack them up at the?
[BM] O aye, we'd a huge stack, it woulda been
[TM] As big as a ruck o strae
[BM] No it woulda been, mebbe six, seven feet
high. Oh I suppose mebbe even echt feet high, if it had been
ten feet at the maist, and it woulda been in at, oh, (pause),
is place is, thirty feet, ?? at the window, we're thirty feet
aren't we? Oh it woulda been aboot twice at like, maybe some
mair.
[TM] Some stack.
[BM] And my mother cairried a that in wi buckets,
ower the course o the year.
[TM] What time of year would you do the cutting.
[BM] Mm, would have been I suppose aboot April
er we'd a gotten in, ye ken.
[JMcK] There wis usually aboot August-September,
wisn't it that.
[BM] Aye, er ye got them dry.
[TM] Uh huh. So how long would all the cutting
take. I mean if you put it altogether, if you did it all at
once, how many working days would it take?
[BM] Oh, for yer three thoosan, nae affa lang.
Eh. If I wis, if I wis staunin castin and ye hid somebody
takin awa the sledges and somebody wis terrin, fit we ca'd
terrin, cuttin the sod and takin it doon in front o ye, I
could put oot aboot a thoosan barra fulls in eight hoors.
But ye widnae dae at in the first day, couldna dae at in the
first day.
[TM] Why's that.
[BM] Well, something ye hid tae get seasoned
till.
[TM] Get the motion down.
[BM] Aye, ye really wasn't…
[TM] Certain muscles you hadn't used since last April.
[BM] Aye, but.
10
[TM] What do you have there?
[JMcK] I've Bill's father's farm diaries.
[TM] Oh yes.
[BM] I've aboot 25 years o them.
[TM] Uh huh. Did he make an entry every day,
or nearly every day.
[BM] Every day.
[TM] Every day.
[BM] Every day, startin wi the weather.
[TM] So he'd start with the weather and then
say what he was up to that day.
[BM] But I think he wis a kinda stoppit keepin
em fan my day came up.
[JMcK] Drivin peats.
[BM] U huh, aye, that's takin doon the peats
tae stack, I would say, at's driving peats, aye.
[JMcK] Oh but that wis in May
[BM] Eh, oh, at'd be gan tae Langside wi peats.
[JMcK] Oh aye.
[BM] We also, afore the war, we used tae sell
peats in Langside, we gaed doon wi the horse and we'd a foor
wheeled larry, and ye went doon a Seturday and sold this load
of peats
[TM] Just to the townsfolks.
[BM] Tae the villagers. But of course at got,
the blacksmith got that expensive that at hid tae stop. It
begun that it took mair oot o the horse sheen, horse shoes
than …
[TM] Yes, not worth it.
[BM] It jist wisnae worth it, no.
[TM] How far was it into Longside from you?
[BM] Four mile.
[TM] Would the farrier come round in those days.
[BM] No, no no, ye see there wis a, an affa
lot o country smithies ye see.
[TM] Some of them on the big farm toons.
[BM] No, there widnae hae been smiddies on
fairm toons really.
[TM] Uh huh, I thought some of the bigger ones
had.. had their own smith.
[JMcK] I would have thought, I think they had,
some of the bigger fairms woulda hid their ane.
[TM] Suppose they'd have to be quite big.
[BM] Aye like a mebbe an estate woulda hid
a smiddie, but it woulda employed a blacksmith, and he woulda
daen mair than the estate work ye see.
[JMcK] Oh I see
[TM] Oh I see, yes, other folk would have brought
their beasts in
[BM] It wis maistly, smiddies were maistly
privately owned and run. Eh, we'd one at Clola, eh, there
wis one …
[JMcK] This day the horse wentae flush intae
the smiddy.
[BM] Oh that wis a strange een an.
[JMcK] Ah well. There wis rain and snow, this
wis April, at smiddy wi horse and flushin in the afternoon.
[BM] Oh, at smiddy wi horse,
[JMcK] And then flush in the afternoon.
[TM] A different trip.
[JMcK] Is it?
[TM] It sounds like it, because it's two different
occasions.
[BM] Fit year is at.
[JMcK] 32, so ye canna argue. laughs
[TM] Want a bet.
[BM] No.
[TM] Oh it's nice to have those diaries, all
those details.
[JMcK] Yes, it's fine for the weather apart
from anything else. I mean sometimes that's aboot 'Raw', or
'Raw and showery'.
[TM] Oh you often get folk saying the weather's
not like it used to be, but now you can look back and find
out if it was.
[BM] What a arguments at diary his settled.
Fit day wis sich and sich roup. Ken
[TM] When a certain thing happened.
[BM] Aye, something happened, o at wis the
day at so and so's roup, so oot come the diaries and,
at wis.
[TM] That was probably why he kept them, to
settle arguments.
[BM] Aye.
[JMcK] No I dinnae see anything saying, sorta
started at the moss or, I thought I might see.
11
[TM] So your father was a farmer all his life probably.
[BM] Eh, mair or less aye. He drove amongst
steam engines a while.
[TM] On the railroad or.
[BM] No on the, he woulda been wi Jimmy Sutherland,
Peterheid, driving steam engines and wagons. He actually drove
stuff tae ??? when the air station was bein built there during
the first war, but I think he was een or twa.
[JMcK] But is the steam engines like for threshin
mills things like that or?
[BM] Aye, mm hm.
[TM] Where was he from.
[BM] Noo at's a good question. Well he was
brought up at Cruden, aye, but he woulda been fee'd at fairms
in his earlier days, he'd been fee'd at certain fairms. I
heard him spikkin aboot fairms roon aboot Ellon ye ken, things
like at. And then he, I dinna ken richtly fit wey he landed
amonst steam engines.
[TM] Fate
[BM] Yes.
[BM] But, he actually hid the chance tae ging
in the steam engines a richt get like. Fen he gaed intae the
fairm, the sly auld devil pickit the fairm. The steam engine
company in Mintla, Yates.
[JMcK] Oh aye, afore my time
[BM] Afore yer time, but apparently he got
the chance tae tak ower, Yates threshin mill. An opted for
..
[TM] Opted for farming.
[TM] So when you were young were they still
steam driven.
[BM] Aye yes, I've carried watter tae them,
aye.
[TM] Driven on coal mostly or?
[BM] Aye, at wis the only thing we hid coal
for at the place. Coal come in aboot for the thrashin.
[TM] Did you have to supply that yourself.
[BM] Aye, yes.
[TM] Hm. That's interesting.
[TM] And would any labourers come with the mill
or would you just have to ??
[BM] No, fit we termed it was neeperin, neighbourin.
Ye would gaed tae this body's thrashing, and the next body's
thrashin and they come tae your thrashin, so it wis…
[TM] Cooperative.
[BM] Aye. Uh huh
[JMcK] My mother used tae ging oot tae the thrashin
mills.
[BM] Oh aye, oh aye.
[TM] ??? hired out.
[BM] It was aye women at did a the lousin,
ye ken cuttin the sheaves up on top o them ill afore
it went intae the drum.
[TM] Would they have a special knife for that.
[BM] Yes, eh, o I dinna suppose in those days
they wouldna, but there wis, there wis such a thing like.
[TM] Mm hm. With a hook on it.
[BM] Eh, no eh, ye got een oot, wis normally
jist a, jist a pretty sharp pocket knife that was used really,
but eh, latterly ye did get eens wi a leather band that strappit
roon yer hand let ye get a freer, ony time that I wis
lousin I aye hid the knife and the …
[TM] So then you could grip the sheaf with both hands, you
wouldn't have to worry about dropping the knife. So you would
cut the band and then just spread out the…
[BM] You just cut the band and you handed
it to whoever was, ye see there wis aye two men wi a mill,
one lookit after the engine and the mill, kept ilin the bits
that wis gan roon, and the ither man he wis up feedin in the
stuff, at wis a sort o an art ye ken, he stood and he'd a
fit we ca'd a louser on each side o him ye see, and ye jist
sorta laid em sorta ontae his airm ye see, and he jist spread
it oot and he'd anither een come on fae the ither side and
he'd jist spread it oot.
[TM] Spread it out, just the right way.
[BM] Ken, jist a sorta, jist one efter the
ither ye ken, hardly a break.
[TM] Just with his arms. You never really saw
him do anything special, just working.
[BM] No, no, just practice, just practice
brings.
[TM] Oh he must have had some strong arms to
do that all day. How long did it take to do the whole crop.
[BM] Oh, (pause),
[JMcK] Did ye hae the mill for jist one day,
or two days?
[BM] Oh we micht a hid a, I dinna ken, mebbe
hid the mill for a day and a half mebbe, mebbe a day woulda
daen't. I canna really min because I wouldna hae been very
aul when we got wir ane barn mill, which of course stopped
a that.
[TM] Right.
12
[TM] How about the little bands themselves, how would you
make those for the sheaves.
[BM] Oh now, at wis, at wis an art.
[TM] Even with the binder, you'd have to bind
them by hand.
13
[BM] No, the binder did at for you, wi binder twine. At
wis the knotters job. The thing at threw oot the shaves also
had a device at tied the knots as well, but at that time o
the day ye hid tae ging roon the field first roon the ootside,
fit we ca'd raidin the roads with the scythe. Well ye hid
tae, ye hid tae hand gether a that and bind at ye see wi yer,
ye jist hid, ye jist took up a handfae o the corn, by the
corn end, and ye jist split it in two, and ye, ye ken this
I canna min noo fit wey ye did it.
[JMcK] I had an uncle that came up from London.
[BM] Ye jist sorta twisted in a knot intae
it and laid it doon on the grun and on went, and then ye.
[TM] Just tied up, just twisted in with itself.
[BM] Just give it a twist popped it in beneath
itself, and aye.
[JMcK] Oh we laughed at uncle David, because
he was, I'm nae sure if it was after the war or if he was
home on leave, but he was a Londoner and he'd never done anything
like that and he was working, this was at Aden, and he carried,
he carried binder twine to tie the sheaves because he couldn't
manage this and he just made a fool of him wi his ball of
binder twine and his knife. But it was the only way he could
manage. Laughs.
[BM] It was affa simple like.
[TM] Yes, I'm sure it wis.
[BM] Ye just gied, and at wis it like,
I canna min noo, but, canna really min how it was daen.
[TM] Well I remember my father teaching me to
tie a bow line, just a bowland knot in a rope, and he'd just
go like this and there it would be, but I couldn't figure
out how to do it.
[BM] The same fen ye wis, fen we wis wi the
carryin lorry we'd a been usin, inches ken, on the ropes ken,
there again I canna min fit wey that wis daen, but ye jist
sorta hid a double kink in yer hand, mebbe stickin oot aboot
at, and ye jist took the tow and did something.
[TM] Couple of inches and then twiddle, twiddle.
[BM] Aye, and its, and ye'd a ??????
[TM] Funny how you learn these things.
[JMcK] I learned a these knots in the girl guides,
but I couldnae dae them now.
[BM] Noo, all ma knots are granny knots, except
for when I put on my kilt shoes. Laughs.
[JMcK] Oh yes.
[TM] And then what
[JMcK] Oh there's a carry on when he puts on
his kilt shoes, the ones that lace up the front because he's
tae get these bows up the middle. He can manage it noo.
[BM] Aye, I can manage noo like but it took
a while.
[TM] And can you untie them at the end of the
day.
[BM] Oh aye, they're very simple to untie.
[JMcK] Last wedding wis Calum's weddin.
[JMcK] Calum's weddin, there wis a room full
of people waiting for Bill to check that they had laced up
their shoes properly and eh, Ewan and Calum and ma brother
at's the first time he'd had shoes like that, and then Calum
went to, that's the youngest son, his brother in law came
in, thank goodness he come in because he wisnae sure how to
do his, and he hid on his kilt and it was just an utter shambles,
he hid everything wrong at wis possible tae be wrong, so we
wis pleased tae see him in case we got him sorted out before.
[TM] The kilt was backwards eh.
[JMcK] Almost. He had the sporran tied roon
his waist, and his belt wis hingin doon on top o it, and he'd
split the flashes so that he'd one doon the ootside and one
doon the inside, and his collar was meant to stand up and
he had flattened it doon.
[TM] Yep, everything.
[JMcK] Everything was. But I mean the shop that
hired it oot to him was wrong, I mean they should have seen
that he knew how to wear it.
[BM] Aye.
[JMcK] However, there was quite a dress rehearsal
ere they a got to ..
[TM] ??? who recorded.
[JMcK] Bill's sister,
[BM] Aye, she recorded at een.
14
[TM] Yes of course she would have known it in the notebook
yeah. I wonder where she got it.
[BM] I think at wis een o my grandfather's
[TM] At ???
[BM] I think that wis, if I can min back, at wis anither
een that I used tae sometimes hear him singin bits o.
[JMcK] It wis, it wis a strange feeling, just
months after Bill's sister had died, it was when we were still
staying in Mintlaw, and the television was on but I was through
in the office, Bill wisnae there and the boys would be in
their beds, and I wis through in the office for something,
and all of a sudden I heard Jean's voice, and it was a quiz
that was on the TV, and eh, noo I thought fit's this, and
I sorta went running roon. And the question was 'what's the
name of that song', ???? but it was, you know, it was just
hearing her voice you know, the TV was there, and as I say
it was a quiz, it certainly made me, gave me a bit of a shock.
[TM] That would have made you sit up and take
notice.
[JMcK] Yes
15
[TM] It's a beautiful song.
[JMcK] It is a lovely song.
[BM] Hums. I'm nae sure if that's it or no.
[JMcK] That's it.
[TM] Yes, that sounds like it.
[BM] I would hae tae ging ower this because
it's
There lived a lady in the South, you could
scarcely find her marra
She was courted by nine gentlemen and the plooman lad in Yarra
There wis nine o them sat drinkin wine, there wis nine o them
in Yarrow
And their fell oot a great dispute o which should be her marrow.
As they gaed out yon high, high hill and doon
yon glen sae narrow
It's there they saw her true love John, come to fight with
them on Yarrow
There's nine o you and een o me, maks and equal marra
But I will tak ye three by three and I'll slay ye a in Yarra
There's three he slew, and three withdrew and
three lay deadly wounded
Till her brother John came in behind and pierced his body
through
16
Disnae mak sense at like. At line.
[TM] Why not.
[JMcK] Just read it oot.
[BM] Till her brother John came in behind
and pierced his body through. I suppose it could be.
Go home, go home you false young man, and tell
your sister sorrow
That her true love John, is dead and gone in the dowie dens
o Yarrow
As he gaed up yon high high hill and doon yon
glen sey narrow
Twas there he spied his sister dear come to meet her love
in Yarrow
Oh brother dear I dreamed a dream, I fear it will prove sorrow
I dreamed I pulled a red red rose in the dowie dens o Yarrow
Christ it gings on and on and on. Laughs.
O sister dear, I can read your dream, I know
it will prove sorrow
Your true love John lies dead and gone, a bonny corpse in
Yarrow
She run her hands and she tore her hair, wi muckle grief and
sorrow
For well she loved her plooman lad, the fairest for in Yarrow
A, but I'd need tae gang ower that a puckle
of times afore I even try tae record at.
[TM] It's a long one.
[JMcK] It is long isn't it.
[TM] Another couple of verses there as well.
[JMcK] What they ca the muckle sangs.
[BM] Anither three verses in there. In fact
I'd really need tae ging ower at a time or twa afore I could
record at, because ye canna….
[TM] Person to person they change.
[BM] Aye.
17
[TM] On Scarborough's Banks.
[JMcK] ???
[BM] On Scarborough banks, a sailor laddie
dwelled, a sailor?
[TM] A young damsel.
[BM] A young damsel did dwell. She loved a
sailor lad and he loved that lass quite well (hums tune to
himself)
[TM] That's a nice tune.
[BM] I think at's the wey at een goes.
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