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01
[Mouth organ playing. Voices difficult to make out.]
02
[GM] I imagine I'd a been a better player if I listened tae
fit some o the experts'd tell me mebbe ken. I ken I've got
ma limitations, I ken fit I'd daein wrang in lots o things,
lots o tunes, wi the beat and the phrasin and athing, ken,
a that. But it's an affa jab pittin it richt, ken. Laughs
[TM] Ah but you've got your little decorations
you know, between the, between the beats and the trills and
so on. Very good.
[GM] Aye. I'm nae, I'm nae jist eh, as good,
as I should be at it ken. Laughs. The amount o playin that
I dae, I actually should be better at it, but, well. A think
if ye jist enjoy daein it, that's the main thing, and if ye
ging oot and, play ken at competitions and athing, I think
there's jist something aboot it. When you get there on the
day, there's jist, there's jist an excitement gets intae ye.
Ye canna explain really like.
03
[TM] What made you decide to go to that first festival that
you went to, to listen.
[GM] To Keith? Aye, well, as I say, it wis ma
sister and her man liked tae ging tae things like at. And
actually we started aff wi gan tae the accordion and fiddle
club at Boddam. Wi gaed there every month, ken. And eh, we
enjoyed daein at ye see. And then we decided is year that
we would ging up tae Keith and see fit it wis a aboot. We
didnae ken fit we wis gan till, like, ken. But we jist hid
a super weekend like, and that wis jist the start o it. And
we wis jist on the road efter at. Laughs.
[TM] Come all you tramps and hawkers.
[GM] Well aye, at's right, aye. Kinda like,
when the yella's on the broom kind a thing.
[TM] When the festivals are on the go.
[GM] Aye. But it wis jist something well I like
daein and she seems tae like gan tae them and a.
[MrsM] It's getting noo we're getting tae ken
quite a lot of folk, it's fine tae see them ken, every year…
[inaudible].
[TM] Have you had a go at any participating
at all?
[MrsM] Me? Oh, no! Laughs.
[GM] Well she can play is thing jist near as
well as I can!
[TM] uh Huh.
[GM] Aye.
[MrsM] But I'm ???? [can't hear] .
[GM] Aye. She can play is een. I'll throw it
ower, I dae ken if she'll dae it!
[MrsM] ???? [can't hear].
[TM] Well, some dark night when you….
[MrsM] Aye, mebbe, or mebbe if I'd hid a few
whiskies gan up the road.
[TM] Well if playing the trump is rare, women
playing it is even rarer.
[GM] Is that right? I suppose.
[TM] I haven't seen one, and I don't think I've
ever met one.
[GM] Ye dinna often see at.
04
This last, a fortnicht ago
wis it, wis eh, last Heritage, and at wis an open night ye
see.
[TM] Yes, missed that one unfortunately. I was
sick
[GM] And eh, I hid a shot and a play, playin
the moothie and the trump and a'. There wis one lady said
efter, she said, noo are ye passing that on, ye see? And I
says, well I says, I've got three grandchildren and they've
a hin a shot, but it's jist a caper, and it's jist forgotten
aboot again ye see. So I dinna ken if ony o them will, I wouldna
think it like. But they're jist young yet of course. At's
actually them up ere, that's the hale, that's the hale menagerie
up ere. A boy and two girls, grandchildren.
[TM] Well they are probably quite curious about
it, when they hear you playing.
[GM] Oh aye, aye. Aye they like tae hae a shot
when it's, if it's on the go like. It's nae aften on the go.
They dinna seem tae be sae interested in at kinda things,
whit we would like em tae be like. But eh, if they come in
the car wi us, I'll tell ye, the, well especially the two
auldest eens, if they are in the car wi us ye see, which they
often are, we put on a tape, and they like tae here like the
Fochabers Fiddlers, ken they like tae hear the fiddle music,
ken the groups. Fiddle music, Fochaber Fiddlers and the Ythan,
the Ythan fiddlers and at eh, jist fae Canada, ken ??
[TM] ??
[GM] Aye, hiv ye heard em?
[TM] No.
[GM] At wis at, Anderson, Tom Anderson.
[TM] Oh Yes.
[GM] Come across fae Canada, come across last
year and did a tour a roon. You wouldnae hae been here at
time, fan wis at.
[TM] Two years ago.
[GM] Two years wis it. Oh, they were, they were
jist magic like. They brocht their dancers and athing, there
wis jist a group o them, I suppose there'd a been fit, there'd
a been near forty o them, dancers and singers and musicians.
Well, nae sae much singers, nae singin.
[TM] ???
[GM] They did a tour onywey. Scotland, and they
did Strichen and New Deer. And we gaed tae baith o them like.
Laughs. They did a, the een at Strichen wis in the Ritchie
Hall and it wis jist, jist a dance nicht like. And they hid
a band, Dick Black's band. He wis daein dancin and they would
hae taen ower for a session jist tae demonstrate their ane
dancin. And, we'd a great nicht like.
[TM] Did they teach some of their own dances
as well.
[MrsM] Mm hmm.
[GM] Aye. So.
[TM] How about another wee tune.
[GM] Well I'll just play the same thing.
05
I'll dee eh, Fareweel tae Tarwathie. Ye ken Fareweel tae Tarwathie.
At's jist an air, and it's anither tune that eh, I've been
a bit misled wi. Ye ken Willie McGuire. Ye dinna ken the accordionist
Willie McGuire? Well he his a tape and he plays the Chinese,
eh, the Chinese melodian. It's a little wee tiny thing, and
oh he makes a beautiful job o it like. So he plays is tune
and he ca's it 'the laddie wi the plaidie', so I'm jist gan
along wi him, the laddie wi the plaidie. But as far as I can
make oot he's wrang wi that particular tune.
[Plays mouth organ.]
[TM] Where did you pick up ???
[GM] It's on a, it's on a tape…… It's
either Jean Reidpath, or some o that singers at's singers.
[TM] Nice song.
[GM] Oh aye. One o the best. So.
[TM] That was posted to Gavin Greig from South
Africa.
[GM] Was it? Laughs.
[TM] Was a local fellow from Maud who made it
I think, and was out in South Africa and posted, it came to
Gavin Greig and made it into his collection and the rest is
history as they say.
[GM] Who actually wrote it?
[TM] I think it was somebody Milne, maybe John
Milne. Maybe it wasn't John, but he was from Maud.
[GM] See that's anither thing I should be able
tae dae, which I'm nae, is eh staun up and eh, which maist
o them dae, ye ken a lot o that folk at the festival, they'll
staund up at the ??? and they'll staun and they'll put their
haunds in their pooches like and they'll start and tell ye
the hale history a fit they're gan tae dae afore they start
ye see, which you should be able tae dae actually!
[TM] Laughs. It's nice to know some of the background.
[GM] Ye'd hae tae read up aboot it. But that's
anither thing, ye'd need tae hae at at kind a things, is a
laid back approach till it. Which is bloody difficult to do.
Laughs. See, afore I started playin is thing at Strichen,
I'd nivver been on a stage afore, I'd nivver daen onything
in front o a group o folk afore.
06
[TM] Except for the school concerts.
[GM] Well aye, at wis, at wis awa lang, lang
ago.
[TM] There was plenty of other people on stage
as well.
[GM] Well, jist a heap o ye, ye ken. I min at
year we did Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and oh what
a shambles it wis. Laughs. We wis a dressed up, and we'd stuff
underneath wir jersies tae mak big bellies and athing like!
Oh dear me. What a … Oh, folk jist lost it ye see. They
enjoyed it in fun. Same fit we dae oorselves, we've been tae
Fishie, and eh, ken tae at concerts [inaudible]. We've been
doon tae see them. They hiv ???? [inaudible]. Disnae metter
foo they dae, jist kids, jist kids. So
[Laughs.]
07
[TM] One thing I was going to ask you was what about when
you were young. What did people do for hogmanay?
[GM] Well, when we wis at the school, we hung
up oor stockins for hogmanay. I wis one o a faimily o eight
ye see. And ere wis at this, intae like two groups, there
wis four aulder eens and four younger eens. Cause there wis
four o them, had jist mebbe aboot, there jist wis actually
a year atween each een, at wis the four auldest eens. And
there wis a gap o about three year, and then there wis the
four younger eens ye see, and I was amon the four younger
eens, and actually I wis the second youngest. And eh, well
on Hogmanay day, New Year's day, they hid that day aff. They
hid tae ging, they were at their work in the mornin, they
were a fairm servants and fairm kitchie deems ye see.
[TM] This was the farm you were brought up on?
[GM] Aye, it wis a craft actually. And eh, they
didnae get tae come hame aboot mebbe ten o'clock New Year's
day, so at wis, ye jist, I jist min on seein the aul, ye looked
forward tae the auldest eens comin hame for the day, New Year's
day. Hogmanay nicht, it wis mainly jist spent, jist at hame
in the hoose, we nivver gaed awa naewey, ye see there wis
nae cars or things like that. Occasionally we visited a neighbour,
which wis jist doon the road. Occasionally we would a gaen
doon ere on Hogmanay nicht and occasionally they woulda come
up tae us. And I think that's in fact what happened, because
ey year the Buchans come up tae us and the next year we gaed
doon tae them. That wis aboot the stretch o oor Hogmanay,
but there wis nae, we hung up oor stockings on hogmanay.
[TM] Did you ever go round dressed up or?
[GM] No, nae for ??. No, they woulda daen at
in villages ye see. No we didnae dae that.
[TM] No close neighbours?
[GM] Well, ye see, the nearest een wis a, fae
here doon tae the cemetery I suppose, aboot half a mile.
[TM] Do you remember anybody every saying a
rhyme about it?
[GM] Aye.
Rise up aul wife an shak yer feathers
Dinna think that we are beggars
We're only bairnies come tae play
Rise up and gie us wir Hogmanay.
That wis the sayin.
[TM] Would they go to somebody's door, and knock
and say that.
[GM] I canna, I canna min us ever daen at, we
didnae dae it. But they woulda daen it in the villages, I
suppose mainly. At is the rhyme. Rise up auld wife and shak
yer feathers, dinna think that we are beggars, we're only
bairnies come tae play, rise up and gie us wir Hogmanay. Laughs.
[TM] And would they ask for a penny or sixpence
or something.
[GM] Aye, they woulda gotten a sweetie or something
like that, mebbe an orange or epple or something o that sort.
08
[TM] So your older siblings were feed out on local farms.
[GM] Aye, yep. Aye.
[TM] And would they go to feeing markets
[GM] Aye, at wis anither day, market day. We
looked forward tae market dae, because we a gaed tae the feeing
market and come hame wi market, wi market sweeties. And at
wis, at market sweeties wis sort o candy ye ken, stuff like
at.
[TM] Which feeing markets would they go to.
[GM] Maud, Maud. She starts at half past nine
so. But we jist need five minutes to… Aye, it wis Maud,
then they jist, they aye gaed tae the feeing market onywey,
but if they were needin a shift, ye see they hid tae ging.
[TM] Was that finished by the time you were
out of school.
[GM] Aye, aye. I jist hid the, when I left the
school I wis fourteen, and I wis jist, eh, the fairmer come
fae aside far we were bidin, at wis up at Skelmar. And he
asked if I'd ging and work till him. And I said I would ye
see, so there were still, ye still paid every six month. At
wis fae November term tae May term and they still asked if
ye wis gan tae bide on for the next six month ye see, but
there wisnae, the feein markets were stoppet by that time.
At wis 19, woulda been 1945 or something like at.
[TM] Did you ever go to one when you were small.
[GM] No, I niver seen nothin like at. I wis
never taen tae them. I woulda liket I suppose, but it jist
depends on how your father's situation wis. My father, my
father worked at the mart. Well he'd a craft ye see, and he
worked at a farm, the farm, a neighbouring farm which my grandfather
hid. And my father worked there. And every Wednesday he went
tae Maud tae work at the mart, ken herdin cattle, herdin em
intae the ring and things like at.
[TM] And were your parents and grandparents
from that area as well?
[GM] Eh, no. My father's, my father's parents
come fae aside Peterheid. Buckie, Buckie Farm, Peterheid.
And actually ma mother's parents come fae Crimmond, but they
went up tae the Reidhill, eh, well, at's afore I wis born.
My father and mother went up tae the Reidhill, and I wis born
up ere.
[TM] At home.
[GM] Yep, born at home.
09
[TM] One more rhyme. Do you remember one, First comes Candlemass?
[GM] Aye.
First comes Candlemas, then the new meen
That meen oot, and the next meen hicht
First Sunday efter at, at's Pess richt.
Which is Easter Sunday.
If Candlemas day be clear and fair, the half
a winter's tae come and mair.
If Candlemas day be dull and foul, the half the winter wis
past at Yule.
So is year Candlemas day wis clear and fair,
so half the winter's tae come again.
[TM] It has so far.
[MrsM] At auld sayings are pretty accurate some
o them ye ken. Seem tae be onywey.
[TM] Yes, it certainly is this year.
[GM] Well, they're bound tae be richt sometimes
ye see, at's the thing. The la o averages says that they're
bound to be richt sometime.
[TM] Was there a part, first comes Candlemass,
then the new meen. The first Tuesday efter at is Paster neen?
Did you hear that one.
[GM] No, no, no.
[MrsM] What wis that een now?
[TM] First comes Candlemass, then the new meen.
The first Tuesday after that is ???
[GM] First Thursday?
[TM] Tuesday.
10
[GM] Ah, my grandfather woulda
called it Tyesday, and my grandfather ca'd Thursday, Fiersday,
Tyesday and Feersday and Widensday.
[TM] Widdensday.
[GM] And Widensday. A' that ??? auld words are
gone, aye they're gone fae oor memory as well. Words we would
a heard.
[TM] Can you mind on some of them?
[GM] Fegs?
[TM] Fegs, o Guid Fegs? What does that mean
exactly, I know how to use it.
[GM] Fegs. Well o gosh, o golly gosh.
[TM] What about guid losh?
[GM] Guid losh, aye? Losh be hear. At's the
same thing. Fegs. Laughs.
[TM] Very expressive.
[GM] Eh.
[TM] Very expressive.
[GM] Oh aye, aye they were. Fairly gaed ye the
meanin like. Aye, its eh, it's a pity there's a lot o it gone,
but I suppose it's jist progress. There's mair, nae at I've
naethin against them, they spik aboot white settler and a the
rest o them, but I've naethin actually against the english,
it's jist some o them. Laughs. Ye say there's some Scots,
English men would hae the same tae say aboot Scotsman. But
its, ye get a lot o, which ye didnae used tae be, you get
mair English teachers teaching in Scottish schools noo, which
is naething against either, as long as they dinna forget a
the gither, local heritage and culture as they say. Een o
ma best pals, fan I wis in, well it wis the Air Force I wis
in when I wis daen ma National Service, he wis a Liverpudlian.
He wis a really toff o a loon like, we got on great.
[TM] Could you understand him.
[GM] Oh aye, aye nae bother. I actually like
tae hear him, spikkin the Liverpudlian.
11
[GM] Cowal Gatherin.
[TM] Cowalgara?
[GM] Cowal gathering.
[TM] Oh right yes.
[GM] We were ere for oor holidays last year.
Cowal peninsula.
[TM] Never been up there.
[GM] It's the place that there's ceilidh awey
like ken. It disna matter far ye gaed, ere's ye sa bills but
there's gan tae be a ceilidh at nicht, or at wik or something.
So is a…..
Plays mouth organ.
[TM] ??? [inaudible]
12
[GM] There's anither thing at's affa difficult tae get eh,
timing richt, and I appear tae nae hae it richt, because I've
been telt. Ken, normally, usually at type o tune which I play,
which is mebbe a mistake, but is competitions ye see, and
eh,...judge and Willie Fraser, any o them, it says that you
jist hinna got the, the timin jist as he would like it. And
eh so.
[TM] Well Willie Fraser use to be a piper.
[GM] Well at's fit it is, it's is pipers, if
they're a judge and you play at, you've got tae be richt.
And there's anither een at wis judgin last year, Ian Grant
fae Edinburgh, he's a great moothie player and a but he's
also a piper, and he, he put me second ye see last year at
Kirrie, because he said, he says, I jist like tae here played
a certain wey he says, and you're jist nae quite daein it
richt. Laughs. At wis at like, ye see, but I dinna ken exactly,
I dinna ken exactly whit it is, but I seem tae be lackin something.
[TM] Pipers are very particular.
[GM] Especially at type o 2/4's or 6/8's. He
jist said, he says, you'll probably get it, but he says, ye
hinna got it yet. Laughs. Play, nae a the wey, but try and
mainly mimic Will Starr. Have ye heard Will Starr playin Bluebells
o Scotland? Ye ken fit like he does? Well I can dae it sey
far, but then he gings beyond fit I can dae.
[TM] Then it all goes wrong?
[GM] Well, the last, the last bit at he daes
I canna keep in touch wi. But eh, is is a kind a bit that
ye've tae get yersel psychit up for really. Laughs.
[Plays mouth organ.]
[TM] I can see why you have to get up for that.
Quite a lot to remember in that one.
[GM] Well, I've been, I've been.. playin, tryin
tae get at een richt for a lot o years noo. And eh, it wis
aye on is, this bigger een that I played it on ye see, but
eh, I seem tae hae, I dinna ken if it's mebbe because the
notes are mebbe closer the gither, or easier tae span a'.
[TM] Maybe doesn't take quite so much wind.
Laughs.
[GM] Aye, that's true enough, but ye hinna sae
far tae jump fae the, fae the ken…
[TM] Yes, I see yes.
[GM] So it seemed tae work better wi is een.
13
[TM] Well I wanted to ask you about the travelling life.
[JT] Oh aye.
[TM] Because when I was last here, you were
mentioning what it was like.
[JT] That's right. Oh. Well, what's it like
the travelling life, its really a good life and a happy life
on the road and the beautiful weather. And you get plenty
fresh air and you're happy and you feel like singin, great
life. Seein everything green, and the trees green and the
sun glittering, and the birds whistling, you're out all day
and you're getting sunburnt brown, and the horse, ye hear
the horses feet on the road. Beautiful. Lovely life. If, if
I had my mother and father today, I'd be away with them, you
know, travelling the roads, because at's my life. I got, well
we all travellin people like out, that's their way. We live
in a house in the wintertime, in the cold weather, but we
like out when spring comes. Whenever it come March and April
my father always asked us what day was this in March. He used
to say 'what day is this now? Eh. You know what day this is?'
When the month of March came ye see, we says 'oh this is March'.
Hold on what is it? Well, the crows are all building their
nests! He was always anxious to be out travelling and get
the horse on the road.
[TM] And what did the crows building their nests
mean?
[JT] Well, spring was coming in and the summer
was coming in, that meant when the crows was building their
nests that wis the beginning of spring, and when the birds,
well the crows usually build their nests in March. And eh,
and then, April, when April came, it was always April at we
went. We always went out in the month of April and we were
away for all summer, until the school took up and we were
home again for the, for the family, for the kids to get the
school.
[TM] When would that be?
[JT] Well they got seven weeks holidays, and
we stayed out that time. And we really enjoyed it, travellin
the country.
[TM] Where did you go?
[JT] Oh we used to go lots of places. Eh, we'd
eh…. jist all round about the country, travelling. I've
seen us going away up Inverness and eh, seein a the bonny
countryside, it's beautiful. And we really enjoyed it.
[TM] How did you travel.
[JT] Well, with the horse all the time, and
it was mostly a four wheeled lorry, we had, sometimes a float.
You know what a float is?
[TM] No.
[JT] A two wheel cart. Was mostly four wheeled
ma dad had, and a lovely horse. My dad always had a beautiful
horse. We had different kinds of horses, and eh, aye got a
better one and a better one, jist a fine strong horse for
the road. We never run the horse, jist take it's time. And
enjoy the countryside and enjoy, the horse enjoyed it too.
You know, seein the horse jist, ma dad mebbe stoppin and giein
it a drinkie a water, and gie it a feed a grass at the roadside,
and fresh grass and at, and the horsie liked at. And then
ye gie it a suppie corn and at, and they were always well
lookit after. And horse knew, it liket on the road, as much
as what we did.
And we always had a dog, we had a hound dog. And we always
keepet a hund dog for rabbits in those days. I never eat a
rabbit now, but we used to like a rabbit you know, and ma
father aye hid a good dog at could catch mebbe a dizen rabbits
in a night. And then when we landed in this place where we
wis going to stay all night, well sometimes we had a caravan
and sometimes we had a camp. We usually had a caravan and
a camp, for the family, gie ye more room. And eh, we eh, at
night now, when we landed ere, mebbe in the, the supper had
to go on or something, and we had a fire outside, a fire.
And eh, father would ging awa for a bundle of sticks you know,
and mebbe the women would go away for water, a pail of water
and get the cooking done. And the men would come home with
their sticks on their back, a big bundle of sticks, and at,
and kindle a fire. Just great, great life. I wish to god I
was able to go and camp again, I love it. But em, campit in
some bonny places, bonny places. Campit in woods, quarries,
and eh, greens, far eh, people, eh more travelling folk would
be there.
14
[TM] So you would meet in with other folk on the road.
[JT] Well, I remember, was going on a long journey
and was on the road all day, the horse was just takin it's
time. We never run the horse, we give it, we aye thought an
awful lot of the horse, and I had, I loved the horse, I was
aye sorry for it bein on the road so long, you know, and at.
And I was aye thinking aboot the horse being tired, but it
wisnae tired at all. I thought it was tired, it wisnae! A
big strong horse. And eh, we were on the road, a long time
on the road, my god. We gied till a green whaur they campit
and whaur the caravans gaed. My dad loused the horse, and
I wis sorry for the horse. I aye think it wis tired, but it
wisnae because it wis takin it's time a day, jist walkin slowly
on the road, jist walkin. And eh, when ma daughter loused
it and came out of the shafts, there wis a field ower a bittie,
ower on the other side o the place where we were going to
stay all night, there wis a park, a field. It sees these other
horses and is went flying over and nickering out of it, and
he gaed ower and his tail gaed flying and he gaed ower and
fell in wi a the ither horses. It was beautiful to see loupin
the pailin, what a good horse, what a lovely horse. I says,
oh my god, I was sorry for it a day, it's nae tired at all,
horse wisnae tired, it liket company, away in beside the other
horses. And oh my god, I was proud of it, I says, oh it's
jist the best horse in the world, (Laughs), when it jumpet
ower the pailin. I says it's great at.
Oh me, I was feelin sorry a day for it. It wouldnae
tie up at all. My father aye gaed it corn ye see, gied it
plenty food, and well looket after. Sometimes, I aye min on
at. Other times again, I woulda seen mebbe on the road again,
next day mebbe, and eh, on is roads, I dinnae ken far we'd
be going, but on the road we aye liket away till a different
place, see the country a roon, jist beautiful. And eh, well
we come mebbe till a crossroads, god I think I see a caravan
coming. Oh my god. Oh, it's a lot of folk comin on the road
ma. Oh my, I wonder fa it is? Aye. Is line of folk comin on
the road, horses, beautiful horses, caravans, a lot of folk
walkin and at. I wonder fa it is. I min, it wis ma granny,
ma granny and ma aunties, and uncles and a them wis a on the
road. They wis a oot for their holidays ye see. And they hid
their horses and a. Then we got spikkin ye see, and at, and
where are yous goin the night, far are yous gan? Oh, well
we're gan so a place. We'll gang and a. So we a got the gither,
we a lined up and gaed the gither for company. And then nicht
came, settled down, and then wee firie on at night, and it
wis dyin doon the fire, and the men would be a newsin. We're
awa till our beds, kids is a awa tae their beds, ye're listenin
to stories, oh me, the huntin places and a that.
[TM] Do you mind on some of the stories?
[JT] Canna mind. The men used to be telling
us stories, oh, here and ere, we were in wir bed. And then
it wis late aye at nicht that they gaed tae their beds. They
enjoyed the travellin life, a wonderful life, and at, and
so.
15
My father and mother got
old they began to nae manage to go away. They began to get
too old to travel. But we had a horse. We always had a horse.
And my mother, I've a photie of ma mum, I'll hae tae let ye
see sometime, I've a photograph of ma mother feeding the horse,
going up to the stable when she was at home like, we was a
at hame.
[TM] This is in Fetterangus.
[JT] Aye, and she wis up tae stable feedin the
horse, and we'd a white horse, and the horsie's comin ower
till here, runnin ower tae her, it kent ye see, she'd a dish
in her hand wi corn. And the horsie's coming runnin ower till
her, and it kent her. And I've that photograph of ma mum.
And I've anither photograph of ma mum sittin on a horse's
back. The horsie's lying and she's sittin on it's back. Sittin
on it. She had the horse spilet. I loved the horses. And my
mother she could handle a horse, put on the harness and a,
drive the horse and a. I used tae get a lane o the reins,
and drive the horse and a. I liked at, but I would never run
it, I just let it walk, the horsie run, eh walk. Ken it wis
a great life the travellin life, you dae see much o that now,
not down this way, don't see no travellin people at all much.
But I'm proud to be a traveller. They are true and honest
people and they would never, if a stranger was comin in they'd
always give them a cup of tea or something, they'd never see
you going hungry. Nice people, kind hearted tae one another.
And it's funny they always cling to one another and at. When
I, when we stayed in Fetterangus we'd a lot of people come
and visit us, but they're all old now, they're all away.
[TM] Was there ever any trouble with police
or?
[JT] Never, never nae trouble.
[TM] Because you always hear about that.
[JT] They didnae like that, they didnae like
that, they didnae like trouble. No. No, we had a very happy
life, my mum and dad. We'd aye music in the hoose, a big family
and they were a happy, ma mother and father cared for us an
affa lot, cared for their family, and gie them plenty of fresh
air, that's the wey they gaed out in the summer time for to
give the kids good health for the winter. Ye see, gie them
plenty fresh air, get plenty fresh air, and you're toned up
for the winter. It's good for you fresh air, so I'm nae takin
enough o fresh air getting out, that's fit's adie wi me, I'm
nae gan oot enough see.
16
But when the summer time
comes, I'll got out mebbe a lot, get more fresh air, see.
But I've been ill this winter and last winter I wis ill and
a. But eh, I hinna forgotten about the travelling life, I
enjoyed it very much.
[TM] Was it tents that you slept in?
[JT] Eh?
[TM] At night, did you sleep in tents?
[JT] Well, yes we would hae a bell camp, a big
bell camp, plenty room, and we hid wir caravan.
[TM] So you would sleep in the caravan sometimes.
[JT] Aye, uh huh, oh aye, we did wir cookin
in the caravan and a, we hid a stove in't an a. And we hid
a light. Nae electric, jist a tilly lamp or something like
at and at, and eh, my goodness aye.
17
They used to camp in Mintlaw,
once on a day.
[TM] Where was that?
[JT] It, you called it an old road there, Bogie's
old road, you called it. But I don't know, I nivver see that
road now, mebbe houses built, I don't know. But we used, we
campet here too. A lot of places you used to camp in. A place
you called the Ythanside. At's anither place we used tae camp
and a. I would like to see where ma father used to pearl fish,
and at's eh, aside Methlick, and if I could get a photograph
o the brig where ma father and mother, at's the last time
I was out wi them. My mother and father took us out eh, Billy
my son was only little boy at at time, and at wis on a Sunday,
and ma dad says, I think we'll go out to Methlick today and
we'll have a day out and go to the water see. So they took
me with them and eh, Billy when he wis jist a little boy,
he'd a been aboot four or five at at time. And I've never
forgotten that. And eh, we started fishin in the water, ma
mother and father, and I wided the water. I couldnae pearl
fish. And they used to go Ellon and pearl fish on a there,
ma dad. And eh, we were jist kids and we followed them up
the water side, see. Followed ma dad, ma mother wis through
town, mebbe selling her…
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