Stories_from_Sollas Transcription

[AM:] = Archie Morrison
[MM:] = Maggie Morrison
[TC:] = Tracy Chipman

[AM:] A soldier that was in the Crimean War... he was called John the Soldier. I remember about the soldier, he was wounded, I think it was the Crimean, that war I don’t remember right. He had the bone of the eyebrow cut off, that was kept in a silk handkerchief to go into the coffin along with him when he would be buried. And he had an honour, by saving the [fort/?], he could produce his sword at anytime, an honour from royalty, the king I suppose. At the time of the Clearances, he was going to be evicted along with the rest. While he was waiting for the [XX] lawyers coming and so on to clear them out, to clear them out of the house, himself and his family. And he had this overcoat on and he was fully-armed with the sword, and he just showed them the sword. 
“Come off that road,” he says, “Come off that track, or I will make widows of the wives of every one of you.”
They bypassed him and he was taken to court in Lochmaddy because he was, you know, against them. And the sheriff asked him:
“Did you produce a sword to these people when they tried to enter your house?” And he says,
“I did, and I’ve got full permission to produce it in any public place, and as a matter of fact, it’s here and your head will be the first one if I’m cleared out.”
He said that to the sheriff. Oh, he could do it because he was decorated in the Crimean War. So he was never evicted, he was never put out. Another version of this story that I heard in Creagorry, Benbecula from Mr MacKenzie, a retired minister was the same in the essentials but added the fine detail that the Crimean hero was always called ‘Iain Saighdear’ – John the Soldier. ‘Iain Saighdear’ had strutted to and fro brandishing his sabre along [XX] thickness of the walls of his black house, a favourite place for householders to sit, and take their ease, that he had said:
“I would never put the sword back in it’s scabbard but it was running with blood.”
Considered as a story, it’s a grand legend of triumphant defiance. He was always at this legend, this man. [...] But triumphant defiance, considered as history, it was riddled with total [XX]. If the war in which Iain Saighdear had done heroic things was the Crimean War, it would have been a queen, not a king, who awarded the honour, and it cannot have happened during the Clearances, the Crimean War by five years, he’s doubting everything.
[TC:] Yes he is, oh I don’t want to hear anymore of him. I want to hear about you.
[AM:] No, he’s not of very ... important. He was writing a book for money, that was about it.
[TC:] Aye, I’m not into that.
[AM:] And, oh there were tales of MacCodrum but there was more of it in poetry. I used to have that book but it’s out of print now. But this Willie Matheson, he was a... in the School of Scottish Studies, he was in fact a minister for a wihle, then he entered the School of Scottish Studies and he had, oh he had a lot of talk. In fact, there’s a book about Willie Matheson ... but that’s about the clans, you know, and the relations of this and that and the MacRuries and the MacDonald and ... but where is it I couldn’t put my finger on it at the moment.
[TC:] Och that’s alright, that’s alright. I’m not so much interested in the family history.
[AM:] No, no.
[TC:] I’m more interested in just the stories that have been passed down…
[AM:] Passed down?
[TC:] About so and so, and such and such, and about this happening and this happening.
[AM:] Oh, happenings like that.
[TC:] Yes, aye, and the manadh, second sight. Foresight, when there’s a premonition, aye.
[AM:] Aye, oh well.
[TC:] I’ve heard some good ones from Mary [XX] down in Stoneybridge.
[AM:] Oh yes I’m sure, I’m sure. They’re more to that side than we in North Uist are.
[TC:] Aye, are they, aye?
[AM:] That’s what they call, I’m sure you’re a Catholic yourself, are you?
[TC:] No, I’m Protestant.
[AM:] Protestant? Oh well, they say these Catholics, you know, they believe in more than they do down here, I don’t know why. Because the Protestant religion, you know, the ministers and the likes were so far against this, the second sight and… that it was just a fairytale, as you would say. And then about the [dwarfs/?] in the hillocks, called sìthichean, in my days they would be telling you about these sìthichean, they were in this hillock and that hillock and all that and… a woman that, I’m sure you heard that in South Uist too, a woman who heard the music and she went with her cattle…
[TC:] No, I didn’t.
[AM:] And uh, when she went to the cattle, where the cattle, she heard the music in the hill and she went over to the, this, she saw a wee hole and she went in there among the fairies. And she was there for 20 years, and she thought, when she came out, that she was just for a day in there. Because,and they gave her the job of making baking, and they told her to... every time what she left over had to be put back into the meal chest. But, oh well she could never get out, because it was returning to the meal chest all the time... But, oh perhaps I’ve got the story the wrong way. She went out to bake and also [XX] scones and the likes, but the old man that was in, the others were out:
“You put it back,” he says, “into the meal chest, what’s left over, and you’ll soon get out of here.”
And that’s what happened. And when they came home, she was away. And she thought she was only a day away from home, and she was for 20 years in that hill. [...] Very difficult to believe these things.
[TC:] Och aye, aye, but it’s fun. It’s interesting to see what people come up with and... aye, you wonder what the kernel of truth was in that one.
[AM:] Eh?
[TC:] You know, what was the kernel of truth? Because every story starts somewhere.
[AC:] Yes, yes, starts somewhere. Oh, perhaps that was a story where somebody that was a baby, well not a baby but year old, years, that wouldn’t sleep and they would tell the story and the baby would be away, as they say, away with the fairies. But as for MacCodrum I haven’t that much about him at all, if I had the book, you know…
[TC:] Aye, well that’s alright, I can come back sometime too.
[AM:] Yes.
[TC:] I’ll be back, I’ll be here until the end of July.
[AM:] You’ll be here until the end of July?
[TC:] Mhm.
[AM:] I don’t know where I could find that book at all. [SMALL CLIP REPLAYS] That book was uh… it was a dead thing, you know.
[TC:] Oh aye. Who wrote it?
[AM:] Pardon?
[TC:] Who wrote the book?
[AM:] Well it was this William Matheson I was telling you about from the School of Scottish Studies in 1936, he had his... he was going to college, and he was seven weeks, he had seven weeks to [do up/?] and he was cycling up to South Uist for… did you ever hear of that…? Oh, that was a great story teller, Duncan MacDonald of Penirine. 
[TC:] Yes aye.
[AM:] Yes, and his son was a bard, Donald John, he died recently too.
[TC:] Yes aye, I saw his house today.
[AM:] Eh?
[TC:] I saw his house today.
[AM:] Yes, it’s a pity he wasn’t, you weren’t here…
[TC:] I know. Late.
[AM:] Ohh, you would get a lot from him.
[TC:] Aye.
[AM:] There’s another fellow there, MacMillan, he’s got a lot of stories.
[TC:] Where’s he?
[AM:] Eh?
[TC:] Where does he live?
[AM:] Did you see him?
[TC:] No, I don’t know, is he South Uist?
[AM:] Aye.
[TC:] MacMillan? No, I haven’t seen him.
[AM:] What’s his name? But MacRury will know if you see him.
[TC:] Is there a Hugh Matheson?
[AM:] Eh?
[TC:] Hugh Matheson?
[AM:] Oh, in Baleshare? [Ruairidh/?] [XX].
[TC:] I haven’t seen him yet, but I’ve heard that he might have a few stories.
[AM:] Oh yes he could have a few stories.
[TC:] And I went to see, uh, Donald Ailick MacIsaac yesterday, up in Kirkibost.
[AM:] Oh aye, he has got a lot of stories.
[TC:] Aye, but he has a hard time remembering. You know, he’s not feeling well, he was having a hard time remembering.
[AM:] Oh no, he’s just a cripple now.
[TC:] Yeah, he’s having a hard time.
[AM:] He’s just a cripple. Donald Ailick was in the war and he’s got rheumatics and oh...
[TC:] Yes.
[AM:] But about Jessie of Balranald, she had, well I’m sure MacRury has… I’m telling her about Jessie of Balranald.
There was a crowd from Skye, the stalwarts, and they took the mast out of the boat and rammed the front door with the mast. Up they went and they were tying them up, the servants and everyone that was … they tied them up, you know. Even the guns were out, but they never killed anybody. And he took her out of bed, she was sleeping with her uncle’s wife, that was the bed she got. He took her out of there. But a maid was, a maid in the house gave them the information, I think she was from Skye herself, and … she gave them the information about Jessie, where she slept and all. And there were eight, eight stalwarts from Skye that took her down to the boat and away they went. They went away this time and married, I think, in Glasgow, and went to Astràilia. They landed there, they landed in Astràilia and one day – she must have been a beautiful woman – one day one of the Maouris came round with a pony and she was in on her own, and he ran away with her. But this Donald was, there was a maid in the house and he said:
“Well, which way did he go?” And she told him that he went that way, and he went the other way, and she was... she was in front of him on the horse, and he lifted his gun and killed the Maouri outright, and she, in his arms. And he got her that time. So that was the end of that story. Some people were saying that they saw their grandchildren in … but I wouldn’t give two hoots for that!
[TC:] They saw their grandchildren?
[AM:] That they saw their grandchildren of them in Astràilia.
[TC:] Oh aye, aye.
[AM:] I’m under [XX] here... I’m under [XX] here, because...
[TC:] Is this, is this him? Is that the man?
[AM:] That’s the man, Craig. David Craig, he was born in Aberdeen, 1932. Now seems to come with the writer Anne Spillard. He teaches Creative Writing at [Lancaster/?] University and has published books of poetry and fiction.
[...]
[TC:] Oh, that’s a lot Maggie.
[Discussion about tea break]
[TC:] Have you ever heard of the ... 
[AM:] St Bernard in Nova Scotia
[TC:] Oh, it’s beautiful.
[AM:] 1920, the last inhabitant of Pabbay in Harris. He must have been an Englishman. That was the last resident in Pabbay, that’s an island just of the Isle…
[TC:] Aye, I know it, I know Pabbay. Haven’t been though. Going to go to Berneray next week.
[AM:] Oh yes, it’s very easy, very easy to go to Berneray once you get to the jetty. That’s Betty Fraser, Gartymore, about 1910, evicted from Costly, Kildonan in [1819/?]. Minnie Campbell, Gills, evicted from Grummore, Strath Naver, 1819. Tarskavaig, in Skye, in 1931. That’s the crofts of Skye. Eviction Lochmaddy, North Uist, in 1891. Crofters’ kitchen room in the old style in Lochboisdale. Crofters’ living room in the new style, Callanish in Lewis. Isn’t that funny?
[TC:] Where did you live before you lived here in [Struan/?]?
[AM:] Oh I lived down in [Milkwater/?], another area just down...
[TC:] In a wee, in a wee croft? In a cottage?
[AM:] Oh well it was a… a house just like the, the old-style house from 1930. Very like Donald MacRury’s.
[TC:] Aye, right, aye.
[MM:] Archie, what was I going to say? No but, do you take milk and sugar?
[TC:] Aye. Just milk please.
[MM:] Milk alone?
[TC:] Aye.
[MM:] Did you [XX] eat oatcake ever? A bit of oatcake?
[TC:] Mm, aye. I make really good oatcakes.
[MM:] You do? You’ve–? Oh well!
[TC:] Mm, aye. I love oatcakes.

[BREAK IN TAPE]

James takes me round Lochskipport. James, Seumas takes me round Lochskipport.
[AM:] Oh, skipport aye.
[TC:] His old place.
[AM:] Oh, I remember James MacLeod, he knew me too.
[TC:] Aye, so he said. 
[BREAK IN TAPE]
[TC:] So what time frame was Jessie of Balranald? When did this happen, with Jessie of Balranald?
[AM:] Oh, it must have been before 1849 I would say. I couldn’t say the date at all.
[TC:] Och that’s alright, just kind of the time frame, 1800s. 
[AM:] 1800s, oh yes I’m sure. But Jessie you know was in love with this boy from Skye. And he was in Skye, and he was a… when they were in Skye, when the MacDonald’s of Balranald were in Skye. And he was the factor at that time, in Skye, and he fell in love with Jessie. But this man came to Uist, Patrick Cooper, and he fell in love, she was a lovely woman, and he fell in love with her. And this was the man, he was the factor, they made him a factor so that he would marry Jessie. But this man came from Skye, and they were corresponding all the time. She would rather have this Skyeman than Patrick Cooper. And they went to, they went, they were corresponding anyway, and he said... she phoned him, eh not phoned him but wrote to him or… she got a message to him anyway that they were making preparations for her marriage to Patrick Cooper, and that she didn’t like this and they made the, oh a big do you know with dancing and music and drink and everything. But that very night he was coming from Skye with a boat, and she complained of a sore head and went to bed early. And there was somebody who gave him the information of the bedroom she was in and all and he got a ladder and took her out and they went down to the boat, and took her away. But a gale had blown by this time and they had to land in Rhodel in Harris, and who was in Rhodel at that time but her uncle! And they knew, well, they took her in and she had to sleep that night, she was a prisoner there that night. But he said to her:
“Before the sun sets tomorrow, I’ll be back again.”
And they came back with a boat and 8 or 10 strong men with him, and he managed to know, Jessie had given one of the maids word to meet him. And she went out, the maid, and told him the bedroom and all and then they didn’t know what to do, but they took the mast out of the boat and just rammed the big door in, and then the trouble started. Guns and everything were produced and every man who was knocked down, everyone in the hotel was knocked down and tied, tied there and they took her away again. And they got married in Glasgow, and went away to Astràilia. And some folk were telling that they met their grandchildren in Astràilia.
[TC:] Seadh. Sin agad e.

[AM:] Aye... can you record that to me?
[TC:] Aye, play it back?
[AM:] Aye.
[BREAK IN TAPE]
[AM:] Duine fhoghlamaichte a bh’ ann am MacCodrum na anns an linn anns an robh e beò. Chaidh iad uair dhan Eilean Sgitheanach agus dh’fhaighnich iad... chaidh iad a shuidhe ann a shin agus dh’fhaighnich iad, am boireannach dha, cò as a [XX] imire? Thog esan a ghàirdeannan. Thuirt MacCodrum:
“Cò,” ars ise “as àirde air a’ bhàta?”
“Tha an crann,” ars esan.
Dh’iarr cuideigin deoch an uairsin is thug i dhaibh druthag bhainne. ’S bha MacCodrum a’ coimhead air rud a bh’ air bonn cupa, druthag bheag aig bonn na cupa, is chaidh cuileag ann.
“Oh a chreutair leibideach, thug iad gu bhàthadh thu [XX] gruamach.”
[TC:] MacCodrum?
[AM:] Aye. MacCodrum went to South Uist and this Mac ’ic Ailein, you know the clan… that was the clan chief, Mac ’ic Ailein, and … he went and sent his little boy with half a crown to give to the bard. He saw him coming, and he met him. And he gave him the half crown, and he said:
“Is this all you’ve got?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Well no heir to any estate would give me the last penny,” and [XX] said, “compose a song now for him.” And...
“If you give me just a walk round the garden.”
That would be a big garden you know, along the dyke, you know and on the garden and… he composed the song, just going around that garden: O, Tàladh Iain Mhùideirt, this was John Moidart, Iain Moidart, as they… Tàladh Iain Mhùideirt.
[TC:] Do you know the song?
[AM:] Oh well I’ve got eh…
’S e mo rùn an leanabh ,
’S tu mac oighre Mhic ’ic Ailein ,
Ogha ’s iar-ogh’nam fear fearail
…Oh tha mi, I wish I had it.
[TC:] Seadh. You’re alright.
[AM:] In a book, if I had it. Tàladh Iain Mhùideirt.
[BREAK IN TAPE]
[TC:] [XX]
[AM:] Fear a bha ag ùrnaigh air oidhche stoirmeile.
[TC:] And this is by Patrick…
[AM:] A man that was praying on a very stormy night.
[TC:] Ah, by Patrick Morrison?
[AM:] No it wasn’t, well yes from Patrick Morrison, he…
Bha Gilleasbuig ag innse gu dè, seann rudan a bh’ ann o shean agus cuimhne air leth math aige. Agus cò nise mun duine chùramach a bha seo, thàinig a-staigh dhan chladaich, Cladach Iolaraigh, neo Cladach Chirceboist, na fear dhe na cladaichean sin. Tha ’n t-ogha aige na mhinistear, so ’s urrainn dhomh [...], Mac a’ Phiocair an siud. Tha e coltach gun robh an duine air leth cùramach na bheatha, ’s a rèir mar a chuala mise an tionndadh bha seo, bha e latha ann an Loch nam Madadh, na sheasamh air a’ chidhe. Thàinig [XX] a-staigh dhan chidhe agus bha sgiobair aice, thàinig e chun a’ chidhe. Ghabh e a-nall, far an robh Mac a’ Phiocair agus shìn e a làmh dha. Thuirt Mac a’ Phiocair:
“Chan eil mise gad aithneachadh,” ars esan.
“Chan eil,” ars esan, “cha do choinnich sinn a-riamh. Ach tha mise gad aithneachadh,” ars esan.
“Càit’,” ars esan, “an robh thu air a leithid seo de dh’oidhche stoirmeil?”
Chaidh e staigh dhan…
“Uill, mar a bha e aig Gilleasbuig MacRuairidh. Bha,” ars esan, “an aon duine riamh a thèid ceangal a chur air cruach [...] siabadh.”
“Is dè an diabhail a bharrachd a bha sibh a’ dèanamh san [XX] a bharrachd air a bhith feuchainn leis a’ chruaich?”
Dh’inns an duine e cho deònach dha.
“Bha,” ars esan, “ag ùrnaigh le [luchd/?] na fairge,” ars esan, “an leithid de stoirm.”
“Oh [XX]. Uill bha smachd agamsa,” ars esan, “air [XX] agus chunna mi thu agus aig an toiseach, is dh’fhalbh i far na sgeilig,” ars esan, “nuair a dh’èirich an làn, agus dh’aithnich mi [XX] i an-diugh.”
Bha iad ag ràdh gun tug e dha pàipear chòig notaichean, ’s ann sa cheann a tuath a thachair sin. ’S tha an t-ogha aige na mhinistear chun an latha an-diugh.
[TC:] Are you alright?
[AM:] I’ll give you the English one.
[TC:] Yes.
[AM:] Oh cha robh, bha e na Lochlannaich [XX] tighinn a-nuas, a’ dèanamh fòirneart ri daoine ann an Uibhist. Bhiodh [XX] [a’ sgrios/?] a h-uile beathach a bh’ aca. Bha dà, thàinig am prionnsa a bha seo à Nirribhidh agus chaidh air [àiteachadh/?] air bodha, air cùl Bhàlaigh. Agus fhuair iad a chorp air an tràigh, air tràigh Sholais, agus chaidh a thiodhlacadh ann an [XX] agus ’s ann às a sin a thug iad an t-ainm [XX] Dhòmhnaill [Lear/?], sin an t-ainm a bh’ air a’ phrionnsa. Agus tha am bodha fhathast ri fhaicinn air cùl Bhàlaigh far an do wreckaich a’ bhàta aca.
[BREAK IN TAPE]
Bha Pàdruig ag innse na stòiridh mar seo, Pàdruig Moireasdan. ’S e a’ bheachd a bh’ aig na seann daoine a bha a’ dol às an ceann, cha ghabhadh a chur às. ’S tha mi ag aithris gun robh feadhainn aca air a sin aig [aois mhòr/?] idir, eadhon an-diugh a’ credisinn gun robh na sìthichean ann, agus thug Clann ’icCodruim a bha na [XX]. Uill chan eil fhios agamsa co-dhiù, ach bha iad ag ràdh gur ann dhen mheudachd àbhaisteach tha an sluagh co-dhiù a bha na sìthichean, ach gun robh e buaidh aca gum faodadh iad leigeil le daoine faicinn. Agus seann aimsir a-rithist gum faiceadh an t-àit’ eile agus gum beannaicheadh a dhà dhiubh. Dh’fhaighnicheadh iad dha,
“Ciamar a tha thu gar faicinn?” is nan innseadh e dhaibh gun robh iad ri [siabadh/?], ge b’ e [...] theicheadh iad, na sìthichean, gu bràth tuilleadh.
[BREAK IN TAPE]
[AM:] This is about the fairies.
[TC:] Oh, tell me, what does it mean?
[AM:] Old people you know, and it was very difficult to put them out of their, their you know, they were stubborn. The old people were stubborn, they thought there were such people as the fairies. And some people who weren’t very old too, they believed in them. And they were talking about MacCodrum, in a [XX], I don’t know... and bha iad ag ràdh, dhen mheudach àraid, that they were at the same statute, in height you mean, co-dhiù. The fairies were … they didn’t let people see them, and if you happened to see them, you made something about it. Religion. Any word about religion, then they would ask you, how are you seeing us? And then you said that they were flowing, that they had something on their eyes 
so that they couldn’t see the fairies, but the fairies said that they were flowing, not flowing but air falbh leis a’ ghaoith, away with the wind, that was how they were, aye.
[TC:] What’s that?
[AM:] [...]
[TC:] What’s that one about?
[AM:] This one, this woman happened to go into the fairy knoll.
[TC:] Oh aye, read that. Read that one.
[AM:] Uill bha ’n gnothach cho làidir ga chreidsinn uaireigin ann an Uibhist a Tuath fhèin ’s gun robh iad a’ smaoineachadh gun robh sìthichean a-staigh rathad Hàstainn. That’s… Hàstainn, that’s a big hillock with rocks in Paible, very near the school at Paible, well a wee bit further down the road. And, agus bha boireannach a bha [a’ biadhadh/?] [XX], a’ coimhead a crodh sa mhonadh, looking for their cows in the hills, ag iarraidh a’ chruidh a-staigh a dh’fhaicinn dè bh’ ann. Sa mhonadh chunnaic i cnoc aye, she saw a hillock that was open, and she went in to see what it was. The door closed, ’s cha robh i, she wasn’t going out until she could make scones of every meal.
[TC:] Do you want to, do you want to read it in Gaelic first?
[AM:] De dh’fhuinidh.
[TC:] Aye, start at the beginning in Gaelic and just read it through in Gaelic.
[AM:] Is that on?
[TC:] Aye.
[AM:] [...]
[TC:] Eh? Och aye no, it’s alright, some of the stuff I won’t use it’s just...
[AM:] Uill, bha gnothach cho làidir a chreidsinn uaireigin ann an Uibhst a Tuath fhèin ’s gun robh iad a’ smaoineachadh gun robh sìthichean a-staigh rathad Hàstainn. Bha boireannach ma b’ fhìor a bha a-muigh a’ coimhead air crodh sa mhonadh no ag iarraidh a’ chruidh sa mhonadh, chunnaic i an cnoc a bha seo fosgailte, ’s chaidh i ann a-staigh a dh’fhaicinn dè bh’ ann, an e uamh bheag a bh’ ann. Dhùin an t-àit’ oirre agus cha robh i a’ faighinn a rathad a-mach tuilleadh. Chuir iad a dh’fhuin i agus thuirt an ceannard a bha staigh ann, boireannach:
“Nuair a dh’fhuineas tu na bheil sa chiste seo,” ars ise, “gheibh thu dhachaigh, cha bhi thu fada ris. Agus cuimhnich,” arse ise, “till an fhallaid dhan chistidh,” ars ise, “nuair a bhios tu ullamh fuine, a h-uile uair,” thuirt esan— thuirt ise gun tilleadh, ’s bha i gu bhith mach ann an tiotan.
Agus tha e coltach gun robh i suas ri bliadhna sa chnoc. Bha seann duin’ ann, gu math aosda, liath, a bha i smaoineachadh a bha aois mhòr , agus thuirt e rithe:
“A nighean,” ars esan, “cuin a gheall iad dhut faighinn a mach?”
“Nuair a bhithinn ullamh a dh’fhuine na bheil na mhin sa chistidh,” ars ise.
“Ma thà,” ars esan, “cha bhi thu ullamh dhe na bheil de mhin sa chistidh gu bràth. Ach innsidh mise dhut,” ars esan, “dè nì thu. Agus chan fheàirrde mis’ e,” ars esan, “ach coma co-dhiù, chan eil mi airson thusa bhith air do chumail an seo. Fuine an fhallaid còmhla ris a’ mhin a bheir thu às a’ chistidh airson a’ chòrr dhen fhuine ’s teirigidh a’ chiste.”
Agus seo mar a rinn i. Agus bha seo, latha dhe na lathaichean, bha a’ chiste falamh agus thuirt i ris a’ bhoireannach:
“Dh’fhuin mi a’ chiste,” ars ise. “Tha mi nis a’ falbh agus mar a gheall sibh dhomh.”
“Gheibh thu air falbh,” ars ise, “le mo bheannachd dhut fhèin, ach mo mhollachd do bheul d’ ionnsachaidh.”
Agus dh’fhosgail an cnoc ’s leigeadh a-mach i. Uill, tha feadhainn sa Cheann a Tuath a’ creidsinn gu bheil feadhainn de shliochd a’ bhoireannaich sin air taobh an iar na dùthcha fhathast, ’s gun robh iad ag ràdh gun do lean [XX] sam bith na daoine a bha sin. Tha e coltach gun robh, dè bha sin, cha robh cho math ’s a bha iad gu obair, agus tha daoine a’ dèanamh a-mach gu bheil sin ann fhathast. Oh tha, gu dearbh fhèin.
[TC:] So what’s that one about? It’s about the fairy knoll in Paible?
[AM:] Aye, it was, this woman was over in Paible and she, this is a fairytale. She went for the cows and she saw this opening in the hill, in the hillock, and she went in, and they closed they door. They told her: 
“When you finish baking all that meal in that chest, you’ll get home, and you won’t be long. But every time, what’s left over, you’ll put back.”
And she was like this everyday making, making baking. But this day, a very old man was in and he said:
“Don’t you believe them, you put— what you leave of the meal, don’t put it in the chest or you’ll, or you’ll never get out. But just make it with the rest of the meal.”
And that’s what she did, and this day, the chest was empty, and they opened the door and let her away. And she said in…
“My blessing on you, but my curse on the mouth that taught you, told you.”
And I’m sure became the poor bodach that told her. Shin agad e.

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[AM:] …mu dheidhinn rud a bha glè iongantach sa bhaile seo fhèin. This one happened in Grimsay. ’S ann rom latha-sa bha, before my day, air [Rubh’ an Iar/?], taobh eile a’ bhaile, taobh an iar a’ bhaile. Is bha croitear ann a chaidh [XX] ann am [bò/?] ann an eileanan shìos pìos an caolais. Bha iad a’ dol a dh’iarraidh a’ ghamhainn le àradh. Bha boireannach a bha a’ fuireach leatha fhèin ann am bothan faisg air an taigh, còmhla ri croitear eile a bh’ ann. Bha i aig ceann an taighe ’s iad a’ dol seachad. Bha iad a’ dol seachad leis an àradh. Bha cuideigin a’ bruidhinn rithe a bha an dèidh a bhith staigh san taigh, a’ tighinn a chòmhradh rithe, mar nì iad co-dhiù taobh a-muigh an taighe san dealachadh.
“Oh,” ars ise, “tha iad air falbh leis an àradh a dh’iarraidh a’ ghamhainn,” ars ise, “ach chan ann an gamhainn a bhios air an àradh a’ tilleadh idir.”
Ars am boireannach a bha seo, “Cò,” ars am boireannach, “tha thu bruidhinn air?”
“Gu dearbh, [XX] an àradh.”
“Oho,” ars ise, “bidh fear aca fhèin.”
Thuit fear aca marbh leis a’ chridhe. Mus an tàinig iad sìos idir far an robh an gamhainn, chaidh a chur air an àradh is a chur air ais dhachaigh. Tha e coltach gun robh sin fìor gu leòr.
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[AM:] This was a man that went, that beast, oh he’s a yearling cow or heifer, got bogged in the… And there were two women outside when they passed, and they took a ladder with them to take the beast home, he couldn’t walk after being bogged so long and…
[TC:] He was bogged? Bogged, aye.
[AM:] Stuck in the bog, you know.
[TC:] Seadh.
[AM:] And, one of them, “They’re going down there with the ladder,” said one of the women, “but it’s not the beast that they’ll have on the ladder, but one of themselves.”
There were a crowd of men going down there. And before they reached where the beast was, the man with heart failure, died on the road going down, and they had to turn back with the ladder with the man on it. Eh? And that was true enough.
[TC:] Sin agad e, aye.
[AM:] Shin agad e.
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[AM:] …latha a lainnseadh an Titanic. Aig an àm a bh’ ann a shin, bha mi air tè bhàtaichean Ghlaschu. An Red Breast an t-ainm a bh’ oirre, tè bhàtaichean Burns, a’ ruith eadar Glaschu is Belfast. Bha sinne a’ fàgail Ghlaschu feasgar seo mu leth uair an dèidh a seachd, a’ tadhal air Prince’s Pier. Bha tòrr air bòrd ann a shin, bhiodh iasg glè thric, bogsaichean èisg. An dèidh [XX] [dealachadh/?] a dhèanamh aig Prince’s Pier ann an Gourock, bha sinn a’ falbh gu muir. Bhithinn a’ tadhal ann am Belfast, a’ dol a-staigh dhan chidhe … a h-uile latha. Latha bha seo, bha [drithleach/?] mòr ann, bha iad a’ lainnseadh an Titanic. Am bàta iongantach a bha seo. Chìamaid bhuam i mar gu biodh tùr mòr de chaisteil, suidheachadh anns an robh sinne ag obrachadh air a’ bhàta, nuair a bha sinn ga nighe sìos sa mhadainn, bha sinn an uairsin a’ gabhail biadh sin fhèin is bha an còrr dhen latha againn gu ceithir uairean feasgar. Dh’fhaodamaid a dhol dhan leabaidh neo a dhol a [XX]. Nuair… nuair… nuair a ruig i ceithir uairean feasgar, bha sinn a’ tighinn a dh’obair a-rithist a’ cur suas bùidh. Dealachadh ann an stàlaichean oir bha mòran de chrodh aca ri chur a-nall a Ghlaschu à Èirinn. Is bhiomaid ann a shin gus an tigeadh an crodh air bòrd.
Bha iad air a cheangal, dual air choireigin de ròp a chur fo na h-adhaircean, na [h-amhaichean/?], ’s na srònan aca gus nach fhaigheadh iad a bhith a’ sabaid ri chèile, an fheadhainn air an robh adhaircean, ’s an fheadhainn nach robh. Bha an lainnseadh an Titanic, cha deach duine dhan leabaidh neo gu tì, bha sluagh mhath uile a’ tighinn sìos gu cùl na h-aibhne, b’ e sin an taobh air an robh sinne dhen abhainn, cuideachd ’s ann air an taobh, mu ar coinneamh, a bha an gàrradh-iarainn far an deach ise a thogail. Agus, ’s ann fhad ’s a bhiodh i a’ slideadh a-mach [...]. Bha i cho tiugh, ’s a b’ urrainn dhi bhith mu choinneamh ’s a bha, sìos taobh na h-aibhne, ’s bha a h-uile duine a bh’ air bòrd shìos an siud cuideachd. Feadhainn againn, a dhà neo trì siud, ’s a dhà neo trì seo, neo trì an àit’ eile. 
’S bha iad air a bhith ag obair [XX] son greis mhath de dh’ùine, a’ cluinntinn glagadaich taobh eile na h-aibhne agus a’ faicinn gluasadan sluagh, ’s mòran de shluagh air gach taobh dhen a’ ghàrraidh a bharrachd air na bha a-staigh ann. Duine sam bith a-staigh a dh’fhaicinn bàta a chur dhan mhuir. Ma tha caraid agad a chur obair a-staigh sa ghàrradh co-dhiù, cha diùltadh duine sam bith, gheibh e a-staigh a bhean ’s a theaghlach. Chuala sinn an-seo, am Beurla, “there she goes, there she goes.” Bha e dìreadh a’ chiad [XX] son a dhol dhan seirbheis airson a [XX] i. Bha dà bhodach bheag Èireannach, fear aca cho mòr ’s nach robh iad [XX] na mo shùilean dheas. Bha an companach ann a bha an taca ris, air an taobh a deas dhe, pìob a chuireadh [XX] na bheul. [...]. Chan eil cuimhn’ agam dè seòrsa clò, ’s e clò a bh’ anns na seacaidean a bh’ orra, ge b’ e dè bh’ anns na briogaisean. Bha am bàta sin cho sèimh ’s cho brèagha ri dad a b’ urrainnear [XX], bha an sgiobar aca gun fhaicinn.
Chaidh i dhan mhuir, chuir na cuideaman stad oirre, chuir i stad mòr nuair a bha i air float, ach thionndaidh am bodach beaga a b’ fhaisge dhomhsa dhe chompanach, thug e a phìob às a bheul is thuirt e mar seo:
“Mark my word, Pat,” ars esan, “she’ll be an unlucky ship.”
’S bha sin an Titanic, b’ e siud an latha a chaidh a lainnseadh agus anns a’ bhàta againn fhìn, b’ e siud an còmhradh againn son làthaichean – dè chunnaic am bodach? Saoil an robh ’s ciallta aige? Agus an robh toinisg aige mun rud a thuit e ri chompanach?
“Mark my word, Pat, she’ll be an unlucky ship.”
’S ann mì-shealbhach a bha i.

[BREAK IN TAPE]

[AM:] Just a short story about the Titanic. And I was in one of the Glasgow boats, the Red Breast was her name, and she was one of the boats of the Burn’s Company running between Glasgow and Belfast. We were leaving Glasgow in the afternoon, about half past seven at night, at Prince’s Pier and we took on board all the what we wanted of fish, boxes of fish. And after we left Prince’s Pier in Gourock we were going … to the pier in Belfast before the day would break.
And this day there was an awful commotion, the Titanic was being launched and we could see her, like a big castle on the other side of the river. And the way we were working on this boat, we had to wash her down in the morning and then go to our breakfast, and then we were off for a while. We could go to bed and we could go, go into town. And we were putting up some [buoys/?], and oh in these days they were taking a lot of cattle over from Ireland to Glasgow. And we had to put up these stalls, you know, and put a rope on the stalls so that the cows… to keep them separate from the ones who had horns, and the ones who had no horns.
And, but this day, they were launching the Titanic, and nobody went to... we all went ashore, nobody went to bed that day, and we were down there seeing the launching of the Titanic. And, you could get, there was a lot of... a lot on the pier where the boat was built and we were just waiting so she would go, but… a h-uile duine a bh’ air bòrd shìos ann a shiud a’ faighinn, what I was saying was every one of them was up there. And we were waiting in a minute in silence, hearing the last stages of the boat being built. And then we heard, we heard in English, “there she goes, there she goes”. Bha i [XX] a’ chiad [XX] aic’. That was her first moment. Dol gu seirbheis airson ’s gun [roinneadh/?] i. For… for the sea.
Now two old men from Ireland were beside me, one of them was nearer me, and the other one was just on the other side, no, the two of them were on the one side to eachother. And one of them was smoking a clay pipe and they had a [XX] hat on, the two of them, and they were looking at the… some tweed, they had tweet jackets on. And the boat went anyway, lovely sailing down until she, they pushed her off the thingimy to, till she went into the sea, and then they stopped her. And one of the old men said, he took his pipe out of his mouth and he said:
“Mark my word, Pat, she’ll be an unlucky ship.” 
And, bha i sin, an Titanic. This was the day she was launched. And we were all talking about this, talking every time of what the man meant, and we’d always talked about this, this was our subject for days. And, aig an robh toinisg, was that man meaning what he said or was he out of his mind when he said that?
“Mark my word, Pat, she’ll be an unlucky ship.”
And that was how she was, an unlucky ship. The Titanic.