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01
Eh, Ian, he's pipe major o the ????. Ian's fifteen year older
than Gordon ye see. Aye, so eh, pipin came up after at ye
see, in the, since the war pipin really developed and they
started teachin pipin up at schools up er as well, but during
the 30's there wis nothing. No, very very poor. There wis
only big Davie. The Turriff band tried to do somethin ye see,
and the great Robertson, that wis the first tutor at Ian had
at Turriff was James MacDonald, James Robertson, the janitor
at eh, at Banff Academy. He wis retired er at time and he
wis in the Gordon Highlanders and wis captured at Mons.
[TMcK] He was the one that wrote 'Farewell to
the Creeks'?
Yes, aye. And he, he wis a tremendous piper
and a judge, and writer of pipe music, and eh he was taught,
that wis the sort o thing, the thing they were taught in the
army in his young day. They were very strict in their, in
their teaching, in their writin o music and the ways they
hid wi music. He wrote the first twelve tunes at Ian had,
he wrote em out ower wi a quill pen, this wis how they were
taught ye see, and very nicely embellished and beautifully
done in scroll you know, at is wis the first at he presented
Ian with. But Ian wis only there 9 month ye see, he went back
and fore wi the bus fae Fyvie, but Mr Robertson took ill and
died, he must have been approachin, 79 I think he wis, aye.
But he wis a tremendous man and eh, fan the Germans took him
prisoner he wouldn't work for em, they imprisoned him aboot
two year, very frugal food and everything and I think they'd
tae let him home in the end, he went away tae nothin near.
But he wouldn't do a thing, they imprisoned him away from
the rest and still he wouldn't do a thing. He wis jist that
type o man. It's all in the Gordon's, ye'd get that information
in the Gordon's history actually aboot Jimmy Robertson
02
[TMcK] Were you in the army yourself?
No, I was in the airforce. I joined up in, see,
everybody hid tae, when ye approached 18 in that particular
year, there wis nobody got any deferment for any, say farm
work ye see ye got deferred if ye wanted, but that particular
age group in 1943, they winted them all, there wis no deferments
at all. So I was being called up intae the Gordons, and eh,
I went away and joined as a wireless operator, air gunner
ye see. I thought that was more exciting, in the Air Force
and eh, I was let down, I got a ma, I got a ma signals training
which took near nine month, but they pulled me out for eyes
ye see, ma left eye wisnae quite good enough, still nae good
enough, never was. So I was givin planes their bearins, went
abroad as far as France, at wis nine month at Lyons and various
places. Gien planes their bearins on hill tops an at ye see.
03
[TMcK] So what age did you first left home?
Well I left home eh, actually, for the air force
ye see. I wis at home up to that point
[TMcK] Were you still in school?
No, I wis, thocht the greatest thing on earth
was to leave school at 14, at wis the leavin date fan I wis
a boy, leave school at 14 and gied right on tae the fairms
and what better than work at hame ye see. And I wis jist treated
wi the same discipline as the fairm workers wis afore me ye
see
Did your father have hired men
Aye, he aye hid two ye see, a foreman and a,
and a loon. Then he did a lot o work himsel, though he didnae
lift anything, he, my father poo'd neeps, he did everything
possible, he rose in the mornin and he gied, acted as the
baillie himsel ye see, the baillie fed the cattle, he give
them their turnips and their eh, and their stra and the like
o me, fen I started ye see there wis anither loon fan I wis
there, there wis anither loon tae help me, and eh, we mucked
oot the beasts ye see onto a big midden up a hill, up a brae.
And ye got quite, ye enjoyed is ye see, this is fit the young
generation's missing, a this enjoyment o work and activities.
Oh, my god, ye wis never short o work, at at time ye never
even got Saturday aff, there wis no Saturday off. And eh
Were the hired people in a chaumer
Aye, a chaumer, the foreman and the loon ye
see, in fact I was in the chaumer an a ye see, I wisnae in
fair enjoyed it. There wisnae, in the summer evenins there
wis quite a lot o leisure activities, playin fitba an at ye
ken.
04
And the local minister used to come roon in the winter time
and rope ye a in for something ye see, he required plays an
at and we aye gied tae the dancin classes in the winter time.
Which wis a mannie biket oot seven mile or six mile fae New
Deer tae Millbrakes Hallie, the hallie's still there, and
he wis an endearin character at Craigheid, he wis postie er
and he did a good shot ??? ye ken, and files he, he he wis
never unable tae play the fiddle, he played the fiddle unaccompanied
ye see, and he wis a very smart man, ramrod straight back
and I'm sure it must have been army service at did at ye ken,
because eh well, a lot o that, yon dancin in the army, taught
dancin in the army tae ye see, a very smart dedicated man,
and he'd quite a bit o humour tae, but every now his patience
snapped ye see because we wis qypin aboot maybe and he'd a
gien ye ower the heid wi his bow ye see.
And some o thon
lads ye see, they were no use, they come er maybe every year,
we gied there every year anyway for a fun ye ken, and meetin
a the quines an at it wis great fun, and eh, it wis something
to do on the winter nichts and you enjoyed it. And you'd a
big class, sixpence a lesson he took, and quite an endearin
character. And then fan the end o ball, he'd aye an end o
term maybe every three month, dancin ye see. He'd an end o
term ball. At that time there wis a big vast population, they
turned out in their, o literally swamped the place ye see.
If there wis a dance on. And you'd old Bill Rennie, a local
man on the cornet and eh, somebody on the fiddle and maybe
ma mother on the piano, and there they went, hammer and tongs.
And eh, of course he'd the delicate figure o eights ye see,
he'd a this genteel ways o doin the eightsome reels and the
quadrilles and the lancers, all this fancy ways of doin which
was rapidly forgotten aboot fan everybody …????…
thegither wis fantastic. But of course Willie, as I say, he
died quite a young age and kept very much till himsel. He
didnae ???? himself at the final do, you could dance any way
you liked, and Bill, Bill, eh that eh Bill Rennie, wis the
local character, he hid a place at Lethenty, he fairmed in
Lethenty and he ran a local dance band, he hid nivver aye
the same folk ye ken, he nevver a set people at played for
him, wis aye different folk played for him, but they enjoyed
themsel. And eh, Bill likit a nip tae in a function o at kin,
and he woulda, he woulda played is eh is cornet ye see, but
he missed oot, missed oot great bits far the ither boys woulda
fiddled awa ye see and then he woulda jined in anither bittie.
I dinna think he wis fit tae play a the time bit he aye jined
in wee bitties. But eh, ye'd tremendous characters roon aboot.
05
Wir local postmaster, he wis, he wis 9 year in the Gordon
Highlanders through, lang afore the Boer War, and through
the Boer War, ??? Allan. And aye fin he hid a dram in he would
a refer tae the Boers or something ye see. And he would be
makin a speech, I remember he wis makin a speech one day in
the, in the hall, introducin people an at and ye see a beer
bottle had burst roon the back, wis a big bang and he says,
never look, a good soldier never looks behind when he hears
a shot, this wis ??? Allan. And eh he, I used tae aye stop
wi him when I wis at the school. He hid a wee sheddie on the
road hame. I hid aboot a mile o moss road tae ging throu the
nearest to oor farm ye see. And I used tae aye stop wi Allan
noo and again, he'd a been smokin his pipe and he'd a telt
ye aboot the auld days. He wis in, he wis at Ladysmith ye
see, the whole year, they were beseiged at Ladysmith by the
Boers. And eh they were down tae eatin, they et a their horses
at wis left and even eten rats he says in the end. But they
were relieved ye see after a year and, and eh they didnae
suffer a lot o casualties fan they were, fan they were there,
they were jist out o the way, they couldna get oot and that
wis aboot a. Aye, he wis een o this characters.
06
And the point that I'm eh, the point that I'm secretary o
the Gicht Games Committee, now Gicht games had a flourishin
games until the war, and then they hid one after the war as
far as I ken, they'd mebbe two I canna min. They hid is een
efter the war onywey, but Allan was retired er at time. And
eh, that een, in aboot 1938 he got affa foo, he got affa foo,
and eh, there wis twa lads fightin jist at eh, at eh, outside
the hall, they'd a big marquee dance ye see tae finish aff,
and at wis at the height o summer at at time in June ye see,
and eh, well June or July I canna min the date now. But ye
see it wis complete light near at midnight ye see and this
twa lads started fightin and he says, halt, stop er I go over
and stop is fight, and this man at wis wi him, Sandy Philip,
said I heard a smack an at wis Allan laid out! [Laughs.]
07
And at's anither great character, Sandy Philip, had a farm
at Blackhillock and his father wis a whaler captain out o
Peterhead. And he wis a tremendous strongman at Philip's father.
He put doon a mutiny on his ship aparently, awa in eh, eh
at wis awa on the Arctic circle of course. Hard times. And
he also succeeded upending Donald Dinnie at the, at the wrestlin.
Aye, there wis a wrestlin ye see at at time, and he competed
at Mintlaw Games and he upended Donald Dinnie, so he must
a been a strongman. But eh, Allan, Alec Philips himsel he
came oot o Biffie o Mintlaw that Philips as far as I ken,
and eh he'd a tremendous knack o tellin gory stories, a terrible
man for telling stories and eh emphasised wi a stamp, he lost
a finger.
…And I heard a scream and here wis a boy holding on till
a rat up his leg, he was lowsing he says, and there wis a
rat up his leg and it had bitten him ye see. And o course
they got at rat despatched onywey and that boy had lasted
bit a few days ye know he died.
08
And is wis big black rats, that had, they'd been seen leavin
a ship at Peterhead. He went like is ye see. They'd been seen
leavin some Algerian ship at wis unloadin slag er ye see.
And anither een wis aboot a mill had been at eh, somebody
had slipped intae the mill ye ken, and you know that jist
lost his legs I suppose. And you know this, this wis the kind
of stories he had us enthralled, we wis only young bairns
ye ken. And he says he came out like bitties o mince among
the corn. And he'd nivver a smile on his face and he wis,
he wis, the wey he emphatically laid it off ye see, and always
in the English, I don't know why he changed his, I mean his
folk were pure Scotch a their times, but he pit this intae
English. Dramatic, he wis very dramatic wi it.
And there
wis anither een, far he telt me at he wis, at the, he wis
called on by this doctor at Old Deer at midnight, it hid tae
be at midnight ye see, and I had to hold this poor fellow's
head and he chopped out all his teeth, it was lockjaw that
wis wrong wi him. [Laughs.] It's jist bizarre tales, is is
fit wey Sandy went on. And the poor fella well he retired
fae at place, he lost his, his nepha wis taken awa tae the
war, all that lads at wis eh 20 in aboot 1938 had tae volunteer,
they hid tae put their names down ye see, in the Territorials.
And as soon as the war started of course, they were a called
up. Since eh, he lost him, the fairmin kinda deteriorated
he wisnae quite able, he aye hid a loon aboot the place but
at's aboot a. And he took awa, the boy came back aricht like,
he survived the war and Sandy selt the place, and last time
I sa him wis years later, must have been twenty year later
and I hid a motor car, and I think I was maybe awa fae the
place er at time, I wis comin up the Waterside at eh Methlick,
and he bought Waterside Croft which is a prominent building
painted white. If you go up to Gicht grounds from Methlick
ye'll see it on the top o the hill jist at the on the ither
side tae the ???? on the Little Gicht side. And he wis retired
there and I stopped wi him and he's eh, he'd aye a brilliant
black moustache, waxed you know and a fine black heid o hair,
and it wis aye fite ye see, athin wis pure white on Sandy
noo. And I got newsin tae Sandy aboot his stirkies an at he
did and wee crofties. But he switched tae at aul bloody story
again aboot 'I mind upon a man'. I coulda telt him story fine
back ye ken. At wis the sort o characters ye hid. But eh,
there must a been hell of a characters afore my day, I've
heard such a lot o tales aboot ma father, fit ma father telt
us aboot em ye ken. Aye bit we'd quite a few round, roon oor
area, I canna min them a.
10
[TMcK] What about Willie Fowlie?
Aye, Willie Fowlie wis. He wis a cut above every
body else I think in talent. Very talented man and eh, come
o a talented family. And Willie stayed at home far a the rest
deserted and gied till a the corners o the earth, there must
a been ten in Willie's family. And hyowin, he wis a great
man, champion hower ye see. A hoer, it eh, it a tremendous
skill went into howin. They left the tattie drill, the neeps
wis sown on the top ye see, and the tottle drill ye didnae
cut it doon like ye do noo adays, ye left the tottle drill
and the drill had tae be rounded, the whole drill had tae
be rounded and the neeps facing one way towards ye, ye see.
And Willie wis tremendous skilled, and, and eh he'd, he didna
put up wi much nonsense either, if anither boy hid been comin
behind and trampin on his dreel he wid a created hell ye see.
And eh, of course, the time o the war Willie was special constable
and used tae be called upon tae deal wi, well, it wis, it
wisnae fights, ye widna call it fights, ye wis maybe exuberance
at dances, there aye was. Always exuberance at dances, and
it didn't amount to much ye see, an odd scrap noo and again,
but it didn't do anybody any harm. And eh, Willie, Willie
used tae be called upon to dae that, to quell a disturbance.
But Willie Fowlie hid talents other than at ye see, he could
even make furniture. And then he developed is fiddle making.
Aye, and his nephew,
Michael Robertson, Willie wis inordinately fond of Michael
because Michael's father eh, Jimmy Robertson, who is still
alive and in Turriff of course. Michael went on to do well
at school and the school of music ye see and he, he studied
in London at the Royal School of Music in London and his professor
there, he eh, he telt him he hid tae get a new viola ye see,
he played the viola. And eh, he says, but I have one, m'uncle
made it. And the lad laughed his heid aff ye see, nonsense
he says, and he produced it, and he played it awhile. Oh,
he says, that's tremendous, the tone o that thing, I'm very
delighted with the tone o it. And eh, and eh, of course Willie
went on to make anither een efter at. And eh, that's the one
of course, the second one, that ye saw him playin in the London
Philharmonic. He telt me, I was, I was at Aberdeen wi him
at Sunday, wis watching something at Hazlehead, and we came
back, and he says, I've done a funny thing min, I've made
ma will. I never, he aye hid a lot o forebodins and foresight
Willie somehow or other. Something telt ma tae make ma will.
And of course he left everything to his nephew, he specially
brought up er Frank. And he left the placie tae him ye see,
otherwise he widnae ha got nothin probably. At's fit he telt
me, he left athin tae him.
11
And eh, we used tae go around wi a concert party, Willie,
well at's, as I was tellin ye, that wis the nicht that he
wis tellin me the London Philharmonia wis comin on aboot half
past ten or something, ???? o them. And eh that's whit he
wis lookin for at all to see his second viola bein played,
at he'd sent till him. And that's the night that Willie died,
a second haemorrhage, brain haemorrhage, only the age of 52.
And him and I used to go out wi, we organised a concert party,
the, the, what do they call them now, the Fyvie Loons and
Quines. And we hid the tin whistler ye ken, we got Alan Green
going, just a young boy at the time, and eh, a lassie, Elma
Duguid, New Pitsligo. Think she stays in Aberdeen noo, a blacksmith's
daughter. She could sing bothy ballads.
12
??? Smiddie afore at, ?? between New Deer and New Bythe, afore
he wint tae Fyvie. I think he retired, he retired fae Fyvie
somewey else, but then young Geordie he carried on smithin,
I don't, just lost trace o a that folk now. At's a sister
o hers at's married tae, tae Bill Hebron, the pipe major o
Turra Pipe Band. At's a sister o hers, a younger sister.
[TMcK] Was Alec Green from Fyvie?
No, Alec was fae Udny, Alec wis fae Udny.
13
[TMcK] So you used to go to village halls and things with
this concert party?
Aye, there wis ma sister, she wis a good singer,
Marion and there wis Mrs Chapman, she wis a good pianist.
There wis a shop at Lethenty, Stuartie Chapman's wife. And
we used tae just ging around. We didna, maybe two year we
give it up, here and there. Started aff wi a big marquee thing,
there wis a challenge on see wi some ither concert party,
and then they brought in four, there wis the Kennethmont Loons
and Quines, and there wis the Kingseat Bothy Billies, and
the famous Bennagoakers fae Methlick wi Robbie Shand. Robbie
Shand wis a great character, tremendous singer, tremendous
singer Robbie and a streak o lichtnin in the, in the at the
Gicht games and at, a tremendous runner. There wisnae much
o him, he wis jist like a shada, but by god he could sing
and his daughter she wis even better. She went on tae the
Royal School of Music tae, don't know where she is now, disappeared
fae my ken, but tae hear at two singin a duet wis fantastic,
the two o them the gither wis fantastic. But of course Willie,
as I say, he died quite a young age and kept very much till
himsel. He didnae go far, I suppose he wisnae much farrer
than the Glasgow exhibition o 1939, dinna think he wint far,
no he kept very much tae himsel. But then so did them a, all
these places they're all wiped oot, they're all tae ranchin
now. There's all these wee hamlets all round, the man, the
Deer's Hill er wis full o them, a man Pinkins, well above
6 feet, a great strong man, he used to throw the hammer wi
all the famous, Archie Campbell in his young day. And eh,
he wis good, he used tae tell me great tales tae, aboot findin
all these artifacts on the farm, but then ye see jist over
the hill fae him wis the battle o Lethen, no, Gethen???? Way
back in history everybody knows aboot it, the Thane o Buchan
against some o the highlanders, I don't know. It was something
to do wi that, it wis supposed to lasted more than one day,
but they withdrawn mebbe back tae his side, his place ye see,
doon Deer's Hill, because the battle wis jist over the tap
o Deer's Hill.
[TMcK] He used to find bits and pieces?
He used to find artifacts and bits o weaponry
on his place.
[TMcK] Did he ??? keep them in the house or
what did he do with them
Don't know what he did, don't know what he did.
But his half brother came home from Canada, and eh, I aye
min, he used tae, he wis a funny kind o man, he'd been er
in Canada, he'd went off to Canada, everybody did ye see in
those days, the, away back in his youth, long before the great
war. And eh he come back.
14
Somebody'd had actually, a man Elder fae the Waggle Hill hid
actually seen him oot there, and he says he wis nothin but
a bum, he jist went from district to district on the trains
in Canada he says, and that wis the time o the terrible depression.
Anyway he came home in the fifties, he came down to the shoppie
that wis the gatherin centre in Mulbreck's a wee shoppie,
and he, his lips went ceaselessly, a the time, ye ken as though
he wis reciting somethin till himsel and fen he did he wis
quite interesting fen he did speak up. He telt ye aboot someplace
he wis in in Canada that he'd resided in a while and he'd
left, and the week after there'd been a landslide and most
of the population was killed. Well there hidna been a big
habitation anyway. And anither aboot seein this Sasquatch
or something, in the, way in the West, big man-like structure
o an animal, but nobody believed him, thocht well that's a
load o rubbish. But I've been readin aboot at business since.
[TMcK] ??
Aye, aye. Well he came in er, and he bought
at shoppie, the old shoppie in Millbrex in the end and finished
off his life there. And it was taken down after at and rejoined
the farm it wis originally gifted. There wis a man came home
from the Scots Guards in 1932, the name of Peter Elder, another
great character. And he approached the local farmer, cause
his father hid, hid the croftie, this local farmer's, this
local farmer's croftie, this man's father hid it let, the
croftie house, jist the house, nae the land, tae retire in
ye see. And he got, he got that eh, wee bit o parcel o land,
along wi an old quarry that the, that the council had made,
hid made the road wi at one time, dug a bit a material out
o there tae help make the roads. And he got a parcel o land
ere anyway, and he built a shop entirely o wood, and I min
we wis comin hame fae school, ah well, it woulda been 1929
to 1930, I wisnae very aul jist an infant. And I saw there
wis a house, this is the house that Jack built. And his brother-in-law
and his wife and his son, wis the same age as me, cause he
ging tae the local school, and he lived er, and his wife come
fae London and she couldna stick that northern parts and she
departed along wi her brother in law back the way she come
along wi the son ye see, his infant son, never to be seen
again.
And Peter went gloryin
on himsel, he'd been brocht up in at area, in Waggle Hill
and he wis invalided out o the Scots Guards because o consumption,
and he'd been, he must a been seven or eight year in em onywey.
And smartness, ye nivver sa anybody sae smart as Peter Elder.
And he still played the pipes, although he wisnae capable
o playin for a long period, he still played the pipes. And
they were a beautiful silver mounted pipes, and eh, I learned,
I learned the chanter aff o Peter ye see. Used tae ging in
by on the road hame fae skweel, and I woulda aye taen up a
bit, there wis no payment, it wis a section o honey, my father
kept a great row o bees and Peter got a section o honey for
at ye see.
And Peter regaled ye wi stories o the army, nearly everybody
thocht the army wis the greatest thing on earth, but then
when the war come ye see, a this boys disappeared because
they'd already been in the Terriers, they'd ??? em in tae
sign up for the Terriers. And eh, Peter here wis him dying
tae get away intae the army and he wrote tae a the people
under the sun but naibody paid any attention ye see, because
he'd been discharged. And eh, funnily enough, this eh, they
advertised for a janitor for Turra school, which was a big
job ye see, and Peter applied, and they couldna be anything
else but impressed, he wis such a smart fella ye see and been
about the world a good bit and could handle a job just right
under the sun. And Peter hid been divorced by this time and
he took up this post, and his sister took ower the shop efter
at.
His sister, well
there wis two sisters, Mary and Maggie, they took turns in
the shop. They didna live in it, they jist took turns to come
up from the croft ye see. So Peter went away tae this and
he got married again, and eh, a matron o some hospital or
something, and was doin very well and down he went wi ulcers,
stomach ulcers. And he wint doon tae Aberdeen and they operated
for stomach ulcers and there wis somebody went in tae see
him, and he says I just feel like a trussed up chicken and
he wis dead next day. They'd been a hell of a bloody bad job,
either that or they'd been too far on or something. And eh,
since at time ye see, well a we have to remind a o that great
character Peter Elder, is a row o trees, a row o flourishing
rowan trees, rodden trees we ca'd em, which he pit in for
a hedge, jist tae keep the blin smore awa and the snail winds
at come ower the Deers Hill, at's fit he put in for a shelter
for the shoppie, and they're flourishin, at's a that there
is, shoppie, nothing left, to remind me of Peter Elder noo
when I ging by ye ken. And at's the closest side o Newhall
o Mulbreck's. At's where they put up the new hall.
15
[TMcK] When you were a boy what sort of things did you do
for Hogmanay?
Hogmanay, now we never held Christmas. Christmas
was a thing that wis unheard o, except at schools. It wis
aye hogmanay we hid. And eh, of course, we'd a great, we'd
a great feast ye see, we aye brought oot a turkey, or something
hid tae be. But nae the Christmas, it wis practically unheard
of.
[TMcK] Were there any presents?
Oh aye, o aye, nothing very big, nothing big
actually, there wisnae money ye see. Just small things. Ye
wis proud o, maybe a penknife or something ye'd be presented
wi somethin small jist, and there wis nae lack o home made
candies an at. And my father, you know this my father he made
fantastic homemade candy and it lookit funny tae see him,
ye ken, because he never did anything domestically, not a
thing domestic inside, but he could mak candy, that wis the
only thing he turned his hand till.
[TMcK] ??
Aye, uh huh. But then ye see, Hogmanays wis
the thing ye hid a lot of first footers and ye didna hae swigs
o drink like ye do nowadays, ye'd little wee totems o glasses,
they weren't very big, just a mouthful and folk were never
drunk. Ye woulda, ye woulda lot o people comin in aboot.
[TMcK] Did they come all hours of the morning?
Oh aye, a hoors of the mornin, and nae only
that day, the next day and the next day efter that. But eh,
after the war things got out of hand folks started to drink
too much. And ye'd a chap, the, the, he took the farm o Bruckleseat
next tae us, a son o the great eh Jock Strachan, this wis
young Derek. Young Derek come home from the war, he wis in
the tanks during the war, and he brought home a, a huge eh,
Austrian mountain eh, horn. Near halve the length o this room.
And he woulda, blasted, ma father well, being a widdower,
he never married again for years and years after he lost ma
mother, jist ma sister was keepin house ye see. And eh, he
woulda appear'd at his windae and blown is thing ye see, mebbe
two days after Hogmanay. Derek had nivver, he hardly went
to sleep I don't think. And all he wanted Derek was his feet
up and he'd, have a musical nicht going, if he got some fiddler
or somebody to turn oot tae gie him music. And Derek didn't
sing himsel, efter, his father was a tremendous singer, and
Derek was very proud tae let me hear old records o his father
ye know, but Derek did nothin himsel, bit jist listen, and
tell, he telt some good stories tae. Fyvie tales, ye know,
he was a great lad at eh, at eh.
But all he wanted
wis a good crack and a get together, and my father, and ma
father was a great newser and so was he. And they both, both
old, old Buchan tongue which if I had a tape recorder at at
time, woulda been worth listenin till now, because it's well
watered down ye see. The Buchan tongue o that day and the
present day is nae the same as it wis. A that horsey lads
wis the same. We used tae get em a coming by ye see, because
they traivelled the stallions. A durin the thirties. We hid
three brood mares ye see, hid tae be serviced every year and
mebbe two foals, lucky if ye got two foals oot o the three.
But eh, ye'd somebody comin by wi a stallion mebbe once a
week ye see, jist tae see if it wis the, they mebbe didn't
strike it, they hid tae be in heat ye see, they mebbe didnae
strike it, so the next wik somebody else woulda come. Ye'd
different stallions.
16
St Johns Wells hid een, an eh, he'd a character eh, Day, Harry
Dey traivelled it. And eh, Slesser, lad, Donald Slesser traivelled
a stallion for eh, for eh, Fetterletter, at wis anither een.
Harry Miller, Fetterletter. And eh, these lads were great
characters.
Ye'd anither een
come oot a Buchan somewey, anither stallion and eh, I aye
min he hid been in the navy in the great war and he'd been
at the battle o Jutland and telt ye a aboot it. Interestin
characters ye hid ye see. And they aye got their dinner fae
us. An anither een Leslie Murison, a most crabbit man, Leslie
Murison was a terrible crabbit man, he woulda roared at his
poor stallion. It woulda gotten a terrible diatrade. He was
affa sair on him ye know. I suppose they hid tae dae fit he
wis telt but the other boys nivver made no noise at a. He'd
tae bawl and shout the whole time, Leslie Murison. And the
last time I saw Leslie wis, he'd a hoose in Rothienorman,
ootside Rothienorman, and eh dinna think he lost neen o his
crabbitness, he, he aye argued wi ye in spite o fit ye said,
to the end. [Laughs.] But eh, horsey days and horsey boys,
they a changed. At lads they were a clique, they a got together
at shows and sales, the horsey lads.
17
Horseman's word went out o fashion by the time I was on the
go. It was afore my time.
[TMcK] Did they ever talk about it?
Oh aye, oh aye, they fairly referred to it.
They jist telt ye fit happened ye see, jist ging through the
calf-hoose door. I aye winnered, how the hell did ye go through
a calf-hoose door. Caff wis, caff, chaff at the best, wis
terrible stuff tae cling tae yer claes, made an affa mess,
filled yer boots. Could they nae hae gotten a better place
tae go through. A caff hoose door understand, wis quite a
size. An it was aye below the feedin bench and it was totally
encased. Ye opened a door and went in and it wis mebbe, mebbe
10 feet by 10 feet wide, but only mebbe five feet high, there
wis never room tae stand up in. And eh, is is held the caff
that blew in ye see, and eh, it wis supposed to be takin oot
and given tae the beasts tae eat. The feedin beasts liket
chaff. And eh, they went in, they were supposed to go in er
ye see, because it was so dark, there wis no windows, no doors.
And it was a dark hole at the best o times, and mebbe at,
mebbe more secretive ye see. Aye, and ye were supposed to
actually, give a, give a presentation, ye had tae profer a
drink ye see as well, ye hidna tae come empty. Is wis the,
is wis the whole thing, ye hid tae bless the thing wi a, wi
a, ye, crossin the caff-hoose door wi a nippy ye see, o spirits.
[TMcK] Did you hear about the ??
Oh aye, ye see, ye hid tae cerry at. The boy
inside ye hid tae profer the hand o the devil ye see, the
poor goat. I don't know how the hell they managed, mebbe it
had been a sheep ye see, plenty o deid sheep, but there wis
very few goats. I woulda think it woulda been a sheep's leg
that they woulda used. But it was oot a, oot a use er my time.
Far oot a use.
[TMcK] Horses were still ??
Oh aye, oh aye. But the horsemanship woulda
went down the hill I woulda think, especially efter the great
war far the maist o the chaps were slaughtered anyway. I mean
in oor district at's 34 disappeared, wis perished fae oor
district alone. I would think the horseman and the horseman's
word woulda disappeared efter the first war, along wi them.
Definitely. Because there wisna mony, there wisna an affa
lot o survivors went away, came back, nae like. The great
war and the second war wis naething, the second war wis nothing
like the slaughter, very few, well that's only four on the
memorial at Mullbrex, and 34 in the great war. But then the
population was high of course, the population rate in the
farms, there was more people on the farms too. The, the, they
seemed to be doing well when the fen the great war started,
farmin, farmin was on the up. And it continued to be on the
up after, fen the war started because the same wi the second
war, it was in atween in the thirties when it went such a
low, fen they started getting in a their grain fae abroad,
from your country in particular, in Canada ye see. They got
the grain in eh, at low prices. So low as it went down to
something like eh, fifty shillins aye, even thirty shillins
a quarter, which was three hundred weight of oats. And eh,
the politicians didnae do much about it, they couldna, we
hid Boothby ye see, Boothby came in in the thirties. And he
came to Mulbrecks and he wis a very well liked character.
Didn't take his politics seriously, in fact he said he wis
a liberal o long after he retired. MP thirty year for East
Aberdeenshire. And I aye min a meetin at the, Slater Ewan
was a local character tae, he asked him 'When is the price
of corn gan tae rise', 'Oh it'll rise wi the sunshine'. He
jist, ye know, he didnae take his, but he's quick fire ye
see, and very well liked.
18
We hid a lad, Bert Gow in New Deer, at wis, eh, Bert Gow died
years ago, and Bert Gow lived well intae, he is 97 or 98,
great war veteran too. And Bert, he had a song made up aboot
him, and eh 'Boothby on ma back' he called it. And he, he
aye got ten bob fae Boothby for singin it at local election
meetin, New Deer Hall. Boothby on ma back. And anither lad
he hid at gave him a great salute in New Deer wis Corporal
Knox. Corporal Knox hid been, eh, hid been in the colours,
in the Army for countless years as well, survived the great
war. And eh, he gave him an immaculate salute in New Deer
Hall and followed him about and escorted him about ye see,
and became a mascot till him really and he aye gied him ten
bob and a. But of course he went right round to the bar and
spent it a, cause he'd insatiable thirst. Anybody who knows
Corporal Knox in New Deer will tell ye aboot him. Whit a character
he wis. And eh, but he, Bert made up sangs a his life, in
fact he gave me a sang, aye, I wrote it oot there.
[TMcK] Do you sing it?
No I didna sing. But he composed it in the front
line, behind the lines rether, for entertaining the troops
behind the lines. He wis in the 51st Division, old Bert. Joined
up like a lot o the rest when they were underage. And eh,
it wis the greatest thing on earth, they thocht the war would
be a o'er if they didna hurry on, ye see. Consequently neen
o them come back hardly. But Bert eh, Bert wis a great singer.
He was good to listen to ye see, he used tae come up till
Mulbrecks and sing ere. Along wi eh, ?? Kelman's Concert Party,
at wis a manny in New Deer et hid the electrics, electric
shoppie ere. And he come up wi his concert party and eh, o
he, he wis great tae listen till, jist a proper comedian ye
see and the stories he telt. He telt stories and sang, and
they were a good hairmless fun kin o stories ye see, and they
hid the bairns a lauchin their heids aff and he'd dressed
up as a wifie at the same time and sang that kin o sangs ye
see. 'I am a widow baith handsome and bra' ye see, when he
come oot wi that een. And anither een 'I'm the washer wife',
that wis anither o his sangs which he composed himself. The
Washer Wife.
[TMcK] Does anybody around still sing these
or know the tunes?
No, no they dinna. They expired wi Bert Gow
himsel. They all went away.
I hiv aye, uh huh. I'll easy gie ye the words
o the Washer Wife tae, aye, I'll dae at for ye as well.
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