| F606 |
Right, so you grew up on Shetland then? |
| F828 |
Mmhm, on the second biggest island, it's cawed Yell. |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
An eh, there was seven bairns in the faimilie, |
| F606 |
uh-huh |
| F828 |
an we had ehm, I suppose it, it could be considered to be an idyllic childhood in lots o weys
//cause we had// |
| F606 |
//Aye.// |
| F828 |
freedom, we jist could do what we wanted really. |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
Ehm, well we'd no electricity so we had no television |
| F606 |
No, [laugh] |
| F828 |
so I suppose we, we jist, we made up wur, wur own gemms an things an |
| F606 |
Mmhm. Was it a farm you lived on,
//or a house?// |
| F828 |
//Mmhm, it was a croft that//
Dad had, my dad had his own business, but we had, we had sheep, I think jist aboot everybody had sheep |
| F606 |
mmhm [laugh] |
| F828 |
for the subsidy [laugh], ehm but we didna, we had
//I can mind// |
| F606 |
//[cough]// |
| F828 |
one year we had hay but
//I think mostly// |
| F606 |
//mm// |
| F828 |
we didna.
//We had pits// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
ehm |
| F606 |
Pits. |
| F828 |
pit, peat.
//[laugh]// |
| F606 |
//Oh peat, yeah [laugh]// |
| F828 |
Pit, everything depends on pits |
| F606 |
Yes |
| F828 |
for, for the stove cause we didna have a cooker
//so// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh// |
| F828 |
an we didna have, we didna even have watter in the hoose
//so Mum// |
| F606 |
//uh// |
| F828 |
had tae cairry the watter fae the wall |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
tae the hoose an wash ev- wash eh seven bairns' claes by, by haund so |
| F606 |
[laugh] It was a hard
//life!// |
| F828 |
//It was a hard//
life for her,
//it had tae have been// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F828 |
but ehm |
| F606 |
So what kind of things did you eat? |
| F828 |
[tut] an awful lot o mutton [laugh]
//an a lot// |
| F606 |
//Yeah [laugh].// |
| F828 |
o fish, |
| F606 |
uh-huh |
| F828 |
an totties, potatoes |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
an we didn-, didna have very many vegetables, cabbage certainly but ehm, we certainly had never got the variety o stuff that ye get doon here, no.
//An we had,// |
| F606 |
//No.// |
| F828 |
I can mind the first time I ever saw a melon
//I was aboot// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
ten or something, |
| F606 |
Yeah [laugh]. |
| F828 |
cause we just got apples an oranges an, I suppose we would see pears an grapes but
//we never// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
got ice cream because, we got ice cream once a year |
| F606 |
[laugh] |
| F828 |
on the last day o the term
//cause it was brocht up fae// |
| F606 |
//Right// |
| F828 |
the mainland in big con-, steel containers. |
| F606 |
Oh aye. |
| F828 |
Or I know what, was something that kept it cool anywey it was seemed like it was great big boxes |
| F606 |
uh-huh |
| F828 |
ehm because of course there was, there were no electricity so
//nobody had// |
| F606 |
//Mm// |
| F828 |
freezers so |
| F606 |
No. |
| F828 |
so a major treat to get a bit o ice
//cream.// |
| F606 |
//Right [laugh].//
//ah// |
| F828 |
//An like I mind the//
first time I ever went tae, tae Lerwick, cause Lerwick is the, is the capital in the main island |
| F606 |
Yeah. |
| F828 |
I jist couldna believe how many houses there were and they were all so close together an |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
it was very exciting |
| F606 |
Yeah [laugh] so where did you go to school then? |
| F828 |
I had to go to, you went, there was a school on the island, there was three schools I think at that
//time,// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
an there was a junior secondary school so if you passed your Eleven Plus you could, you had the option to stay, just a four year school or you could go to the main island an board in the hostel
//an that's whit I did.// |
| F606 |
//Oh yeah//
uh-huh |
| F828 |
So but the, that, there were no car ferries like they have nooadays |
| F606 |
No? |
| F828 |
so I only got home an I was the, the on-, I was the first one to go in the family.
//There's three older// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
than me but they didna, they chose not to go
//so I only// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
got home Christmas, summer an, well whenever there was holidays
//basically because// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F828 |
it was too, it was too remote. |
| F606 |
uh-huh |
| F828 |
But ehm so it was kinda funny because you were never, it was almost as if ye were never really accepted back into the faimilie the same wey as ye were afore |
| F606 |
mmhm, cause you'd gone |
| F828 |
cause you'd, an th- th- s-, they all expected you to be, to have kind of ideas abuin yer station because you were gettin a, you were livin in the capital.
//[laugh]// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh [laugh]// |
| F828 |
But ehm it was kinda strange cause you never, ye didna really have, ye didna feel at home anywhere |
| F606 |
mm |
| F828 |
and also dialect was different
//in Lerwick// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F828 |
from what it is in Yell so I had to be careful to say things like in, in Lerwick you say tatties.
//In Yell// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
you say totties
//an if I// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh// |
| F828 |
came home and accidentally said
//tatties then// |
| F606 |
//Tatties, yeah.// |
| F828 |
my, my older brothers and sisters would make a fool o me. |
| F606 |
Uh-huh, [laugh] yeah. |
| F828 |
[laugh] |
| F606 |
Yeah so you were quite aware of the, the language
//differences, yeah.// |
| F828 |
//Uh-huh, yeah,//
yeah. |
| F606 |
Yeah. |
| F828 |
But there's, there are anither island, Whalsay,
//there used to be a// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
lass worked here in the library come fae Whalsay, they have a, a really really broad accent
//but they say the// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
they have letters that they say in a different way
//ehm// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh// |
| F828 |
"K" they say like a "J". It's a bit,
//it's bizarre.// |
| F606 |
//oh?//
Yeah. |
| F828 |
Mm you would, you would need to go there an
//an tape some o// |
| F606 |
//[cough]// |
| F828 |
them. |
| F606 |
Yeah [laugh] so have you travelled quite a lot on the islands or |
| F828 |
Mm no, no real-.
//I suppose.// |
| F606 |
//Mm// |
| F828 |
Ehm
a bit I suppose,
//yeah.// |
| F606 |
//Yeah [laugh].//
Frances said you'd a good story about making a haggis?
//Is that// |
| F828 |
//Well, a good//
//story aboot, I telt// |
| F606 |
//[laugh]// |
| F828 |
Frances that story, my phone number when I was little was five. |
| F606 |
Ah!
//[laugh]// |
| F828 |
//[laugh]//
No it's no haggis it was like ehm, we, we used, when they killed a sheep we would get the job o goin doon tae the sea
//wi the// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
sheep's stomachs
//tae wash them oot// |
| F606 |
//mmhm//
//[tut]// |
| F828 |
//in the sea.//
//It was// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh// |
| F828 |
a disgusting job.
//And the// |
| F606 |
//Absolutely.// |
| F828 |
the [?]bungsies[/?], a [?]bungsy[/?] is a, an arctic, is it a skua? |
| F606 |
uh-huh |
| F828 |
I think so. They swoop on you. |
| F606 |
Yeah. |
| F828 |
But then, then we would take it home an Mum would mak puddings but it was like er, like dumplin, |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
an she used the, the sheep's stomachs for, nooadays I suppose they use plastic
//but that was what// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F828 |
that was what Mum used tae do.
//An they were// |
| F606 |
//Right.// |
| F828 |
very tasty. |
| F606 |
[laugh] Yeah. So presumably your parents' parents were also
//Shetlanders, were they the same?// |
| F828 |
//Yeah, uh-huh, as far back//
as, as [?]I don't think there an-[/?].
//As far// |
| F606 |
//[cough]// |
| F828 |
back as we, as we go I think we were |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
Shetlanders. |
| F606 |
Yeah. |
| F828 |
mm |
| F606 |
But you left you said when you
//were// |
| F828 |
//I left when//
I left when I was fifteen cause I, I couldna wait tae leave [laugh]
//ehm// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F828 |
an I jist, it didn't, as soon as I could, it jist seemed so far away fae everything else an |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
remote an you never got any decent clo-, clothes, claes I suppose we would say
//an// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh// |
| F828 |
you never got groups comin up an it jist seemed like it was a backwater. |
| F606 |
Aye [laugh]. |
| F828 |
So I couldna wait tae go. |
| F606 |
Yeah it must be quite difficult when you're a teenager especially
//yeah.// |
| F828 |
//It's,//
it's better noo I think. |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
Ehm, well maybe not it's still, still is very very different because |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
there's no quick way o getting there.
//I mean you have to// |
| F606 |
//No! [laugh]// |
| F828 |
if you go up by boat it's fourteen hoor an if you |
| F606 |
Ah |
| F828 |
even if you fly it's a, it still takes, I mean, hou-, about an hour |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
I think. |
| F606 |
So did most of your siblings stay or |
| F828 |
Ehm, n-, my ol-, the oldest boy lives in Norfolk |
| F606 |
Ah |
| F828 |
eh two older sisters stay in Yell and one younger sister |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
ehm an my little brother stayed there, he's, he died, ehm and eh, one sister lives up in Fochabers so the most o them are
//most o them are// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F828 |
still there. |
| F606 |
Yeah.
//[laugh]// |
| F828 |
//mm// |
| F606 |
that's good. |
| F828 |
An the one that lives in Fochabers has a, a hoose in Shetland too an she goes |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
in fact she's goin up on Friday, she goes, she loves goin home.
//I wouldn't,// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh// |
| F828 |
I wouldn't, I'm more of a, I like sun more than she does
//I would// |
| F606 |
//Yeah! [laugh]// |
| F828 |
rather pay an go away tae Spain or something |
| F606 |
Right! [laugh] So you don't go back very much, mm? |
| F828 |
No, not very often, it's expensive, I could go to Spain. When I was little, when the kids were little we used to go
//to ehm// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
France just aboot every year an last year the two oldest girls, my, I have three girls,
//the two oldest ones// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh// |
| F828 |
went up to Shetland,
//and// |
| F606 |
//uh-huh// |
| F828 |
they had thought it was fabulous,
//and they said,// |
| F606 |
//Did they, yeah?// |
| F828 |
"Why did you drag us tae France every year, we could have been goin up to Shetland", |
| F606 |
uh-huh [laugh] |
| F828 |
but |
| F606 |
Yeah, so they still have a sense that it's part of their heritage uh-huh? |
| F828 |
I th-, I kinda feel guilty because I didna take them up an I s-, it is, I mean they, they do have roots there
//but ehm// |
| F606 |
//mmhm// |
| F828 |
and they're very keen tae
//tae keep,// |
| F606 |
//mm// |
| F828 |
tae cling on tae their roots,
//whereas// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F828 |
when I was their age I jist didna care
//I didn't, I wanted tae get away.// |
| F606 |
//Want to get away anyway [laugh].//
Did you go to Aberdeen
//[inaudible]// |
| F828 |
//I, I came//
tae Aberdeen, yeah. |
| F606 |
Ehm, went to university
//there?// |
| F828 |
//But only//
aft-, no because I'd left school withoot any qualifications, I'd left school
//cause I was so desperate// |
| F606 |
//Aw// |
| F828 |
to get away. |
| F606 |
[laugh] |
| F828 |
And so then after I'd had my family then I did Highers and |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
then went to university. |
| F606 |
mmhm |
| F828 |
So I've, it's only aboot, s-, I've only been teachin for aboot six years. |
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