SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 783 Title : Dipper: 55 - The Angling Club Minutes Author(s): John Reid Copyright holder(s): John Reid Audio transcription M738: The Angling Club minutes - unofficial. The angling club committee meeting was over, but the fire was still good and the bus to be caught by our outlying members was not due for half an hour, so Hughie began to describe a recent experience. 'I had a permit for a nicht on the Bargairlie watter,' he began, 'an I went ower aboot a fortnicht ago wi a guid box o docken grubs, for the keeper had tellt me ae day that there were some grand seatroot rinnin. I tuik twa or three brushers in my basket tae, an that wis my mistake.' 'Brushers, Hughie?' queried the Purist. 'Aye, brushers,' Hughie replied testily 'or screwtaps, if ye like. Mind ye,' he added, 'I'm no in the habit o takkin drink whan I'm fishin, but I believe in seein tae it that a keeper gets whit he likes. 'There wisna much daein that nicht tae begin wi, an whan the keeper cam alang we got talkin, the crack wis guid, an whan he left me the bottles were tume! Things were still gey quate, an no a fish movin, an I had juist sat doun an lichtit a ceegarette whan a guid fish splashed in the daurk ower by the faur bank. 'I drappit the grub a yaird or twa abune the rise an let it come doun tae him. He tuik it quate an canny, but whan I hit him I sune kenned whit I wis intae. Man, he went up oot o the watter like a shot fae a gun, an frae the glint I got o him in the risin mune, I'd say he wis five pun if he wis an unce! Up an doun he went, an back an forrit, an I'll guarantee ye I wis sweitin by the time he wis tirin. But I brocht him in at last, drew the rod back ower my shouther an pit the net intae the watter ready for him, whan, withoot ony warnin, the rod strauchened oot, an he wis awa! 'I couldna believe it! I kent he wis weel heukit, and I felt to see if the heuk had broken. There was nae heuk! There wis nae cast! I felt alang the rod, an there wis nae line! Then it dawned on me. If my heid had been as clear as it should hae been, I'd hae drappit the ceegarette whan that fish tuik me. But I had it in my left haun aa the time I wis playin that seatroot, an at the last meenit it had burned through the line!' Hughie joined in the laughter, an Duncan smilingly remarked, 'That's juist about enough to make you sign the pledge, Hughie.' 'Na, na, Duncan, hardly that,' was the reply, 'but man, I'm seriously thinkin o giein up the smokin.' 'You'd do much better to give up grub fishing,' said the Purist. 'What's wrong with the fly for seatrout?' 'I've tellt ye before,' replied Hughie, with a long-suffering sigh, 'that I can, an will, fish the flee whan I think it's daein, but it's only a haufwut that wad keep lashin awa wi the flee whan it's no daein.' 'But did you try the fly at all that night at Bargairlie?' persisted the Purist, 'or did you just begin with your poacher's method?' 'Speakin o poachin,' broke in Tam, to forestall the development of one of our periodic good-humoured, but lengthy Purist versus Hughie wrangles, 'did I ever tell ye aboot the nicht Badger Tamson went tae blaw the Bylie's Puil?' Our negative replies gave him the signal to proceed. 'Ah weel,' he continued, 'the Badger's deid an awa, sae there's nae herm in telling it nou. He wis an uncle o Jock Tamson's, an it wis Jock that tellt me aboot it, for he wis there. He wis only a laddie at the time, an Badger wid whiles tak him oot for a nicht at the rabbits. He had a guid wee mongrel terrier that could nip a rabbit in the breckens the natest ever ye saw, an mony a dizzen Badger tuik wi the wee dug aff the Marquis's grun. 'Badger wis a gran auld fisher tae, an he could tie a cast o speeders that would kill troot onywhere. 'But the poachin bit wis aye there, an this nicht I'm tellin ye aboot, Badger kent there were twa or three guid saumon lyin in the bylie's. He'd brocht twa sticks o gelignite frae Nummer Seeven Pit, whaur he wis workin at the time, an he an Jock got doun tae the watter juist afore the daurkenin. They tuik a turn up an doun the watterside wi the wee dug, tae mak shair there wis naebody else aboot, but there wisna a sowl tae be seen, sae the Badger stertit gettin things ready. He had the twa sticks in a wee tin, an he sune fitted them up wi keps an strum. He wis aye a canny yin, the Badger, an he cut enough strum tae gie them aboot a meenit afore the shot wid gae aff. Then he tellt Jock tae get awa up the bank an intae the field, lichtit the strum, threw the tin intae the deepest bit o the puil, an followed Jock up the bank. 'Nou, juist hou it happened Badger never could tell. It micht hae been that a floatin branch kept the tin frae sinkin, or maybe Badger hadna wechtit the tin wi enough wee stanes. Onywey, whan he got intae the field an luikit back, there wis enough licht for him tae see the wee dug comin up frae the watter cairryin the tin in its mooth! Badger roared at him tae drap it. He drapped it on the gress, shook the watter frae himsel, then picked up the tin again an cam trottin up the field wi it! 'Badger saw there wis only ae thing for it. He yelled at Jock tae rin, an the pair o them tore across the field wi the wee dug trottin efter them. Jock had a bit o a stert, an he could rin like a hare, but Badger reached the gate alangside him an they had juist flung themsels ower it whan the shot gaed aff, no faur ahint them! There's nae sayin hou faur awa it must hae been heard, but gie Badger his due, he went back tae see whit had happened tae his dug. Puir wee beast! Aa he fund wis its collar, an he tuik that hame wi him, an buried it at the fuit o his gairden. 'An dae ye ken,' concluded Tam, frae that nicht till the day he de’ed, he never blew anither puil. An whit's mair, he never kept anither dug.' This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document. Information about document and author: Audio Audio audience General public: For gender: Mixed Audience size: 1000+ Audio awareness & spontaneity Speaker awareness: Aware Degree of spontaneity: Fully scripted Audio footage information Original title: The Dipper an the Three Wee Deils Year of recording: 1993 Recording person id: 752 Size (min): 7 Size (mb): 29 Audio footage publication details Published: Publisher/Broadcaster: Scotsoun Publication/Broadcast date: 1993-01-01 Place of publication/broadcast: Glasgow Audio medium Radio/audio: Audio setting Leisure/entertainment: Private/personal: Audio relationship between recorder/interviewer and speakers Friend: Speakers knew each other: Yes Audio speaker relationships Friend: Other: Co-authors of book from which recording was made Audio transcription information Title of original: The Dipper an the Three Wee Deils Transcriber id: 689 Year of transcription: 2005 Year material recorded: 1993 Word count: 1154 Audio transcription publication details Published: Publisher/Broadcaster: Luath Press Publication/Broadcast date: 1991-01-01 Place of publication/broadcast: Barr, Ayrshire ISBN/ISSN: 0946487227 Audio type Prose reading: General description: From a recording of a selection of short stories and prize winning poems (Scottish National Open Poetry Competition) Author Author details Author id: 738 Forenames: John Surname: Reid Gender: Male Decade of birth: 1910 Educational attainment: University Age left school: 17 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism Occupation: Retired Head Teacher Place of birth: Dalry Region of birth: N Ayr Birthplace CSD dialect area: Ayr Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Lockerbie Region of residence: Dumfries and Galloway Residence CSD dialect area: Dmf Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Commmercial Traveller Father's place of birth: Dalry Father's region of birth: N Ayr Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Ayr Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's occupation: Housewife Mother's place of birth: Beith Mother's region of birth: N Ayr Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Ayr Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Home, socially Language: French Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: As necessary Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Home, socially Participant Participant details Participant id: 738 Gender: Male Decade of birth: 1910 Educational attainment: University Age left school: 17 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism Occupation: Retired Head Teacher Place of birth: Dalry Region of birth: N Ayr Birthplace CSD dialect area: Ayr Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Lockerbie Region of residence: Dumfries and Galloway Residence CSD dialect area: Dmf Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Commmercial Traveller Father's place of birth: Dalry Father's region of birth: N Ayr Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Ayr Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's occupation: Housewife Mother's place of birth: Beith Mother's region of birth: N Ayr Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Ayr Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Home, socially Language: French Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: As necessary Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Home, socially