SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk

Document : 1471
Title    : Conversation 35: Three Shetland women on gardening in Scotland
Author(s): N/A

Copyright holder(s): Prof Christian J Kay
                     SCOTS Project

Audio transcription


F969: And, what is it you ca at?
F1074: [tut] Weel, the written wey is Hjogaland.
F969: Mmhm.
F1074: But the wey that the fock spak aboot it wis that they caad it
Hjoland.
F969: Mmhm.
F1074: And there are two idder Hjolands close by, baith in Burra Isle, wan
Ester Hjoland, an wan Waster Hjoland. [laugh] But for the sake o [exhale]
ehm, postal address, we thought that that was [laugh] that was kind of
difficult so when we cam, we sort o modified it an made it Hjogaland. And
we thought that that was maybe mair accurate for what it would mean. Cause
I looked at that and it turned out that there were a lot of places caad
Hogaland. And the Hoga actually referred to the Scattald of the common
grazing.
F1073: Mmhm.
F1074: But the places that had the /ju/ soond there mair or less referred
to a hjog or a hill.
F969: Oh what does that mean, Christian?
F1074: Hjog means a hill.
F969: Right, uh-huh.
F1074: So it's like the hoose on the side o the hill. //That's what what we
think the word is.//
F1073: //Mmhm.//
F969: Do you ken foo lang fock have bidden there?
F1074: Not really, no, I really don't know. No.
F969: Wa de a hoose dere when you cam?
F1074: No. Not a, well not a habitable wan. The original hoose was doon at
the banks of the [?]road nearly[/?]. And [exhale] I don't know what it di-,
when it di- [inaudible] but the faimily's story aboot it is that ehm the
fock didnae even bide in it, at that time, that would have been in the
[inhale] twenties, nineteen-twenties, or somethin like that, [cough] when
Harry's faider had the croft.
F1073: Mmhm.
F1074: And he lived in Burra Isle, the next isle, of course, there was nae
brig, but they would come across, they would row across frae Burra to
Trondra, in order to cultivate the land. //Right? You see?//
F969: //Yeah.//
F1074: And they keepit horses, in in Trondra for plooin an that. And a
crood o them would come ower and work togedder. And because they were a
crood o them were goin doon, some o the women thought they'd mak [?]met[/?]
to them and they wid pit on the fire in the hoose, and of course they were
grand muckle widden lintel. Right? And what happened that particular day
was that they were makkin their wey hame after the day's work in the field,
//right?//
F1073: //Mmhm.//
F1074: And as they gaed ower the hill, they turned back and they saw the
smoke risin.
F1073: Oh, heevens!
F1074: Uh-huh. And a spunk oot o the fire had set had set the whole place,
whole fireplace alight. And erm they rushed back, they couldnae save the
hoose, but they did save the horses that was in the in the byre next door.
It was a kind of stables that was kind o attached to the hoose in the
auld-fashioned wey, ye ken, the peerie hoose and then the stable and then
the byre was beyond.
F1073: Mmhm.
F1074: But they saved it and they saved the horses, but the hoose was brunt
doon.
F1073: Mmhm.
F1074: Ehm, efter that then the hoose where we bidit [inaudible]. Ehm [tut]
Harry's stepfaider and his faider, they biggit a hoose, er wi no intention
o ever bidin in it on ony permanent basis, but they biggit it in order to
bide there when they were ower w- wi the lambin or onything like that.
F1073: Mmhm.
F1074: So that's the story of our place.
F1073: And on it is the most wonderful gairden. //And gairdenin in
Shetland//
F1074: //Mm. [laugh]//
F1073: is no easy task, and you've made this, created this wonderful
oasis.
F1074: Well it's an act of faith, I think.
F606: //[cough]//
F969: //[laugh]//
F1073: //[laugh]//
F1074: An I mean first of aa, I mean we startit sma, and just made a peerie
bit on it. And the main thing was really to mak, put up shelter, plenty o
shelter so we had fences and shrubs and things that were biggit for us. And
then of course I got ambitious and wanted an idder bit, an it kind o grew
and grew, organically. [laugh] //[laugh] A bit here and a bit here and so
on, it did,//
F606: //[laugh]//
F969: //[laugh]//
F1073: //[laugh]//
F1074: until Harry said, "That's enough. //No further." [laugh]//
F969: //[laugh]//
F1073: //[laugh]// But I bet you still buys plants.
F1074: Oh certainly, yes yes, mmhm, every opportunity.
F1073: And it's quite unusual because the rhododendrons that blooms there.
//And that's really exotic for Shetland.//
F1074: //Oh brilli- yeah, mmhm mmhm mmhm.//
F969: And you've been cuttin doon trees.
F1074: We hiv. Mmhm mmhm. We planted them far too close, you see, because
you never ever thought for a moment that they would [laugh] grow to the
size that they did. [laugh] //[laugh]//
F1073: //Goin roond Shetland noo// //can you no see that, the number o
peerie hooses wi these great muckle trees aside them, and it is because
fock never [?]reckoned they'd[/?] grow.//
F1074: //Mmhm, mmhm, mmhm, mmhm.// Mmhm. //That's right.//
F1073: //And noo fock are haein to cut doon trees.//
F969: //Mmhm.//
F1074: //Mmhm.//
F1073: So I hope they're gaen to keep them and cure them an mak bonny
things wi them.
F1074: Yes, I think we're goin to mak them into a garden feature.
//Mmhm.//
F1073: //Right.// //Uh-huh. [laugh]//
F969: //[laugh]//
F1074: //[laugh]// But I'm no tellin you aboot it! //[laugh] It's a secret
until I see if it works. [laugh]//
F606: //[laugh]//
F969: //[laugh]//
F1073: //[laugh]//
F606: Have you both got gardens too?
F969: [tut] Sad to say I don't have a gairden. Ehm, my mither was a keen
gairdener. But er my excuse is that whaur I live, the gairden is very weet,
the soil is too weet. But er it's likely just my ignorance as much as
onything.
F1073: Mmhm.
F969: So every summer I just rush oot and buy ready-made flooers, and stick
them into containers and that's my gairdenin done for the year, more or
less. //I really am just a non-gairdener.//
F1074: //Mmhm.// But there's no that mony plants that grow in wetter areas;
you just need to look for them.
F969: //Yeah, I ken, it's likely me.//
F1073: //Mmhm mmhm.//
F606: //[laugh]//
F1074: //Blogga.// //Mmhm Seggies.//
F1073: //Oh there's blogga, yes, but er you wouldnae want a gairden fu o
blogga.//
F1074: Well I never [?]had that[/?] in me ponds.
F969: //Oh that's right.//
F1073: //Mmhm mmhm.//
F606: What's blogga?
F1073: It's marsh marigold. //Mmhm.//
F606: //Uh-huh.//
F1073: //Aa the wild flooers have Shetland names.//
F1074: //Mmhm.//
F606: Mmhm.
F1073: //And seggies is the irises.//
F1074: //Irises, iris is what you caa it.//
F1073: And we hae primroses that grows in oor gairden, primroses and
rhubarb and that's it. //We're just a disgrace.//
F606: //[laugh]//
F969: //[laugh]//
F1074: //[laugh]//
F1073: A braa lock o weeds.
F969: Uh-huh.
F1073: //The odd daisy. I did hae a tree or twa.//
F1074: //Mmhm mmhm.// //Mmhm.//
F1073: //But er sorry, nae flooers.//
F606: So what kind o trees do you have, Christian?
F1074: Oh well the the ones we've been cuttin down are sitka spruce.
They're not very satisfactory. They're
F1073: Mmhm.
F1074: they're subject to the wind damage and they're also subject to aphid
damage, but erm but we have a lot o ither kinds, we have er elder and elm,
we actually have elm. And we have numerous kinds o willows. And a lot of
sycamores cause they grow everywhere.
F1073: Is there any alder, cause //alder's one that usually grows weel on
Shetland.//
F1074: //Yes, uh-huh, oh yes alder.// That's a weet wan, you can grow
//[laugh]//
F1073: //Oh! [laugh]//
F969: //That's maybe what I hae, and dinnae ken the name.//
F1074: //Then there's// some birch, an there's lodge pole pine or, what
else do we have? Oh right, ther- I have a mmhm, cottonwood. Black
cottonwood. //Larches, plenty o larches.//
F1073: //Mmhm.// Somethin you used to see an aaful lot in gairdens in
Shetland was southernwood. Does fock still grow that?
F969: //Aye mind the, that's the stuff wi the bonny smell.//
F1074: //That's lovely. I mind when we were bairns,// //du must have done
it too. We used to poo aff all the thi- and you used to mak what you said
was perfume, you used to pit this in a bottle of water, and that was a
game, to mak perfume.//
F1073: //Mm, mmhm, mmhm, yes, perfume, [laugh].// And wisn't it interestin
in the gairden on Jura yesterday, comin in just efter the rain, //the real
scent comin frae the wild flooers.//
F1074: //Oh! The scents. Mmhm.// //It was just gorgeous.//
F1073: //That was [inaudible].//
F1074: Just loved it.
F1073: Du took a lot o photo.
F1074: I did, mmhm mmhm. I'm goin to mak a wild flooer gairden when I go
home.
F606: [laugh]
F1073: Du can do that ootside the deck.
F1074: Yeah.
F1073: Mmhm.
F1074: Mmhm.
F1073: That's pretty good. Well I reckon the place whaur we bide in
Lerwick, I reckon that that field used to be covered and smothered in
primroses, but noo o coorse it's //aa biggit up, it's aa biggit. Mmhm.//
F1074: //It would be very fertile yonder.// //Mmhm. Yeah.//
F1073: //It wis actually the pairt o Lerwick doon as the slets, that they
used for the pig fairm.// //Mmhm.//
F1074: //It wis the pig fairm, mmhm.//
F969: //When when wis that?//
F1073: //All all// //Mm, my grandfaider's youth.//
F1074: //Mm.// Mmhm. //Mmhm [inaudible] mmhm.//
F969: //Oh right.//
F1073: //An it's writt- it's written aboot in er "Lerwick in the Last Half
Century",// //which was written by Mortimer Manson's faider when he was the
editor o the Shetland News.//
F1074: //Mmhm, mmhm.// //Mmhm.//
F1073: //He wrote, it was a weekly column to cheer up fock durin the First
World War.// //Yeah, and he just wrote aa the, it appeared weekly, and he
just wrote aa kind o reminiscences and stories.//
F969: //Yes, that's a good book.//
F1073: And the ree story aboot a terrible terrible er gale o wind and
severe //sea that cam to the slets.//
F1074: //Mmhm mmhm.// //Mmhm, mmhm.//
F969: //What?//
F1073: //And all Lerwick's pigs were sweepit oot tae sea. They were//
F1074: Mmhm.
F606: //Pigs?//
F1073: //Pigs, yes, mmhm. Pig farm.// So you can imagine that were a very
sad and sorry day in Lerwick when we lost all that lovely food! //[laugh]
Yeah.//
F606: //[laugh]//
F1074: //Mmhm.//
F606: Well thank you very much, I think that will do. [laugh]


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Information about document and author:

Audio
Audio audience
Adults (18+): For gender: Females
Audience size: 3-5

Audio awareness & spontaneity
Speaker awareness: Aware
Degree of spontaneity: Spontaneous
Special circumstances surrounding speech: The three Shetland women were friends and colleagues. An Australian woman was also present, but was silent.

Audio footage information
Year of recording: 2006
Recording person id: 606
Size (min): 10
Size (mb): 38

Audio setting
Private/personal: Recording venue: Sitting room of temporary home
Geographic location of speech: Bowmore, Islay

Audio relationship between recorder/interviewer and speakers
Professional relationship: Speakers knew each other: Yes

Audio speaker relationships
Friend: Professional relationship: 
Audio transcription information
Transcriber id: 718
Year of transcription: 2006
Year material recorded: 2006
Word count: 1647

Audio type
Conversation: General description: Three ladies from Shetland attending conference in Islay.


Participant
Participant details
Participant id: 606
Gender: Female
Decade of birth: 1940
Educational attainment: University
Age left school: 18
Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism
Occupation: Academic
Place of birth: Edinburgh
Region of birth: Midlothian
Birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth
Country of birth: Scotland
Place of residence: Glasgow
Region of residence: Glasgow
Residence CSD dialect area: Gsw
Country of residence: Scotland
Father's place of birth: Leith
Father's region of birth: Midlothian
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth
Father's country of birth: Scotland
Mother's place of birth: Edinburgh
Mother's region of birth: Midlothian
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth
Mother's country of birth: Scotland

Languages:
Language: English
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: All
Language: Scots
Speak: No
Read: Yes
Write: No
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Work


Participant
Participant details
Participant id: 969
Gender: Female
Decade of birth: 1940
Educational attainment: University
Age left school: 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism
Occupation: Retired teacher
Place of birth: Lerwick
Region of birth: Shetland
Birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Country of birth: Scotland
Place of residence: Voe
Region of residence: Shetland
Residence CSD dialect area: Sh
Country of residence: Scotland
Father's occupation: Clerk / crofter
Father's place of birth: Voe
Father's region of birth: Shetland
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Father's country of birth: Scotland
Mother's occupation: Machine knitter / housewife
Mother's place of birth: lunnasting
Mother's region of birth: Shetland
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Mother's country of birth: Scotland

Languages:
Language: English
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: In formal situations, or wherever required
Language: French
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: As appropriate
Language: Scots
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Incl. Shetland dialect. At home and elsewhere


Participant
Participant details
Participant id: 1073
Gender: Female
Decade of birth: 1950
Educational attainment: University
Age left school: 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism
Occupation: Freelance broadcaster / journalist
Place of birth: Lerwick
Region of birth: Shetland
Birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Country of birth: Scotland
Place of residence: Lerwick
Region of residence: Shetland
Residence CSD dialect area: Sh
Country of residence: Scotland
Father's occupation: Whaler / Crofter / Postman
Father's place of birth: Delting
Father's region of birth: Shetland
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Father's country of birth: Scotland
Mother's occupation: Crofter / Post office worker
Mother's place of birth: Aith
Mother's region of birth: Shetland
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Mother's country of birth: Scotland

Languages:
Language: English
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Whenever and wherever required
Language: Scots
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: At hame, among friends, on radio if appropriate


Participant
Participant details
Participant id: 1074
Gender: Female
Decade of birth: 1940
Educational attainment: University
Age left school: 18
Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism
Occupation: Retired
Place of birth: Lerwick
Region of birth: Shetland
Birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Country of birth: Scotland
Place of residence: Trondra
Region of residence: Shetland
Residence CSD dialect area: Sh
Country of residence: Scotland
Father's occupation: Businessman
Father's place of birth: Lerwick
Father's region of birth: Shetland
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Father's country of birth: Scotland
Mother's occupation: Florist
Mother's place of birth: Lerwick
Mother's region of birth: Shetland
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh
Mother's country of birth: Scotland

Languages:
Language: English
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Social etc
Language: Scots
Speak: Yes
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Understand: Yes
Circumstances: Shetlandic. Social, in company