Trip to Scotland 1983: Four and half months in the Highlands and Islands

[DCampbell16B]

[While working on Gaelic over here, I kept running into the word "fank". I had no idea what it meant, and could find no English translation that wasn't "fank". So I kept my mouth shut and went to one. How else to learn? ]

Went to Bernera early with An and Gibb. Tea at Effie then to fank. Got there just as they were getting [the sheep] off the moor. (Common grazing off island, so is fank) [so the men and dogs round up all the sheep from across the common grazing and drive them in]. Weather got fine by end of day. Several hundred sheep. Put into middle pen and lambs taken out to side pens, also sheep which missed shearing were sheared. We "helped" Iain Tom. Gibb taught me how to shear sheep. Tie three legs firmly. Start on one side and shear to other, keep fleece whole. Chased a few sheep around pen, one w/ deaf [unclear] boy. Plenty Gaelic**. One student from Stirling U was there staying with family same reason I was. Didn't hear of him til after. Brought pipes but didn't play as lady in house past A did, and there was death in the village. She was cousin of Bean An** [An's wife, C]. Fank was convivial work. Great watching dogs. 2 sisters, one over 80 there working. Before fank set out net and saw black mink. After fank had tea at Effie then checked net. This is society (even more than Ness) where men rule. When company at Effie, men eat and women serve and eat after. Even An doesn't care for C contradicting him and she won't me. Even if I contradict myself she agrees. Sheep identified w/ different marks of paint., black, green, blue, red (maroon?). Tried pipes outside Barvas on way back. Terrible. An drove through Carloway. Told story of man telegraphing home that he was coming from the mainland. To save money and not having much English he sent "Oban leaving Tuesday. Barvas meet the horse".

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Bernera fank

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[Myself shearing a sheep. Those are hand clippers. There was no power out there. I didn't do to badly, and hardly even hurt the sheep. Photo courtesy of Gibb. The wellies I still have, and use them often. I guess you can't see them in the photo. They were an excellent investment, something like £4. The flat cap I wore for several years before the trip, but it has not survived the years as well.

** These were how I entered the comments in the journal. Looking back I see I entered in English what would be Gaelic idiom.

The weather was warm and sunny, with a light breeze. One man walked by me and said "Blath, blath" (warm, warm).

Someone asked An who I was (obviously a stranger to them). "Ach, cha n'eil ann ach Nishach." (Oh, he is just a Nisheach). (I was tickled to hear I had been accepted as a Nisheach!)

Afterwards we thought it would have been great if I had been there to help drive the sheep in. My thought was I could have worked Robb the dog. In retrospect that would have been a disaster. Robb and I got along fine, but I would have created chaos trying to help! Just watching with no dog would have been really interesting.

Sheep were moved, if needed, in small open trailers behind cars. These were all crofters, no big sheep farmers. I learned how to load sheep into a small trailer. Stand on one side, reach over with one hand and grab a handful of wool over there. Grab a handful on your side. Lift the sheep up and over the side into the trailer until it's stuffed full.]