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

[DCampbell16B]

Seriously trying for Gaelic today.

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Cross toward Butt from Cnoc Fianal

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North Dell, Traigh Crois, Alastair, Anna, School

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North Dell Gibb? Catriona Sheocain

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An Taigh Chatriona Sheocain, lived in thatched house

Letter from Carol [sister]. Pretty much wasted the rest of the day. Watched TV, evening. D came, evening mostly Gaelic. Night gorgeous, balmy. D brought back cuidigean from fishing. An cleaned by fingers, broke head off and cleaned out guts. Said broth was well looked forward to in lean times when he was a boy. [That was a reminder to me then, and now, about how poor some areas of Scotland were, well within living memory.]

[DCampbell16B]

Off to Storn[away] today preparing for the Uists. Letter from Mom. Went w/ F, CT. Met An in town. Was told I wouldn't be left and was. Waited til 4:50 then walked past Laxdale and caught a ride to Barvas w/ a van construction. Then caught a ride to North Dell w/ Englishman living in Port of Ness. Walked in just as An was ready to call Police. He and C very worried and very relieved. Watched TV (yuch). Men back from Sula Sgeir tomorrow [the guga boat coming into Port of Ness]. Am going. Cashed 2 checks of $50. Also saw D and Donald a'Muileann in town, and [K] C nighean An and Iain Scalpaich [Iain a'Mhurdaigh]. Calum Lobster actually a Lobster by his wife Mairead, like Iain Scalpaich.

[The "Lobsters" actually got there name from their Grandfather who was a lobster fisherman.]

[DCampbell16B]

56p letters

Wrote Mom and Carol [sister]. Not much else, waited for gannets to come in [the guga boat]. Came in about 2:00, didn't know until 4:00, didn't get there untiln4:30. Too late. All sold out. Went with Alasdair Tuilcean, C and J. Only ones left were large orders. Men had beards. An and Gibb painting (??unclear) Effie in Bernera. Spoke Gaelic a little.

[One of the scenes of which I have a very clear memory. Clear skies, lovely temperature. Lots of people down at the port. I heard a voice yelling across "A Thormaid!". There was a beautiful pair of oars stacked against a wall. Eight feet long and very slender. There were made of a 2x2 length of wood with blades attached to either side. (Back home I made a similar pair and tried them on a 14 foot rowboat. They really moved the boat! (It was not my "first time in a boat") But the torque was so high it snapped one oar and I was stuck in the middle of Little Sodus Bay.)

I took a picture of some gugas ready to go but it didn't turn out. The slide is very washed out. I've tried some digital work on it but it is beyond my skills. I think it was at that point my camera failed. It was my grandfather's with a low power telephoto and a wide angle lens. I still have it, but no one can fix these anymore.

For those of you unfamiliar with guga, think somewhere on the internet is a video about the guga hunters. The men were basically unemployed, and go out and live on Sula Sgeir for a month or so collecting the birds and "preserving" them by gutting them, burning off the feathers, then packing them in salt. A Ness specialty. ]

[Hauge]

Thanks for this venue in to the past! It has been a interesting one indeed...

As to fixing cameras, theres plenty. But it aint for free.
Try to search the web, for photo groups. And i'm sure You'll find quite a few references, to specialists "out there".

[DCampbell16B]

50p loaf of bread

Boring day. Evening[?] Insurance man brought gannet which C briefly mentioned before he left. £3.50 this year [for An's guga] (x5000 for 10 men). Mostly packed for Uist. Watched Remington Steele, cheers[?] for Stephanie Zimbalist. Salmon tea!

[£3.50 x 5000 gugas was what the 10 men on Sula Sgeir earned for a months work. The men who went were usually out of work. So about £1750 per man if they split evenly.

Remington Steele was a detective show on US TV at the time. It was Pierce Brosnan's introduction to the US. I don't know if he was known in the UK or Ireland before that.]

[DCampbell16B]

Shorter church today. 40 min sermon, visitor. Muffin, potatoes, lentil soup. Full. Egg for tea. The girls over tonight, played with them. Finished packing for Uist. Wearing [unclear] how long. [I have now idea what I was writing here].

[Sermons were usually an hour. I had never had lentil soup before, so I wrote that down. And I hate eggs. But I are it and never told C. She would have been embarrassed and fussed to make something else, which I did not want.

I remember playing with D, who was about 4 years old. I had a coat over my head looking at her through the sleeve and shaking it around like an elephant trunk and making an elephant noise, and her just screaming with laughter. An and C were watching and grinning.]

[DCampbell16B]

£4.30
£1.75 map
33p lunch
34p tea
£2.30
Caught ride (South Dell) w/ Newspaper delivery man from Swainbost to roundabout Stornoway. Then a Lochs man driving to Cameron Terrace, Leurbost. Then Contractor doing road work, from Stornoway. Then a White and MacKay Scotch sales rep to Outer Islands. He speaks a little Gaelic, from Glen Shiel originally. Gave me a key chain and a little Scotch bottle sample. He said Rodel Hotel kicks everyone out at 10:00, open for locals from 10:40. Left me at Leverburgh, no luck, picked me up again and brought me back to Tarbert for ferry. Gales blowing yesterday, last night and today. Heavy rain last night, intermittent showers, some heavy today. Got soaked in Leverburgh, then sun came out and wind dried mostly before I left. Cast off Tarbert 6:17. [I have a note about a picture of the last bit of spindrift off the bow of the "Hebrides" with Skye in the background (Vaternish) and Gale winds, but the camera had failed.] Uig very nice. Twilight 9:00. Raining, not yet pulled out. Only Gaelic on board. 2 girls from Benbecula and old couple that just sat down next to me. Got to Lochmaddy after 11:00. Other Gaelic speakers my own age on board.

[I remember those crossings. The first was fine. The second was rough and in the dark, and I have to say I wasn't comfortable. It wasn't seasickness, I had just never been bounced around in the dark like that before. I really did enjoy being underway. Well except that one time. The hostel must have stayed open late due to the ferry arrival because I have the charge written down. Usually they closed before then.]