Transcript:

Soldiers from afar

A story by Willie Sinclair about the soldiers from overseas

“Well, the army used to come down here and train. Oh aye, soldiers come all down that road. Down past

Edith’s and there used to be mules coming over the hill there. They were foreign folk. They came over the

hill and they camped out just down from Edith’s. Oh, maybe about 20 mules and there was folk on

horseback and all that – foreign. Not Gurkhas but something like Gurkhas.

“Like Gurkhas? What – like the Nepalese guys?

Aye – kind of dark men, they were.

“What were they doing?”

They were training at time of war and they come right over the top of the hill there and through the village

and went away up Strathdon, right over there.

“And that was all training?”

Aye. And then they went away to over them foreign countries. It wasn’t Malaya but one of those foreign

countries. They went away over there. Burma, I think it was.

And sometimes they come this way – up the way – the captain – just down from Edith’s and they were right

there at night – they went in there with the horses and that.

“And did they ever speak to you?”

Never spoke, no no. No.

“Just kept themselves to themselves?”

We heard they were there and I went down to see the horses and mules and that.

“Had the horses and mules travelled from overseas as well?”

Oh, I think they took the mules with them, oh aye. Must have taken them all with them.

Transcript:

Stranger at the farm

A story by Willie Sinclair about the night a stranger turned up at the farm.

“It was about 9 o’clock at night and Peter had took the tilly lamp (there was no electric at that time) Peter

took the tilly lamp out of the house and was away down to the byre – and Pat and me – we slept together –

we went away to our bed – and Pat’s mother, she said ‘There’s somebody shouting’, she said.

And they said “Show that light – I’m lost” at 9 o’clock at night and it was pitch dark – no lights round about us

at that time and we were in our beds just down the stair and she came through a wee while later and she

said “There’s a man at the door” and he got ………..

And just a wee while after that Peter came in with the light and then a man was found up at Deskie the next

day this side of the village – over there.

“So what was he doing?”

Nae idea and I never, ever found out but we didn’t think anything about it. Didn’t ken if he was a tramp man

or what he was but he was found up at Deskie the next day. He must have walked over through the village

and right up to Deskie.

“Through the night?”

Aye

“So was this after the war?”

Just after the war, about 1947. Just almost the end of 1947, about October or November maybe.

“And this was your family home? Where you stayed?”

I worked there, that was Peter Dunn’s, aye. I just worked there. Pat was just starting school – five and a

half younger than me.

“So he was working out of school hours?”

I was left the school but I worked for Peter Dunn. It was a bigger farm at the start and then I went on to the

big farm at Auchinleith. I just worked there for a while.

“So you got this strange visitor one night?”

Mrs Dunn she was terrified of him. And everything was dark, you see. Peter, he was away down to cattle

with the big tilly lamp.

She came through and said a manny’s at the door and just after Peter came through with the lamp. But she

was feared like. Aye, there was a lot of folk on the road at this time – tramps and that.

Transcript:

The beekeeper’s hood and the corkscrew

A story by Jill Pratt about a beekeeper’s hood and a corkscrew.

One of the weird requests I had was a gentleman I didn’t know came in and asked me if I had a

beekeeper’s hood and I said, “Well no, I didn’t have a beekeeper’s hood but I did have a midge net that I

could lend him if he thought that would be enough.”

And I had this midge net that had been made for me by a company that I’d seen advertised which was solid

material at the back and the net across the face and I said to him he would need to wear it over a hat to

keep the net away from his face. “Yes, that would be fine.”

So I went up from the shop to the house and got the net and took it down and gave it to him and off he

went. And he said his bees were swarming and he didn’t really want to get stung but this would be fine.

And a few weeks later he came back and he came back with a bunch of flowers and a pot of honey and he

said he was the only one that didn’t get stung – of all the people that were helping him with these bees.

But the flowers and the honey I thought were such a nice thank-you because I had lent him this net and

that was what happened all the time. People would come in for something and I didn’t have it but maybe I

had it up in the house and I would go and get it and give it to them and the same thing happened with a

corkscrew.

People coming through going to the Lonach Games in Strathdon had found their wine had corks and they

didn’t have a corkscrew. I did sell corkscrews but the only things left in the box were tin openers.

So I went up to the house and got our corkscrew and said ‘There you go, have the corkscrew. If you’re

coming back this way just drop it off.” And I thought well, if I get it back that’s OK and if I don’t, it’s only a

corkscrew. But, sure enough, they came back quite late that night, with the corkscrew, with profuse thanks,

so that was another thing that helped to make the shop the place I wanted it to be.

And another case was a German boy – well a young man – who had been camping. He had one night to go

and he had an egg to eat and he couldn’t eat the egg without salt and the only salt that we had was

obviously in the big household packets so I just nipped upstairs, put some salt in a little bit of paper,

screwed it up and said “There you are”. And he was so touched. I think he was on the verge of giving me a

hug – but didn’t. But I thought – that was normal. That was what you did if somebody needed something you

gave it to then – and what was a little bit of salt?

So it was good.

Transcript:

The tealeaves

A story by Margaret Shearer about the village fortune teller

“She lived with her mother and at the back, just up from the sculpture shop, where the garage is now, well,

that was a house at one time. Whinhurst – I don’t know if you know Whinhurst, do you?”

“I don’t know Whinhurst, no.”

“It’s just up from the workshop and then there’s a house and then there’s Whinhurst and at the garage at

the back was where it was a house and this was where Lettie lived and this was where everybody went

with their teacup to get their fortune read. She never was out; she just sat in that chair all the time but that

was really all that I can tell you about her.

Did you ever go and get your fortune read by her? Lettie?

I think I did, but really my memory’s not very good. I had a slight accident a few years ago and really my

memory’s not the same. So I might have done! But I don’t remember.