SCOTS
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Document 579

Conversation 01: Edinburgh man on his childhood

Author(s): N/A

Copyright holder(s): SCOTS Project

Audio transcription

F718 Ok, er well, tell me about, if you can, erm, your first day at school.
M734 Not got a clue [laugh] //[laugh]//
F718 //[laugh] do you not remember that?//
M734 No eh
F718 You must remember something. Were you dressed up in uniform?
M734 eh, I don't have that many memories from kind of, before I was maybe, eight or nine, er I mean there's certain things that will stick out er but certain things that you look back on and see as being significant, like your first day at school, aren't significant at the time, really,
F718 mmhm
M734 that if you've kind of been through nursery, it's just more
F718 Yeah.
M734 going off and seeing a lot of the same people you'd seen at nursery.
F718 In a different uniform.
M734 Pretty much, er so, I genuinely have no idea about my first day at school. er kind of earliest memory, er or earliest couple of memories, er would have to be the first one, is from when I was two, being in front of the TV, //er//
F718 //mm [laugh]//
M734 and seeing er the "Thriller" video by Michael Jackson.
F718 uh-huh
M734 er I mean I've always kind of been quite musical, er so f- for something that was so musically intense, and had all the elements, kind of the dancing, er going on as well, that was kind of staggering for a two-year old.
F718 Yeah.
M734 er I mean even now, it, in my opinion, it it leads the way, er in music videos and is the best music video of all time, and kind of par-, partially due to the elements of the dark side, as it were, er kind of for a two-year old that's fairly exciting.
F718 mm
M734 er so that, that's certainly one of them and the other is, just kind of, a general picture of being in nursery, that I can't really put faces, er to the picture I guess. [laugh] But er I just have e- elements of knowing that I can remember being there,
F718 mmhm
M734 er and I can remember the fact that there was a pair of twins. er Can't remember who they were at all, but I know they were there, and there was a slide and things like that.
F718 Yeah.
M734 er it's all kind of fairly ha- or, there's certain aspects of it where where it is fairly clear, the picture, but then other bits which just kind of blur into the background,
F718 Yeah.
M734 er
F718 Inevitably.
M734 It's kind of a photograph, where you've focused in on one point and all the others //get//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 fuzzed out a bit, er
F718 Yeah I remember whacking my thumb with a hammer at nursery.
M734 D'oh!
F718 [laugh] It was really sore. But I don't remember much else.
M734 [laugh]
F718 Somebody had the same dress as me, and that's about it.
M734 And er, one thing I remember from, was either Primary one or Primary two, because, er both of them were down at the same "Wee School", er //was getting//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 stung on the eye, er
F718 [ow]
M734 or kind of on //the, on the eye-//
F718 //[inaudible]//
M734 on the eyelid, //er//
F718 //A bee?//
M734 by either a bee or a wasp,
F718 Uhuh.
M734 er which was a touch frightening, er
F718 I'm sure.
M734 [laughs] getting, get carted off down to the doctor's, //which was quite//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 close, //er//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 [laugh] and, phew, ice pack and that was pretty much it. [laugh] Not what you want as a, er six or seven year-old, er Also there was, really tight corner,
F718 mmhm
M734 that was just so inevitable that, er kids, cause it was in the playground, kids are just going to go running into each //other [laugh]//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 as two kids //go running from either side, and it's//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 a blind corner. Kind of splodge, straight into each other //[laugh]//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 [laugh] and they never did anything about it like put up a mirror so you could actually see if somebody was coming,
F718 mmhm
M734 er
F718 [inaudible]
M734 [laugh] //[laugh]//
F718 //Did you splodge// into loads of people?
M734 I don't think I did. I think I generally took a more leisurely //[laugh]//
F718 //Stood on the sidelines and laughed at them.//
M734 [laugh] Could see it happening way off.
F718 uh-huh
M734 Yeah. That's pretty much all I can remember from, first six or seven years of my life //[laugh]//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 [laugh] //[laugh]//
F718 //There must be things, objects// [inaudible] that stick out though, I don't know, like certain types of sweets that you had or erm toys [inaudible]
M734 Not really.
F718 No?
M734 No, I mean I think I'm aware of [laugh] some //some things//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 that have been mentioned as stories, but //I have//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 no true recollection of them,
F718 mmhm
M734 er in the same way that, or it's very much a third party, er a third person memory, that it's one that's like a Christmas present I can remember, er or supposedly remember, kind of th- magic teapot or something.
F718 uh-huh
M734 er, I remember what one was like, er, but I don't remember mine, //even//
F718 //Yeah.//
M734 though it's a standard thing, it's kind of
F718 Yeah.
M734 er, but, I've heard all the stories about me getting it and all that, but I
F718 Convince yourself that you might remember.
M734 Yeah. I simply don't [laugh] really remember, //er//
F718 //Mhm.//
M734 something like that, I can. Don't know why, er //mhm.//
F718 //Do you// remember Caroline and Kenneth when you were wee?
M734 er not until I was kind of older.
F718 uh-huh
M734 Maybe I wa-, maybe I //was adopted! [laugh]//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 [laugh] But, yeah all the memories start kind of, from later on, er which is, I don't know why. Most people have more [laugh] memories from very early on, but
F718 I don't know if they do. I think a lot of it is invented.
M734 Yeah. Maybe it is more //superimposed.//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 Whereas I've had kind of, or, I'll tend to think about these things, and have realised that a lot of them are superimposed and so can scrub them from my memory. //[laugh]//
F718 //Yeah.//
M734 [laugh] //[laugh]//
F718 //Clear up the hard-disk space//
M734 Pretty much, //huh//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 kind of, far more useful stuff, //er//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 to be learnt.
F718 Yeah. //[laugh]//
M734 //er [laugh]// er hmm I can barely even remember, er, when I was in Primary three, when I was up at the "Big School", //as it//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 was. er I mean, a few memories, like my last day at the school, cause I then went off to fee-paying school. [ooo] er [laugh] and [laugh] I remember me handing out Smarties to everyone,
F718 uh-huh
M734 er Kind of the "Smartie bar kid", er
F718 [laugh]
M734 And er also remember kind of, finding school so easy, that it kind of frustrated me quite a lot.
F718 mmhm
M734 That we were still doing basic reading, kind //of//
F718 //huh//
M734 "Biff, Chip and Kipper", er with kind of //f-//
F718 //Don't know that one.//
M734 er four words per page,
F718 uh-huh
M734 and, [pff] it was basically far too easy and I cou-, I was already reading kind of [laugh] novels and stuff, er. So, I do remember, e- even then I didn't have to work
F718 mmhm
M734 to do well, which I think set me off for a bad //uh//
F718 //Has that always been the case then?//
M734 Yeah, and I think, [ugh], I think that did set me up for going wrong, on the basis that,
F718 mmhm
M734 er up until I was sixteen, I never had to work to be top of the class or thereabout, so if you've never had to do it then you get out of the way of it or never got into //it, full stop.//
F718 //[laugh] uh-huh//
M734 er so then when Highers come along and er you should do some work, er never quite got round to it, er //[laugh]//
F718 //oops [laugh]//
M734 er, one can say oops, but,
F718 Yeah.
M734 at the end of the day, er I think they're overrated, er
F718 mmhm
M734 that, here's Kenneth with three degrees, //er//
F718 //mmhm It depends what// you want to do afterwards. //You wouldn't get//
M734 //Yeah.//
F718 into academia without the degree,
M734 Yeah. er indeed, //but they//
F718 //[inaudible] handy.//
M734 s-, kind of the qualifications are a means to an end
F718 mmhm
M734 But I think a lot of ends don't need the means that are deemed needed.
F718 mmhm
M734 er that for the job I'm doing,
F718 mmhm
M734 er some places were asking for a degree, er but, why? //I//
F718 //mm//
M734 kind of, I don't think there is a need for a degree, but it's just //because//
F718 //[inaudible]//
M734 so many people have a degree it then becomes a thing that's needed. er //the stuff I do//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 in my job, I don't need anything learnt from about Primary 5 onwards. Kind of, //basic//
F718 //mm//
M734 adding, multiplying, subtracting, dividing, er
F718 mmhm
M734 a bit of English, able to communicate.
F718 Yeah.
M734 Other than that, er,
F718 mmhm
M734 it's just to prove you can learn, but, what does proving I can learn to speak French, //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 prove to my ability to fix a computer?
F718 mmhm
M734 huh? Cos.
F718 mmhm
M734 But, it's one of these things that society has deemed necessary, and therefore,
F718 mmhm
M734 nobody really goes against the grain. //huh//
F718 //Don't you think it's// valuable, though, to have a wide range of, of, er subjects at school, to to cover a wide range of things so you can see what you do like? Or did you, did you always know what you wanted to do? //[inaudible] computer//
M734 //I, I didn't.//
F718 line?
M734 I only found out, er in about Senior two, er and that was, er, well may-, to an extent Primary seven, because we got, got our first contact with computers then,
F718 [mhm]
M734 er and it was a bit of kind of games just to get you into er kind of the old "Pong" and stuff like that. er, and I was interested then, I think largely because, because Kenneth and Caroline were both older than me, and Kenneth in particular, who would be more likely to play games with me,
F718 mmhm
M734 he was by that stage, seventeen or eighteen,
F718 uh-huh
M734 er and not really up for playing games with, er me as much.
F718 [laugh]
M734 [laugh] Er, kind of doing his Sixth Year Studies, er as he was in, when I was in Primary 7. He was, kind of working hard. //So//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 it was, basically I didn't have anyone to play with, er unless I was in school, or actually went to the bother of going out and seeing my mates.
F718 mmhm
M734 er So... something like a computer game, where you can play against some sort of er intelligence, er was way better, and I think that was kind of one of the things that got me into it. And then, next thing I'm aware of, er the computers, was probably second year when we used them in technology, er. And I think, I think I might even have gone in break or something, and it was just kind of hanging about with other people who were using them, and, I started using things like "Paint" and, just mucking about.
F718 uh
M734 And er then found, then we got one, ourselves, and I found I could use it better than a- [laugh] other people, which was through no real reason. er I didn't try harder, but it was //just something//
F718 //Mm.//
M734 that I followed
F718 mmhm
M734 computers' logic, er and I think
F718 Yeah.
M734 I think you either do or you don't. I don't think it's something you really learn. You can try hard, but, I think, I will naturally be better than anybody who isn't a natural,
F718 mmhm
M734 regardless of how how hard they try, and that's not particularly being arrogant I would say, although it might come across //as being arrogant.//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 But I //think//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 I think it's just, I do believe in kind of nature, dictating over nurture. There's still a combination of both,
F718 mmhm
M734 but, nature will always be strongest. er, I won't ever be the world's strongest man. [laugh] //[laugh]//
F718 //hmm, that's true.//
M734 er cause I'm a bit of a skinny git. //er//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 but, you know, I just, kind of, computers come naturally. And, whereas Dad would try for ages to do something, and be all proud, er kind of, I'd do it in a couple of minutes //and//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 [laugh] not really think much of it, er but, who knows? [laugh] //[laugh]//
F718 //[laugh]// OK. Can we go right back to //your very//
M734 //[laugh]//
F718 earliest memories - to the Michael Jackson video? Do you think that, do you think that prompted your interest, subsequent interest in music, or do you think that that, sort of, confirmed //[inaudible]//
M734 //I think it confirmed, because, er,// according to Dad, anyway, //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 even when I was kind of er still in cot,
F718 mmhm
M734 when he was playing music, I would bounce about in time, er to the point that he's never seen anybody else move in the same way //at//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 that kind of age, er
F718 To, to radio, or to the piano, or //[inaudible] anything?//
M734 //Or both, er// yeah, er which I think again shows nature over nurture. er
F718 Yeah.
M734 because there is no way that is a taught response at that age,
F718 mmhm
M734 er because Kenneth and Caroline both had the same, kind of, music going on in //the background//
F718 //Yeah.//
M734 and didn't react in quite the //same way.//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 er I mean, yeah, th- they are both musical, but //I think//
F718 //Yeah.//
M734 music has played a far more important aspect in my life, and it's I do get lost in music //in a way//
F718 //uh-huh?//
M734 that I don't think Kenneth or Caroline do, er
F718 mm
M734 I think
F718 I think Kenneth might, I'm not sure, I don't know //er [inaudible]//
M734 //I think, I think Kenneth// kind of, could do with a map when he's //[laugh] go-,//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 listening to music, but I'm //truly,//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 kind of, [laugh] God knows where I am, //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 and to the point that somebody can walk past me er who I know, and I just won't realise, and that has happened before. And they've been saying hello to me, //and I've//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 [laugh] just walked straight past them, er er which is rather embarrassing when you see them //the next day.//
F718 //oh// //yeah.//
M734 //er// so I think it has played, an important part, and it was around before I saw it, but that's //what//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 er interested me in the video, was it was something that, was very intelligently done, it was, //it's a great//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 tune and er. It's pretty much faultless. [laugh] //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 everything about it is so well produced and, fits in together, er it is seamless, er
F718 mmhm At what point did you start to, well I'm presuming you're not suggesting that at two you were able to discriminate and realise that that was what was, at what point did you, start to well have preferences, I suppose?
M734 I think I probably had preferences even then.
F718 uh-huh
M734 That, I'm assuming, er that I'd seen other music on the TV.
F718 mmhm
M734 And hadn't reacted in the same way,
F718 mmhm
M734 er that hadn't made such an impact. er I mean obviously kind of the classical stuff I was being played, er by record, by Dad playing,
F718 uh-huh
M734 er was coming across and I was reacting positively to that er but the other, kind of, the more pop side, er, element of it, //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 I hadn't reacted, or I'm not aware of reacting to, maybe I was, er but I'm not aware of it, but then this came on, and, even as a two-year-old [laugh], it blew me away. //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 I don't know why, er, cause I don't think as a two-year-old, I was able to determine a well-produced //f-f- film,//
F718 //Not consciously, uh-huh//
M734 but there must there must be something almost subconscious er about it, er. And I'm worried about saying subconscious, because I don't know how much of a subconscious a two-year-old has. er
F718 I don't know either.
M734 But I don't know how much of a conscious, er a two-year-old has either.
F718 mmhm
M734 So, I think it's hard to work out [laugh] what was going on in my mind, er particularly as it's such a, like, one-off memory, //that//
F718 //Yeah, uh-huh//
M734 er
F718 [inaudible]
M734 Yeah, that, I can look back and see that I was seeing the video, er but, I can't look back and see what I was thinking about the video, in a way. //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 so I can't, kind of, analyse what was in my mind at the time - I was just remembering "wow" here's this, //er//
F718 //[inaudible]//
M734 music video that, for some reason has me engrossed, //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 Who knows? [laugh] //[laugh]//
F718 //Who knows?// Yeah. mmhm erm so, well, the Michael Jackson may have been your first influence. What, what sort of, I've obviously heard stories about the tapes that you all chose in the car. What kind of path did your musical interest take from there?
M734 er I mean for, certainly a good few years, it was mainly classically-based, because..
F718 mmhm
M734 kind of, the stuff Dad was playing, Dad was the one who could afford music and, er had a system to play it on,
F718 Yeah.
M734 er And, I //didn't//
F718 //Do you think// that's been the influence?
M734 Oh absolutely, //er//
F718 //huh//
M734 Without doubt. Even now. //er//
F718 //A positive// influence I mean rather //than [laugh] something to//
M734 //Oh yeah, oh yeah.//
F718 avoid.
M734 er no. //I'm//
F718 //hmm//
M734 still into classical music, er much to the surprise of a lot of people, er
F718 hmm
M734 but I didn't buy my first album till about ninety-two, ninety-three, when I would have been eleven or twelve, and that was "The Best Rock Album in the World Ever"
F718 [laugh]
M734 er and I think by that stage my influence was being, was mainly led by Kenneth, //er//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 Because he was very much into the rock side, er whereas Dad and Caroline and Mum weren't,
F718 mmhm
M734 er So I think he was, definitely where I got a lot of the music of my teen years from, er I particularly liked the heavy stuff, cause I was annoyed with life, so //I kind of//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 er it very much fits in and is a typical teenage music, the kind of heavy metal, //er//
F718 //uhuh//
M734 and, I think that's why these bands, even going back to the Sex Pistols, er who were kind of very agressive, and even before then, the Rolling Stones etcetera, who were breaking new ground, they- by no means, er that loud or agressive //by today's//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 standards. But for the time they were, er they were, kind of, that generation's er voice, //er//
F718 //hmm//
M734 and it's kind of changed slightly over the years - it went to the Sex Pistols, then kind of heavy metal, er and now rap to an extent. er so kind of these were, or kind of heavy metal was a large influence because I was, er, angry, er, and it kind of fits in, er, and when you're feeling pissed off with the world, and //you've got//
F718 //[mhm]//
M734 other people who are feeling pissed off //with the world, you//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 feel there's other people there with you, //er//
F718 //mmhm// Is it the lyrics or is it the music?
M734 Both, er I mean all, kind of, a lot of the lyrics are, kind of, pretty much, "we're going to change the world and //make it good",//
F718 //Yeah.//
M734 and it's it's an interesting thing that you get, particularly in the eighties, you ha-, and in, er, America, you had all these, er associations like "Mothers against Metal" or whatever,
F718 mmhm
M734 who were strongly against heavy metal for its, er, anti-Christian viewpoints. And then you look at the lyrics of the songs,
F718 mmhm
M734 and like, Anthrax had "One World", which is basically saying "don't care where you come from, just get along", and you're thinking "hang on, that's an utterly Christian view" and yet these Christians are going out for blood against, er, bands like these.
F718 That's //the stereotype, though, isn't it?//
M734 //Wh- who,// wh- who kind of has the Christian view, the Christian, or the one singing the metal? And //er//
F718 //They probably both have a lot// of ignorance though //[inaudible]//
M734 //Well, kind of// I think it's a bastardised Christian view, that Christian views should be "love everyone", er //but//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 by going after them, they're losing their Christian view, er which I think's a touch ironic really, er. And I think they didn't endear themselves - by going after them, they just made them seem more the victim which more appeals to, er, the rebellious teenager, //so//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 they're going to go for them even more.
F718 mmhm
M734 er, so I think that was a singularly bad idea by, er, the "Mothers against Metal" and all, all of the various associations and organisations, er
F718 [inaudible] intention was any good. [inaudible] //[inaudible]//
M734 //er// I think the intention was vaguely honourable, but they just didn't think.
F718 [mhm]
M734 That, yes, they want everything to be good, but, they don't think about what good is, or public choice, general freedom, //etcetera.//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 er It's kind of moving towards a Big Brother society, //er,//
F718 //Yeah.//
M734 which depends on your viewpoint on that, but I'm certainly with Orwell in thinking [laugh] that it wasn't particularly good. //er//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 but, so kind of I did have the metal influences, er. But I didn't pick up all of Kenneth's influences,
F718 mm
M734 er cause he was also into his jazz,
F718 uh-huh
M734 which, I've never picked up on, er. But, I think what I took from the metal was, the need for playing very technically difficult pieces, er, which also had in common with classical music, //er//
F718 //mmhm skill?//
M734 Jazz is technical,
F718 mmhm
M734 but I always felt with a lot, or certainly, the classical music that I liked, and the heavy metal, that the music was going somewhere. It's, //it's,//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 it's a hard phrase to understand, cause, well, where's the music going? But, it's just something I feel. Jazz, is, kind of, it's lots of notes, fairly quick, quite often, but, it doesn't really matter, //Is//
F718 //[inaudible]// maybe it's a mood.
M734 It is, it is a mood, but I've also seen too many live jazz musicians, who kind of try and feel, or kind of look "oh, we're so harshly done by" And, you know they're going back to their kind of, //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 nice six-hundred thousand pound house, er, //with//
F718 //[inaudible]//
M734 all, all that's good. And I think that's something that's affecting metal, that when metal started out, the bands that were there, had no money,
F718 mmhm
M734 they were down-and-out, they were playing to survive, //er//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 So, kind of their agression, er, claims against society, held merit, and I think that's why they've fallen down now, that a lot of the bands who've got really big, lose that edge because, well, "yes, I'm just off back to my five million, er, penthouse, er, kind of, well "why are you pissed off with society really, er, any more? er, you're doing quite well." er, so I think that's kind of lost it, and that's, to an extent, why, one of the reasons why, I've not been that keen on jazz, because I feel it lacks emotion. //That,//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 Blues, er is very different, that, it's less technically orientated, but //there's a lot//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 of feeling in it. er mainly, or kind of, certainly in its origins, it was, er, Deep South, where [laugh] the black men only had the Blues, that was their life,
F718 Yeah.
M734 er, when they weren't slaves, er, and they were very poor and they were playing for, feeling, and sometimes the more successful ones, to make a living, //er//
F718 //mm//
M734 and if they didn't they didn't have anything else, so there is feeling in there, but I just feel that jazz lacks feeling. But, er, going back to the kind of classical metal, er, you kind of, both of them are very technically orientated, and certainly what I found when, er, I went off to University, was that, a lot of the metal bands borrowed heavily from classical music, which I found very interesting that, particularly, kind of, the first artist that really got me into that was Yngwie Malmsteen,
F718 mmhm
M734 who you'd be listening to a song, and then it would just go into, er Bach or Paganini,
F718 mmhm
M734 and sound really good, and, I think that's kind of, that aspect has definitely had a profound impact on my choice of music that I have now kind of separated, er, away from what Kenneth likes, that my likes are, pretty much, classical things rocked up, or rocky things that are very heavily classically-inspired, er
F718 mmhm
M734 so, kind of, even over the past six months, the lead female vocals, er which is very much more an operatic thing, er, as opposed, you get some pop bands that have female vocals, but they, they've never really crossed over into metal, as much. But they do with the cl-, kind of classically-inspired metal with violins and all, kind of, classical instruments going on in the background, and I think that's, er, it merges my two, er, main music interests together, er, not with a popular thing, but I like it, //so... [laugh]//
F718 //[laugh] fair enough.// erm I know your other, well one other, passion perhaps is the motorbike.
M734 Yeah.
F718 Does that fit into the whole rock and classical kind of, ideal?
M734 er it kind of, stereotypically probably fits into the heavy metal aspect perfectly, but it's not related to that at all, er I kind of haven't been a bike-nut, and still amn't, but,
F718 mmhm
M734 er, it was kind of I use-, I used to cycle a lot, and then I was kind of thinking, oh I suppose I should really do with, er, learning to be able to get myself over, er, distances of more than about six miles, //er//
F718 //mmhm [laugh]//
M734 I was, I don't I don't like criticism, and I felt if I'm in a car I'm going to get criticised a lot. So, kind of, being on a motorbike,
F718 mmhm
M734 I'm by myself, nobody's going to criticise me, //er//
F718 //hmm. So it's// passengers and people in the car that would criticise rather than fellow drivers?
M734 Yeah.
F718 huh
M734 er so kind of
F718 You're not a fan of fellow drivers though, are you? [laugh]
M734 I would say most drivers are fairly pish, but
F718 [laugh]
M734 er. Hey, they're safe because they don't break the speed limit, well, some of them, er, but that's a whole 'nother story, er
F718 Do you feel safer on a motorbike than on an, er, ordinary bike?
M734 Yes, because you've got the power to get out of //er//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 obviously if you crash there's a lot more that can go wrong, on the basis that if you're doing //ninety,//
F718 //mmhm//
M734 er, and you come off, it's gonna be a whole lot worse than doing twenty and coming off, though I've got more safety equipment, er on when I'm, er, on the motorbike, er
F718 mmhm
M734 But it's crashing hasn't really come into my mind It [laugh] Well, kind of, Mum always, kind of, worries, but
F718 Yeah.
M734 I'm much more "what will be will be". If I'm gonna crash, I'm gonna crash. It kind of, life's full of turns, and
F718 mmhm //It's only//
M734 //I//
F718 normal that she should worry about it more than you. //She's//
M734 //Yeah.//
F718 not in control of it - you are.
M734 Yeah. //Bu-//
F718 //You know// the amount of control you have.
M734 Yeah, but, I think, kind of, by the nature of, or certainly going by other people, likelihood is, in my life of riding motorbikes,
F718 mmhm
M734 I will have a crash.
F718 mmhm
M734 Simply, well, everyone I know who's had a motorbike, other than one who's only got one a week ago,
F718 mmhm
M734 has crashed their bike,
F718 mmhm
M734 so, logic would dictate that, in all likelihood, I would at some point come off my bike, //er//
F718 //uh-huh//
M734 [laugh] which is a bit of a pants-wetting situation, //but er, I kind of,//
F718 //[laugh]//
M734 I don't spend any time worrying about it. It's, not, kind of, it doesn't play on my mind at all.

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APA Style:

Conversation 01: Edinburgh man on his childhood. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 29 March 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=579.

MLA Style:

"Conversation 01: Edinburgh man on his childhood." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 29 March 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=579.

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Information about Document 579

Conversation 01: Edinburgh man on his childhood

Audio

Audio audience

Adults (18+)
For gender Mixed
Audience size 2

Audio awareness & spontaneity

Speaker awareness Aware
Degree of spontaneity Spontaneous
Special circumstances surrounding speech Main participant prompted with a few questions.

Audio footage information

Year of recording 2004
Recording person id 718
Size (min) 31
Size (mb) 119

Audio medium

Other Private conversation

Audio setting

Private/personal
Recording venue Private house
Geographic location of speech Edinburgh

Audio relationship between recorder/interviewer and speakers

Family members or other close relationship
Speakers knew each other Yes

Audio speaker relationships

Family members or other close relationship

Audio transcription information

Transcriber id 718
Year of transcription 2004
Year material recorded 2004
Word count 4806

Audio type

Conversation

Participant

Participant details

Participant id 718
Gender Female
Decade of birth 1970
Educational attainment University
Age left school 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs Protestantism
Occupation Lecturer
Place of birth Hamilton
Region of birth Lanark
Birthplace CSD dialect area Lnk
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Glasgow
Region of residence Glasgow
Residence CSD dialect area Gsw
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Accountant
Father's place of birth Glasgow
Father's region of birth Glasgow
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Gsw
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Radiographer
Mother's place of birth Norton on Tees
Mother's region of birth Durham
Mother's country of birth England

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes All functions
French Yes Yes Yes Yes Work and pleasure
German No Yes No Yes A little
Scots No Yes No Yes Work
Spanish; Castilian Yes Yes Yes Yes Work and pleasure

Participant

Participant details

Participant id 734
Gender Male
Decade of birth 1980
Educational attainment College
Age left school 18
Upbringing/religious beliefs Agnostic
Occupation Computer engineer
Place of birth Edinburgh
Region of birth Midlothian
Birthplace CSD dialect area midLoth
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Edinburgh
Region of residence Midlothian
Residence CSD dialect area midLoth
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Solicitor
Father's place of birth Edinburgh
Father's region of birth Midlothian
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area midLoth
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Statistician
Mother's place of birth Gourock
Mother's region of birth Renfrew
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Renfr
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes Life
Scots Yes Yes Yes Yes Occasional use everywhere

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