Document 995
Conversation 18: Edinburgh lexicographer on making recordings
Author(s): N/A
Copyright holder(s):
SCOTS Project
Audio transcription
| F209 |
He, well, it was, appar- I didn't realise this, but it was him who had suggested us |
| F606 |
Mm |
| F209 |
as the consultants in the first place.
And er he was very pleased with the the results o the leaflet
and he was the one who kept say- "oh well, get her to come down and ma- make recordings." |
| F606 |
Mmhm |
| F209 |
Then, of course, the museums who are hosting the project, as well as the Forestry Commission,
they have, because of the Representations of the People's Act and all the rest of it, recording people is not erm like it was in the old days, the Linguistic Survey, you've
//got to// |
| F606 |
//No.// |
| F209 |
[cough] you've got to tell them you're doin it, you've got to get, record them actually sayin "Ma name's Pauline Cairns,
//I come// |
| F606 |
//Mmhm// |
| F209 |
from Scottish Language Dictionaries. Is it okay if I record you?"
And most time, they nod, and it makes me feel like the CID when you say "For the tape,
//please". [cough]// |
| F606 |
//[laugh] Yeah.//
//[cough] [laugh]// |
| F209 |
//"Oh aye, hen" [laugh]//
And, so what has happened, as I say it's snowballed, and I have to trot down there, and then one neighbour tells the other neighbour and then another neighbour gets quite indignant, because wee Jocky so-and-so kens mair Scots nor we- than Big Sandy.
And Big Sandy's wife's, wife's cousin kens mair nor anybody in the hail district.
And er it's absolutely fascinatin.
And to think, I mean one guy I spoke to, this is just interestin no
//from a linguistic// |
| F606 |
//[cough]// |
| F209 |
or anything point of view. |
| F606 |
Mm |
| F209 |
His family had lived on the same site since the sixteen-forties. |
| F606 |
Uh-huh |
| F209 |
And it was this beautiful house.
He had a picture of it on his wall, just beside his chair.
And he was in his early seventies, so goodness knows what he would have been in the sixties.
And his, this little house, it was absolutely beautiful, you know, like the sort of house you draw when you're a a kid, with the door and the four
//windows an the slidy-doon roof.// |
| F606 |
//Mm// |
| F209 |
And I said to him, "But, couldn't you have kept the house?" cause of course when the Forestry Commission comes in and just b- buys up the land, razes everything to the ground, an |
| F606 |
Mm |
| F209 |
And apparently once a week since the nineteen-sixties, [inaudible] nineteen-sixty-three, sixty-four,
He goes up, to the place where his house was, and it was just left there. |
| F606 |
Mmhm |
| F209 |
The house actually was left.
And now it's, the the walls are about three feet high.
//And that's all that's// |
| F606 |
//S-// |
| F209 |
left of it after somethin bein there for over four hundred years. |
| F606 |
That's terrible. |
| F209 |
And you're like,
even in the sixties, the Forestry Commission must have realised they were doin somethin extremely silly.
//You know?// |
| F606 |
//Yeah, I would//
think so, yeah. |
| F209 |
But, and, that's only one of them, I don't know and perhaps I should, presumably that's what Ruth's doin, is findin exactly how many
//families// |
| F606 |
//Mmhm// |
| F209 |
and how many people were displaced by the forest, an |
| F606 |
Mm |
| F209 |
how, erm
I mean certainly the economic erm effect on the area, I think, was absolutely monumental,
cause you had all these workers comin in from the outside,
//an// |
| F606 |
//Mmhm// |
| F209 |
it all spiralled down because there was one lot of people displaced but another lot of people came in, you know, Irish navvies and things,
//to// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F209 |
to er, you think about building a forest, you know, you plant a forest, but there was lots of buildin work an roads
//to be laid an// |
| F606 |
//Mm//
Mmhm |
| F209 |
all sorts of, cause it was hill farmin, basically. |
| F606 |
Yeah.
//Uh-huh// |
| F209 |
//Erm//
//S-// |
| F606 |
//No, I think in that//
period, they just knocked things down in the name of improvement.
Like, that's when they knocked George Square down,
//and then// |
| F209 |
//Mm// |
| F606 |
half of Glasgow went an.
//But,// |
| F209 |
//Yeah.// |
| F606 |
I mean, it's a shame when it's a family home like that. Yeah. |
| F209 |
Yeah. An I mean that was just one, as I say I don't know how
//many of them.// |
| F606 |
//Mm// |
| F209 |
But the the trickle-down was amazin, because a lot of the the farms, the other farms, the ones that were left in the area, they went into bed and breakfast. |
| F606 |
Mmhm |
| F209 |
Because of course, all these Irish navvies, th- they couldnae go back to erm [tut] Kilmarnock or wherever |
| F606 |
Mmhm |
| F209 |
they they needed places to stay, so the farms that were left, they got quite a lot o money
//because these// |
| F606 |
//Yeah.// |
| F209 |
guys were bein paid, at the time an absolute fortune.
You know, they were gettin thirty an forty pounds a week,
which was unheard of
I mean even yer Edinburgh lawyer would have thought that was a good wage
//then.// |
| F606 |
//Mmhm// |
| F209 |
[cough]
And these guys were just gettin a fortune. |
| F606 |
Yeah. |
| F209 |
And of course the peo- th- this caused resentment with the people who'd been turfed out their farms because they're like "Hm, we've got our money, but they're still gettin money."
//[laugh]// |
| F606 |
//Mmhm [laugh]// |
| F209 |
So, it's it's it's been a fascinatin if exhaustin exercise.
But what I have discovered is a lovely wee hotel in Strathaven,
//which is// |
| F606 |
//Mmhm// |
| F209 |
super. |
| F606 |
[inhale] |
| F209 |
And eh, it's quite nice to go down there, an go down on the Friday, and it's like a wee holiday, |
| F606 |
Yeah. |
| F209 |
come back on the Sunday,
//so it's quite// |
| F606 |
//Uh-huh//
//Good.// |
| F209 |
//It's quite nice.// |
| F606 |
[tut] Thank you. |
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Conversation 18: Edinburgh lexicographer on making recordings
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