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

**DCampbell16B** · 30th October 23, 04:20 AM

20 August Saturday
Day to self. Mostly read and watch little TV. An and C to Bernera for funeral. Up on moor to peat hags.

21 August Sunday
55 minute sermon in Gaelic. 50 in English. To shore in afternoon. [The only activity allowed on a Sunday was to walk on the beach. There were usually quite a few people out walking if the weather anything near to bearable. Usually people teens and 20s.]

22 August
To shore twice. An and C away again. Read. Big deal. Need to get something to do. Going to seed.

23 August
Iain Tom and Christabel and Effie tonight. Lots of Gaelic and when An takes a few his Gaelic gets faster. Real ceilidh before they left. Most much too fast for me.

24 August Wednesday
Not much today. Watched TV evening.

**DCampbell16B** · 31st October 23, 08:42 AM

Not much today. Fank for dipping in morning. Didn't go, felt I would be in way. Evening Bernera. Fixed fence, chased sheep out of lot, watched Iain Tom and dog chase sheep, and helped him get them off the hillside, then got lambs out of buck(?) by A. Waited for Iain Tom and got pipes out in Breaclete. An Sgoilear came over, he's a good piper. He played them. We talked ½ hour. He's very [very] good. Then Effie for kipper.

[That was a rather magical evening. It was dusky, and An and Gibb had had a dram or two, and I had wondered about An driving. He pulled over to the side of the road, and they were were "Oh, get the pipes out and play! Come on!" So I bowed to pressure and stood in road and played a while. Not another car went by. The pipes were going well. An Sgoilear must have heard them, as he walked up. I didn't even notice him until he was there. An and Gibb were whispering "That's An Sgoilear!" almost in awe. I never got his English name. He played my pipes for a while. I just walked around him and listened. My pipes had never sounded better, and never since.]

**DCampbell16B** · 13th December 23, 05:17 AM

Not much morning. Cn (Downstairs) put stacks of hay into bailer and An and I helped move them to barn, then shifted some sheep.

**DCampbell16B** · 13th December 23, 05:18 AM

Cn butchered carcass (sheep) brought back from Bernera this morning. It was soft and hard to cut. Judicious use of hatchet and saw. Afternoon not much but some fishing facing North Sea [North Minch], just south of light [Port of Ness light], in a cove. Sea very rough. Clouds all day with F3 of wind. High surf with incoming tide for fishing. Salt water tackle awkward, especially on rocks, caught 2 12-14 inch mackerel, 1 saith (silver), 1 laith (brown). An had a lot of 3-4 inch cuidiags. Whole lot of them went to a man in Cross who isn't well. D home.

[I heard a thumping coming from the shed out back. I looked in and Cn looked startled, like I'd caught him. I suspect they killed the lamb a couple days before. I had noticed something going on and was told i couldn't go down there. Anyway, I watched Cn for a few minutes then ended up holding the carcass for him as he sawed down the backbone or used the hatchet tor knife to finish butchering.]

**DCampbell16B** · 5th January 24, 05:49 AM

Church morning. Sermon 1 hour in Gaelic. Took bath. Went walk with D, strained? Met Dandaidh, Donald Maclean at shore. Also other boys 17-20? all Gaelic. Donald very Ness accent. Too late for church evening. Broke Sabbath by watching beginning of My Fair Lady. Evening in kitchen w/ An, C, F and D, so on. [I think I meant F's girls].

A walk on a Sunday afternoon was the only acceptable pastime.

**Jock Scot** · 8th January 24, 06:24 AM

Do I detect a hint of boredom within the story setting in? I am not surprised, a couple of weeks out there fishing is enough for me!

**DCampbell16B** · 9th January 24, 08:42 AM

Well, sort of! But also, no. Part of the reason I wanted to stay out there was to see what living in Scotland was like in reality. Not the "Tartan Twilight Tourist Tat" world. Real living isn't necessarily excitement every day. Unless you're Tom Cruise. Which I am not.

So in effect, I was putting less in the journal because I found I was living normally each day. Not that really interesting things didn't continue to happen, which I did write down.

**DCampbell16B** · 10th January 24, 05:05 AM

And I do need to get back to making entries. I started when I had time on my hands due to a serious health issue. "I got better." (How long will it take to identify that simple quote?). So I find myself busier, and also easily distracted.