Women’s Voices from the Scottish Borders

November 16, 2015 by User deactivated | 0 comments

Remembering domestic servants, shorthand typists, cinema pianists and suffragettes: new soundbites from the Ian Landles Oral History Archive

We’re releasing some more soundbites from the Ian Landles Oral History Archive this week. This time we’re showcasing the stories of women from the Scottish Borders.

You’ll hear from Mrs Oliver (b.1901) about her experiences as a pianist working in cinemas in Hawick – ‘The Piv’ and ‘The Wee Thee’ – providing the soundtrack for silent movies. Mrs Oliver also worked as a shorthand typist and she talks about this in a second soundbite. We learn how she perfected her shorthand by sitting in the back of church during services and noting down the sermons.

Other women talk about their memories of the suffrage movement in the years leading up to the First World War. Mrs Stewart (b.1881) remembers suffragettes coming to Hawick and Mrs Thomson tells us how the activists gained a reputation amongst the locals: ‘they come to burn hooses doon’.

: Cinema

: Shorthand Typists

: Domestic Servants

: Suffragettes

A number of women in the Borders worked in service in the early 20th century at the many country houses and estates across the region. Catherine McLeish (b.1902) and Meg Wilson (b.1893) share their experiences.

The Ian Landles Archive is a series of interviews and sound recordings collected by local historian Ian Landles between the 1960s and 2010. The collection, originally started in order to preserve the memories of local men who had fought in World War One, also contains testimonies from local women and material on The Hawick Common Riding, poetry, music, the railways, farming life and mill life. The original full interviews are held on audio cassette tape by Scottish Borders Council Archive Services at the Heritage Hub in Hawick. To listen to all interviews from the Ian Landles Archive currently held on Scran click here.

Images © Aberdeen City Council, Hulton Getty, Dalmellington & District Conservation Trust | Licensor Scran

Robert Louis Stevenson

November 12, 2015 by Scran | 0 comments

Robert Louis Stevenson was one of the most famous Scottish writers of the 19th century, perhaps his best known works being Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Body Snatcher.

Early Years

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born on November 13 1850 in Edinburgh to parents Thomas Stevenson and Margaret Balfour. The Stevenson family were already well known as Thomas and his father, Robert Stevenson, were both famous lighthouse designers and engineers. From them, Robert Louis inherited his adventurous nature that would stimulate his imagination and spark his interest in literature. As a child Robert was severely ill due to a weakness in his lungs which he inherited from his mother. His health improved with age and after a troublesome time at Edinburgh Academy he entered Edinburgh University at the age of seventeen. Lacking the necessary approach for engineering, he instead pursued law and was called to the bar at twenty-five. This was a reserve plan to fall back on should his true passion – literature – fail.

The Traveller

A man who saw great romance and art in all aspects of life, Stevenson decided to travel. This was most likely in search of better health but also for adventure. As a writer, he craved stimulation for his imagination and he created notes of all he saw. His travels took him to Grez-Doiceau, Belgium and France where he visited Nemours and Paris often. A canoe trip in 1878 inspired his travelogue An Inland Voyage and later Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. He also wrote a number of articles and essays to generate income. Two years before this, he had met Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne, an American divorcee, in France and fallen in love. A few months later she returned home and fell ill. When the news reached him, Stevenson, against the advice of his friends, departed for San Francisco. The journey from New York to California almost killed him. However, it inspired his works An Amateur Immigrant and Across the Plains. He eventually arrived in San Francisco with scarcely any money at all. By the end of winter 1879 his health declined once more. Fanny nursed him back to health.

Master of Literature

In May 1880 he and Fanny married. They would spend the next seven years seeking a suitable environment for his ever declining health. Having suffered so terribly in winter during his life, they would reside in Scotland and England during the warmer months, and spend winters in France . His greatest works were created in this period: Treasure Island, The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Kidnapped. He also published two volumes of poetry: A Child’s Garden of Verses and Underwoods. Stevenson’s father died in 1887. In June 1888 Stevenson chartered the yacht Casco and he and his family sailed around various locations. This period also saw the production of further work including: The Master of Ballantrae, The Bottle Imp and The South Seas.

The Latter Years

In 1890 Stevenson and his family moved to the Samoan island of Upolu where he would live out his final years. He named his estate Vailima, meaning “Five Rivers”. His literary work and reputation was influential and the locals would consult him for advice. They named him the Tusitala – the Teller of Tales. His interaction with the locals led him to observe that European rule was less than benevolent and he published the highly critical A Footnote on History. Given his literary power, his work caused two officials to be recalled. As well as supporting the natives and building his estate, Stevenson published further works such as David Balfour and Ebb Tide. He also wrote the Vailima Letters in this period. With his health waning, Stevenson became depressed and concerned that his creativity was being exhausted. His spirit refused to succumb and he began his masterpiece, the Weir of Hermiston. He apparently remarked: “It’s so good that it frightens me.” He would not complete it. On December 3 1894, after working on his book, Stevenson collapsed in the company of his wife. He was 44 when he died as a result of a cerebral haemorrhage. The natives surrounded his body and carried their Tusitala upon their shoulders to a cliff top where he was buried.

Imagery © Scottish National Portrait Gallery, RCAHMS, Dundee Central Library – Licensor Scran

From Agros to Zygi

November 10, 2015 by Scran | 0 comments

On the road again in Cyprus, so what did we do with Archnetwork today ?

Saturday 19^th September 2015. After such a full day in the capital, we stayed local and visited the neighbouring village of Kato Drys. Firstly, we went to the top of Sotira hill, behind Lefkara to get panoramic view across the Larnaca District and surrounding landscape and visited the tiny church perched there. It had some charming icons dating from the early C20th.

Next stop was by an ancient oak and some knarly, old olive trees. We heard from Martin some local folklore about village rivalry & how the village took its name from the many “Dryes” (oaks) that grew in the area. Martin also informed us about community efforts to sew acorns & regenerate some of these magnificent trees.

We had the pleasure of visiting house of Elli Papachristoforou, who generously let us sample some of her honey which was rather special. She then gave us a guided tour of both the (Embroidery) Museum of Folk Art and the (Bee) Agricultural Museum of Kato Drys. Both were captivating and provided further context for everything we had learned over the previous days in respect of Cypriot culture, nature, social & economic growth. The homestead of Reo Stakis was pointed out to us, the famous son of the village who built the Stakis Hotels empire.

* * *

Sunday 20^th September 2015. In the capable hands of our host for the day, Adriana Patkova, we wove our way through the twisty mountain roads of Cyprus, spotting beehives, bikers, wind turbines, reservoirs, solar farms, eucalyptus trees, terraces & an asbestos mine.

I took issue with the interpretation on site, there was the distinct lack of information about the hazards of asbestos & the effects on the nearby mining villages as clearly studied in here. Report on the Health Effects of the Asbestos Mines on the … Some advice for visitors poking around in the rocks would not go amiss. Contaminated land from historical mining in Cyprus is an issue. The Amiantos Asbestos Mine in the Troodos National Park, where we stopped is undergoing restoration. The biodiversity conservation, restoration and management project concludes at the end of December 2015.

Moving on. We arrived at picturesque Agros where we visited a smokery, had a peek into the smoking room at Kafkalia and sampled their products; posirti, lountza, loukanika, hiromeri, zalatina, tsamarelle and pastourmas. After lunch we continued to climb to the top, reaching Troodos Square we couldn’t help but notice the familiar environment, it looked like Scotland! There was a thistle to prove it. The British military presence was again, all around. We went to the rather dated visitor centre and proceeded to Pano Platres where we saw a peculiar post box. Finally we had a long drive, down to the coast and back to Lefkara with a pit stop in Zygi.

Silversmithing & Stansted

Monday 21^st September, our final day. We made an early morning visit to the silversmiths in Lefkara and learned about their processes, which are mostly mechanised but involved all sorts of materials, rubber, wax, plaster and of course silver. The workshops were very interesting but we could not linger. Adriana had to get us to the airport for our incredible journey home to Glasgow, via Stansted. I’m glad to say on our way to Paphos she took us to see Aphrodite’s Rock, the ideal way to say goodbye & ευχαριστώ

The experiences of this week were fascinating. From knowing very little about Cyprus I now feel after this cultural exchange that I have gained a decent understanding of Cypriot life, both contemporary and traditional.

Everybody we encountered was genuinely friendly & extremely welcoming. I found more personal parallels with the socio-political divide in the country than I expected. The cuisine was fabulous, the crafts exquisite, the landscape so dry and different & the company… well, we had a lot of fun too.

Imagery © Newsquest, Licensor Scran & J.Sangster

Remembrance

November 5, 2015 by Scran | 0 comments

My Grandfather Dreams Twice of Flanders, is a poem based on an experience Ron Butlin had when he was around six years old. That was when he first noticed people wearing poppies, and he asked his mother why. She explained about war, and about death, neither of which made much sense.

Then she told him about his grandfather who had ironically died on the day peace was declared, after lying in hospitals for years with injuries sustained earlier in the war. As a child he had nightmares, and the poem is a sort of exorcism.

Ron Butlin was born in Edinburgh in 1949, but grew up in the countryside in the village of Hightae near Dumfries. He has been a computer operator, security guard, footman and model, as well as Writer in Residence at Edinburgh University. He writes in English and Scots.

Images: © Poppy Scotland (Eamonn McGoldrick), National Library of Scotland (Scottish Screen Archive) & Newsquest (Herald & Times).

Licensor www.scran.ac.uk

Loulla’s Farm, Lefkosia North & South

November 2, 2015 by Scran | 0 comments

Another instalment from our education officer’s report on the Archnetwork Erasmus+ course, Empowering Communities in Cyprus.

Friday 18^th September 2015. Today started with a trip into the countryside for breakfast. On our way a black snake slid across the road in front of us, apparently a large Whip-Snake, quite a sight. At Loulla’s Farm we found out how Cypriot cheese is made, we had a demonstration of how the goats’ milk is treated, brined and stored to producehalloumi – yum! The process was straightforward with the addition of a pinch of mint and a vacuum pack, done. Outside there was a cheese safe containing what I believe was maturing kefalotyri, another Cypriot delight. We got to visit the goats & even meet a day old kid. Now we were ready to see Lefkosia or Nicosia, on both sides.

Nearing the capital city of Cyprus I was surprised to see a giant Turkish Cypriot flag painted onto the side of the Kyrenia Mountains – what a statement. Following the conflict of 1974, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus TRNC became a self-declared state, however it is only recognised by Turkey. The political and military dispute in Cyprus remains unresolved and the island continues with life, divided. The Green Line runs 112 miles from east to west across the island, splitting families, property and communities.

We parked by the C16^th Venetian city walls and continued on foot through the narrow back streets to our first destination, Helen’s of Kyrenia, a lace shop at 33 Ippokratous. The stock in the shop dated back decades. To my delight amongst the heaps of lace, tatting & embroidery, I found a packet which explained the provenance of the Lefkara lace within; Guarantee Hand Made – Made in Cyprus – Irish Linen – French Thread. Perfect.

Despite the daily impasse, the people of Nicosia go about their business as usual, at least on the surface. Once you start to look around however there are clues on the streets. Still on the south side of the city, we began to notice thought provoking graffiti, not unlike the imagery that adorns the barrier walls of Bethlehem or indeed the peace lines of Belfast. When people live conflict every day for 40+ years, it cannot be ignored. at the time The Scotsman newspaper reported on the Turkish-Cypriot war & is documented with poignant imagery from 1974. (Image © The Scotsman. Licensor Scran)

FullSizeRender (10) Nicosia is a vibrant & sophisticated city, with a buzz in the streets. Trendy shops & coffee houses lined the artists’ quarter. After a little pick-me-up in the form of some Cyprus coffee, μέτριο for me please, we neared the Green Line. Passports at the ready we crossed over to the north side of the city through two sets of border control, Greek & Turkish. It was easy enough the pass through, plenty of tourists and locals alike were going to & fro. Yet, CCTV was evident, uniformed armed guards were on duty & signage warned us that photography was strictly forbidden in this narrowslice of no-man’s land. The freely available maps of the city tell their own story, both versions simply do not show basic information on their enemy’s side. Visitors must use not one, but two, maps to see the lay of the land and get their bearings in Nicosia.

Once we had crossed the Green Line we made our way to the breath-taking Buyuk Han or Grand Inn. It as built in 1572 by the Ottomans and was been restored to it’s former glory in the 1990s. The contrast in the city was immediately apparent. We passed by the intriguing Selimiye Mosque as the call to prayer rang out. Formerly it was the Cathédrale Sainte Sophie, so architecturally & spiritually it has been re-purposed. The result is an odd juxtapostion of east meets west – gothic grandeur, flying buttresses with minarets and ornate window grills. I even spotted a Green man lurking in the masonry over the entrance. Also by the main door there was a suspiciously Scottish looking, ironwork structure used for the washing of feet. It was not dissimilar to a bandstand, however it had obviously been re-purposed too. I was unable to find any makers mark but it was reminiscent of the products shipped around the world by The Lion Foundry of Kirkintilloch. (Image © East Dunbartonshire Council. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk.)

The many souvenir shops in the area were selling Turkish Delight, not Cypriot Delight, as they were just a few hundred metres away. Within the Buyuk Han, we feasted on a meze of Turkish Cypriot dishes and then visited the wonderful Senay Ekingen, at Su-Ha Tic. Senaye studied tourism in England and has run her business since 1987, making Lefkara lace in the traditional manner as well as creating new products to incorporate it, such as bags & jewellery. She also imports her base fabric from one of the last linen producing mills left in Ireland, Thomas Ferguson.

Not only is she a successful businesswoman, but Senaye also works on bi-communal projects, using craft to bring together Cypriots from both sides of the divide and trains up young apprentices too. Thereby generating hope for the future and breaking down barriers. Later we visited the amazing Yagcioglu haberdashery, which stocked the all-important DMC (Dollfus-Mieg & Compagnie) French embroidery thread for making Lefkaritika, in an extensive back catalogue of colours. (Here’s an example of embroidery on Scran using DMC thread)

We wound our way back along the colourful Ledera Street, via the folk arts museum, stumbled on some Limassol Brick & Tile co. roof tiles for good measure & once again crossed the Green Line, pausing to look at the contemporary sculptures in our path.

Imagery © J.Sangster

Meet the Scr-ancestors

October 29, 2015 by User deactivated | 0 comments

Have you ever come face-to-face with a photograph of a family member on Scran? Perhaps a parent, a grandparent, a great-great aunty, a long lost distant cousin…?

We know some of you have. At a Scran event last year we met a lady who identified one of the children featured in this photograph of Northern District School in Perth 1952 as her cousin!

We’ve also met: a student who found a photograph of her father, a former football player, featured in our Scotsman collections; a librarian who found a photograph of her fisherman great-grandfather pictured in his native north-east; a lady who found a photograph of herself in the school netball team back in the 1960s.

If you’ve found any of your ancestors – or even yourself – on Scran, we’d love to hear from you. If you’d like to share your family story on Scranalogue, please comment below or get in touch with us directly at scran@scran.ac.uk.

Remember to identify the Scran image that you have a family connection with. You can do this by telling us its URL (its weblink) or by its USI number (that’s the small number that appears under each thumbnail image in search results and begins 000- and ends -C). Don’t forget to explain your connection to the image – just a few sentences will do. We’d also love to know your name and where you come from, but you can remain anonymous if you wish.

One Final Burst of Light!

October 28, 2015 by User deactivated | 0 comments

Our final montage of all things from the Scran archives to celebrate the theme of light is now live.

The Light Fantastic explores the light found in the magical worlds of fairgrounds, theatre, dance and film using archive material from the Scran collections of movies, music, poetry readings and still images.

All the films in this Archives for Inspiration series are available to view here.

Kornos Pottery & Lefkaritika Lessons

October 27, 2015 by Scran | 0 comments

Today we are sharing the third instalment from the Archnetwork Erasmus+ course, Empowering Communities in Cyprus.

Thursday 17^th September 2015. Today was a hands-on day. In the morning we journeyed 25 minutes north east of Lefkara, to the small village of Kornos. Here we were greeted by the wonderful, women of the pottery cooperative. They provided us with a demonstration of their pot making techniques and the opportunity to make our own using the rich red terracotta clay. Coffee was served and through translation we exchanged lots of information. The unprocessed clay sat in mound by the side of the road which I found curious, so I enquired about it’s preparation, as it is heavy work. A tour of the clay mill & machinery ensued and it was explained that a local man helped with this. We looked around the store room full of fired pots in all shapes and sizes, from bee hives to cooking pots. We saw their working electric kiln. There was also an unmissable 200 year-old, brick-built, wood-fired kiln – a thing of beauty in need of restoration, which is planned. Another more dilapidated kiln sat crumbling behind the main building, seemingly beyond repair.

The shop also served as a make shift museum, displaying photographs of the potters throughout the 20^th Century when it was a much larger concern, employing many more villagers and supporting more families. Today there are no young people joining the Kornos pottery or learning the skills, so it’s long term future is uncertain.

The pottery workshop facilities were very basic, partially in the open air. As we were working it struck me, the pace at which the potter’s could complete an entire pot was hastened because of the warmer climate allowed the clay to firm up much quicker than the UK. Paired with their perfectly honed building skills, the potters could produce a complete decorated piece in under an hour, to await firing in the kiln.

I also asked about the potters’ health, if anyone suffered from chest complaints from the clay dust, which can cause silicosis, they all shook their heads. The workshop had no extraction system, which is mandatory for health & safety in the UK. Then again, the workspace was open and ventilated by nature. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting my pot making skills as well as meeting these great people.

In the afternoon we returned to Lefkara clutching our unfired earthenware. It was time to apply more dexterity and attempt some Lefkara lace making. Panayiota was our patient teacher and she started us off by showing the margarite pattern. This geometric design requires precision embroidery, good eyesight for counting warp & weft threads and for a beginner, vast amounts of concentration. The instructions made perfect sense but putting it into practice was another matter. The lesson made us all appreciate Lefkaritika that wee bit more.

First World War Voices from Falkirk

October 23, 2015 by User deactivated | 0 comments

As commemorations of the centenary of World War One continue, you may be interested in a recent addition to Scran’s oral history collections – Falkirk’s First World War.

This series of three interviews recorded by Falkirk Museums in 1984, presents the memories of local men and women who lived through the conflict. Listen to a soldier recount his experiences of fighting on The Western Front and women who worked in Falkirk’s munition factories recall the dangers of their work as well as the well-earned visits from concert parties.

Click on the links below to access each interview on Scran, where you’ll also find summaries with timecodes and full transcripts. Or go straight to the full set of interviews here.

I remember my father saying to me, he says, ‘George,’ he says, ‘It’ll be all over long before you’re ready to go.’ Little did he know.

Listen to more from this interview with Mr George Gladstone

We all used to sing and sometimes they’d bring people in or a concert party in on a Friday at lunchtime and you got a longer lunch but they was sometimes terrible and we used to clap them and, you know when, and it was only because we didn’t like the thing at all [laughs]. But we used to clap them like anything.

Listen to more from this interview with Mrs Kathleen Templeton

Tell me about the time now that you saw the Zeppelin.

I was just coming home one night and everybody started to shout, it was dark. You know, they keep the furnaces and everything dark. And you saw this thing just going across the sky it’s like a double decker bus all lit up, you know, it sticks out in my mind, you can mind that, it’s plain. And there was one that was brought down in flames later.

Listen to more from this interview with Mrs Jean Paul

Getting Into Scran with Your Local Library

October 22, 2015 by User deactivated | 0 comments

Did you know that most of Scotland’s local authority library services offer free access to Scran for their card holders?

And many of these offer access to Scran not just in branch, but as an online resource available from home. Check if you have free access here.

Remembering domestic servants, shorthand typists, cinema pianists and suffragettes: new soundbites from the Ian Landles Oral History Archive

Share this:

Early Years

The Traveller

Master of Literature

The Latter Years

Share this:

Silversmithing & Stansted

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Have you ever come face-to-face with a photograph of a family member on Scran? Perhaps a parent, a grandparent, a great-great aunty, a long lost distant cousin…?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Did you know that most of Scotland’s local authority library services offer free access to Scran for their card holders?

Share this: