Carradale

[chuckiebay]

Who on earth wis Davey Olly

[Big Bob]

I wore Davie Ollie's white coat at the stock judging at the Scottish Dairy Show in the Kelvin Hall in 1965.
lang may yer lum reek!
Big Bob

[SARID]

Am thinking (an hoping ) ah must be a young thing compared tae Bitter End an Chuckiebay.
A've no mind o' the Baker's horses Flora an Belle, or the bowling green at Dippen, an A've
niver heard o'Davey Olly------But then am no o' the fermin fraternity. On the other hand
it's jest occured tae me,maybe ma minds away, an am no realising !!
While on the subject o'"total non-recall", av bin rackin ma brain fur weeks since
the Old Castle ( Airds Castle) wis the subject O'"Posts", as to the exact location o' the
dungeon.Ah wance knew well, but canna fur the life o' me mind now. Haas JD,by any
chance got a photo o' the area?. He maybe cood pit a big arrow on the picture tae
show me jeest where the dungeon is.Ah wid be wild an gratefil if he cood help.
Ah wid go on the hunt masel, butam kinda accident prone,an could well trip an topple
when peerin doon,an that wid be the end o'me!Fur the family's sake ,Ah canna take the
risk, as they wid haav a wild job managin waeoot me .

[SARID]

Av bin givin thought recently tae the distances workin class country folk were
prepared tae waak tae get from wan place tae anither, in days of old.
It's bin said that working folk could live an die, an niver ventured more than
20---30 miles from their birthplace.
When Ah went tae the School at five, Ah walked the 3 mile round trip for the
rest o' my time in the Primary. (No Brake for me, lake the one Cuach says took
some o' the weans to an from the School )
The Torrisdale weans wir able tae shorten their journey by comin doon the "shortcut"
which ran from the top o' Dippen Brae doon through the wid an came oot on the rod
tae the left o' Dippen Ferm. (naw as many rhoddies on the hill in them days )
Ma Granny,when she wis a lassie, lived at South Dippen. (Quite a few femilies lived there,
an ye can still see wee bits o' their hoose ruins )The weans walked tae the School
at whit is now "The Old Schoolhouse " up past Auchnasavil. Each o' them had tae bring
a peat ivery day fur the fire.She wis born in 1868.
When she wis merrid, she wid walk tae Greenhill an back from the village, tae visit
her relations
Think too aboot, Ah better call them "Travellers " who packed up their tents, and wae the
aid o' a handcert, waaked tae the next site,an that cood be miles away.
The nixt time yeez are whizzin up tae Tarbert, slow doon at "Ravensbay " North o' Crossaig.
Ther's a wee hill there wi a sharp bend, an at the top o' the hill where the trees feenish,
jeest off the rod on the right is a huge flat topped boulder. In the middle o' the top a hole
has bin cut oot jeest a few inches in diameter.Av bin told that stone wis the meetin
place for the men o' the district. They wid walk doon from Clonaig, an up from doonthe
rod.They wid exchange news, and pit the world they knew tae rights, and then start oot on
the long rod home.They wid have tae fit in the Church services as well.
How different things are now!!

[Humphlock]

Wis Davie Ollie no the Camelton fella that used to come roond in a car wi Sunday papers? No that terrible long since? Did he no bring milk as well, latterly?

Goin back to earlier milk memories, Chuckie, as far as ah can mind it wis always Lottie who was in the dairy at Kilbrannan. Embdy else mind o her? She used to come through Airds wi the coos at milkin time. She's stayed up the Glen at Barnfield Cottage.

Sarid, ah could take ye to the dungeon ma sowel. It's up a gully straight up from the cat's port (long long nerra port) roon Balfadyen way. Naow don't you be waanderin away there unless there's sumby wae ye tae haal ye oot if ye tumle in. Or at least take yer mobile phone wae ye.

[Bitter End]

Aye Humph he wis indeed -- no that long since , the 50's an 60's an 70's ,Ah canna mind whin the cretar stopped. He wis a daicent daicent man!
Chuckie Am aulder than ma teeth an younger than ma hair but jist a laddie awe the seme ,Ah aye enjoyed listenin tae the auld yins an jist kept fillin the sponge atween the lugs wi awe the patter thet flowed in an oot o them. The trouble noo is that the contents are becommin addled .

[chuckiebay]

The fella wi the sunday papers wis called Davie but the Olley bit rings no bells. The only Lottie I hae mind o' wis ah think merrid tae a Nicholson. Is that the same wumman?

Naow Humph an Bitter can ye tell me the history o whit wis the Mission Hall an is now two hooses. The parish church held Christmas perties there and Sunday evening services in the winter. Wans a seaside mission group came there tae win us over an gave us a great time.

[SARID]

Thanks, Humphlock, fur pointin me in the right direction tae find the dungeon. All haav a waak roond
an make sure Av got an escort. It wid be a wild sarach if Ah ended ma days heed first doon the dungeon.
Ah mind Lottie fine. Ah can see her yit herding the coos through Airds home tae Kilbrannan fur the milkin.
She always wore wan o' these "wrap round" aprons.
Ah also mind Hughie Gray an Mc Bain who both worked on the ferm fur the Bakers. Hughie wis , Ah think,
a local, an ? came from up the glen, but Mc Bain wis an "incomer" who merrid Sophie, a maid in the Hotel.
Me an ma pals used tae haav a right cerryon, on a Winter's night, spyin on them, as Sophie sat on Mc Bain's
knee in the Hotel kitchen. Ah canna mind Mc Bain's first name, as we always jeest knew him by his surname.

[Humphlock]

Ah mind Lottie fine. Ah can see her yit herding the coos through Airds home tae Kilbrannan fur the milkin.
She always wore wan o' these "wrap round" aprons.

Here's a phota o Lottie wi the coos, Sarid. No great quality, but ye can jeest make oot her apron.



Chuckie, ah'll get back tae ye soon wae some info on the Mission Hall. Ah took that long to find the Lottie phota that ah'm foonert.

[chuckiebay]

Who's the wee fla wi the wild an nobbly knees?

[witchnettle]

The nixt time yeez are whizzin up tae Tarbert, slow doon at "Ravensbay " North o' Crossaig.
Ther's a wee hill there wi a sharp bend, an at the top o' the hill where the trees feenish,
jeest off the rod on the right is a huge flat topped boulder. In the middle o' the top a hole
has bin cut oot jeest a few inches in diameter.Av bin told that stone wis the meetin
place for the men o' the district. They wid walk doon from Clonaig, an up from doonthe
rod.They wid exchange news, and pit the world they knew tae rights, and then start oot on
the long rod home.They wid have tae fit in the Church services as well.
How different things are now!!

thats fascinating sarid, i also heard about this stone being a meeting stone, i was told that the young folks working on the farms and houses locally would meet there of an evening for a dance and a chat. I love the idea of this and think maybe we should revive the habit one moonlit night, and meet there at midnight for a wee chat, i wonder how many ghosts would join us there........ x

[SARID]

Ye can fair come up wi the goods Humphlock ! Ah Enjoyed The photo o' the coos on their way tae be milked
bein herded through the village by Lottie. Good tae see the big tree that wis ootside the Hotel gate.Notices
O' forthcomin events wir pinned tae the tree.Ah look forward tae readin whit ye come up wi, as regards the
Mission Hall. The wee choir held the practices there, as well as Sunday School parties etc. Ah mind hearing
from ma Auntie aboot the "Band o' Hope" an locals "Signing the Pledge" (givin up the dirty drink ) in the early
years o' the last century. In ma day, Willie Blue an his daughter Flora wir the Caretakers.
Ah wis reading the on line "Kintyre Magazine " yistirday, and in Jan/Feb 2004 there is an account o' the late
Eric Cregeen's visit tae the Mackeith Femily at Kilmichael in Aug 1967. The big stone at Ravensbay wis mentioned
and he wis told by them it wis called " A'Chreag Ghlas" an wis a place " o' resort "------ Ah presume "resort" must
mean a "meetin place "Anyboody wi the Gaelic tae translate fur us?
Ah lake the idea ,Witchnettle, that it wis a meeting place fur the young folk tae haav a bit o' a laugh and a dance.
Nae doot a bit o' coortin wid go on as well.A cheerier picture than a crowd o' old foggies pittin the world tae rights
on a Sunday.

[cuach]

Whit a lot o' new information since ah last looked on the Forum. Ye've all been awful busy and all these great pictures too. They fairly stir the memories. Ah remember the "Travellers" who used to camp in the field along the Mains road. Think ah remember an old man playin' bagpipes on the road and women sellin' pegs an things.
Ma faither used to tell me aboot that stone at Raven's Bay. His grandmother lived at Crossaig and they called it the Coortin Stone. They gathered there for dances (or ceilidhs?) and somebody played the fiddle. Whit a cheery place that must hiv been compared tae now. The same wi' the shoppin' mecca that wis Carradale. Ah agree wi' Sarid the ice cream wis unbeatable-- remember Dick's Knickerbocker Glories? Dick's wis a great meetin' place wi' dances galore and Amy playin' "In the mood". The Cubbit Men who were buildin' the harbour were a great influx of talent .

Chuckie, ye described Flora and Belle jist right. They wir lovely horses an' we used tae get a ride in the cart and if we wir lucky a wee shot on Flora's back.

[chuckiebay]

Dis nobody know who the wee boy wi the nobbly knees is. If that picture wis from the thirties cood it hiv been Roboch? Humph surely you can pit us in the picchur.

There wis nobody lake Amy at playin "In the Mood" but whit was the origin o' the bowler hats that she used tae produce at the end of a sociable evening when her nephews would entertain the assembled throng.

Comments please.

[cuach]

Ah've niver been sure where Greenhill wis, sarid. Is it near Campbeltown? Ma greatgrandmother lived there at one time and ah wis told that she walked to the school in Campbeltown.
Ah looked up Chreag Ghlas in ma Gaelic dictionary and chreag is a rock(craig) glas/ghlas is grey so grey rock it must be. Has anybody seen the grey rock on South Dippen beach wi' the carving on it ? Any ideas about it?

Talkin' aboot the Mission Hall , Johnny Colin Campbell wis the caretaker there and lived in it wi' Amy Harris and his daughters. That wid be early in the last century . Ah don't remember Christmas parties there. Ah remember them in the village hall an' we called them "The Christmas Tree". Wid that maybe be the Wee Church parties? As for the bowler hats, they once belonged to members of an organisation for their ceremonies. Maybe bowler hats wir all the rage a hundred years ago.