Full Description
With the announcement of 'Lockdown' in March 2020, all notions of 'normal life' were shattered, affecting everyone nationwide. Among rural folk in Highland Perthshire, where fireside visits were a way of life, suddenly it all changed: no visiting, not even a wee ceilidh by the fire.
This book records a 'pandemic project' that was devised so that folk in the glens and villages of Strathearn could still enjoy sharing stories, information, news and laughter without breaking 'lockdown' rules. Through these ordinary conversations we meet some extraordinary people; discover part of Scotland's history; learn about traditions that sustained a way of life, and listen
to stories that might otherwise be forgotten.
'In the heart of Scotland, in the grip of a pandemic, Margaret Benne created a virtual hearthside to counter isolation and depression. This wonderful book is the result. It is a unique record of rural life, a distillation of shared humanity, and a vivid demonstration of how stories and memories can leap across the generations to connect past and present. If you put Margaret Bennett in solitary confinement, somehow she would still start up a ceilidh!' A note by Donald Smith, Director, Scottish International Storytelling Festival
Contents
Contents
Introduction xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Dramatis Personae: Meet the Folk by the Fireside xv
Photographs xx
CHAPTER 1: Everyone Used to Visit 1
CHAPTER 2: Doon the Village an Up the Glen 20
CHAPTER 3: Paraffin Lamps, Tilleys, Gas Lights and a Warm Fireside 35
CHAPTER 4: Working from Home and Earning Your Keep 59
CHAPTER 5: Local Worthies, Characters and True Stories 83
CHAPTER 6: Big Hooses, Spare Rooms and Evacuees 107
CHAPTER 7: Wartime Memories, 1939-45 129
CHAPTER 8: Life in the Army and Home Again 153
CHAPTER 9: A Fraternity of Hill-folk 169
CHAPTER 10: Lighting Up the Glens and Villages 185
CHAPTER 11: Tourism in the 'Forties and 'Fifties 209
CHAPTER 12: There's Something that Draws You Back 227
Epilogue 239
References and Further Reading 240
