Waltzing the Stones - Caithness

A one minuter "interstitial" was created from this to show on BBC2 December 07.

This is my own version of a video I created for the BBC Highland Lives workshop. It is about a local man who still lifts flagstone from the quarries by hand, and then goes on to build tranditional Caithness Flag Fence.

This is a true Caithness accent.

The website features a host of videos and slideshows from different areas in the Highlands of Scotland and can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/highlandlives/

Music by Dick Clarke

Partial Transcript:
"Moving the stones, aye it's the same as though ye's waltzing, in fact I mind a woman saying 'til me, you're like that you're waltzing out there at the back"

"Born and brought up in the quarries, ye know... we started this then.... just before.... Wully, ye know Wully.... He wis wantin...... all, I did all 'at fences for Wully all aroond til ye, all at you're seein, so now, whenever efter they left here with the quarry, we was needin some flagstones so we came up here an...... I knew what I's wantin ye see, ye know the type that ye's wantin and at so........that's how it started here and this."


"I'll be 84, I think, in December, aye"

"There must be thousands of flagstones as that was miles of, miles of fencing, you know, and whoever, whoever was squared it out, somebody must have laid it all and squared it all......"

"there's something fine about it, about the flagstones"

"look at that fine line itsel' here, look at this line here, look, straight aways, no bother, ye know."

"That's fine like that now is it no'

"Cos ye've different sight, you're younger than me, they lek it straight wi binoculars, is that no' fine now, is 'at no' great

It's a lovely fence

Aye its fine, aye

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Flagstone
• beds
• quarry
• quarries
• highlands
• of
• scotland
• caithness

[NoExitWoundUK]

brilliant video folks!

[GrandmaDig]

Glad you liked it! :)

[ReidHenderson]

It seems that they were speaking really thick Scotts and not Gaelic.. I could make certain words out.. But the rest I had to use your dialouge.. My family is from Caithness so it is nice to hear accent from my great ancestors homeland...(Michael Reid Henderson)

[GrandmaDig]

I'm glad you liked it Reid. Thank you for watching.

[lioxait]

nice job!

[GrandmaDig]

Thank you. :)

[482annemarie]

well i can understand this clear as day!!

but i've lived in caithness all my life lol

[malcolmcog]

Fas at ye sayin ?

[slaterpuss]

Hector - how wonderful to see a clip of him at work and it takes me right back to being a child and watching him construct new fences and dykes on our farm when I lived in Caithness. I always wanted to help, and Hector being the kind man, gave me a hammer and staples and a 1/2 pence for each completed one - thank you for this - Catherine Sutherland

[tehkiwiman]

Lord shanis... I haven't a clue what he's saying!

Can make oot small parts, but that's about it..

[aberhan78]

what is the name of this music _??



[malcolmcog]

fas at ye say ? Could ye chust loose at fake penny whistle in the background.

[workie666]

lol hard to belive he is in his late 80s new his brother peter very well

[workie666]

lol hard to belive he is in his late 80s

[IndyFishing]

@daveyfuckingG Hi Davey...I've never met a Polish person that I didn't like, great people all of you!

[daveyfuckingG]

Davey Grant in Poland says "Thank fuck for the real men o Caithness"