Tattie-picking, peat-cutting, sheep-clipping… and boiling eggs in a dung pit
Recorded 3 years ago
About this recording
In this recording Davy Nicolson talks about traditional rural practices such as picking tatties, gathering hay, arranging corn stooks, thinning neeps, cutting peats and clipping sheep.
He tells how he was born in a house near Borrowston quarry during a snowstorm, and was so tiny when he was delivered (weighing under 3lb) that it was feared he wouldn't survive. The wintry weather at the time led the nurse to suggest calling him Robin.
Davy tells of some of his exploits as a pupil at the old Thrumster school. He couldn't stand tapioca when it was served up as part of school dinners, but if you didn't eat it you weren't allowed out to play. Davy recalls how the school dinner lady would cycle home to Sarclet with any leftovers balanced on her handlebars. Reputedly she served up the surplus food to her pig.
Then there was the time Davy and a friend accidentally caused a fire while trying to boil eggs in a dung pit.
He reminisces about helping John Waugh with a range of tasks around the latter's croft at Yarrows.
Davy explains how he helped a World War Two researcher to locate parts of a crashed Whitley bomber in the Brickiegoe area.
He also tells of a violent assault at the Heather Inn in 1851 - and how he possesses the sword (with its tip missing) that was wielded in the incident. Davy's collection of historic artefacts also includes a ball and chain.
Davy lives close to the Whaligoe Steps. In a previous interview for Wick Voices, recorded in 2017, he talked about the history of the steps and how he acts as an unofficial guide for the many tourists who visit.
He continues to greet dozens of tourists every day and in this recording he says: "We get thousands of folk at the steps. I talk to at least 40 a day. I talk to everybody… There's not a country in the world I haven't got a card from."
Contributors
Photos
Noss Primary School
