Search

Mar a thàinig guirmean a dh'Alba.

Date c. November 1963
Track ID 38247
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1963.66.A5

Original Tape ID

SA1963.066

Summary

How indigo was first brought to Scotland.

The contributor tells a story he heard from a man called Michael Morrison. A small boy from Barra stowed away on a large ship that was at anchor near to the island. The ship was on passage to the West Indies. The ship's mate looked after the boy and when they made landfall, he took the boy to stay with a farmer he knew. The farmer gave the boy a job cutting wood in the forest. The first day the boy went to the forest he met a West Indian man, and the boy gave him some food. The man then proceeded to fill the boy's barrow with wood. The next day a second man came, and on the third day, another. Every day the boy would share his food with the men and they would, in turn, fill up the barrow. One day the men took the boy to see the cave in which they lived. The boy showed them how to roast bird meat and the men were very pleased. They filled his barrow with gold bars. The boy went back to the farmer with the gold bars and the farmer helped him to buy a large estate. When the ship's mate returned to the West Indies years later, the boy bought him his own ship and the mate brought the first ever cargo of indigo to Scotland.

Language

Gaelic

Genre

Story

Collection

SoSS

Classification

AT1651

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good