An easily-led man got a new suit made and went backwards and...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1979.037
Original Tape ID
Summary
An easily-led man got a new suit made and went backwards and forwards to the tailor as others commented on it.
When Alex Linklater had a croft near Culswick, his neighbour was Jamie Burgess, whose only fault was that he could never make up his mind. His wife made all the decisions. In the voar [spring], his wife sent him to cast peats. He came back without his tushker [peat-cutting spade], but with a bale of cloth. He had found it in the second layer of peat and had jumped down into the gref [bottom of the peat bank] and pulled it out. She thought it was modern and he should have a new suit. But in case it was historical, he took it into Lerwick to show it to the museum.
Jamie was a very open person. He told the story to a man he met, and the man advised him to get himself a new suit made, and directed him to a tailor. Jamie ordered a suit and went back a fortnight later to collect it, promising to pay for it when he sold his lambs. He met the man who had advised him and showed off the suit. This man and then another he spoke to sent him back three times to the tailor to have deficiencies corrected. The tailor made some temporary alterations and persuaded him the suit was fine. He met a third man and asked about the fit of his suit. The man told him it was a fine fit on an old cairtle [cart-load] like him.
Item Subject/Person
Burgess, Jamie
Item Location
County - Shetland
Island - Shetland Mainland
Village/Place - West Side
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good