Tag: Crofting
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Henner’s En’
Henner tries to save money by not feeding his chickens properly but the hens plot their revenge…
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“Peter’s Wife’s Mither”
Strathbogie had to go to London on “cow business” and on Sunday morning went to the local church but the parson was ill and the young “stand-in” was hopeless. Disgusted, Strathbogie went to another church that evening and it was the same substitute preacher. On his train home to Scotland, guess who turned up in…
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His Character
A farmer asks Wullie for a reference before taking him on. Instead, Wullie finds out that the farmer’s reputation is not good and declines the job. Barrowsgate provided an English translation with notes for this one.
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“Saut”
A pig dies so the farmer gets his young farm-hand to brine it and they all eat pork for a while. The same happens to his cow but when the farmer’s wife dies, the farm-hand draws the line at brining and eating her
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Thrashin’ Day at Barrowsgate
A new threshing machine arrives at the croft and brother-in-law Adam comes along to “help”. According to Barrowsgate’s son Murray, this verse was based on real life events, where Adam is Barrowsgate’s brother-in-law Adam Corbett Taylor.
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The Colorado Beetle an’ Ithers
A cautionary tale of beetles, bugs and insects and how to deal with them. The context for this bittie was the Colorado Beetle (Scotland) Order of 1933, brought in to combat the Colorado beetle which, as Barrowsgate notes, could have decimated potato crop.
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Back tae the Lan’
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The government cries “Back to the land” to encourage local farming but, sadly, people seem to prefer to import cheaper and inferior foreign food.