Menoturals; Of The Land

Last week, my newspaper released one of its documentary films, which immediately captured my interest... and tugged at my heart. I will share it with you shortly, for I think you will all enjoy it just as much as I, for all sorts of reasons.

First, though, let me explore a little of why it struck me so deeply. Long-term and attentive readers will recall mentions here and there of my ancestors' rural roots. On my father's side, his father had left the crofting to move into forestry down by Invergordon... but his father had been a Skye crofter who then moved across to Kinlochbervie/Oldshoremore to marry into a crofting family there. (Click that image to biggify.)

A few of you may recall a video I shared back in 2017, which was filmed very close to that place (in fact, Oldshoremore gets mentioned a couple of times in it). Much of that wee film resembles what you will see in this modern version from Norway.

On my mother's side, there were five generations of shepherds/smallholders (not called crofting in the Border region), ending with my uncle Andrew... though when he sold the farm, two paddocks were kept and a home built, so he still has his feet on the land. Until the 1970s, the family farming had been done in the glen at Meggethead. Then, a reservoir was required, and the Megget Valley was deemed the ideal spot. My grandparents and Andrew were relocated over the hills above Buckholm, where my uncle still lives. They went from sheltered, lush swards at around 550 feet above sea level to over 1000 feet above sea level and hilltop exposure. Lambing, always challenging (as you will see), became a real chore. I can recall assisting in my younger years in the darkest February nights, in the shelter behind dykes to protect from snow drifts. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... I can also remember helping to stook the newly mown hay, which my elders and male cousins had quite literally scythed by hand, in much the way you would have seen in that 1940s film. Then, in 1966, Andrew was in charge enough to command a move into the 20th century and along came...combine harvester and an automated hay baler!!! I shudder to think how we kiddies, even under the age of ten, were expected to muck in and clamber all over that machine with no sense of health and safety.

So many of those smallholdings have been subsumed into ever-expanding superfarms, and the sense of society that once existed between farming neighbours has been severely eroded. Yet, there is a movement back towards those more independent, community-focused forms of farming. Hedgerows are being replanted, and the field edges are being left for wildflowers to encourage a renewal of badly damaged ecosystems. It is this concept which drives Rakel, the star of the video. You will find in this short documentary an echo of the northern Scottish crofts and the lowland Scottish hill farms, as well as the love of connection to the land and the dedication to the livestock. You will see sheep and their lambs, glorious scenery, and feel the emotions of the family dynamic that struck deep cords within me. 

I would note here that today marks the 45th death anniversary of my shepherding grandad, the man by whom I tend to measure all men.