Evanton Oral History Project - Sandy Bethune (1 of 9)

Evanton Oral History Project - Sandy Bethune (1 of 9)

ID: EOHP_SANDY_BETHUNE_01 DESCRIPTION: This audio extract is from the Evanton Oral History Project, a project undertaken in 1991-92 by Adrian Clark. In this extract, former sawmill worker, Sandy Bethune, talks about his family background. Interviewer: Now, you've been here on Novar Estate for many years? Oh yes. Well, from fifty-three years, sixty three years. Interviewer: Sixty-three, yes. Sixty-three years. It'll be sixty-three years this month, in fact. Interviewer: Yes. Aye. In March. Interviewer: Your father worked here before you? Yes. My father worked with me here when I left school, like, but he was working before I - Interviewer: Yes. Aye, before I - Interviewer: Yes. You were born in 1914? I was born in 1914, aye. Eighth of December. Interviewer: In, in Tain? In Balmuchy. Interviewer: Balmuchy. That's down Fearn. Interviewer: And did he tell you what brought him to Novar? Well, he was in the sawmills, you see. The sawmill moved here from Nigg, you see? So he moved with the sawmill. That was from Munro, Tain, that had the sawmill, you see. Interviewer: I see. So my father moved here with him, you see. Aye. That's how we came to be here. Interviewer: The sawmill wasn't part of the estate? Not at the time, not at the time he came. Aye. But we did the cutting for the Novar Estate, like. Uh-huh. Aye. Interviewer: So where was the sawmill when he first worked here? Eh, there was one in Multovie. Interviewer: Yes. That's away up the glen. And there were one over in Dalgheal. That's just down below the mansion house. Aye, in Dalgheal, aye. Interviewer: Ah yes. So you went to school for just a couple of years? Aye, more or less, couple of years. Interviewer: In Alness. Aye. Interviewer: Mmm-hmm. Then I left. Interviewer: And you used to walk down? Yes, walk there or bicycle. Whatever you could - Interviewer: You had a bicycle, yes? Well, it was a hard job getting a bicycle then yes. Aye. There were a bus running for the younger ones, like. A chap was Invergordon, I think, was running the bus. Interviewer: And did you get a meal at school, or not? No, no, no, no. No. No, you carried your own, you carried your tin flask or something. Whatever you could get, and a sandwich, just. Interviewer: Do you have any particular memories of school? Och, aye. Quite a lot. Ach, there were good times, and bad times. Schoolmaster was Junor, Mr Junor. Aye. Interviewer: Did you ever do school concerts or anything like that? Well, we had gardening, like. Interviewer: Gardening? Gardening. Interviewer: Aye, yes. Gardening in the school, like. Aye, you were out, aye. Oh, that was alright when you got out to the garden. Interviewer: You enjoyed that? Oh aye, I enjoyed that, aye. Interviewer: And so you left at the youngest possible age of fourteen? I left at fourteen, aye. Well, it's according to when the holidays came in, I forget. Was it - ? Interviewer: And you came straight to work at the - ? Aye. Left on Friday. Left school on the Friday and I started work on the sawmill on the Monday. PLACENAME: Evanton DISTRICT: Dingwall OLD COUNTY/PARISH: ROSS: Kiltearn CREATOR (AV): Sandy Bethune DATE OF RECORDING: 1991; 1992 PERIOD: 1990s SOURCE: Evanton Oral History Project COLLECTION: Evanton Oral History Project Asset ID: 41150 KEYWORDS: