Podcast 01 – Duncan MacGilp

Our first podcast is with Duncan McGilp.
I interviewed Duncan on the 14th of August 2018.

In this episode we talk about Duncan’s life on Mull and his time away from the island during the war.

Topics include:  Poaching; Growing up in Tobermory; the Salen Show; local characters in Tobermory; Training as a Commando at Spean Bridge; Travels through Europe during and after the 2nd world war; Gaelic language and song; Sorley MacLean; Fiddle making and many others besides.

In the podcast we refer to the music of the late Cally MacLean, in particular his tune Lonely Ben More.

Also mentioned is the work of Timothy Neat, in particular Voice of the Bard; When I was Young The Islands / When I Was Young The Highlands.  (If you can, please support your local bookseller, these Amazon pages are just a reference.  I love Bookpoint in Dunoon, they’ll always see you right.)

Camille Dressler & D.W. Stuibhart’s Alexander MacDonald, Bard of the Gaelic Enlightenment was also mentioned in the outro.  It seems to be out of stock at the Islands Book Trust at the moment, but their catalogue is well worth checking out.

At one point in the podcast I mention that a family member’s Argyllshire Gaelic was negatively called ‘Tinker’s Gaelic’ by a school teacher from Lewis when at Oban High in the 60’s.  This way of looking down at one dialect of Gaelic over another fascinates and repels me, I can’t quite figure it out.
Timothy Neat has a great celebration of Traveler life and culture and its ancient roots in his book The Summer Walkers.  The works of Betsy Whyte, Jess Smith, Sheila Stewart, and the tales of Duncan Williamson offer personal accounts of traveler life and culture and are well worth seeking out.   Quite a few of Duncan Williamson’s tales can be found in Cal Mac shops on the longer haul sailings for a couple of pounds.  I recommend them most strongly.  And Cal Mac nachos, they’re really tasty and don’t fill you up too much.

Thank you very much to Island Bakery for sponsoring this episode of the podcast.
You can visit their website here, and their biscuits can be found in many shops around the UK.  If you’re flying long haul with BA I believe you can also sample their biscuits at 30,000 feet.

If you’ve enjoyed the podcast and would like to donate the cost of a cup of coffee to allow me to keep growing and developing it, I would be very grateful.  You can donate on this link. Don’t worry at all if you can’t donate or don’t particularly want to, I’d much rather that you listened to the podcast for free than didn’t.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to seeing you soon, if you want to drop me a line about anything please feel free using the contact page.