Còco is Crùbagan – Cocoa and Crabs
“Thàinig Papaidh dhachagh aig beul na h-oidhche… Nochd e a-staigh mar oiteag làidir gaoithe, a’ sguabadh leis a-staigh èadhar fhuar a’ Chuain Sgìth… Bha e air a chòmhdach ann an dubh: oidhlsgin dhubh, souwester dubh agus Wellingtons fhada dhubh. Is ann a bha e coltach ri sgarbh a’ caitheamh dheth an t-sàil na loin mun cuairt air.”
Nam b’ e ‘An Cuan a Tuath’ a bhiodh ann seach ‘An Cuan Siar’, chreideadh tu gum b’ e sealladh à Ros an Ear a bh’ ann, grunnan deicheadan air ais, ach thàinig an earrann seo à Còco is Crùbagan – a Hebridean Childhood, le Flòraidh Nic Dhòmhnaill à Beinn na Fadhla, leabhar beag a tha mi a’ leughadh an-dràsta. Nam bheachd-sa, ge-tà, chòrdadh e cheart cho math ri duine sam bith le ùidh ann no cuimhne air seann dòigh-beatha iasgaich no tuathanach ann an gach sgìre eadar na h-Eileanan Siar agus an Linn Mhoireibh.
Tha i a’ sgrìobhadh mun lampaidh Tilley aca cuideachd, dè cho tarraingeach ‘s a bha e nuair a bha a h-athair ga lasadh gu foighidneach is faiceallach, an solas blàth a bha aice, agus mar a bha i “a’ seinn mar an seillean”, rud air a bheil cuimhne agam fhèin. Bidh sinn a’ leughadh cuideachd mun spòrs a bha aig a’ chlann latha an rùsgaidh is latha na nigheadaireachd, fiù ‘s nach robh a lethid de dh’obair cho furusta idir dha na pàrantan. Tha thu a’ faireachdainn cho laidir ‘s a bha an teaghlach is a’ choimhearsnachd fad nan ammanan doirbh a bha ann.
Tha Flòraidh NicDhòmhnaill a’ sgrìobhadh ann an dòigh gu math pearsanta, beòthail. Faodhaidh sinn an leabhar fhaicinn “mar shliseag bheag de dh’eachdraidh shòisealta aig àm doirbh”, leis an dòigh-beatha chruaidh a bha aig a pàrantan , ach tha gach sgeul goirid, àlainn, tarraingeach agus mar sin, mar a thuirt John Randall (Islands Book Trust) anns an ro-ràdh aige: “ ’S dòcha gur e sin an dìleab a b’ fheàrr a dh’fhàg iad – an togail dhòigheil, shònraichte a thug iad do Fhlòraidh.”
Rud eile a tha math is feumail mu dheidhinn: ‘s e leabhar dà-chànanach a tha ann, agus mar sin ‘s urrainn dhut a h-uile rud a leughadh fiù ‘s nach eil Gàidhlig agad. Tha dealbhan inntinneach ann cuideachd, agus 2 CDs air an leughadh le Flòraidh fhèin.
Cocoa and Crabs
“Pappy arrived home at the end of what must have been a wet, windy and frustrating day at the lobsters. He blew in like a hurricane, sweeping the cold blast of the Atlantic with him… He was clothed in black from head to foot: black souwester, black oilskin and long black seaboots. He might have been a black seabird himself as he shook the salt water off in puddles around him.”
If the North Sea and not the Atlantic had been mentioned, you might think this was a scene from Easter Ross a few decades back. But this extract is from Cocoa and Crabs – a Hebridean Childhood, by Flora Macdonald of Benbecula, a little book I think anyone with an interest in or memory of the old fishing and farming way of life, from the Hebrides to the Moray Firth, would also enjoy.
She writes about how the fragile Tilley lamps were lit so carefully by her father, and how they ‘hummed like bees’ – something I remember myself, and about the fun the children had on the communal washdays and at the shearing, though the work wasn’t such fun for the parents. You get a sense of how strong the family and the community had to be in those hard times.
Flora writes in a very personal, vivid style. We can certainly view the book “as a small slice of social history”, looking at the hard lives her parents led then, but the episodes are short, charming and fascinating, so that, as John Randall (Islands Books Trust) says in his foreword: “As one reads her account, it is sometimes difficult to imagine the stresses and problems ..and the tremendous challenges they faced… Maybe that is their greatest tribute – their success in giving Flora not only a happy a quite remarkable childhood.”
One very useful fact: the book is bilingual, so you can also enjoy it in English. There are interesting photos in it too, and it also comes with 2 CDs of Flora reading it in Gaelic.
Còco is Crùbagan – a Hebridean Childhood, ISBN 978-0-9560764-0-3. £15 incl. 2 CDs. Available in bookshops and from: http://www.theislandsbooktrust.com/
The Islands Book Trust , Ravenspoint Centre, Kershader, Lochs, Isle of Lewis, HS2 9QA. Tel 01851 880737
