Table of Contents
Dedication: To my wife Katie
AS A SMALL CHILD, in my grandparents house in Birmingham, I spent many hours thumbing through Robert Bains book The Clans and Tartans of Scotland. One hundred and fifty richly colored plates depicted sets of plaid that dazzled my imagination. I knew little of Scotland, except what I had learned from comic books, where the kilted hero Rob Roy harried English redcoats in 1715, and Andrew Glenn, a quiet shepherd, outwitted bank robbers, sheep stealers, and Nazi spies, with the aid of his faithful dog, Black Bob.
Many people in England had grave misgivings about the Scots, whom they considered unruly and wild, but my Welsh granddad, Jim, was a self-confessed Scotophile, and my Irish grandda, Willie, had a best friend called Jock, from Ardrossan in Ayrshire.
Dr. Johnson is reputed to have said, The finest aspect a Scotsman may behold, is the road that takes him to London. In my case, this sentiment can be reversed, but the method and means of my first excursion to Scotland were more by default than design.
I returned from adventuring in Ireland in the spring of 1967 and found myself immersed in the odd epoch known as the Summer of Love. At first the radical trend looked promisingflower power, freedom, make love, not war were the watch words of the daybut all too soon, what commercialism hadnt hijacked, wreaths of pot smoke had debilitated to the point where I lost interest. One scene that did benefit from the hippie movement was the folk club circuit. In the early summer of that year, I formed a guitar trio with Mack Tressler and Al Jones, playing at the Troubadour club in Bristol, along with Ian Anderson and Spider John Koerner. Later, I found myself in Liverpool, doing spots at the Green Moose caf with the guitarist Gordon Jones and the playwright Willie Russell. Some elements of the Alternative Society were fun. I enjoyed the music, but I didnt care for the drugs, and still I was restless. After a string of dead-end jobs and failed relationships, I decided to swim against the tide and turn off, tune out, and drop in. There were alternatives to being alternative, and I took one of the most time-honored routes for my escape. I went to sea.
Acknowledgements
MY THANKS GO to the following: In Minneapolis, Kieran Folliard, Tim Fitzgerald, Kevin Finger, and all the crew at Kierans Irish Pub; Liam g Watkins, Patrick ODonnell and the Titanic Players, Randon Lund, Jane Davich and the Druids Cauldron; Jon Bjornson, Tom Carerra, Matthew Lamphear, Cathy Cook, Tom Boland, and the staff, musicians, and regulars at Molly Quinns; Lar Burke and Ethna McKieranan at Irish Books and Media; Tom Dahill, Anne and Charlie Heymann, Cheri Thompson, Jim Boyd, James Barri, and Stuart Reid Photography. In Duluth, Willowgreen, Ed Gleeson, and Northern Lights Books. Bill Holm in Minneota. In St. Paul, Msg. Jim Brooks, Mary Sue McFarland, and Sen T. Kelly at the Irish Gazette; Dermot, Molly, Sara, and Tereasa at Irish on Grand; Sherry Ladig, Nick Potter, Gerry Brennan; Mary Byers, Pearl Kilbride, Alison Vandenberg, Rachel Osborne, and David Mezz at Ruminator Books; Casey Selix at the St. Paul Pioneer Press; Jacqui Hussey, Nancy, and staff at Caravan Serai. Chris and Paula Dale in Los Angeles; Johnny Cunningham in New Bedford, Massachusetts; Cheryl and Jon Saunders; Cathys Stage Door pub, Friends of the Library; LaDeDa Books; Suzanne Weiss at the Herald Times in Manitowoc,Wisconsin; Sen Hannon in Berlin. In Scotland, Andy M. Stewart, Mame Hadden, Phil Cunningham, Dougie Maclean, Dick Gaughan, Robbie Coltrane, Fred Corsie, Murray Grigor, Robbie Dinwoodie at the Glasgow Herald. John Dingley in Wales; Danny Watkins, Jer and Eithne OLeary, Jim Sherridan, Manus Lunny, Gerry O Beirne in Ireland; Bob Thomas and Gordie Jones at Harbourtown Records; Uncle Walter Lloyd in Cumbria; Monica, Cara, and Amber Watkins in England; George Thompson; Andr Tammes, Dougie Ford in Australia; Nick Lethard, Dan Rein, and Marya Morstad at KFAI; Brad Walton and Patty Peterson at WCCO; Joe Skelly at KTCA-KTCI; KAXC; Amy Gallagher in New York and all of the Rambling Rovers, worldwide.
Glossaryof Unusual Words and Phrases and Their Derivation
Aen: one (Scots, from Gaelic, aon)
Afore: before (Scots)
Alba gu Brath! (Ala-puh goo braw!): Scotland forever! (Gaelic)
Amadawn: Idiot (Gaelic: amadan, fool)
Aye (eye): yes (Scots; never confused with eye, which is pronounced een)
Balmpot: crazy person (British slang)
Banjaxed: surprise attack (Gaelic: banaghaisge, the surprising feats or exploits of a woman)
Barry: very good (Gypsy)
Barry gadgie: Good lad (Gypsy)
Besom: awkward or spiteful woman (Scots: besom, a witchs broom)
Bint: woman (Arabic)
Black Watch: famous Highland regiment (Gaelic: An Freiceadan dubh)
Bloke: a man (Gaelic: buachaill g, young man)
Bollix: Hot ashes, used as a curse (Gaelic: beolach, live ashes)
Bollocks: testicles, or used to indicate nonsense (As above)
Breid (breed): bread (Scots)
Broch: a wide-based circular fortification with only one entrance (Pictish)
Brown breid (broon breid): dead (Rhyming slang)
Cailleach: an old woman, also a witch (Gaelic; perhaps from Hindu goddess Kali)
Cat o nine tails: a punishment lash with lead pieces on the whip ends (Nautical)
Chancer: a liar, or one who boasts of skills he doesnt possess (Tailors slang)
Char: tea (Hindi)
Chorrie: to steal (Scots)
Cougar: wild cat (Gaelic: cu gar, garden hound)
Craic (krak): fun, also witty conversation (Gaelic)
Crikey: a contraction of Christ help me
Crivens: a contraction of Christ in heavens
Crofter: a subsistence farmer, usually in the Highlands and Islands
Deek: to look about (Doric)
Deid (deed): dead (Scots)
Dingle: a small copse of deciduous trees
Divil a thing: not much (Irish)
Divvy naw?: Do you know? (Geordie and Lalland Scots)
Dreep: to slither, especially down a wall (Scots)
Dreich: overcast or rainy, bleak (Scots)
Dyke: a stone wall (Scots)
Eejit: idiot (Irish)
Fettle: to be in good health or spirits (Gaelic: feudail, a wealth of)
Fiddlers Green:the luxurious heaven reserved for dead sailors (Naut.)
Fit like?: What are you like? How are you? (Doric)
Frowsty: stinky, mildewy
Gambol: to frolic about or cartwheel (French: gambald, to leap or spring)
Ged dear: a phrase used to show forbearance (Gaelic: ged Dia, although God)
Geordie: a native of Newcastle on Tyne and environs, so named for supporting King George during the Jacobite rebellion
Glasgow kiss: a head butt (Scots slang)
Glic: wise (Gaelic)
Golden elbow: to get fired, get the push; also known as the Spanish Archer, el bow
