Below are some samples of sound recordings from our vast collection.

Mr. McNaught was recorded in 1987 at his home near Auldgirth in Dunscore Parish. He was known as a joiner, but he much preferred trapping moles. In his youth he had also trapped rabbits. His knowledge of the natural world and the effect of farming practices on wildlife drew on his experiences in the Dumfriesshire countryside .

He talks about the necessity of trapping moles, the use of their skins, and the leck of the Blackcock on the moors. His narrative is anecdotal about, local people, farms and gives us an insight into his indigenous knowledge in these recordings.  This is the first clip of this series on rural vermin control.

Jimmy Routledge or Papa as he was affectionately known, was a craftsman in sandstone. He was a weel  kent figure in the streets of Thornhill, Dumfriesshire , a character rarely encountered now!

Alyne made a radio programme about his working life and poetry in 1984 for BBC Radio Scotland called the Quarryman Poet.

Hamish Henderson Galloway

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Hamish Henderson is regarded as being responsible for the Folk Revival in the 1950’s,particularly through his work as a song collector and the planning of the Edinburgh People’s Festival Ceilidh of 1951. This was the first time that Traditional folk song was performed on a public stage and in that decade he co founded The School of Scottish Studies with Calum McLean in 1955, and went onto teach and inspire students until his retirement in 1987. Hamish spent 4 days in Galloway in the 1960’s and this conversation with Alyne Jones shares a part of the knowledge and love they both shared for collecting the songs and stories of the people. This work continues as the importance of Cultural Heritage is seen to be a vital part of understanding our Environment of Land and Sea.

Ploughing Horses Galloway

Jake ploughing with his two Percherons, Norseman and Turpin, on a cold October morning in Galloway.

Jim Lochrie Racing Pigeons Galloway

Jim Lochrie has a lifelong knowledge of Racing pigeons and the Customs and cultural Traditions of the Tinkler Gypsies of Galloway.
In the 1960’s he was employed as a woodcutter and using the two man handsaw and experienced the felling of many of the ancient Oak woods in Wigtownshire.

Dog and Gun

Jock was born in Cottage Row,Moniaive.One of the essential country jobs is vermin control, a necessity when keeping livestock and poultry.Jock helped many a besieged cottager with his dog and gun and often supplied the cooking pot with a tasty soup or stew. Jock was an Orra man of his time: herding sheep; killing rabbits; bracken cutting; farm work; and until the beginning of the Second World War,he cut the fairways on the Moniaive Golf Course.

Galloway Shepherd from the Clints of Dromore

Billy and Annie Johnston lived and worked as a shepherding family for many years below the Clints of Dromore, on the farm near to the Gatehouse Station Viaduct. The Railway Viaduct spans the Fleet river and was about midway on the now sadly defunct ‘Paddy Line’, one of the most magnificent and scenic routes in the whole country linking South West Scotland to the Ireland, via the ferry port of Stranraer.

Fishing in the Solway

The Moniaive Artist

Hawthorn Hedge

Galloway Secrets

Ploughing Fields

Lambing

Knitting Shepherd

Tam herds sheep in Upper Nthsdale, and lives on the outskirts of the Historic Burgh of Sanquhar. He’s been a shepherd all his life and was taught to knit within his family, and at school knitted fancy stocking tops for his own socks.

Shepherd Climts of Dromore

50 Acre Farm

Tinker’s Loup

Jock lived in Garlieston and had been a roadman most of his life . He travelled all over Dumfries and Galloway in his covered wagon and here he describes several scrapes he got into on the highways and byways. Many Historical references here which is typical of many of the Galloway people.

Sledge to Hospital