TECHNICAL ISSUES

One does not wish to tempt fate and state categorically that recent technical difficulties are behind us, but the celebratory party in Corncrake Towers last evening will pass into the stuff of legend. Hopefully now The Corncrake can revert to a more regular and less erratic Issue schedule - just keep watching this space.

On the subject of watching, the more observant amongst you will have noticed new links at the top of the page, just under the Corncrake banner. In addition to a link to the Corncrake archives, there are now links to the Isle of Colonsay home page, to the Notice Board and to the Local Accommodation pages. Thus, if you regularly load straight into The Corncrake rather than entering via the home page, you now have the opportunity to explore , with relative ease, Colonsay-related matters further.

Whilst mentioning technical difficulties, it has been reported that Readers, knowing that the new Issue is available, have logged on only to find themselves staring at the previous issue. If such a scenario arises, there are 3 ways that the situation might be simply rectified :

1. Depress your page refresh or page reload tab, OR
2. Use the Isle of Colonsay home page link to exit and then press the Corncrake link on the home page to re-enter, OR
3. The URL displayed in your browser will read - http://www.colonsay.org.uk/corncrake/cornframe.html ; doubleclick your mouse to the right of this to get a flashing cursor and position it between the last letter of cornframe and the full stop that follows. Then simply type in the number of the following issue (eg if the last issue was 105, key in 106).
Should none of the above prove successful, sit down, relax and have a glass of tonic wine ; alternatively, the telephone number of The Samaritans can be found in your local directory.

ISLAND WEDDING

The coldest day of the season to date, with the temperature barely above freezing -point, fell on the 20th of the month. It was however a bright, crisp day with clear skies and in the afternoon sunshine Christine Bailey, owner of The Colonsay Hotel, was led by a piper up the narrow path that leads to the Baptist Church in Kilchattan. Inside, her husband-to-be, Seumas McNeill, waited patiently but nervously, the bride following a long tradition of being a few minutes late. Amongst the waiting congregation were Seumas' daughter Caitlin, bridesmaid to Christine, and Seumas' son Liam, best man for the day along with his Uncle Hughie.

The wedding service was conducted by Bobby Gemmell and when vows had been exchanged, the fine weather permitted the happy couple a visit to Kiloran Bay where, declining the opportunity of a quick dip, they instead posed for a few photographs. It was however perhaps at this point that Christine began to wish that that the wedding present list had included a portable blow heater :

Mr and Mrs McNeill

Thereafter the wedding party retired to the Hotel for the traditional wedding meal and speeches. It is reported that Hughie's speech caused his brother some degree of embarrassment, which Seumas sought to hide by holding a napkin up to his face. This however proved his undoing, the red napkin looking pale in comparison to his flame-red phizog. Exactly what Hughie said is not known, but apparently it was not only the children present who were later asking what some of Hughie's words meant….

In the evening, the wedding party was swelled by around 40 invited locals, and music, song and dance was very much the order of the day. The piper,Kevin Moffatt played, Hughie played and sang, Seumas sang , young Donald (dèabhach) MacAllister played his accordion and Caitlin and Liam wowed the assembled crowd with their burgeoning musical talent.

On the dancing front, a comely wench wore the shortest kilt ever seen on Colonsay, more beag than philli. Unfortunately The Corncrake cannot provide photographic evidence of this, it being felt at the time that a camera would only obstruct the view. Such skimpy attire was however to no avail in the "Dancer of the Evening" competition, young Emma Leppard being the outstanding performer on the dancefloor.

The evening drove on with songs and laughter and at one point the Groom's mother, normally the model of restraint and decorum, was spotted somewhat forcefully defending the honour of her dumplings (clootie, that is) :

The Wedding Reception Goes With a Swing

EXCHANGE OF WORDS

Readers may recall that Issue 102 carried the story of the return to the island of the manual telephone exchange which handled all the island's incoming and outgoing calls for over 30 years. In these days of the ubiquitous mobile phone and instant communication, it is difficult to believe that, less than 30 years ago, all calls to and from Colonsay had to be connected manually, the exchange being operated from the house of one of the island population. There were of course fewer phones in those days, but it has been estimated that during the 30-odd years that the Colonsay manual exchange was in operation, there was an almost ten-fold increase in the number of phones on the island.

The exchange itself, immortalised forever in the film "I Know Where I'm Going" (who can forget the dramatic lines - "Kiloran calling, Kiloran calling"), came to Colonsay in 1942 and was initially installed in the home of Hugh Caldwell's mother Annie at Torr an Tuirc (now the island home of Lord and Lady Strathcona). There it was operational for a number of years until Annie's passing in 1951.

The exchange was then transferred to No.4 Glassard, home at the time of Ena MacAllister, mother of Para Mòr and mother-in-law to Mary Ann, who of course still lives in the same house today. Around 10 years after it's installation in No.4, with her eyesight failing, Ena gave up being the island telephone operator and the exchange then moved to The Dorran, home of Flora and Hughie McDougall. There it remained until 1975 when the building of the Telephone Exchange in Scalasaig automated the process, meaning that an operator was no longer needed to connect the calls.

Having the telephone exchange in your home was a significant imposition on family life, as the operator had to be on demand 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Even a good night's sleep could not be guaranteed, and this applied to the entire household, as the exchange emitted a surprisingly loud buzz which reverberated round the house whenever a call was received and a connection required. Netta (who operated the exchange when providing relief cover for Flora McDougall) and Mary Ann recall how tying the job was, the exchange invariably buzzing for attention just as the meal was prepared and am brot ladled onto plates. Nor were there any "high day and feast day" holidays, the exchange being even busier on Ne'er Day and Christmas Day, (allowing the Editor to speculate on the true origin of the phrase "cold turkey"). Even visits to the tigh beag could not be guaranteed to reach a satisfying conclusion, the cry ringing out then of "an inneal ifrinneach sin!" or perhaps something else borne of frustration and not printable now in these P.C. times.

Netta with "an inneal ifrinneach sin"

Given the constancy of the demand on their time, those who operated the exchanges of the country should be looked upon as quiet heroines. Unfortunately, due no doubt to the cinema and other media, there exists a perception that operators could listen in to calls and were thus privy to the secrets of callers. Leaving this issue tantalisingly open, Duncan McDougall explained that it was in fact not illegal to listen in to calls, but that it was a criminal offence to repeat anything one may have inadvertantly overheard…

MORE ON PUFFINS

Our last issue carried a story concerning the potential threat to Puffins from global warming ; puffins feed on sand eels which are apparently getting both fewer and smaller, and scientists believe that this phenomenon may be linked to rising water temperature.

Following this article, The Corncrake was contacted by a regular Colonsay visitor, Ken Drysdale, who spent a week on the Isle of May at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, taking photographs of the sea birds that nest on the island. Ken informs us that, during the nesting season, the Puffins constantly return from fishing trips with mouthfulls of sand eels to feed their young, and he has kindly furnished us with an exceptionally fine photograph of same :

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A Puffin prepares to feed its young

The Isle of May, according to the Scottish islands website (www.scottishislands.org.uk), is home to a colony of 3,000 grey seals and 200,000 nesting seabirds - including an estimated 100,000 puffins. Visitors to the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick can now apparently enjoy watching amazing pictures of the island's wildlife using new state-of-the-art cameras and telescopes based at the centre. Only one-and-a-half kilometres long, the Isle of May is a national nature reserve managed by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Returning to the donor of our puffin photograph, Ken Drysdale, locals may recall that Ken and his wife Jacky had to curtail their holiday on Colonsay in September when their 12 year old Retriever, Sona, suffered a stroke and had to be taken to Oban for acute treatment. The heartening news is that she has made a remarkable recovery, as can be seen from Ken's recent photograph :

Sona having a wee rest

Finally on the subject of puffins, there was better news elsewhere about the prospects of the species ; the Scottish islands website also tells us that, for the first time in almost half a century, puffins are returning to Ailsa Craig, the uninhabited island off the Ayrshire coast famed as the best source in the world for granite with which to make curling stones. The birds have started to return after being wiped out by an infestation of rats introduced to the island last century and there are now between 10 and 20 breeding pairs. The island became an RSPB nature reserve earlier this year and is also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a European Special Protection Area.

IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED

Out jogging one recent afternoon, Angus MacPhee of this parish came upon a camera, obviously left behind in a moment of forgetfulness by its owner. Not knowing to whom the camera belonged or how long it had lain there, Angus had a brainwave (no tittering, please!), removed the film from the camera and had it developed. Unfortunately the resulting photographs did not reveal the identity of the owner, the photographs being almost exclusively of landscapes. One photograph however showed two youngsters standing by the Strand, and Angus, keen to return the camera to its rightful owner, has asked the Editor to print same. This is duly shown below :

Do You Know These People?

Should any Reader be able to identify the 2 youngsters in the photograph, please contact Angus on 01951 200 228 and hopefully there will be a reunion of camera and owner.

To find out how this mystery ends, order your copy of the next Corncrake without delay!

COLONSAY'S YOUNGEST RESIDENT (in waiting)

The Corncrake, and its Readers, are indebted to Barry and Fiona Hannah (Fiona Grant as was) for providing us with the first glimpse of their beautiful baby daughter, Eilidh :

Young Eilidh Hannah

Fiona and Barry, as exclusively revealed in a previous Corncrake scoop, are coming to live on Colonsay, and hope to arrive on the 10th of January. They are going to live in the house in Uragaig built by her father, but are to move in to Angus and Jenni's empty house nearby for a month (or so) until their house is (dare we use the word??!!), complete.

Fiona and Barry, with their significant experience of the hotel and catering trade, have plans of running a splendid Bed and Breakfast establishment and will also offer guests the bonus of evening meals. Details of their planned enterprise can be found in the Colonsay home page Notice Board (see link under the Corncrake banner).

TAKE YOUR PARTNERS PLEASE

The Corncrake would take this opportunity to remind Readers of the Colonsay Ceilidh to be held in Glasgow on February 19th, 2005.

Tickets for this rare opportunity to meet, eat and dance with your favourite Colbhasachs without the need to catch a Calmac ferry are, of course, limited. And, with tickets going "like snow off a dyke", the advice of The Corncrake would be to act fast if you don't want to miss out.

Full details of the function can be found by pressing on the Notice Board link to be found just under the Corncrake banner. Tickets can be secured, perhaps even with more up-to-the-minute information, by calling Christa on 01951 200 320.

SEAPLANE SERVICE FOR COLONSAY?

In what could be another major world exclusive for The Corncrake, The Editor can reveal that there are plans, tentative though they may be, for Colonsay to have access to scheduled flights to the heart of Glasgow.

Loch Lomond Seaplanes, a Helensburgh based company, has recently been awarded a £15,000 Development Award from Scottish Enterprise to progress a proposal to start a scheduled seaplane service from the river Clyde in Glasgow to Arran, Bute and other Highland and Island destinations.

Loch Lomond Seaplanes' Cessna Turbo Stationair T206H

When The Corncrake contacted the owner and operator of Loch Lomond Seaplanes, Captain David West, he had, by an amazing coincidence (yes, another one!!), just finished studying a map of Colonsay, obviously with a view to including the island on the company's itinerary. Captain West, who has over 25 years experience of flying a wide range of aircraft with world-class international airlines, did confirm that he hoped to visit Colonsay soon to progress matters and promised to keep The Corncrake abreast of developments.

In the meantime, charter flights to the island are available, and the Editor would go as far as to suggest that, in conjuction with a copy of "Young Writers of the British Isles" (see Issue 104), a ticket on one of these flights could bring an appreciative smile to the face of someone special to you this Yuletide season.

THE CLOCHMERLE CONNECTION

In Issue 104, in connection with an article therein, The Corncrake posed a question for all you trivia buffs out there, viz.: "What is the connection between Clochmerle and Colonsay(Kiloran)?".

Although a number of suggestions were received (some, the Editor must sadly report, not suitable for inclusion in this august publication ), no one has yet submitted the correct answer, even with the Kiloran clue. The question will therefore remain open until our next issue and the Editor would point out that a further clue resides in another article in this very Issue.

LOOK BACK IN ALBUM

In Issue 104, The Corncrake began what will hopefully become a regular feature, namely the publishing of a different old photograph each issue, for the interest, education and/or puzzlement of Readers. And it would appear that it is the latter that has been generated most by our first photograph in the series, one provided by Charlie McKinnon, of Scalasaig pier circa 1963 :

The ink was barely dry on Issue 104 when The Corncrake received, as requested, an old photograph for future use. Unfortunately the photograph in this instance, supplied by Pat Maule of Ontario, Canada, has been published in The Corncrake previously (Issue 45, Machrins farmhouse) and therefore not ideal material for this new feature.

Pat did however also raise a query from Charlie's photograph in relation to two different Jasper Browns (see LETTERS section), a query which has not yet been fully resolved - if any Reader can help, please get in touch.

In Issue 104, it was suggested that the line up in Charlie's photograph was as follows : Paul Hobhouse ; Andrew Kelly ; Peter Kelly ; Hugh Brown ; Unknown ; Jasper Brown ; Unknown ; Angus Clark. Again, the ink was barely dry when a number of people pointed out that the youngster in the photograph could not be, from an age point of view, Andrew Kelly. Is it then perhaps his elder brother, Iain? And yet again, who are the two as yet unidentified figures? And could that just be D.A. MacNeill and not Paul Hobhouse? Questions still remain unanswered on this one. The Editor awaits edification and in the meantime his phone and e-mail have been put on high-alert standby.

The Corncrake does of course need a regular supply of old photographs for this feature, and the Editor is indebted to Angus McFadyen for providing this wonderful specimen for Readers to contemplate :

Colonsay Sunday School Prize-Giving c.1967

Well, there are a few "weel kent" faces here for us to identify, including Angus beag himself ; Oh, and there's a balach who looks just like a man in an earlier photograph with his newly-wed wife ; And isn't that his wee brother looking like his own son? ; And haven't I seen that wee girl up about Uragaig lately? ; And isn't that the young Laird but only younger?

Yes, dear Reader, there is much to contemplate here - and so as not to spoil your fun, the complete list of names will not be published until our next Issue. Oh, and the list is not quite complete - can anyone tell the Editor who the girl is at the very left of the back row?

SNIPPETS

The reverberations from the spate of road traffic accidents which blighted the island during the Summer past continue to be felt in the Winter chill now with us - Dr Currie has felt it encumbent upon himself to enrol in an advanced Immediate Care Course. Dr John will therefore be missing from our midst during January as he visits the mainland to update his skills in providing specialised care to the victims of road traffic accidents. Not a harbinger of things to come we sincerely hope, but only the sensible, measured response to what might have been...

Whilst on the subject of doctoring, a couple of reporters have been spotted during recent days following Dr Currie as he conducts his daily business. The reporters, believed to be from the Sunday Post, are apparently researching an article on what it means to be an island GP, particularly one who has now been without the support of a resident nurse for over a year. It is currently anticipated that the Sunday Post will be publishing an article on the findings of the reporters on the first Sunday in December.

Try as The Corncrake might to move on from the subject of doctoring, a further story of interest lies therein - congratulations are the order of the day to two doctors who have a home on the island. Dave and Jan Binnie, it is reported, recently notched up 100 years between them (that's half a century each and not 60:40 as some people close to the couple may have suggested).A celebratory party was held at their home in Dunkeld, complete with marquee and all-night celebrants. No doubt this minor "party" will pale into insignificance when next they visit Colonsay's shores.

For those Readers who may recall Rusty (Roberta) Brown, sister to May McKinnon and Peggy Clark, there is a communication in the LETTERS section from Rusty's daughter, Linda. If anyone can assist Linda with her query regarding her mother's obituary, please contact the Editor, or Linda herself at linda.maxwell1@ntlworld.com. Remarkably for a girl educated for a time at Kilchattan Primary School, Linda has only ever re-visited the island once, for the wedding of her cousin, Morag. From her letter however, it would appear that we may soon see Rusty's daughter again (complete with her own two children), tracing her footprints on Colonsay's sandy shores.

Interested Readers may wish to know that the telephone number of the Caledonian MacBrayne Users Committee (C.M.U.C.) has recently changed. It is now 0845 60 60 664 . (What a scoop!)

A BBC film crew is expected on Colonsay duing December to begin filming a feature for the Gaelic-medium programme, Eorpa. A number of locals are due to appear in the programme, including Donald Gibbie and Flora Oronsay. The film crew are apparently to film the Italian end of things later, perhaps when there is a little more Italian sunshine...

Finally, it must reluctantly be reported that the day did eventually dawn when Angus and Jenni McFadyen's dreams of a new life on the mainland meant an appointment for them at the Calmac terminal in Scalasaig, with, of course, wee Ewan accompanying his parents. The Editor, having technical difficulties with the last Issue, arrived at the pier later than planned to say his farewells. Too late in fact to get a photograph which included baby Ewan, he being by this time safely tucked up in his car seat for the journey ahead. The final, departing photograph therefore only shows two McFadyens about to board the ferry ...

We all look forward to seeing the McFadyen family soon, and that, of course, particularly includes the youngest of the clan...

CAPTION COMPETITION

Given the difficulty associated with selecting just one entry to be the winner of our caption competition, a unanimous decision was taken in the Editorial offices to delegate this responibility to an independent third party. Selecting the winner for this issue then, is A.N.Other, who wishes their identity to be a closely guarded secret (a bit of a tall order on Colonsay then ...). Honorary mentions this issue must go to Netta (again!) and to Hughie McNeill, but the winner this time around is Eleanor McNeill with the following entry :

"I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!!"

The excited winner, once she had "a wee cup of tea, just to calm down" then gave permission for The Corncrake to use, for the next competition, the photograph previously submitted by Mark Hemmings but which did not arrive on Colonsay in time. So here it is now :

Entries as usual to editorcorncrake@yahoo.co.uk, by telephone to 01951 200336 or by Keith Rutherford to : The Corncrake, Isle of Colonsay, PA61 7YW.

WHAT'S ON IN COLONSAY

Please note that there is also a Notice Board on the Homepage; anyone wishing to publicise any event or attraction is invited to send details to the Editor.

PLEASE NOTE - THERE IS TO BE A BOOK FAIR IN THE HALL ON THE 4TH OF DECEMBER AT 2.30PM.

TOPICAL LETTERS

Instructions are supplied, but two hints may help:
1. When using phrases, enclose them in quotation marks. For example, [lifting stone] will get you every instance of [lifting] or [stone] but ["lifting stone"] will get you what you want.
2. When you see the results, they may seem unlikely. This is because many documents (e.g. each issue of The Corncrake) are in reality just one single "page", covering many unrelated topics. No problem! Open the page, then go to the "Find (on this page)" option at the top of your screen, on a drop-down menu presented by the second button from the left. Type in the word you seek and hey-presto, it is highlighted for you. Note that you must give the page time to load (an issue of The Corncrake takes up to a minute), also that there may be more than one example on the page, so use the "Find (on this page)" function again to check that you have not missed anything.

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