Important Events in Hebridean History
Neolithic Farmers (with audio)
Main Article
We are farmers now. My father's people cleared some of the woods and bushes with these new shiny stone axes to make fields. That's where we graze our cattle and sheep. We have also learned how to plough the ground and grow wheat and barley. My mother uses that to make bread and porridge and sometimes brews it to make beer. The work can be hard, and sometimes we are hungry. But we still hunt the deer and go fishing. I love it when we have a salmon for our meal.
At night I like to sit by the fire and watch my mother making a pot. She uses clay pulled from the ground, and shapes it with her hands, and decorates it with lines and sacred marks. When it is dry, the fire changes it forever with its magic.
Things were not always like this. As she works, my mother tells me stories of her grandmother's time, when they did not live in houses like this, or work the land, or tend the animals. They moved from place to place around the year, and hunted when they could, and gathered whatever nuts and berries and eggs they could find. They used to camp near here, in the late autumn, when the hazels were plentiful. There are still a few people in the hills that live like that, even now. Before sleep, I love to dream of life long ago in our ancestors' time.
'S e tuathanaich a th' annainn a-nis. Le na tuaghan ùra faileasach seo ghlan teaghlach m' athar air falbh feadhainn de na coilltean agus na craobhan agus rinn iad achaidhean. 'S ann an sin a bhios an crodh agus na caoraich againn ag ionaltradh. Dh'ionnsaich sinn cuideachd an talamh a threabhadh agus cruithneachd agus eòrna a chur. Bidh mo mhàthair a' dèanamh aran agus lite leis agus uaireannan bidh i ga thogail airson leann a dhèanamh. Gu tric tha an obair cruaidh, agus uaireannan bidh sinn leis an acras. Ach bidh sinn fhathast a' sealg nam fiadh agus ag iasgach. Tha e math nuair a bhios bradan againn ri ithe.
Air an oidhche 's toigh leam a bhith nam shuidhe ris an teine a' coimhead mo mhàthair a' dèanamh poit. Bidh i a' cleachdadh crèadha air a thoirt às an talamh, agus a' toirt cumadh oirre le a làmhan, agus ga sgeadachadh le srianagan agus comharran seunta. Nuair a thiormaicheas e, bheir draoidheachd an teine atharrachadh maireannach air.
Cha robh cùisean daonnan mar seo. Fhad 's a bhios i ag obair, bidh mo mhàthair ag innse sgeulachdan dhomh mu linn a seanmhar, nuair nach robh iad a' fuireach ann an taighean mar seo, no ag obrachadh na talmhainn, no a' coimhead às dèidh nam beathaichean. Bhiodh iad a' gluasad bho àite gu àite tron bhliadhna, agus a' sealg nuair a b' urrainn dhaibh, agus a' tional chnothan agus dhearcan agus uighean sam bith a lorgadh iad. Bhiodh campa aca faisg air an àite seo, aig deireadh an fhoghair, nuair a bha an calltainn pailt. Tha beagan dhaoine anns na cnuic fhathast a tha beò mar sin, an-diugh fhèin. Mus tuit mi nam chadal, 's toigh leam a bhith a' smaoineachadh air mar a bha ar sinnsirean beò o chionn fhada.
Audio Interpretations
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Associated Locations
This event is associated with some locations in the Hebrides. For more details on these, see the list below, or go to the Interactive Explorer.
