[Paddlewise] Hebrides (was Call of Nature etc.)

On Sun, 1 Aug 1999, M. Lenon wrote:

> I did not know wool needed to be cured. And, Elaine (?!), I would be ever so
> grateful to you if you would please refrain from explaining it any further
> to me! I've always fancied owning a Harris Tweed jacket, you see...

Dinna fash yersel', laddie! That was the traditional way, all the males in
the household contributed to a big vat which was kept for the purpose. I
think maybe it was to help wash out the lanolin, which can smell pretty
foul even before it gets rancid. But nowadays, although trademarked Harris
tweed must be woven in Lewis or Harris by foot-powered looms (a little is
still by hand), it doesn't have to be from the local wool, just Scottish
wool. It has been 20 or 30 years since the old curing methods were used,
I'd guess.

Glad you liked the quote as much as I did. I have a growing collection,
and one day maybe I'll find that software that puts a different one on
your sig every time you send a message....

All this has reminded me that a month ago I promised Peter Osman to write
something for the list about paddling in Scotland. I'll try, but you must
understand that I'm a little old lady who really hasn't been at this long
and will (alas!) never make it to bustass paddler status. I went to the UK
for the first time in spring of '92, and realized when I crossed the
border into Scotland that I was home at last (I'm told this happens to
lots of folks.) Rented a car for a week and went to the Western Isles
(Outer Hebrides). When I was driving around the east coast of south
Harris, on a truly incredible road - a guest drove it herself toward the
end of her visit, and went in and got drunk immediately upon arrival -
there was a derelict house for sale which I ended up buying, having made
an offer the next day without having been inside it. It faces a tidal pond
which opens into the Minch; the Isle of Skye can be seen to the southeast
across the Minch, about 20 miles away, in decent weather. One of the
things I thought about when looking at the situation was being able to
carry a sea kayak across the street and put it into the water. At that
time I'd never been in one. I was 52.

There is a great place in Lochmaddy, North Uist, the next island down,
across the Sound of Harris. It is the Uist Outdoor Center. Run by a truly
*capital* fellow - ah to be 30 again! - named Niall (pronounced like Neal)
Johnson. I went there to do some rock climbing, and found that they do
lots of kayaking outfitting and instruction, also diving, incidentally. I
took a 5-day "beginner" course 2 summers ago, in which I was the only real
beginner and had to struggle to keep up. It was great, and I recommend the
place. That year they had the first of what was intended to be a yearly
kayak symposium and boat show. It was kicked off by a paddle across the
Minch from Skye to Lochmaddy. Since then I've dreamt about getting to the
point where I could do that with them, and I've hoped that if I paddle my
wee SOT hard enough I'll get the strength if not the technique. That of
course is the paddle in which I'm concerned with the pee problem.

I also have decided I'd like to build a boat, from a kit, in Harris, and
will be trying to learn from this group which to choose. I'll be moving
overseas permanently in a few months, staying in Ireland, I hope, during
the 6 months of each year I'm not allowed to stay in the UK.

There is a fairly active paddling group in Lewis, the "island" to the
north (Lewis and Harris are geographically one island, though historically
quite distinct in dialect and culture, Harris having been more like a part
of Skye). The only town of any size is Stornoway, Lewis, which has a
weekly newspaper, the Stornoway Gazette. It has a small website but sadly
doesn't yet publish its sports page on the site. Too bad, because trip
reports of paddles appear occasionally - or at least used to, haven't seen
it lately -in the sports page, right alongside the darts, chess and
camanachd (shinty). These paddlers must be really fierce! They seem to go
out even in the winter gales. (And of course the summer gales, too. Lots
of gales in the Hebrides!) One of my reasons for posting all this is in
the hope that one of those REAL paddlers is lurking on this list and can
be persuaded to post the reports here. Please, if you're there....

Now if anybody is still reading to this point, and want to learn about
paddling in the Hebrides for real, you need Brian Wilson's book "Blazing
Paddles". I haven't found it yet, but just finished his "Dances with
Waves", about a circumnavigation of Ireland. It's wonderful.

Slainte! (If you don't know, that's "health", the usual Gaelic toast - or
maybe you didn't know that the Scots (Scotti) came from Ireland
originally, bringing their language and culture to the Highlands-) e

Elaine Harmon - eilidh_at_dc.seflin.org - eharmon_at_cs.miami.edu



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