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What' s a Bothy Loon?

Started by Tom, November 09, 2005, 01:47:17 PM

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Tom

Every once in a while I see a unique userid that catches my attention.  When I first saw "Bothy Loon" I pictured Scottish Highlands and didn't even have an idea that the fellow who had chosen the name to represent him was residing in Scotland. 

Being a home of my ancestors and the stepping off point of my Dad's side of the family, Scotland has always held a dear and warm place in my heart.

Today I saw him on the forum and thought I would ask what the name meant.  No, that would be presumptuous.  I better see if I can find out on my own first.

So, off to Google I went.  It wasn't' hard and a description jumped up immediately.   Want to see what a "Bothy Loon" is?  :)

This is from the website on the other end of this URL.
http://www.nefa.net/archive/farming/bothyculture.htm

QuoteAt the bigger farms, the "fairm-toons", the farmers employed a grieve as a general manager. Next in line was the ploughman, the most respected and best paid of the workers. Then came the orra-man or cattleman and after him the general labourers and the orra-loon, a young jack of all trades. The unmarried men, the "bothy loons", lived in the farm bothy, a small, very basic building usually built on to the side of the cattle byre.

Bothy_Loon

Well researched Tom
My bothy days were not as grand as the farm lads.
I spent mine in a woodmans bothy which basically was a wooden shed  with the drinking/cooking water bucket freezing during the night.
They were good days of which I have many happy memories .
Bothy



Bothy_Loon

Forgot to say the pic is of the bothy lads of Little Lour farm taken in 1937 & shows my late father stirring the brose.
Charlie

Paul_H

Thanks Tom and Bothy_Loon  for the interesting bit of information.I'm up for some more if you got it  ;)
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

DanG

And all this time, I thought it was his name. ::) :D :D :D  Thanks for clearing it up, Tom.

B_L, it is obvious that your time there has served you well.  I hope you'll be sharing lots more of your knowledge with us. :) :)
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Bothy_Loon

DanG
Just enjoying the forum but do not want to jump in too much as I dont want to appear a know it all!
In case anyone is interested in where Little Lour farm is it lies just south of the county town of Forfar in Angus on the east of Scotland.
I was raised in Glen Prosen in Angus & my father (who left the farms when tractors came in ) worked in the Glen for 37 years.
Soon after he retired he found he had a problem with his kidneys & had to go on a kidney machine 3 times a week. This ment that my parents had to move down country to be nearer the hospital.
When mother was clearing out the house (& his old bothy kists) she found lots of old photographs that my father had taken in his bothy days. This I think must have been unusual as I doubt the bothy lads had much money to spare for cameras.
The photos were sending up smoke on a bonfire as mother thought they would be of no interest to anyone (she did not think about me ) but i managed to rescue some before they hit the fire & it is thanks to the modern miricale of photshop that I have managed to repair some of them including the one sent to the forum.
I can remember as a young loon going to my fathers "claser" (clothes kist) & looking at these old pics for hours on end. There wer pics of all rhe farm jobs & especially his beloved horses. I never told my parents I had been in there though as I was forbidden to look in his old kists. Maybe if I had owned up the pics would not have been burned.
Bothy Loon

 

Roxie

Thanks for scratching around on that Tom.  It's fascinating.   :P
I thought it was his name too, DanG!!   :D
Say when

pigman

Interesting Bothy Loon, I believe my great-great- great great............ grandfather came to America from not to far from your location. I believe he came from near Edingburgh. I have heard the Lindsay castle is still there; just a pile of rocks I have been told. :(
Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

Burlkraft

Pigman,
Did you notice that you have 666 posts? smiley smiley_devilish
Why not just 1 pain free day?

pigman

Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

Bothy_Loon

Pigman
Lindsay stronghold was at Edzell Castle about 30minutes drive from here.
Dinae mention Edinburgh to me! Canna stand the place! Big cities are just not my thing.
Incidentaly I was just going to sign in using my own name but somebody much more important on the forum is already using it.
Hello Charlie. Still to do some pics for you of the Glen & where my sawmilling all started.

Bothy Loon   

CHARLIE

I'll be looking forward to seeing the pictures too.  Tom's and my family on my dad's side started back in the 1400's when a William Pringle was collecting rent for the landowners. He lived at the head of the Caddon river (not too far from Edinburgh) and became known as William of Caddonhead (I'm sure glad he didn't decide to live at the foot of the river ;D ).  The Scribes back then spelled names as they heard them, so Caddonhead ended up being Cadenhead. Yep, I really feel close to Scotland.  Pigman, my family didn't get to own a castle, but I hear they were cold, dark and damp anyway ;D .   I find the information about Bothies very interesting. 

Bothy_Loon, have you ever heard of a "Puffer"?  It was a small steel hulled steam engined freighter used back in the 1920's, 30's and 40's.  I think their are only a couple left  on display. The one I saw was on the west coast of Scotland.     
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

iain

Puffer

you can only be meaning "the vital spark"

the most famous puffer in the known world

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/images/220/parahandy_1.jpg



iain

Bothy_Loon

There is one tied up at Inverary peir most of the year. The other that I know about (apart from the Vital Spark ) plies up & down the Caledonian Canal between Ft William & Inverness. probably looking for Nessie on the way!
Bothy Loon

iain

Bothy is it the "captain scott" you are talking about?



    iain

iain


Bothy_Loon

Iain
I canna remember what either of them are called.
In my harvesting days I used to stop at Inverary Peir on the way back out from Tarbert as it was the first place I could get a signal on the mobile.
I would look at the puffer when listening to any messages but never thought to take a pic. Sad eh!!
Bothy Loon

DanG

Quote from: Bothy_Loon on November 13, 2005, 11:29:45 AM

Incidentaly I was just going to sign in using my own name but somebody much more important on the forum is already using it.

Ya mean your name is really DanG? ??? ;D :D :D

I gotta say, when you said, "Dinae mention Edinburg to me. Canna stand the place.",  I started reading all your posts with a Scottish accent. :D :D  I'd love to meet up with you someday, but between your brogue and my drawl, we'd probably not understand a word! ::) ;)
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

CHARLIE

Donna and I were in Scotland back in about 1995 to visit a friend who lives in Gourock.  He and his wife took us up the coast to see Robert Burn's house.  On the way there, we stopped to see a Puffer that was docked along the way somewhere. I can't remember the town.  My friend's father was a captain of a Puffer back in the 1930's and 1940's.  They were a seagoing family.  My friend and his brother were both seagoing engineers on freighters and passenger ships.  Anyway, after hearing the story of the Puffer, I bought this postcard which I framed and have hanging on the wall. I got curious tonight and looked and by golly it's a painting of the "Vital Spark".  I reckon that was the Puffer I saw, though I really don't remember the name.



Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

Bothy_Loon

Sorry DanG
My name is Charlie. Just like the other important person besides yourself on the Forum. It was Charlie that got me started with the forum. Glad he did as it is good for a laugh but also knows when to be serious as in Rememberance Day.

As to meeting me & worrying about not understanding me. Sometimes I dinna understand me!
I have some Italians working at the mill just now installing the two bandmills. They have no english I no italian but we understand each other fine. I think!
If you ever get to Scotland give me a shout (sorry, drawl ) & I will be glad to put our language problems to the test.
Bothy Loon
PS
The Vital Spark was a programme on television some years back about the hilarious happenings on the puffer of that name & her crew.


Chris J

Bothy Loon, owahryudoon?  I hope that's at least close.  Been to Scotland twice, love it, have in-laws in Falkirk & Helensborough.  I've never been to the highlands proper, but would love to take one of the whisky tours.  Aw ra best!
Certified Amateur Chainsaw Tinkerer.  If sucess is built on failure, then one day I'll live on the top of Mt. Everest.

Bothy_Loon

Ahm nae sic bad. Foo ir ye yersel.
Bothy Loon

CHARLIE

 :D :D :D :D That reminds me of my last night in Scotland.  Donna and I got a room at a small hotel in Glasgow near the airport.  I can't remember what floor we were on, but Donna left the room before I did and told me she'd meet me in the dining area.  I got confused when I left the room and couldn't find the little elevator but saw a sign that read "STAIRS".  So, to save time I went down the stairs and ended up in a strange area that turned out to be the kitchen. A not very happy man came out of the kitchen with a string of unintelligable words. I didn't know if it was just a heavy brogue or gaelic but I had no idea what he was saying. I stood there dumbfounded not knowing what I had done wrong. He finally found a porter and had me escorted from the kitchen. ;D   I still don't know what he was saying but I did know he was not happy with me. ;D  Normally though, I understood what everyone else in Scotland said.
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

Bothy_Loon

Yi hunna heard me in full rant though my cheil!
bothy Loon

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