Reading my way from Dundee to Auchmithie; by Chris Longmuir
In last month’s post I talked about my reading tour of Dundee , and what a brilliant time I had with the American
tour group. As I said at the end of that post, my time with them was not over,
and I was to join them on a visit to Auchmithie the following day. Click on Reading my Way Round Dundee to read last months's post.
For those of you who do not know the area, Auchmithie is a
historic fishing village on the east coast of
Auchmithie regularly celebrates their historic roots with
the HAAR festival, which they organise every second year, and unfortunately
this was not the year. But there was a surprise in store for the American
visitors, because the tour guide, myself, and Ann Craig, who helps to organise
the festival had collaborated to provide an entertainment by the re-enactment
group in the local church.
But back to the start of the day, our meal in the But ‘n’ Ben Restaurant
After the meal I read scenes from A Salt Splashed Cradle where the fisherwomen carry the men, on
their backs, to the boats. They did this in Auchmithie before the harbour was
built, and the reason they did this was so the men would not have to go to sea
with wet feet. The readings went down a bomb, and I sold several books from my
book bag. Surprisingly, I also sold some books to other diners in the
restaurant who were not with our party.
We left the restaurant in good spirits and walked to the
church where the re-enactment group were waiting. Ann Craig, in the role of
Annie Gilruth, a historical character, enacted scenes from the early days of
the village which described how progressive this woman was, and how she
instigated improvements in village life, not all of which were readily accepted
by the villagers, as one argumentative scene revealed. The group sang fisher
songs, danced, and acted scenes. It was a brilliant performance, and if you are
in the vicinity of Auchmithie next September it’s well worth a visit to
Auchmithie to see this group acting out village life, as it was in the past, on
the streets.
But there was a surprise in store for me as well, because at
the end of the performance I was invited to join them to read scenes from A Salt Splashed Cradle. I must say I
never thought I would do a reading from the pulpit, but it was a great
experience.
The group scattered to investigate the village, and as I
took my leave of them, I reflected it was the perfect end to a perfect day.
Chris Longmuir
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