Alan Donaldson Elphinstone Kist Website Extracts ; Work : Fishing Interview with Mr Alan Donaldson : Saturday 16 June The Interview with Mr Alan Donaldson was conducted in Gourdon/Gurden Scots, being the mother tongue of both interviewee and interviewer. 1 Early life (born 1955) and connections with fishing ; later experiences of different types of fishing as Gourdon fisherman and Skipper ; changes in the methods and catches of inshore fishing from the 1960s to the present, sadly testifying to the decline of the industry. 2 Alan’s life story traces the changes, moving from his first berth to purchasing different boats, skippering himself, fishing for traditional and later new, unusual catches 1. Early fascination with the sea and the way of life of the fisherman Grouwin up in the 60s – it wis great. Gurden wis a great place. I dah ken – I wis jist daft aboot the sea : it wis aa that wis in yer mind : it wis aa that wis in mi heid. Wi wis nevir awa fae the herber fin wi wis bairns. That wis it - the hale day We tried ti help. Wi tied a boat’s rope – ye thocht ye wis king. If ye helped a boat land its shot o fish fin ye wis getting a bittie aulder, ye thocht it wis great. Somebody showed ye it and that wis it – ye kid manage a roond turn and twa half hitches and that tied a boat up. I wis in twice a day – dookin. Aabody did. We wis a lot happier. I really div believe that. Aabody wis the same. Alan’s paternal grandfather was of farming stock originally, his grandmother from Crawton, Dooking in the harbour 1966. Left to right Alan possibly of fishing stock 3. His and his brothers Alex, Keith and Roy grandmother sheeled and baited lines for his deddie 4 once he started going to the sea : his mother baited for his father 5 and later for Alan himself. F
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Gourdon, pronounced Gurden by the locals is small village some 12 miles south of Stonehaven, once a thriving line and seine net fishing port. 2 Taken in connection with the other inshore fishing interviews from Gourdon and Stonehaven, also available on the Website and with the interview of a Gourdon fisherman’s wife, Alan’s interview provides fascinating insights and comparisons over the two periods covered – the earlier period, pre and immediately post-World War II and the later period of the 1970s to the present, 2007 3 Crawton, some three miles south of Stonehaven, was once afishing village, now known for its famous bird sanctuary, Fowlsheugh. 4 “Deddie” is unique Gurden term for “grandfather”, echoed in the terms “didy” and “dide”, still current further north, around Inverallochy/Cairnbulg and St Combs. See article on the term by the interviewer in the May issue of Leopard magazine.
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