0:00:06 > 0:00:08# Katie Morag
0:00:08 > 0:00:11# Far away across the ocean
0:00:11 > 0:00:13# Katie Morag
0:00:13 > 0:00:15# Over the sea to Struay
0:00:15 > 0:00:17# Katie Morag
0:00:17 > 0:00:20# Far away across the ocean
0:00:20 > 0:00:21# Katie Morag
0:00:21 > 0:00:24# Over the sea to Struay
0:00:24 > 0:00:26# Katie Morag. #
0:00:26 > 0:00:29LAUGHTER
0:00:29 > 0:00:31I love parties,
0:00:31 > 0:00:36and I reckon Grannie Island's are the best in the whole wide world.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38They go on way past our bedtime,
0:00:38 > 0:00:41but as long as we've brushed our teeth and put on our jammies,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44we're allowed to stay up.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Grannie Island doesn't call them parties, she calls them ceilidhs.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59Right then, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, let's gather round.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04Who's ready tonight for some real entertainment?
0:01:09 > 0:01:11MUSIC PLAYS
0:01:37 > 0:01:40LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Right!
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Whose turn is it now to Pin the Tale on the Island?
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Me, me, me, me, me!
0:01:48 > 0:01:50No, Agnes, not this time.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53No, I think you'll find it's Katie Morag!
0:01:56 > 0:01:58You might have played Pin the Tale before,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00but the Struay version is different.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03It's not the type of tail you get on a donkey,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07it's the type of tale someone tells you when they read you a story.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11The children take turns sticking a wee pin in the map of Struay.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Then one of the grown-ups tells a tale
0:02:14 > 0:02:18about that part of the island.
0:02:18 > 0:02:19I love it when it's my turn.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Oh! It's the Wild Goat Place.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34Now, does anyone have a story about the Wild Goat Place?
0:02:34 > 0:02:37No? Well, in that case, I'll tell one myself.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48The story I'm going to tell you happened a long,
0:02:48 > 0:02:53long time ago. Around this time of year, as it happens. Harvest time.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57When the berries are ripe and the land is brown from the sun.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01And this was a time when folk lived in the deserted village.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03It was a friendly place,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07and they were always ready to lend a hand when a neighbour needed help.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Now, one of the people who lived in the deserted village
0:03:10 > 0:03:13was my own great-great-grandmother.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17In later years, everyone knew her as Grannie Two Teeth,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21but back then she was just a young woman, so folk called her Morag.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Now, Morag lived with her husband, James,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29and two young children in a little house in the middle of the village.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34She had a very dear friend, a lady called Nessa Campbell,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37who lived over by the Heron Road, with her husband, Ruaridh,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and eight children.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Seven sons and one wee baby girl.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47The Campbells were poor, as most folk were,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and their house was an even smaller one.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Oh, poor Nessa did her best to keep the place clean and tidy,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57but with all those people living there, it wasn't easy.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59In fact, it was a midden!
0:04:00 > 0:04:05One day, Nessa dropped by Morag's house, looking miserable.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Oh, her boys were growing bigger every day,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11and as they grew bigger, the house seemed to shrink.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15And the noise, it was more than a person could bear.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Morag felt sorry for Nessa, but the only help
0:04:20 > 0:04:23she could offer was to listen and give her a hot cup of tea.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28It so happened that the very next day, a wise woman,
0:04:28 > 0:04:33or cailleach, which is the Gaelic word for her, was on her way
0:04:33 > 0:04:37to collect some special plants which grew on the shore.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41The cailleach always stopped by Morag's for a chat.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44And as they chatted, Morag mentioned Nessa's problem.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48The cailleach nodded wisely,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and asked Morag to take her to Nessa's house.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Well, Morag and the cailleach could hear the din
0:04:53 > 0:04:56from the little house before they could see it.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00The boys were yelling and running around,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03and the baby was crying for the fun of it.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08And all of this in a house smaller than the wee croft
0:05:08 > 0:05:10that we're sitting in right now.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Yet as bad as the noise was, the mess was even worse!
0:05:17 > 0:05:19No sooner had Nessa tidied something,
0:05:19 > 0:05:21than three more things were scattered.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Now, what does that remind me of, Katie Morag?!
0:05:27 > 0:05:32Eventually, she just gave up and sat miserably at the kitchen table,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35which is how Morag and the cailleach found her when they arrived.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Nessa put on her best smile and offered them a cup of tea.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Oh, but the cailleach said no!
0:05:43 > 0:05:46She wasn't there to drink tea, she was there to help.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50The cailleach stepped into the kitchen,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53looked around, then closed her eyes.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57And when she opened them again, she nodded,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00and said the solution was obvious.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06Nessa needed a goat. A big, smelly goat.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Well, Morag frowned.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Of all the things Nessa needed,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13a big, smelly goat was not the most obvious.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16But the cailleach didn't have the slightest doubt.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21This goat was to live in the house with the family for seven days
0:06:21 > 0:06:23and seven nights.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24And that was that.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29That same afternoon, the cailleach accompanied Nessa
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and Morag across the island
0:06:32 > 0:06:35to the Wild Goat Place, where there was a tiny hut.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38And the kindly old shepherd loaned Nessa one of his goats.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42It was a very large and very smelly goat.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47Not like the Lady Artist's lovely wee thing.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52It was also the most cantankerous animal Morag had ever met.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54But this seemed to please the cailleach.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58And so began the longest week of poor Nessa's life.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03Hard as things had been before, now they were a hundred times worse.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06The goat gobbled their food and scratched the door,
0:07:06 > 0:07:11chewed up their boots and left them unwelcome surprises on the floor.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14And the noise!
0:07:14 > 0:07:17The goat bleated and brayed from morning till night,
0:07:17 > 0:07:19stopping only to sleep.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22And then it would snore like a boat full of sailors!
0:07:24 > 0:07:28By the third day, their little house smelled so badly, it was said
0:07:28 > 0:07:33that folk living on Phoay could tell when they opened their front door!
0:07:33 > 0:07:38Oh, the others begged Nessa to get rid of the goat, but she refused.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41The cailleach had spoken, and who were they to disagree?
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Eventually, the long week came to an end,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and as the sun went down on the seventh day,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Nessa's husband and her oldest son
0:07:50 > 0:07:53loaded the reluctant goat - because you can imagine
0:07:53 > 0:07:58he enjoyed living in that house - onto the back of their cart.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02And with a sigh of relief, took him back to the shepherd's hut.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08Well, Morag passed by the next morning, unsure what to expect.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13And what she found was the happiest family she had ever seen!
0:08:13 > 0:08:17That obnoxious, food gobbling, door scratching, boot chewing,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20floor peeing, stinky old goat was finally out of their lives!
0:08:23 > 0:08:25As Nessa poured Morag a cup of tea,
0:08:25 > 0:08:30she spoke in wonder at the magic the cailleach had performed.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Where once the house seemed cramped, now it felt like a palace!
0:08:34 > 0:08:39And those children that once seemed so noisy
0:08:39 > 0:08:43now appeared like quiet little angels!
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Morag was delighted for her friend,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48but she had a wee concern.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52What if the magic began to wear off, and Nessa became unhappy again?
0:08:52 > 0:08:57Nessa smiled and looked over at her sons.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01The boys had promised to help around the house from now on.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03They would tidy up and wash the dishes,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06they would even make their own beds!
0:09:06 > 0:09:11And if by any chance things did turn bad, she would simply take
0:09:11 > 0:09:13a walk up to the Wild Goat Place
0:09:13 > 0:09:15and borrow the shepherd's goat again.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Only next time, it might have to stay for an entire month!
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Well, that's it, you can clap now!
0:09:27 > 0:09:31We loved the ceilidh stories and always want to hear more.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35But Grannie Island says the same thing over and over again.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37"Time for another tune!"
0:09:37 > 0:09:39Time for another tune!
0:09:41 > 0:09:43MUSIC PLAYS
0:09:48 > 0:09:51And by the time the grown-ups have finished dancing,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53we're usually fast asleep.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd