Crofter My Story

This story belongs to Rhea

and her Granny Mary.

It's a tiny tale about Granny Mary's life and the things she used to do.

Now it's time for her to share her memories

and take Rhea on a journey of discovery.

What has Granny Mary got in store for Rhea?

Let's find out.

Rhea and her granny are digging to plant barley.

Barley is used for making bread.

This is a spade you only get in Shetland.

You see the small head and the wooden bit for your foot?

Rhea and her granny live on one of the Shetland Islands.

The Shetland Islands are a group of islands

far away from Scotland, out in the ocean.

You need to turn over the earth, before we set the seeds.

-Would you like to have a go?

-OK.

Rhea and her Granny Mary are turning the soil

to get rid of weeds and lumps

so they can plant the seeds to grow the barley.

So that's what barley seeds look like!

-What else do we need to make the barley grow?

-Water.

That's right.

So it will need to rain.

When the barley's ready, Granny, can we eat it?

Yes, we could make bread with it, Rhea.

Granny Mary lives on a croft.

A croft is like a small farm, but we only keep Shetland animals.

Crofters live off the land from their crofts and grow vegetables

and keep animals.

Granny Mary has lots to tell Rhea

about growing food on her croft.

And off Rhea and her Granny Mary go to find out more.

Granny Mary and Rhea are from a family of crofters.

For hundreds of years, crofting has been

a way of life in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Families live off the land by growing their own crops

like barley and vegetables

and rearing their own animals, like goats...

and sheep.

Look, sometimes it was a tough job keeping those sheep in check.

Every member of the family had to help out,

including the children.

Granny Mary has taken Rhea to a special croft house museum to

see what it was like living in a croft a long time ago.

It's a perfect day to see what life was like in the Shetland Islands.

The sun is shining, the sea is choppy - it's always a bit windy,

and the ducks are having fun

wandering around in the fresh air and sunshine.

This is a very old croft house, Rhea, similar to my grandad's croft house.

It has a little bit of land around it to grow crops and keep animals.

Will we have a look inside?

This old croft is just like the one

Granny Mary spent her summers in as a little girl.

It sat on a bit of land where her grandpa grew vegetables

and kept some animals.

It's quite dark in here, Granny.

Yes, it is, do you see any lights?

No.

When I was your age, we had no electric lights

on my grandfather's croft when I was little.

It's quite smoky in here, Granny.

Yes, it is, that's because the croft houses burn peat.

My grandfather burnt peat on his fire.

Have you seen peat before, Rhea?

No.

This is peat. It's a bit like coal.

In summer, crofters dig peat from the fields,

just like in these old pictures here.

They cut it into pieces using this special peat spade

and then lay it out in the sunshine to dry.

Once that's done, they take it home to burn over the winter

to keep the croft house and its family nice and warm.

It gives off a strong smell when it's burning.

Yes, it does. Do you like the smell, Rhea?

Yeah.

A crofter's life is very busy.

You've got to look after all your animals

and Rhea just loves to feed the hens in Granny Mary's croft.

Just like Granny Mary when she was a young girl,

Rhea's favourite part of the day is feeding the hens,

and it's so nice to do it with her granny.

Those hens are hungry.

Coo-coo-coo-ken!

That's a good way to call hens.

Can you tell the boy hens from the girl hens?

The boys go, "Cock a doodle do!"

What happy hens!

They love living on the island with lots of room to roam and

produce something delicious to eat at breakfast.

Good girl, Rhea. Will we go and see if the hens have laid any eggs?

Yes, Granny.

And of they go, to see if their hens have laid any eggs.

Are they in luck? Oh, yes! They are in for a treat.

How many have you got?

We've got seven eggs.

Well done, Rhea.

There are more animals on the croft and they need looking after, too.

Here's a Shetland sheep.

-Do you see how nice and thick and woolly its coat is?

-Yeah.

It keeps it warm in winter. In summer we have to cut it off.

It's just like having a haircut.

Don't worry about the sheep, it's used to getting its wool cut,

and in fact, quite enjoys it.

Watch for those scissors!

When Rhea is older, she can help her Granny Mary sheer the sheep, too.

What will we do with this fleece?

We can make a woolly jumper.

Yes, we could.

Amazing, all that wool from one sheep.

That will make lots of woolly jumpers.

And there's someone else Rhea wants us to meet.

This is my grandad, Tammy.

And he's married to Granny Mary.

Will we try some line-fishing?

-Yes, please, Grandad.

-Come on, then.

Grandad Tammy also does something very special.

He makes boats by hand.

Look at this one. What better way to go line-fishing

than on your grandad's very own, home-made boat?

Granny Mary and Rhea are off to visit

one of Rhea's best friends in the whole, wide world.

This is my Shetland pony, Haldor.

Do you know Shetland ponies are famous all over the world?

Why, Granny?

Because they're very small, they're very strong with lots of hair,

-and do you know one other thing?

-What, Granny?

-They're very gentle.

Rhea is not the only child with a Shetland pony.

Children all over Britain and beyond, who love horses,

start riding when they're very young on Shetland ponies

because they're so gentle and so small.

Just like the other animals on the croft, we have to look after them.

Will we brush them?

Rhea's pony Haldor just loves to be brushed and taken care of.

And Rhea and her granny do such a good job.

Grandad Tammy has another string to his bow

and you'll never guess what.

Crofters always did more than one job,

and I build boats and I make fiddles.

Not only does he make boats, but he makes his own fiddles.

Why do you make fiddles, Grandad?

The fiddles are just for a hobby, just to do on the winter nights.

-You see this piece of wood, here?

-Yeah.

Well, this is the same piece of the tree that I made this fiddle from.

And it grew on Shetland.

Can you play the tune that Tess sings to?

Tess just loves singing along...

DOG HOWLS

..and keeps in tune!

HOWLING CONTINUES

And look at this old film here.

Fiddles are played at special Shetland dances called gatherings.

Don't they sound fantastic?

One thing that Rhea loves to make with Granny Mary is

special Shetland bread called bannocks.

That's good.

And of course, bannocks are made from flour which is

made from the barley grown on the croft.

They'll be delicious.

They'll be excellent.

Would you like a bannock, Rhea?

Yes, please, Granny.

The flour for the bannock is made out of Shetland barley,

-just like we planted earlier.

-Mmmm, I love Shetland bannocks.

-Did you have fun learning about my story?

-Yeah.

What a day for Rhea and her Granny Mary.

Rhea found out about Granny Mary's life on a croft when she was young.

Rhea got the chance to plant some barley.

She helped feed the chickens.

Watched Granny Mary give the sheep a good haircut.

And had such fun with her grandpa Tammy as he played the fiddle

with Tess the dog joining in with her very funny singing.

-What was your favourite bit?

-Line-fishing on grandad's boat.

That was a good bit, wasn't it?

I've had a lovely time sharing my story and telling

you all about the Shetland animals and life on our croft.

Come and give granny a big hug.

What a fabulous heap of fun.

That was Rhea and Granny Mary's tiny tale

about the things Granny Mary used to do and the fun she had.

And why she has a Shetland shovel!

Granny Mary has shared her story with Rhea.

Now Rhea is starting her own story.

Do you know someone who has a story to share?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd