Episode 5

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0:00:09 > 0:00:13On this week's programme, myself and young Adam try our hand at fishing.

0:00:13 > 0:00:17You're cloddin' her rightly!

0:00:17 > 0:00:20I call it throwing, Anne. Not cloddin'!

0:00:20 > 0:00:21Andy Mattison finds out

0:00:21 > 0:00:24the importance of a surname at Hanna's Close.

0:00:24 > 0:00:26This place is called Hanna's Close

0:00:26 > 0:00:30and, of course, you had to be a Hanna to live in Hanna's Close. Why?

0:00:30 > 0:00:32Mark Wilson's musical journey

0:00:32 > 0:00:34continues at the Cowal Gathering in Dunoon.

0:00:34 > 0:00:38This is something that's in the blood of the Ulster-Scots.

0:00:38 > 0:00:40It's there for centuries.

0:00:40 > 0:00:43And Wilson Burgess falls in with a wheen o' men from the north coast

0:00:43 > 0:00:46that make the trip to the Somme brave and often.

0:00:46 > 0:00:49There's 959 cemeteries.

0:00:49 > 0:00:52So when we take people out to try and find their graves,

0:00:52 > 0:00:54it's an enormous task.

0:01:02 > 0:01:04But just before all that,

0:01:04 > 0:01:07here's Scad The Beggar with a tune on the fife and the dulcimer.

0:02:13 > 0:02:15The South Antrim Fishing Festival

0:02:15 > 0:02:17was held for the first time this year,

0:02:17 > 0:02:20and opportunities were provided for novices,

0:02:20 > 0:02:22both young and old, to try their hand at angling.

0:02:24 > 0:02:27- So, Adam, are you from the Glynn near Larne?- Aye.

0:02:27 > 0:02:29- And what age are you?- Em, 11.

0:02:29 > 0:02:33- You recently took up fishing? - Yeah. I haven't been doing that much, though.

0:02:33 > 0:02:35Did I hear right that you haven't caught many fish yet?

0:02:35 > 0:02:38- No, I haven't caught any. - Have you not?

0:02:38 > 0:02:40We're here today at Tildarg Fishery

0:02:40 > 0:02:43and I've brought a friend of mine along to see if he could

0:02:43 > 0:02:46maybe teach the both of us how to catch at least one fish

0:02:46 > 0:02:48- before we go home. - Aye, let's hope so.

0:02:48 > 0:02:52- Would you half it with me if you caught one?- Aye. Would you half it with me if you got one?

0:02:52 > 0:02:54I will, I promise.

0:02:58 > 0:03:01Well, Adam, do you fish with baits or flies or...?

0:03:01 > 0:03:05- Fly and baits. - And worms?- Aye, worms.

0:03:05 > 0:03:08Do you use any of these flies?

0:03:08 > 0:03:11- No.- These are all for this type of fishing.

0:03:11 > 0:03:13- You fish the river, don't you?- Aye.

0:03:13 > 0:03:17Yes, the fly we're going to use now is this - cat's whisker.

0:03:17 > 0:03:21One, two, three. One, two, three.

0:03:21 > 0:03:23One, two, three.

0:03:23 > 0:03:26- That's a boy. You're getting the hang of it now, Adam.- I know.

0:03:26 > 0:03:28You'll catch a fish shortly.

0:03:29 > 0:03:32Walking down here, I was looking at you and looking at myself

0:03:32 > 0:03:35and I don't think I'm geared up for this fishing at all.

0:03:35 > 0:03:37HE LAUGHS

0:03:37 > 0:03:40Anne, they're not fishing wellies - they're stepping-out wellies.

0:03:40 > 0:03:42They're Ascot wellies, Anne.

0:03:42 > 0:03:45- How are you getting on, Adam? - Eh, well.

0:03:45 > 0:03:48- Are you getting on well?- Aye. - Good boy, just keep at it.- Aye.

0:03:49 > 0:03:52You're cloddin' her rightly!

0:03:52 > 0:03:56I call it throwing, Anne. not cloddin'!

0:03:56 > 0:04:00- Here, Anne. Try that there. - With my gloves?- No, Anne.

0:04:00 > 0:04:03You need them gloves off. How can you feel? Give me them things.

0:04:04 > 0:04:06Sorry, Nigel.

0:04:06 > 0:04:09- You're doing not too bad. - I think so.

0:04:09 > 0:04:10You'd make a good fisherwoman.

0:04:10 > 0:04:13So, we just stand here then, really? You just stand and wait?

0:04:13 > 0:04:15Aye, more or less, Anne.

0:04:16 > 0:04:21- But that's no use! You need to keep working those flies. - Oh, you've got to keep doing it?

0:04:21 > 0:04:25That's it. A figure of eight, just round and round.

0:04:25 > 0:04:26You see the eight, Adam?

0:04:26 > 0:04:29Why do you not just have to pull it up in your hand?

0:04:29 > 0:04:32Well, you can just loop it. Every angler will tell you -

0:04:32 > 0:04:34it's a figure of eight.

0:04:34 > 0:04:36One, two, three.

0:04:36 > 0:04:40One, two, three. That's it, Anne. Hey!

0:04:40 > 0:04:41THEY LAUGH

0:04:41 > 0:04:43First class!

0:04:43 > 0:04:46One, two, three. That's it.

0:04:46 > 0:04:47Look at that! Straight.

0:04:47 > 0:04:50Nigel, I've caught one. What will I do now?

0:04:54 > 0:04:58- What is that?- That's a rainbow. - A rainbow trout?

0:04:58 > 0:05:02- He'll be all right then after that? - Aye.- You just put him back in? - Aye, you return it.

0:05:02 > 0:05:04Wild brown trout and salmon, you return them.

0:05:04 > 0:05:08And there he is, back in the water as good as new.

0:05:10 > 0:05:14One, two, three. One, two, three.

0:05:14 > 0:05:17But, you know, to me sometimes it's a wild long day for nothing

0:05:17 > 0:05:22- if your trophy's just maybe one fish, a wee brown trout or something.- That's right.

0:05:22 > 0:05:25Although it's quere packing and I must say there's nothing wrong with a trout.

0:05:25 > 0:05:28Oh, it's a great pastime and a trout's nice to eat.

0:05:28 > 0:05:30I've got one!

0:05:32 > 0:05:34Just reel it up nice and easy, Adam. Go on, go on.

0:05:34 > 0:05:38- Oh, is this another one, is it? A rainbow trout?- Yeah.

0:05:38 > 0:05:41Right, I'll go and net it for you here.

0:05:41 > 0:05:44- Go on!- That's it. Come on, Adam.

0:05:44 > 0:05:46- Reel it in, harder.- Oh!

0:05:46 > 0:05:48What is it, Nigel? What's gone wrong?

0:05:48 > 0:05:51- The fish has took his fly. - Were we too slow, I wonder?

0:05:51 > 0:05:53Need another bit of teaching from Nigel, I think.

0:05:53 > 0:05:55It's away with your fly, Anne. Look.

0:05:55 > 0:05:59So, Adam, all the fishing you did, you never caught a fish before,

0:05:59 > 0:06:01and the one you did catch ate the fly and is away.

0:06:01 > 0:06:05- Stupid fish!- Are you scunnered with fishing or will you stick at it?

0:06:05 > 0:06:08- Aye, I'm going to stay at it. - Good.- Good boy.

0:06:08 > 0:06:12- Try and try again.- So, I'm going to have to go to the fish-man to get a bit of fish for my tea.

0:06:12 > 0:06:15- I think you'll maybe carry on without me, eh?- Aye.

0:06:15 > 0:06:17- Well, Adam, will we stay and fish on?- Yup.- Good boy.

0:06:17 > 0:06:20- Enjoy yourselves. - Right, Adam, let's go.- Aye.

0:06:26 > 0:06:29In this series, we have been looking at how a word in English

0:06:29 > 0:06:32can have two or three different meanings in Ulster-Scots.

0:06:32 > 0:06:36This week, Liam Logan and Gary Blair take a look at the word "one".

0:06:38 > 0:06:42One of my favourite words in Ulster-Scots is "yin" -

0:06:42 > 0:06:44the equivalent of "one".

0:06:46 > 0:06:50- And it would be used quite often as a number.- Aye.

0:06:50 > 0:06:52But you'd occasionally use it as a concept.

0:06:52 > 0:06:55- You'd say, "Oh, boy, thon was a big yin."- Aye.

0:06:55 > 0:06:58- And that would be something extraordinary.- Really big news.

0:06:58 > 0:07:02- Big news.- Or you could "tell a big yin."- Which would be a big lie.- Aye.

0:07:02 > 0:07:05- Which you wouldn't do ever, Gary, now?- Oh, no.

0:07:05 > 0:07:09If I was to say I never did, that would be a big yin in itself.

0:07:09 > 0:07:11They tell a story up our country

0:07:11 > 0:07:14about two American airmen that were over here during the war.

0:07:14 > 0:07:17And they were out on a training mission

0:07:17 > 0:07:19and they got lost in the fog in bad weather

0:07:19 > 0:07:23and eventually they ran out of fuel and they had to put the plane down.

0:07:23 > 0:07:25They didn't know where they were,

0:07:25 > 0:07:28they didn't know what country they were in, nothing.

0:07:28 > 0:07:31And they saw a boy fishing, and one American says to the other boy,

0:07:31 > 0:07:34he says, "I'll go down and engage him in conversation," he says.

0:07:34 > 0:07:38"And when I have a word with him," he says, "I'll be able

0:07:38 > 0:07:42"to determine where we are by the way he responds to my conversation."

0:07:42 > 0:07:46So he wandered down to the boy and he says, "Have you caught any?"

0:07:46 > 0:07:49And the wee fella looked at him and he says, "Yin young yin."

0:07:49 > 0:07:52He climbed back up the mountain to his mate and says,

0:07:52 > 0:07:54"My God, we're in trouble.

0:07:54 > 0:07:56"We have landed in China."

0:07:56 > 0:07:58HE LAUGHS

0:08:05 > 0:08:06Mark Wilson's brave

0:08:06 > 0:08:09and well into his musical journey now across Scotland.

0:08:09 > 0:08:12We'll take up with him this week where he's heading north to Dunoon.

0:08:27 > 0:08:30My musical journey which started in Carlisle

0:08:30 > 0:08:33took me through the Border region to Portpatrick.

0:08:33 > 0:08:35Now I've turned north up the Ayrshire coastline

0:08:35 > 0:08:38towards Greenock, to catch this ferry to Dunoon.

0:08:44 > 0:08:47This wee journey takes me back in time.

0:08:47 > 0:08:52Back to some very happy memories when, on the last weekend in August,

0:08:52 > 0:08:54myself and hundreds of Ulster-Scots like me

0:08:54 > 0:08:57crossed this little bit of the Firth of Clyde

0:08:57 > 0:09:01heading for the town of Dunoon on the Cowal Peninsula

0:09:01 > 0:09:03to the famous Cowal Games.

0:09:03 > 0:09:05And they're still going today.

0:09:05 > 0:09:07BAGPIPES

0:09:12 > 0:09:16While the Lowland Pipes may have provided some of the original music of the Ulster-Scots,

0:09:16 > 0:09:20today the most favoured and famous instrument of the Ulster-Scots

0:09:20 > 0:09:23is the Great Highland Bagpipe.

0:09:23 > 0:09:28But this association with the bagpipe in Ulster is nothing new.

0:09:28 > 0:09:32It goes back centuries. Back even before the Plantation of Ulster.

0:09:32 > 0:09:36All the top solo pipers here in Scotland trace their piping ancestry

0:09:36 > 0:09:40back to the famous McCrimmon Family from the Isle of Skye.

0:09:40 > 0:09:44But the McCrimmons came to Ireland - and more specifically Ulster -

0:09:44 > 0:09:46to learn music.

0:09:46 > 0:09:50This is something that's in the blood of the Ulster-Scots.

0:09:50 > 0:09:52It's there for centuries.

0:09:52 > 0:09:56And it's here at the famous Cowal Gathering in Dunoon, Scotland,

0:09:56 > 0:09:58that on the last Saturday in August

0:09:58 > 0:10:02hundreds of Ulster-Scots come across to take part in the solo piping,

0:10:02 > 0:10:04the drum majoring and the pipe band competitions.

0:10:06 > 0:10:09Bradley, you're one of the top young competitors at Cowal.

0:10:09 > 0:10:12And I've my drum with me. Would there be any chance

0:10:12 > 0:10:15- of you maybe playing a wee tune with me?- Yeah, definitely.

0:10:15 > 0:10:17What tune would you like to play?

0:10:17 > 0:10:19Em, The Fiddler's Rally?

0:10:19 > 0:10:23Ah, a great Gordon Walker tune - a jig, nice and fast and up-tempo.

0:10:23 > 0:10:24- Yeah.- Right.

0:10:24 > 0:10:27We'll see if we can maybe find somewhere a wee bit quieter than this

0:10:27 > 0:10:30in case anybody hears me. BRADLEY LAUGHS

0:10:49 > 0:10:52Bradley Parker, you're 14-years-old, you're from Portavogie.

0:10:52 > 0:10:56You have won the Cowal Championship here for your age group

0:10:56 > 0:10:58for the last three years.

0:10:58 > 0:11:03That in itself is a phenomenal feat. But what does that mean to you?

0:11:03 > 0:11:06It's great because there's a lot of great players, like,

0:11:06 > 0:11:09I'm up against, and winning's...

0:11:09 > 0:11:11It's hard to win over here,

0:11:11 > 0:11:14so it is, because everyone's just really good.

0:11:21 > 0:11:24What sort of practice regime do you have?

0:11:24 > 0:11:27Every day, I just go over the stuff I need to do

0:11:27 > 0:11:32and then if I'm going to a gig anywhere, I'll just practise the fancy stuff that night.

0:11:32 > 0:11:36But I'll keep doing the solo stuff usually about an hour,

0:11:36 > 0:11:37an hour or two a day.

0:11:44 > 0:11:48Of all the pieces you do, I know you do the Ceol Mor, you do the Pibroch,

0:11:48 > 0:11:51which is your favourite between the two?

0:11:51 > 0:11:55Probably the Pibroch. It just relaxes you more.

0:11:55 > 0:11:57Lots of people that I know, Bradley -

0:11:57 > 0:12:01and I mean even lots of pipers that I know - don't like Pibroch.

0:12:01 > 0:12:04They say, you know, "Oh, it's boring, it's too slow."

0:12:05 > 0:12:07What do you like about it?

0:12:07 > 0:12:10I don't know. Just to bring out the music in the tunes.

0:12:10 > 0:12:14- Just makes it far more enjoyable to play.- Because you can interpret some of the Pibrochs

0:12:14 > 0:12:17to your own personality, and that's what's coming out in that?

0:12:17 > 0:12:20Yeah. It's probably different for every Pibroch.

0:12:23 > 0:12:26And Bradley, having won the Juvenile Championships

0:12:26 > 0:12:29this last three years in a row, they've now moved you out of that,

0:12:29 > 0:12:33even though you're still only 14, you've moved into the Senior Grade.

0:12:33 > 0:12:36What's it like competing against adults much older than you?

0:12:36 > 0:12:40It's tougher, but whenever - if you get a prize, it feels better

0:12:40 > 0:12:43because you've played against these big players.

0:12:43 > 0:12:46It tells you how much you need to improve to keep up with them.

0:12:46 > 0:12:50Because eventually you're going to be right at the very, very top

0:12:50 > 0:12:52of that very top adult grade.

0:12:52 > 0:12:56That would be... Hopefully, one day. Hopefully.

0:13:00 > 0:13:02We'll be back with Mark in a while at the Cowal Gathering

0:13:02 > 0:13:06to see how the Ulster-Scots folk fared at the competition.

0:13:18 > 0:13:20Just outside Kilkeel,

0:13:20 > 0:13:22there's a clachan of cottages called Hanna's Close.

0:13:22 > 0:13:25And there's a fascinating history attached to them,

0:13:25 > 0:13:27as Andy Mattison finds out.

0:13:30 > 0:13:32The Hannas left the Sorbie area in Scotland

0:13:32 > 0:13:36in the early 17th century, you know, around 1608-1609.

0:13:36 > 0:13:41Why do they end up here, why do they come to Hanna's Close here just outside Kilkeel?

0:13:41 > 0:13:44They were under pressures both from a religious point of view

0:13:44 > 0:13:47and political point of view in Scotland and...

0:13:47 > 0:13:51Whether they had to get out, I don't know, but they arrived here.

0:13:51 > 0:13:55And, obviously, they were used to being under threat

0:13:55 > 0:13:58because the way they built their houses here...

0:13:58 > 0:14:02In fact, you can see, as they did in the Westerns,

0:14:02 > 0:14:05that they circled the wagons for their own protection.

0:14:05 > 0:14:08And we can clearly see, Arthur, the close laid-out.

0:14:08 > 0:14:11It is really in a circle as you follow these houses up round.

0:14:11 > 0:14:16And we're looking at Tommy's House. It's a typical example.

0:14:16 > 0:14:21You can see the whole defensive manufacture of the house.

0:14:21 > 0:14:24Doors and large windows facing into the close.

0:14:24 > 0:14:27And if you go round the back, you'll find small windows

0:14:27 > 0:14:30that a man of your substantial build

0:14:30 > 0:14:33- would have great difficulty in getting into.- No offence! THEY LAUGH

0:14:33 > 0:14:36Well, you have your thatch

0:14:36 > 0:14:39and you have a wee bit of slate as well, as it would have been - mixed.

0:14:39 > 0:14:42Scots in Ulster loved building with stone and slate

0:14:42 > 0:14:46as it was more difficult to burn your house down if it was made of slate.

0:14:46 > 0:14:50Now, Arthur, this place is called Hanna's Close

0:14:50 > 0:14:54and, of course, you had to be a Hanna to live in Hanna's Close. Why?

0:14:54 > 0:14:57Well, I think that the whole issue reverts back to the heritage,

0:14:57 > 0:14:59the Scottish heritage

0:14:59 > 0:15:04because the clan system was bringing families together in Scotland

0:15:04 > 0:15:07and they just practised that when they came over here.

0:15:07 > 0:15:10It was part of the Ulster-Scots heritage

0:15:10 > 0:15:12that they brought with them.

0:15:13 > 0:15:15So, Norma, this is your house.

0:15:15 > 0:15:17- Your home place, isn't it? - That's right.

0:15:17 > 0:15:22I was born in this house here and lived here until 1959.

0:15:23 > 0:15:27Now, your family was one of the last families of Hannas

0:15:27 > 0:15:31to remain in the close. When did the last families vacate?

0:15:31 > 0:15:36My mother was the last of the Hannas actually and she passed away in '79.

0:15:38 > 0:15:42All around here, as I say - anybody strange who came in

0:15:42 > 0:15:43would have found it very difficult

0:15:43 > 0:15:46till they discovered who was related to who

0:15:46 > 0:15:49as all the different families right round

0:15:49 > 0:15:52were nearly all married into Hanna.

0:15:52 > 0:15:55And then, of course, I broke the tradition.

0:15:55 > 0:15:57They weren't angry with you, were they?

0:15:57 > 0:15:59SHE LAUGHS

0:15:59 > 0:16:02- You got away with that one? - I got away with it!

0:16:04 > 0:16:06Now, I have spied a note in this window

0:16:06 > 0:16:08and it tells me about Steven Hanna.

0:16:08 > 0:16:12And Steven claims he has the best free range eggs in the area.

0:16:12 > 0:16:14Now, I'm just going to test them out.

0:16:18 > 0:16:24I'm Steven Hanna. I have about 35 hens and four roosters.

0:16:24 > 0:16:26Those white ones there, they're broilers.

0:16:26 > 0:16:29I've got nine of them among all my hens.

0:16:29 > 0:16:32And they're not bred for eggs, they're bred for meat.

0:16:32 > 0:16:35They're for chicken burgers, so they are.

0:16:35 > 0:16:37But I'm keeping them for their eggs

0:16:37 > 0:16:41because that's pretty much what my business is about.

0:16:41 > 0:16:42I'm a Hanna.

0:16:42 > 0:16:45My great-great-granny, she was a Hanna too.

0:16:45 > 0:16:47She lived down at the close, down the road.

0:16:47 > 0:16:51You had to be a Hanna years ago just to live in Hanna's Close.

0:16:53 > 0:16:56- These are my eggs, are they?- Yes. - Better let me take a look at them.

0:16:58 > 0:17:01Those are quere-looking eggs. What would these usually cost me?

0:17:01 > 0:17:04- £1.25.- £1.25!?- Yes.

0:17:04 > 0:17:06- There's nothing I can do about that, is there?- No.

0:17:06 > 0:17:09Should I check how much catter I have in my pocket?

0:17:09 > 0:17:10Yes, I think you should.

0:17:10 > 0:17:12Let me see.

0:17:12 > 0:17:15- Would you take a pound?- No.

0:17:15 > 0:17:19- £1.20?- OK, that'll do. - £1.20?- Yes.

0:17:19 > 0:17:23There's a pound and there's 20, and that's a quere good deal, Steven.

0:17:23 > 0:17:25- Thank you.- Thank you very much.

0:17:29 > 0:17:31BAGPIPES PLAY

0:17:33 > 0:17:37Now, back to Dunoon where Mark Wilson is following the progress

0:17:37 > 0:17:39of the Ulster-Scots folk at the Cowal Gathering,

0:17:39 > 0:17:42including Ballygowan man Andy Carlisle in solo piping.

0:17:48 > 0:17:50I just got a text from my mate, Andy.

0:17:50 > 0:17:54He won the Pibroch with "Lament for the Earl of Antrim". So, let's go and find him.

0:17:54 > 0:17:56Here he is.

0:17:56 > 0:17:59- Ha, ha, man! How are you?- Not bad.

0:17:59 > 0:18:03- What are these big trophies for? - Eh, best dressed piper!

0:18:03 > 0:18:05THEY LAUGH

0:18:05 > 0:18:08This is the trophy for the Pibroch and this is the overall trophy.

0:18:08 > 0:18:11- Any Ulstermen's names on this one? - I haven't checked,

0:18:11 > 0:18:13but I very much doubt it. I think I'm the first.

0:18:13 > 0:18:16So, this is the first Ulsterman to win this?

0:18:16 > 0:18:17I think so, yeah.

0:18:17 > 0:18:19This one's older. The cup goes back to 1920.

0:18:19 > 0:18:22- And an Ulsterman's never won this one either?- No.

0:18:22 > 0:18:24This is the overall at the Cowal Championships?

0:18:24 > 0:18:26Yes, for the top grade, the A grade.

0:18:26 > 0:18:28- And this is the Pibroch?- It is, yeah.

0:18:28 > 0:18:31Andy, I am just - I know you're chuffed,

0:18:31 > 0:18:34I'm chuffed to bits for you for winning these prizes.

0:18:34 > 0:18:35Well, it's survived from 1920,

0:18:35 > 0:18:40so I don't want the first Paddy to win it in, you know, 2011,

0:18:40 > 0:18:43to be the one responsible for breaking it.

0:18:43 > 0:18:46The Grade One title at the Cowal Pipe Band Championships

0:18:46 > 0:18:49is one of the most sought after in the world.

0:18:49 > 0:18:51It's something that Pipe Major Richard Parkes

0:18:51 > 0:18:55and the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band would love to win.

0:18:55 > 0:19:00There are five championships during the season

0:19:00 > 0:19:04and the Grand Slam - winning all five - has only been achieved,

0:19:04 > 0:19:06I believe, three times in the past.

0:19:06 > 0:19:09By chance, if we win this competition today,

0:19:09 > 0:19:11that would be another Grand Slam.

0:19:11 > 0:19:14I won't even think about what the result will be. We played well today.

0:19:14 > 0:19:17I'd like to think we'll be in the mix for the first prize.

0:19:17 > 0:19:22To win five championships would be unbelievable. I wouldn't even want to think about it just now.

0:19:22 > 0:19:26CHEERING

0:19:33 > 0:19:37Having won the Scottish, the British, the European and the World Championships,

0:19:37 > 0:19:40this win at Dunoon now constitutes the Grand Slam.

0:19:40 > 0:19:43And, as supreme champions, there's no doubt

0:19:43 > 0:19:47that the best pipe band in the world is from Ulster.

0:19:47 > 0:19:52During World War One, thousands left these shores and never came back.

0:19:52 > 0:19:56For many of them, their final resting place was the Somme.

0:19:56 > 0:19:58To this day, year after year,

0:19:58 > 0:20:02folk travel to visit these graves of the fallen.

0:20:02 > 0:20:04Wilson Burgess has written a poem about one such person.

0:20:04 > 0:20:07It's called The Oul Sodjer.

0:20:07 > 0:20:10LONE PIPING

0:20:16 > 0:20:18The Oul Sodjer.

0:20:19 > 0:20:24He stood by the Menin Gate and talked about the past

0:20:24 > 0:20:29About the part that he had played In a War that was to be the last

0:20:29 > 0:20:33His eyes were dim His hair was grey

0:20:33 > 0:20:35Yet with dignity he stood

0:20:35 > 0:20:38Near the spot where his Company had rested

0:20:38 > 0:20:41After clearing an enemy-held wood

0:20:46 > 0:20:50Isn't Portballintrae a wonderful place to be at on a day like this?

0:20:50 > 0:20:54You couldn't beat it anywhere. This beautiful part of Ulster,

0:20:54 > 0:20:59where men left here to fight in World Wars One and Two.

0:20:59 > 0:21:02On 1st July at the Battle of the Somme,

0:21:02 > 0:21:0523 men from this particular area -

0:21:05 > 0:21:09round Bushmills and round Portballintrae -

0:21:09 > 0:21:11lost their lives on the first day.

0:21:11 > 0:21:12Now, that's a wild casualty list.

0:21:14 > 0:21:18He said, "I was nae great hero "There were yins mair brave than me

0:21:20 > 0:21:24"Yet unstinting I gave my all That my country would be free

0:21:25 > 0:21:30"Now, in the evening o' my life I have come for a last look round

0:21:31 > 0:21:35"This place is often in my thoughts To me, it's hallowed ground."

0:21:40 > 0:21:45I thought I was the best-dressed man here today until I looked at you. You're looking quere and well today.

0:21:45 > 0:21:47Thank you, you're looking bravely yourself, Wilson.

0:21:47 > 0:21:51We're not here to talk about how well we're looking, but to talk about

0:21:51 > 0:21:54your involvement in going to the cemeteries in Europe.

0:21:54 > 0:21:57You have been to the Somme quite a few times.

0:21:57 > 0:22:00We started and went with the British Legion from Belfast.

0:22:00 > 0:22:02Went with them about a couple or three times.

0:22:02 > 0:22:05Then they stopped doing the trips and I said to the missus one night,

0:22:05 > 0:22:07"How could we arrange a trip to go?"

0:22:07 > 0:22:10And she thought we were a wee bit mad, but we went ahead

0:22:10 > 0:22:13and we organised it, and things just looked forward from then on.

0:22:13 > 0:22:15We have run three trips now

0:22:15 > 0:22:19and hopefully we'll be healthful and run a few trips more.

0:22:19 > 0:22:21Do you get big crowds going on these trips?

0:22:21 > 0:22:23Well, over the three I ran,

0:22:23 > 0:22:27I had about an average of about 44 or 45 people each trip, pretty good.

0:22:27 > 0:22:28That's wonderful.

0:22:28 > 0:22:33There's 959 cemeteries, so when we take people out

0:22:33 > 0:22:36- to try and find their graves, it's an enormous task.- It must be.

0:22:36 > 0:22:38If you just look at that there,

0:22:38 > 0:22:40that there's about a ten-mile radius there.

0:22:40 > 0:22:43Look how many cemeteries is in that area alone.

0:22:43 > 0:22:48I see number 636 there, then 637 and 638.

0:22:48 > 0:22:50And you're telling me there are over 900 of these?

0:22:50 > 0:22:52Yes, over 900 cemeteries.

0:22:54 > 0:22:57They were young and they were braw

0:22:57 > 0:22:59Yet they had to die

0:23:01 > 0:23:03At the hands of their fellow men

0:23:03 > 0:23:05I have often wondered why.

0:23:07 > 0:23:08Ross, this is Wilson Burgess.

0:23:08 > 0:23:10- Hello. How are you doing? - Nice to meet you.

0:23:10 > 0:23:13Wilson, Ross was meeting me down here today.

0:23:13 > 0:23:16He's got a wonderful photo of his grandfather. Did you bring it with you?

0:23:16 > 0:23:19- Oh, I've got it here in the car. - Let Wilson see it.

0:23:19 > 0:23:21Let's have a look at that, Ross.

0:23:21 > 0:23:24Ross, that's a wonderful picture altogether. A fine figure of a man.

0:23:24 > 0:23:28- This was your grandfather you tell me?- This was my grandfather, yes.

0:23:28 > 0:23:30He was an electrical engineer.

0:23:30 > 0:23:32What can you tell me about this man?

0:23:32 > 0:23:37He came home one afternoon at teatime, and his eldest son,

0:23:37 > 0:23:42he said, "Father, do you know what I done today?

0:23:42 > 0:23:46"I signed on with the 10th Battalion of the Royal Enniskillen Fusiliers

0:23:46 > 0:23:50"and I'm going to Europe to fight with the British Army."

0:23:50 > 0:23:53And the father said, "Well, son,

0:23:53 > 0:23:57"I may as well sign on too and I'll look after you."

0:23:57 > 0:24:01And the two of them signed on, on the same day.

0:24:01 > 0:24:05But unfortunately he was killed

0:24:05 > 0:24:07a few weeks before the war ended.

0:24:07 > 0:24:11- My goodness, that was tragic. - But his son, he came home,

0:24:11 > 0:24:15but the father was killed. He was buried in Bac-du-Sud.

0:24:15 > 0:24:17My goodness.

0:24:17 > 0:24:21And between Lesley and the coach-driver,

0:24:21 > 0:24:23they got us right to the graveside.

0:24:23 > 0:24:27- That must have been a very emotional day?- It was absolutely wonderful altogether.

0:24:28 > 0:24:34What benefit is it to mankind That millions of folk should die?

0:24:35 > 0:24:39I dinnae know the answer I'll leave it to Him on High

0:24:39 > 0:24:45I'll ask Him to gi' men wisdom To make sure all wars will cease

0:24:45 > 0:24:51And that all poor suffering humans Can live their lives in peace.

0:24:52 > 0:24:54And your next trip will be when?

0:24:54 > 0:24:58Well, maybe two years' time, but we definitely want to do one

0:24:58 > 0:25:01in five years' time for the 100th anniversary.

0:25:01 > 0:25:03Well, I'll tell you this, if it's in two years' time,

0:25:03 > 0:25:07I might still be about then and, if it is, I'll be going on it.

0:25:07 > 0:25:09I'm not going to look further than the two years.

0:25:09 > 0:25:12But I'll tell you one thing - if we do go on it,

0:25:12 > 0:25:16wherever we go, there'll not be three better-dressed or turned-out boys

0:25:16 > 0:25:20- than we are ourselves.- No, we do well in this part of the country! - We've done very well today!

0:25:24 > 0:25:27Earlier on in the programme, we heard from Wilson Burgess

0:25:27 > 0:25:29with his poem, The Oul Sodjer.

0:25:29 > 0:25:33Well, to finish off with, We're going to have a nice song from Bearnagh

0:25:33 > 0:25:37and it's a tribute to one of the youngest soldiers that died in the Great War.

0:25:37 > 0:25:40His name was John Condon. Cheerio.

0:25:40 > 0:25:47# Just a day, another day

0:25:47 > 0:25:56# Beneath the Belgian sun

0:25:56 > 0:26:00# Past grave on grave

0:26:00 > 0:26:04# Row on row

0:26:04 > 0:26:09# Until I see the name

0:26:09 > 0:26:14# John Condon

0:26:14 > 0:26:18# Carved in stone

0:26:18 > 0:26:23# With harp and crown

0:26:23 > 0:26:30# Little crosses in the ground

0:26:30 > 0:26:34# And standing there

0:26:34 > 0:26:38# My silent prayer

0:26:38 > 0:26:41# Is for a boy

0:26:41 > 0:26:47# Who died a soldier

0:26:49 > 0:26:52# A wee lad

0:26:52 > 0:26:56# Who'll not grow old

0:26:58 > 0:27:04# Heroes that don't come home

0:27:04 > 0:27:12# Here they lie in Belgian fields

0:27:13 > 0:27:20# And Picardy

0:27:20 > 0:27:24# Now, tell me, John

0:27:24 > 0:27:28# Before I go on

0:27:29 > 0:27:36# What did you come here for?

0:27:36 > 0:27:41# With violence bold

0:27:41 > 0:27:44# Your life untold

0:27:44 > 0:27:47# 14 years old

0:27:47 > 0:27:55# To die a soldier

0:27:55 > 0:27:59# And all around

0:27:59 > 0:28:03# The harp and crown

0:28:03 > 0:28:10# The crosses in the ground

0:28:10 > 0:28:16# What cause was served?

0:28:18 > 0:28:26# Heroes that don't come home

0:28:28 > 0:28:35# Sing out for all their souls

0:28:35 > 0:28:38# Here they lie

0:28:38 > 0:28:43# In Belgian fields

0:28:43 > 0:28:51# And Picardy. #

0:28:54 > 0:28:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:28:56 > 0:28:59E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk