Pennies from Heaven An Island Parish

It's not been a great start to summer

on the remote island of Barra,

the most southerly inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides,

way out in the Atlantic Ocean, off the wild northwest coast of Scotland.

Even the Roman Catholic parish priest,

Father John Paul MacKinnon, has been largely confined to barracks.

It's just been a bit continuous just now.

You do usually get two days bad and then get a little break for a day.

But we just seem to be getting days and days and days,

and it's just not getting any better.

We depend on good weather, we want people to come,

see the beautiful island, come and visit, stay,

bed and breakfast, hotels, and just be part of the island

way of life here, and being able to give to the businesses, and,

if people see that there are big rain clouds, and big low pressures

hanging over the island, then people aren't going to go near.

Nearly everyone is affected by the rain here.

Hard hit are the island's crofters, like Angus John Morrison.

Some amount of rain that's down today! It's, oh, terrible.

Och, terrible weather. It's so cold, it's...

the weather we're getting just now is like

weather you'd get at the end of March, beginning of April,

you know, it's so cold, and it affects everything.

He recently opened up a new campsite on his land

on the northern tip of Barra to help supplement his income.

But it's not exactly got off to an auspicious start.

Now the cold and lack of sunshine,

combined with the heavily waterlogged soil, are threatening his main livelihood,

and the future well-being of his cattle.

Well, look at this field here.

Last year, I had 35 bales of silage out of it.

Well, the way it's going, if the weather carries on the way,

the same way in which it's been,

I reckon I'll be lucky to halve that this year.

I'll be lucky to get 20 bales.

I won't even get 20 bales out of it this year.

-And this is what you rely on to feed the cattle?

-Yes.

See this field here,

it's six to nine inches back on this time last year.

Six to nine inches shorter?

Shorter than last year, than this time last year.

And you've only got another six weeks to go before you start cutting.

The other fields I've got are even poorer than this.

This is one of the best ones I've got.

I'll have to buy hay in, to counteract for that.

Or either that,

you're going to have to get rid of some of your cattle.

-So...

-Is that what you're going to have to do?

-Well,

that's the situation you're in.

It's worrying for me now, I'm starting to worry about it,

because I've got a lot of cattle, and I'm starting to worry about it.

If it's going to carry on, it's going to be a total disaster.

Down the road, another islander utterly dependent

on the weather, is ex-maths school teacher, Sheila McIntosh.

You've always got to check that the front is tight,

or it comes out all over the floor. SHE LAUGHS

She's poured her lifetime savings into an unusual enterprise,

which she hopes will soon pay dividends,

because Sheila is Barra's only ice cream maker.

There's a fair amount of strawberry sold, in the tubs,

but it's the mint choc chip's the main favourite.

And they're going to enjoy it whatever the weather.

But it does make a difference to the amount you sell, obviously.

A friend in Stornoway said, "Ooh, I think it'd be a good idea having an ice cream van."

She was talking about Stornoway and I thought, it'd be a good idea for Barra.

So I started making ice cream!

And it's nice to do something for the local kids too,

that's appreciated, that nobody else is doing.

You, basically, when you're on an island, you do what's wanted and where there's an opening.

I mean, I'm not a good businesswoman, I know that,

but, we manage to survive and that's the thing that was important.

Is it a struggle to make money, to make a living here?

Well, I wouldn't say I had made a fortune.

Where do you get your energy from? You're well...

I don't want to be indelicate, but you are beyond retirement age, aren't you?

That's a secret. Folk say that to me.

I don't know.

Sheila's equipment is probably worth £20,000.

And she's just had to find a further £2,000 to get it

up and running for the new season.

Her future on the island depends on her earning enough

in the few months of summer to keep her going for the rest of the year,

so she's desperate for better weather.

Nearly 100 miles away from Barra,

across on the mainland of south-west Scotland,

and this is the Victorian seaside town of Dunoon,

on the Firth of Clyde.

For decades, a favourite resort for holiday-makers from Glasgow,

parts of the town have seen better days.

In recent years,

a number of local post offices have been forced to close.

One of the town's former postmasters is David Connor,

and he's just embarking on a radical change of career.

David's decided to become a Roman Catholic priest.

Well, probably what led to it was after my mother and father died.

They died within a short space of time,

about two years, and that was quite a tough time for me.

After that, you know, I seemed to be drawn more

to the Church and to God.

I was always very involved in the Church.

I played the organ and I sang and different other things

but I never really thought of being a priest, no.

What's unusual about David is that he's the only man to become a priest

in the large Catholic diocese of Argyll and the Isles

in nearly seven years, and his ordination will be

such a cause for celebration that every Catholic priest in the diocese

is hoping to attend, even those in the most far-flung parishes.

We haven't had a priest ordained for the last six years,

and it's something that you'd wish and pray that every year

a priest was being ordained, a man was entering into the full priesthood,

and that all our parishes and everything would be nice and rosy that way.

And it's just showing to us that, yeah,

there's not many vocations, many men thinking about the priesthood.

And that's why we're all gathering together,

and uniting together, because it's been so long waiting for.

Father John Paul's friend and colleague in the next door parish,

across the water on South Uist, Father Calum MacLellan,

will also be at the big ordination service.

In fact, this rare event has set Father Calum in mind

of the day he became a priest, nearly 60 years ago.

Well, this one here is the day I was ordained.

1953.

I was 27.

In this photograph here, there's my father and my three sisters

and a first cousin, and my brother.

I'm told that that is me at a very early age, with my aunt.

My sister...my mother's sister.

Father Calum made his decision to become a priest

after his years of National Service at the end of the war.

This is me, I think I'd passed some part of my army training

by this time, and I think, I was awarded

this lanyard thing.

You look very handsome!

Well, very nice of you to say so!

It's a big, big step.

It's... People will say it's almost an unnatural step.

Because you knew you couldn't get married and have children

of your own, and that is, you know, quite a big thing to contemplate.

Looking back now, do you regret not having a child of your own?

No.

-Absolutely not?

-No, because I think

it's one of the most difficult jobs in life,

is to bring up children.

And the longer I live,

the more difficult it would seem to come, to become.

And I thank God that, not necessarily from a selfish

point of view, I don't know whether I'd be able to cope

and be patient enough with the way children seem to turn out.

Father Calum is looking forward very much to the new priest's

imminent ordination on the mainland.

The service is based on rituals dating back centuries,

and all the visiting clergy will be expected to participate.

As the days go by, the terrible weather shows no signs of abating.

If anything, conditions seem to be getting worse.

Crofter Angus John is now fearing for the long-term health

of his herd.

I'm going away up here to have a wee look at a couple of,

a few bullocks I've got here.

And just to see how they're coming on, how they're getting on, you know.

They're lying down there, there's some of the cows there

but they're suffering and all, them cows.

But there's the bullocks there, but they're lying down there,

they're not thriving the way they should be, you know, they're not putting the beef on.

They're not thriving?

No, they're in good grazing but it's cold, you know, it's been

so cold and they're not coming on the way I would like to see them come on.

I mean, at this time of the year you should be able to stand outside

in your T-shirt at 10 o'clock at night.

Well, if you did that...

I'm telling you you'd have pneumonia.

That's the truth, you would have pneumonia.

You're not tempted to chuck it in, Angus John?

No, I'll never.

The day I'll chuck this in is the day they'll bury me,

because I can't.

Because it's in me, and I just...

I couldn't live without having animals around me.

Things at the campsite aren't exactly helping.

This is the access to the beach, you see.

Just a wee sign, it's not...

Just to show them where to go down to the beach off the campsite.

This is not the day to go to the beach, though...

No, certainly not, it's a terrible day today. Terrible altogether.

The survival of Barra as an economically sustainable island

is almost totally dependent on this ship -

the daily ferry from the mainland.

It sets off with its precious cargo of supplies,

returning islanders, and, in summer,

large numbers of holiday-makers, and heads up through the Sound of Mull

towards the open sea on a five-hour trip to Barra and the Western Isles.

On the bridge is the skipper, islander Captain Michael MacNeil.

And in high season, he has to keep his eyes peeled.

The sound can be a very busy place to manoeuvre such a large vessel.

You see this yacht crossing there, Innes?

Yeah, I've got a good visual on him, I'm coming round to starboard.

That's us well clear of him.

Yep, that's good stuff. Happy with that.

You never tire of coming up and down the Sound of Mull.

And going out throughout to all the islands.

They've all got their beauties. And every day is different.

You know, weather conditions, sun conditions, the different times of the year, the snow...

It's a bit of a privilege for you, isn't it?

Yeah, well, I suppose it could be regarded as being a privilege

but we find a lot of the islanders and a lot of the people that

travel regularly just take it as being the norm.

And it's only every now and again you actually sit back

and reflect and you think, actually, it is beautiful.

But, as his ferry arrives to unload its cargo from the mainland

in Barra's main harbour at Castlebay, the Captain's thoughts

are very much on an event taking place in the days to come.

For months, the Captain and his friends have been working hard

to resurrect Barra's traditional fishing competition, even though

he knows this means putting his head well above the parapet.

We spoke about having a fun day and making it a competition as well.

And then, once the word started spreading around we then found out

that there used to be one, there was one out of Castlebay.

But it was before my time, a few years ago now.

Are you a bit anxious about it at all?

What are you feeling about it?

Ah, a little bit anxious about it.

Apparently in the old competition there was just one, there was a winner.

Whereas now we've got eight categories.

Two of which are wooden spoons, so I'm hoping I don't get one of them.

In previous generations, the annual fishing competition was

one of the island's biggest events of the year.

And this revival has reignited those traditional rivalries

where the men's seafaring skills,

experience and ingenuity will really be put to the test.

Nothing would delight the local fishermen more than getting

one over on the Captain himself.

The last couple of days now, everyone's started bragging, saying

they're going to get the biggest and so, it's very competitive.

This competition is fierce.

We're not coming back in for any reason,

except for the fact that we've got the biggest fish.

The decision to make it a strictly line-fishing competition,

rather than using nets, will make it easier to assess their real skills.

There's a ball here which the fish are attracted to.

You've also got the feather and the big killer hook itself.

That's the one that will catch the beauty. Hopefully that'll be big enough to win the competition.

Fishing with a hook is the oldest type of fishing going,

and it's still the most rewarding.

When you get that tug on your line and hook

there's not a feeling like it in the world.

Winning would be nice.

A day or two later,

and, after weeks of almost unrelenting rain and gales,

the weather, finally, seems to take a turn for the better.

Today, Sheila the ice cream lady is off to try her luck amongst

the spectators who are due to be coming out to watch

the annual hill race in Castlebay.

Thanks to the sudden sunshine,

it looks like there could be a good turnout.

Ready, steady, go!

CHEERING

Can I get a plain vanilla one and a double vanilla one?

A double vanilla? A twin one?

Yeah, and one just normal.

What kind of a day are you having here today?

Oh, it's busy.

It's a lovely day to have the locals out,

and there seem to be more in for the race this year.

Now this is the kind of weather you like?

Oh, of course.

It really makes about a 50% difference

to your taking, you've 50% more than you would otherwise.

-That's quite big, isn't it? 50%.

-Yes.

But you take the good with the bad.

-What's the forecast?

-I don't know. I don't like looking at forecasts.

You get all the seasons in one day in Barra.

What do you get out of doing this?

I just... It's part of being part of the community.

And the thing is, the kids appreciate it,

the mothers appreciate it.

You know, I was a maths teacher but I'm much more

a part of the community with what I do now than I ever would have been if I'd been teaching.

It's a bit hit and miss this business of yours, isn't it?

Yes!

-Don't you mind that?

-No.

Well, this is what you do.

It's the weather, the weather's hit and miss too.

Sheila's made a bit of money here today, at least.

The real test, though, is in the days and months to come.

Across the water, and this is Oban,

the capital of this part of mainland western Scotland

and the home of the Roman Catholic cathedral.

Here, clergy and lay people from every corner of the diocese

are arriving for probably the most important event

in nearly seven years, the ordination of a new priest.

People come by boats, trains, you name it.

They've all made it here to Oban, and we're just so blessed

that the weather's on our side

and it's going to be a wonderful occasion.

From all the corners of the diocese we'll unite in Oban tonight.

These don't come every month, don't come every year!

A man who's going to give his life to God and to the Church,

that's not somebody's doing every day.

It's not making the headlines all over the world, but for us,

it's the best news we've heard in a long time.

A man giving himself to God, serving the Church

and I'm here to support him.

Every prayer, give him a big hug and wish him all the very best

because, yeah, we need more priests.

MURMUR OF CONVERSATION

BELL CHIMES

This is the culmination of centuries of Roman Catholic tradition.

Steeped in ancient symbolism and ritual.

In charge of the proceedings is the Bishop for Argyll and the Isles,

Joseph Toal.

My dear people, let us pray

that the all powerful Father may pour out the gifts of Heaven

on this servant of his whom he has chosen to be a priest.

For Catholics, ritual is just second nature, especially in worship.

It focuses your thoughts and your mind.

You spend six or seven years preparing for that day,

and getting used to the fact that, well,

eventually, you just cannot live like a layman any more.

Pour out upon this servant of yours

the blessing of the Holy Spirit, the grace...

You are down there on the floor because you want to be burying

yourself in such a way that you're coming up again as a new person.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Let us stand.

And after that,

the anointing of hands and all that sort of thing takes place.

You put your hands on the ordinant's head.

All the priests present will do that, as well.

May he be faithful to the ministry that he receives from you,

Lord God,

and be to others a model of right conduct.

Accept, from the holy people of God, the gifts to be offered to him.

APPLAUSE

INAUDIBLE

This is you being embraced.

You're now a part of the priesthood of the Church.

Not just the priesthood of the diocese of Argyll and the Isles,

but the whole wide, universal Church.

Back on Barra, and it's the day of Captain MacNeil's long-planned

fishing competition for the local men.

And, amazingly, the rain still seems to be holding off.

It's clear. Got a blue sky out there so my wife and my daughter

I'm pretty sure will be glad to see the back of today

because they're sick of hearing me talking about it.

So, are you going to land the big one?

Of course. Yeah, there's no competition!

HOOTER BLARES

Nearly every fisherman on Barra is here today.

In a community where fishing still means everything,

it's not only a rare chance to let their hair down, it could mean

a place in the annuls of island history for the overall winners.

There's one there! First fish of the day!

There are categories for the biggest fish, the largest haul,

the most unusual catch.

And for the man chosen to give out the prizes,

Father John Paul seems to be entering into the spirit of the occasion.

Today was all about having fun, enjoying it,

the camaraderie and winding each other up,

who's got the biggest fish, the most fish.

That's what's been lovely, hearing the fishermen say they've had fun and enjoyed it

because sometimes in life we can forget to have fun, and today's all about having that.

Well, fun, but they've spent months raising

a lot of money for some pretty impressive-looking awards.

Losing face in such a close-knit place is something they'll

never let you forget.

Today's been a great day for fishermen and for their families

and friends, just for everyone to come together and to have

a competition today where there's nothing serious about today.

So I've been told, anyway!

Well, now we have awards up there and I'm sure a few of you

will be dreading because there's a wooden spoon up there.

And, I don't envy the poor person who's going to get that.

Round of applause, come on!

CHEERING

There we are, well done.

APPLAUSE

Oh, go on!

From his next-door parish, Father Calum is pleased to see

the young priest now playing such a big role in island life.

You're ordained, not for yourself,

you're ordained to give a service to the people.

APPLAUSE

There are so many different ways of being a spiritual leader

in a parish.

The great thing about being a part of the community as a priest

is that you are near the people.

You understand their needs.

So it is the wooden spoon.

There's big letters on it - LOSER.

Lo... Loser!

Just engraved specially for...

Mary C.

So, does anybody know who's on the Mary C?

LAUGHTER

Well!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well done you, Captain.

Wave it now, show everyone now!

Have you ever regretted being ordained?

I've had some very lonely moments.

I've had occasionally difficult times personally in my own life,

and, uh... but I've never regretted it.

It's been a fantastic life.

In the days to come, as the biggest crowd-puller

of the year on Barra draws near, Fisherman's Mass,

it's not looking too good for Sheila, the ice cream lady.

I got up this morning and it was really awful.

It's cold as well as damp. Are you ever tempted not to bother?

No!

No, I have gone out with ice cream in absolutely horrendous conditions

because it's their day out.

-So you're going to go down there, come what may?

-Yes!

And Father John Paul has fears about the long-term future of

his parish as he sees for the first time

a now-deserted, neighbouring island.

It fills you with sadness that you see these buildings that

people lived in, and making that huge,

huge sacrifice of leaving a church,

a school, the buildings.

They had a lovely community.

Let's hope and pray that we don't have to go through this here

on any of the islands again.