Synopsis
Set in the late 1790s on the mainland in Scotland, 'Waulking in the Glen' invites you to spend fifty minutes with ten lassies and ladies as they 'waulk' their cloth; all the while sharing their loves and losses, their dreams and passions, their hardships and joys.
The lassies and ladies meet on a regular basis to waulk: the final stage in the process of making tartan cloth. The process commences with the sheering of sheep, followed by the spinning of the sheep’s wool, the weaving of the spun wool, and then the waulking of the woven cloth. Waulking causes the woven cloth to thicken and soften. This final process in the creation of cloth is tedious, back-breaking work which can take up to a full day at a time. Therefore, the lassies and ladies sing ‘call and response’ waulking songs as they work. In this village the lassies and ladies meet in the local kirk, built by the laird of the castle for the villagers. The tartan not only clothes the villagers but also serves as a cottage industry, bringing in a small but extremely necessary income for the women.
The native tongue is Scots, with a few newcomers from the Western Isles speaking The Gaelic. Ladies with a husband wear a white scarf, instead of a wedding ring, in order to show their marital status. Music, poetry, story-telling and dance are central to their lives and the documentation of their people’s history, as witnessed in their ceilidhs. It is a sea-faring village as well as a farming village on the west coast. All of the farmers are tenants of the laird of the castle and therefore work his land while some of the women-folk work in the castle. Village men have been lost at sea both on fishing vessels and merchant ships. Some village men have had to leave the village in order to find work. Others are in hiding due to their refusal to pay taxes to, or their outlawed activity against, the landed gentry.
The lassies and ladies meet on a regular basis to waulk: the final stage in the process of making tartan cloth. The process commences with the sheering of sheep, followed by the spinning of the sheep’s wool, the weaving of the spun wool, and then the waulking of the woven cloth. Waulking causes the woven cloth to thicken and soften. This final process in the creation of cloth is tedious, back-breaking work which can take up to a full day at a time. Therefore, the lassies and ladies sing ‘call and response’ waulking songs as they work. In this village the lassies and ladies meet in the local kirk, built by the laird of the castle for the villagers. The tartan not only clothes the villagers but also serves as a cottage industry, bringing in a small but extremely necessary income for the women.
The native tongue is Scots, with a few newcomers from the Western Isles speaking The Gaelic. Ladies with a husband wear a white scarf, instead of a wedding ring, in order to show their marital status. Music, poetry, story-telling and dance are central to their lives and the documentation of their people’s history, as witnessed in their ceilidhs. It is a sea-faring village as well as a farming village on the west coast. All of the farmers are tenants of the laird of the castle and therefore work his land while some of the women-folk work in the castle. Village men have been lost at sea both on fishing vessels and merchant ships. Some village men have had to leave the village in order to find work. Others are in hiding due to their refusal to pay taxes to, or their outlawed activity against, the landed gentry.