Eppie Thain and her shebeen.

Original Track ID

SA1953.189.1; SA1953.189.2

Original Tape ID

SA1953.189

Summary

Eppie Thain and her shebeen.

James Taylor's earliest memory of Eppie Thain is about 1879. He remembers the stormy winter of 1880. He kicked snow from the castings [peats cast onto a bank to dry] down onto her head. She called him a Red Taylor - his father was red-haired, although he wasn’t - and she chased him out of the house with a stick. She lived to 99. She had a croft and shebeen called Duffdefiance (because they defied the gaugers [excisemen]). Illicit whisky was brewed [distilled] in bothies [huts] up the glen. They hailed down shot on the gaugers. Eppie Thain set down bread and cheese when a stranger came in seeking a dram: it was supposedly the bread and cheese she charged for. There were only glass stowps [flagons] in gill and half gill measures, no nips. People came from Banffshire for John’s Fair and stopped at Duff’s Defiance. Eppie Thain died about 1881. She was a Gaelic speaker.

Item Notes

Eppie is a reduced form of Elspeth, itself a Scots form of
Elizabeth. John's Fair was held in Strathdon around St John's Day
(24 June).

Item Subject/Person

Thain, Eppie

Recording Location

Item Location

Language

Scots

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Fair