Oral History

Billy Kay and Oral History

For a quarter of a century Billy Kay has collected oral history, which has been edited into more than two hundred radio documentaries and published in his Odyssey books and elsewhere. His work in this field acted as a catalyst for interest in the whole area of Scottish oral history, particularly working class oral history.

Odyssey: Voices From Scotland´s Recent Past (ed.) Polygon Books 1980.

Odyssey: The Second Collection (ed.) Polygon Books 1982

The Complete Odyssey (ed.) Polygon Books 1996

"[Oral history] allows you to explore history from the undergrowth, if you like, whereas until recently the history of the mass of the population didn´t really find its way into official archival material. The other advantage, I have found, particularly with the use I made of it in The Scottish Nation, is that it provides a degree of vital human insight. After all, history is not just about economies and governments, it´s about human beings, and Billy Kay should be congratulated because, almost single–handedly, he has developed interest in this in Scotland and scholars owe him a due"

Professor Tom Devine of the University of Edinburgh on his use of oral history as a source, from an interview by Jim Gilchrist, The Scotsman October 29, 2001.

Critical response to the Odyssey series and books:

"It is an incredibly ambitious project that harks back to the great days of radio features....The Donegal and Kintyre programmes are radio classics…

Extraordinary aspects of the history of the past century are being reclaimed from ordinary people… The attraction of these programmes is their authenticity. This, and there is no doubt about it, is how it was. That they happen to be beautifully produced is a bonus"

Kathleen Rantell The Herald

Kay uses sound with a quite magical subtlety… This is an unforgettable programme. Each time I listen to it I am struck by the things in life we take too readily for granted, without reflecting on the diligence… our ancestors displayed in making Western society a tolerable place to live… In Scotland today the past is often advanced as a much better place to live in that the present. It was not. Billy Kay has demonstrated this conclusively, but in doing so, he has enhanced the dignity of our forebears.

Ian Mowatt on ´Poets and Pioneers´ in The Sunday Standard

The best book of the year is just out, the written version of BBC Scotlands memorable radio series Odyssey. It is a wonderful compilation of photographs, songs and oral history.

T.C. Smout The Scotsman

In producing ODYSSEY, book and programme, Mr Kay has pronounced on the power and passion of man´s evidence and has found him triumphantly innocent of killing off the past. It´s a verdict that all historians would do well to ponder on.

Trevor Royle The Bookmark

The distinction of the series and the book however… is in its vision. Every event is seen from the inside. It is social history from the lips of those who made that history, and for this reason alone, despite the absence of the element of sound – the very being of radio, the words come off the page of the book breathing, alive. Book and programmes witness to the producer´s appreciation of the importance of the cause which he serves, and the threat to an individual response to life by the requirement to a centralised uniformity… ODYSSEY has contributed, and contributes, to the recognition of our larger and deeper selves.

George Bruce The Scottish Review

LIST OF ODYSSEY PROGRAMMES

The ground breaking Odyssey Series was produced for Radio Scotland and Radio 4 in the early 1980´s. The following is a list of the programmes broadcast in the series.

Series 1. 1980

From the Gorbals to Gweedore – the story of the Glasgow Irish

Fergusson´s Auld Reikie – the poetry of Robert Fergusson and the traditional music of 18th century Edinburgh

Gallant Sportsmen All – contrasting attitudes toward fox hunting in the Borders

Fishermen of Kintyre – the history of ring–net fishing

Five Denials on Merlin´s Grave – Robin Williamson´s celebration of ancient Welsh culture in Scotland

The Lanarkshire Lithuanians – the history of the Scottish – Lithuanian community in Scotland

Fife´s Got Everything – a humorous look at the Kingdom by John Watt

Mountain Men – the first working class mountaineers

A Weel Plou´d Rig – the working horses on the farms of the North East

St. Kilda – the life and death of St Kilda through the islanders reminiscencies audio

Series II 1981

Da Merry Boys – Shetlanders at the whaling

The Seven Men of Knoydart – the last Highland land raid

Neil Gow – a portrait of the great 18th c composer and fiddler

Glengarnock Steel – the story of the steel industry in North Ayrshire

Will Ye Gang wi me Lassie – wedding traditions throughout Scotland

Poets and Pioneers – Tiree emigrants in Canada

They Fairly Mak Ye Work – Dundee and the jute industry

The Pearl Fishers – pearl fishing in the Tay

The Clydebank Blitz – the German bombing of 1941

Off the Isle of May – the fishing traditions of the Forth explored by Archie Fisher

Italiani in Scozzia – the story of Scots Italians

On the Road – a tour of Switzerland with the folk band Ossian

Series III 1982

Gallipoli – the victims of Churchhill´s campaign recall the carnage audio

Mungo Mackay & the Green Table – the dictatorship in the Lothian Coal Company

Clan Neil of Barra – the oral tradition of a clan

Whisky´s Awa – the story of the Temperance movement

Poacher´s Nicht – Border poachers tell their stories and hide their identities

Glasgow Jewry – the story of the community

The Fisher Lassies – fisher queans away from home at the herring gutting

The ´26 – the miners lockout in Fife

The Bothy Lads – the days of the farm bothies in Angus

Up the Valley – Ayrshire´s lace weaving industry

Series IV 1984

The Booth Boxers – fairground boxers tell their story

Patagonia – Caithness migration to South America

The Clyde Rent War – the Clydebank rent strike of the 1920´s

Conchies – conscientious objectors in World War 1

Quariies and Crofts – the flagstone industry in Caithness

The transcripts of much of the oral history collected for the programmes are included in the book The Complete Odyssey

CLICK TO HEAR AN EXTRACT FROM THE ODYSSEY PROGRAMME ST KILDA.

Copies of The Complete Odyssey are still available – contact Billy at billy@billykay.co.uk.