Entertainment Dibhearsan

[Anna] Cha robh sin ann nuair a bha thusa beag, Iona.

[Iona] Cha robh.

[Anna] Dèan dealbh dhomh air an seòrsa saoghail a bh’ agad. Fhuair thu do thogail ann an Tiriodh?

[Iona]Dè seòrsa saoghail a bha agamsa? Uill, thogadh mise ann an Eilean Thiriodh agus eilean gu math beag agus thogadh mi …

[Anna] Agus gu math brèagha…

[Iona] Agus gu math brèagha, tha sibh glè cheart an sin. Agus thogadh mi air croit cuideachd, coltach ri Sarah, còmhla ri mo mhàthair is m’ athair agus mo bhràthair cuideachd. Agus ’s e caran an aon sheòrsa rud a bha againne. Às dèidh na sgoile, ’s e a bhith a-staigh còmhla ri mam anns a’ chidsin, no a bhith a-mach còmhla ri dad nuair a bha esan air tilleadh bhon obair aigesan agus a-mach aig uain agus a’ toirt biadh do laoigh is rudan mar sin.

[Anna] Nise, uain, tha caoraich spaideil agaibhse. Inns dhomh mu dheidhinn.

[Iona] Tha feadhainn car sònraichte aig mo mhàthair. Bha co-làbreith sònraichte aice bho chionn bliadhna no dhà agus bha i daonnan a’ sìor-fhaicinn nan caorach a tha seo nuair a bha sinn air falbh aig Highland Show is mar sin air adhart, Rylands an t-ainm a tha orra agus tha iad caran annasach. Tha dosan orra agus tha casan beaga goirid orra agus bha i sìor ag ràdh gum biodh feadhainn mar seo a’ còrdadh rithe agus airson surprise rinn sin surprise dhi airson a co-là breith agus fhuair sinn caora agus dà uan.

[Anna] Cha do chuir sibh pàipear air na caoraich, an do chuir?

[Iona] Cha do chuir! Chuir iad cairt thuice an toiseach ag ràdh gun robh iad a’ tighinn agus an uair sin thàinig iad far a’ bhàt-aiseig feasgar Dimàirt, tha mi a’ smaoineachadh a bh’ ann agus chaidh sinn gan coinneachadh so bha sin uabhasach math.

[Anna] An d’ fhuair i dad sam bith eile?

[Iona] Fhuair i cuideachd rud no dhà eile, coltach ri baga snog agus rudan mar sin, ach ’s e sin a fhuair i airson a co-là breith ach ’s e sin car an saoghal a bh’ againn agus a tha againn fhathast. Bidh mi a’ dèanamh fiughair a bhith a’ dol dhachaigh aig àm na Càisge ’s is beagan cuideachadh a thoirt dha m’ athair leis na h-uain agus rudan mar sin. Tha e a’ còrdadh rium gu mòr.

[Anna] Tha ceangal Gàidhealach fhathast ris a’ chiad leabhar a tha thusa air taghadh dhuinn.

[Iona] Tha. ’S e a’ chiad leabhar a thagh mise ’s e Consider the Lillies le Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn agus ’s e leabhar a bha seo a bh’ agam ri leughadh nuair a bha mi anns an oilthigh. Chaidh mi dhan oilthigh ann an Glaschu agus rinn mi Gàidhlig agus Litreachas na h-Alba agus bha seo air an liosta leughaidh son a’ chiad bhliadhna agam is tha cuimhne a’m a bhith nam shuidhe anns an leabharlann a’ cur tòrr chomharran air mar a chì sibh am broinn an leabhair. Tha e làn notes bheaga agus làn pinn airson m’ aire a chumail air rud no dhà. Leabhar a tha air a shuidheachadh aig àm nam fuadaichean agus tha an caractar, Mrs Scott, caractar ... tha i gu math làidir na beachdan aig toiseach gnothaich agus tha sinn car a’ faicinn mar a tha buaidh a’ tighinn oirre air na tha a’ tachairt na beatha, air na tha a’ tachairt aig Padraig Sellar a tha cuideachd ann agus mar a tha ise, mar a tha na beachdan aice ag atharrachadh bho thoiseach gu deireadh agus ma tha i, tha i gu math daingeann na beachdan agus aig deireadh an leabhair tha sinn a’ faicinn car, tha i air car a chur air na beachdan aice agus tha rudan gu math diofraichte, so sin an leabhar a thagh mise.

Chaidh am prògram seo, Leugh Mi, a chraoladh an toiseach ann an 2015.

[Anna] That wasn’t there when you were young, Iona.

[Iona] No.

[Anna] Paint a picture for me of the sort of world you had. You were brought up in Tiree?

[Iona] What sort of world I had? Well, I was brought up on the Island of Tiree and it’s a very small island and I was brought up…

[Anna] And very pretty…

[Iona] And very pretty, you are quite right there. And I was brought up on a croft too, like Sarah, with my mother and my father and my brother too. And it’s kind of the same thing that we had. After school, it was inside with mum in the kitchen, or out with dad when he had returned from his work and out with the lambs and giving food to calves and things like that.

[Anna] Now, lambs, you’ve got smart sheep. Tell me about them.

[Iona] My mother has quite unique ones. She had a special birthday a year or two ago and she was always seeing these sheep when we were away at the Highland Show and so on. They are called Rylands and they are quite unusual. They have forelocks and wee short legs and she was always saying that she would like some like this and as a surprise, we got her a surprise for her birthday and we got a sheep and two lambs.

[Anna] You didn’t put paper on the sheep, did you?

[Iona] No! They sent her a card first to say that they were coming and then they came off the ferry on Tuesday afternoon, I think it was and we went to meet them.

[Anna] Did she get anything else?

[Iona] She also got one or two other things, like a pretty bag and things like that, but that is what she got for her birthday but that is sort of the world we had and still do have. I look forward to going home at Easter time and giving my dad a bit of help with the lambs and things like that. I really enjoy it.

[Anna] There is a Highland link with the first book that you have chosen for us.

[Iona] Yes. The first book that I chose is Consider the Lillies by Iain Crichton Smith and this is a book that I had to read when I was at university. I went to university in Glasgow and I did Gaelic and Scottish Literature and this was on the reading list for my first year and I remember sitting in the library putting lots of marks on it as you’ll see inside the book. It is full of wee notes and full of pen to keep my attention on one or two things. A book that is set at the time of the clearances and the character, Mrs Scott, a character... she is very strongly opinionated at the start of things and we kind of see how she is impacted from what happens in her life, From what happens to Patrick Sellar who is also in it and how she, how her views change from the start to end and if she, she is very firm in her views and at the end of the book we see how, she has changed her views and things are very different, so that is the book that I chose.

This programme, Leugh Mi, was first broadcast in 2015.