Between the 1930s and 1980s, folk singer Jock Duncan interviewed around 60 veterans of the First World War, mainly in his native North East of Scotland.
He then spent many years transcribing his interviews in the rich variations of Scots in which they were spoken. The result, published here, is a unique and illuminating collection of first- hand witness testimony to the horror, and humour, of the Great War.
Co-published with the European Ethnological Research Centre
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Notes on Language
Glossary
Introduction by Gary West
JOCK'S JOCKS
1 List of Veterans
2 Pre War: Life before the War
3 Training
4 First time in the Line
5 Mons to the Marne
6 Neuve Chapelle, Festubert and Aubers Ridge
7 Gallipoli, Egypt and Salonica 1915-18
8 Mesopotamia 1916-18
9 Italy 1917-18
10 Battle of Loos
11 Battle of the Somme: High Wood and Beaumont-Hamel
12 Arras: Vimy ridge, Scarpe River and the Hindenburg Line
13 Third Battle of Ypres
14 Battle of Cambrai
15 Great German Push, 21 March 1918 and Onwards
16 Wounded and Sick
17 Horses and Mules
18 Behind the Lines
19 On Leave
20 Medals
21 Vermin
22 In the Line
23 Over the Top
24 Conditions at the Front
25 Entertainment
26 Officers
27 Sixth Sense
28 Prisoners
29 Enemies and Allies
30 Laughs
31 The Bull Ring
32 Supplies
33 Patrols
34 Unusual Events
35 Comrades
36 Armistice and after the War
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Contributors
Index
Other Titles
About the Author :
Jock Duncan was an entertainer and folk singer of traditional north east of Scotland ballads.
Review :
' … The result is a series of stories which enable the reader to imagine hearing the tales being told directly to the author, at first by young men recently returned home, then later, buy those who carried the scars of that conflict for over half a century.' Scottish Archives
' … The result is as gripping and involving as any oral history you will read. Some of it is almost torturously harrowing, but there are many lighter moments as well.' The Living Tradition
'I have been engrossed in this book for some weeks, finding it fascinating from a historical perspective as well as profoundly moving. … Because of what it records and how it represents it, I believe this book is of national importance.' James Robertson in Scottish Review of Books
' … [the vernacular] provides an immediacy that serves to bring the characters to life. … gives an intimate insight into the minds and attitudes of men who were there.' University of Edinburgh Journal
' … Overall the reflections are certainly worth reading: they are, as Gary West observes, strikingly free from bitterness or "politically infused questioning" (p.10), and preserve a staunchly positive self-image of the Highland soldier.' Scottish Historical Studies
