The audience, including many of his family and friends, was treated to over two hours of fascinating history and hilarious anecdotes and his listeners were so thrilled and thoroughly entertained that George could easily have gone on for double the time.

The whole talk was recorded for the society’s archives and extracts may be available shortly for members and interested parties in far flung corners of the world on the society’s new website www.

clyneheritage.com, created by Chris Ferne of Pelorus in Dornoch.

Chairman, Nick Lindsay, welcomed the largest turnout which the society had ever witnessed for a talk, and this also answered George’s prior concerns about anyone actually turning up!

The format of the talk was also unusual – it took the form of George being “interviewed” by the chairman, who had put together a PowerPoint presentation of photographs and text, which acted as prompts for George’s many stories and as visual entertainment for the audience.

The chairman began with a short history of the Doll, tracing the name back to a possible Pictish origin before the first historical references began to appear in the early 16th century. Indeed, the Doll was the most populous settlement in the parish prior to the Clearances of the early 1800s, as there were more families (14) recorded there in the Hearth Tax records of 1694 than anywhere else in Clyne.

The Doll population was further boosted during the Clearances when 63 families who had been cleared from various parts of Clyne and neighbouring parishes were allocated lots there in 1820. It was at this time that George’s forebears first set foot in the Doll, when James MacBeath and his family arrived from the cleared township of Reisk in Kildonan parish.

This brought the attention to George’s immediate family – his paternal grandfather Neil, a Doll blacksmith, married Dolina Ross who was born in Dornoch; and Donald Duff, his maternal grandfather, who was grieve at Navidale and Gordonbush, married Barbara Williamson of Golspie. George’s father Donald (Donlie) was born in 1899 and his mother Barbara (Barrie) in 1900 at Navidale, shortly before the Duff family moved to Gordonbush.

George had a medal which had been awarded to his father for having won the most points at the Gordonbush Sports of 1921. Researching the event in the archives of the Northern Times and presenting the information to a surprised George, Nick Lindsay had discovered that the event was the third Gordonbush Peace Day Sports Celebrations following the end of the First World War. Donlie had come third in the 400 yards race, second in the obstacle race, second in the three-legged race (with Donald Duff, his future brother-in-law), second in the long jump, first in the thread-the-needle race (with Mary MacKay), first in putting the shot, first in the high jump and first in the pillow fight!

It had also transpired from research in the Northern Times of the previous year that Donlie had been awarded the special prize for best all-round athlete at the second Gordonbush Peace Day Sports Celebrations, with a similar list of achievements. Incidentally, and to the delight of the older members of the audience, the report mentions that present day Doll nonagenarian, Miss Joey Ross, had also been placed in events in both of these sports celebrations.

Barrie, meanwhile, had shone academically and was awarded the dux medal in 1914 at Gordonbush School at Ascoile (now the Scout hut). This was not the first time the Duff family had seen a dux medal; elder brother Walter, who sadly was killed in action in 1918, had received his medal exactly a decade before. The chairman then surprised George further with the fruits of more research from the Raggie of 1919, as Barrie had been second in the grown-up girls’ race and her team had won the tug-of-war in the first Gordonbush Peace Day Sports Celebrations.

George recounted that Donlie had courted Barrie, but had suddenly emigrated to New Zealand on the break-off of their engagement in 1923. He then showed the enthralled audience the letter which Donlie had sent home explaining where he was, fully two years after his departure. He returned home in 1929 and won back his sweetheart after an old-fashioned fisticuffs challenge to her new suitor and they rode off to Dornoch on Donlie’s motorcycle to get married, with the help of two passers-by from the street as witnesses.

The young couple settled in the Doll and had five children between 1932 and 1936: Gordon, George, Barina, Neil and Wattie, all of whom still live in the area. The family moved from Ramscaig to Auld House, where George lives today.

A consummate raconteur, George began to regale the audience with his tales of family life, including a hilarious story of finding an alternative use for his father’s fine silk shirts brought back from New Zealand — as flags for children’s camps down on the shore, with the expected tearful consequences when Donlie discovered this act of sartorial sacrilege!

The MacBeath family, taken some time during the Second World War. Left to right (back row) Gordon, Barrie, and George; (front row) Barina, Wattie and Neil.

George attended the Doll School and recalled how he had to walk past a house, now known as Gair Cottage, occupied at the time by a lady called Katie Gair. She would be at the gate most mornings to give the children a lump of sugar on their way to school, and brother Neil would not go past her gate without getting his treat – even if he had to wait for Katie to appear, should she be late.

George never did any homework, as he hid his school bag under a broom bush beside Gair Cottage each evening on his way home and picked it up in the morning. He knew well that his real homework would be waiting for him on the croft!

When his time came to attend the junior secondary school in Victoria Road, Brora, the mode of transport was still on foot. Many a time during the severe winters of those days they would be blasted by the elements as they walked towards the village and, during snow storms, the Doll children would have to walk in the fields and across the dykes as the road at the Clashaig would be filled in with drifts. By the time they reached school the “piece” in their pockets would be soggy and the children would spend time in front of the open fire at school, first drying off their fronts and then turning round to let the steam rise from their backs.

By the time George had reached the school leaving age of 14 the children were transported to Brora on the service bus, for which they had been issued with special school bus passes. His last day, he recalled, was a Friday and the following Monday the school leaving age was to rise to 16. With the thrill of leaving school, George forgot to take his bus pass home with him. But frightened that the school might keep him for another two years, he sent his sister Barina to retrieve his pass the following Monday!

George began full-time work that Monday morning with Sutherland Estates and spent 29 years planting and cutting trees and working in Dunrobin Castle gardens.

In 1977 he changed direction and became the janitor at Brora School, which enabled him to spend more time with his beloved wife Dora who was suffering illness. He spent a very enjoyable 21 years there before reluctantly he had to retire. On the day of his retirement he was presented with a huge array of cards and scrapbooks by the pupils and teachers that he treasures fondly to this day. He has kept in touch with the school, still teaches ceilidh dancing to the children, and also helps to organise their annual bonfire night display— with which he’d been busy only the week before.

In retirement George went back to his real love — working the croft. Over the years, he recalled, there was scarcely a croft in the Doll on which he hadn’t worked, planting, cutting or ploughing. He also recalled attending the last ploughing match at Inverbrora Farm in the 1940s.

Nick Lindsay then showed a slide on screen of some of the 38 special prizes which were awarded on that occasion. These included: oldest ploughman, youngest ploughman, ploughman coming the farthest, married ploughman coming the farthest, ploughman with the largest family under 14 years, tallest single ploughman, thinnest ploughman, last married ploughman, neatest dressed ploughman, ploughman with most boys in family, ploughman with most girls in family, ploughman with youngest child and, finally, best looking ploughman!

Over the years George and his family have been deeply involved in social activities in the parish, including community drama, the Brora Entertainers, the Doll Hall and Scottish Country Dancing. Several slides of George in different guises were shown, much to his embarrassment and the audience’s delight!

George rounded off this highly entertaining evening with some amusing stories about Doll life and its characters, including one concerning the late Johnnie Gunn of Tigh na Rosa. Johnnie had been a policeman in Glasgow and was telling George the tale of how he found a dead horse one day, while on duty in Sauchiehall Street.

Johnnie had to make a written report about the incident, but the problem was he couldn’t spell Sauchiehall Street. “What did you do?” asked George. “Och,” came the reply, “I just dragged it into Argyle Street!”

The evening of history, stories, folklore and fun had almost passed and had been firmly etched into the memory of the audience before the final, emotional slide. This featured George’s late mother, Barrie, who passed away in 1997, and the message she left to her children in her will, which read: “Don’t mourn my passing. We all had such a happy family life.” There was not a dry eye in the house. But it was a fitting tribute to the MacBeath family, to the characters of the Doll and to George’s amazingly rich life, by no means over yet. As he said himself: “We had nothing, but we had everything.” NL

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