English Documentary: Peatcutting

Short English documentary for language learners about peatcutting in Uist. Part of the Island Voices series: guthan.wordpre...
Video created by Gordon Wells. Released under Creative Commons for use by learners and teachers.

[@rorybone100]

Nothing better than the gentle heat of a peat fire, and omg the smell!

[@tormon506]

We already live in Scotland and venture to these more isolated places to camp. But one day, we want to live there.

[@themcp]

I'd say that the midges will give you a good welcome

[@christinebarbour3679]

Very labour intensive.

[@Avenus112]

This work looks so... satisfying. Why the hell did I choose accounting?

[@emmettlester739]

There's still plenty of time number person

[@Oakleaf700]

There is rhythm and harmony in this old work....hedge laying is similar... my son does green oak timber framing... again, working with timeless materials.. but accounting will be warmer and pay more, possibly? But does it feed the heart? :)

[@martinbyrne6643]

If u had to do it for three weeks in a row from dawn to dusk ‘ u would soon have a pain in your bollox ‘ stick to the accounting

[@jennyjenny3531]

Great video

[@jimosullivan4866]

there's no fear of either man breaking the handle of the spade

[@jayashreepremkumar160]

Looks very interesting and the whole process is as interesting as preparing the Indian Sweet 'MYSORE PAGH'.

[@Kalpatharuvu]

Jayashree Premkumar yes, i too think so.

[@Oakleaf700]

Is that incense?...Just googled, it looks like slices of sweet cake! :) stacked up.

[@Emilthehun]

Dang burning dirt for winters heat! Brilliant. In my country we have some of this really black clay . Now I wonder if that burns as well.

[@nigelconroy4467]

In Ireland we call the peat knife a slaine, in my opinion here in Ireland we have better peat land, we call it the bog, our sods are not that big like bricks, we put up footings of turf

[@cmpe43]

For Peats sake, we use the stuff in our gardens in the states.

[@jessebrown5715]

I'm from Texas and I have a few questions. How long do the slabs burn? Can it get as hot as a wood fire? Do you have to own the land to get the peat? How do you renew the mud and material you take from the moors? Do the peat slabs smell like natural rot or are they pretty neutral? Does the burning leave behind plant resin? Thanks for the video!

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Peat burns through faster than coal, and produces less heat. Crofters are apportioned a share of a peatbank. Renewal is left to nature. Peat smoke has a distinctive smell, and is held to give whisky its smoky flavouring. The burnt ash is quite powdery.

[@jessebrown5715]

Thank you very much for your response. This was informative and interesting. Cheers from Texas!

[@jacobanderson6551]

What is it. Also from Texas.

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat

[@batemon85]

@mnel That is fascinating. But it seriously just looks like clay to me? I read in the Wikipedia article it has more organic material, but how can you tell peat from clay or just plain dirt?

[@adammattox894]

It looks like chocolate cake

[@ColdnCruel444]

it tastes like soil and rotten plants... don't ask.

[@howardlitson9796]

Peat is energy fuel, which is very useful for biofuel briquettes biocoal economy

[@reforgedcriterion1471]

Use the stuff in the garden, it's expensive as hell. Had no idea people used it for the fireplace. What else are ya to do when you don't have trees.

[@user-eo2uk1lq1u]

Daniel Fischer, those burning things at the end of video are dried peats? Am I wrong?

[@Kalpatharuvu]

Daniel Fischer yes, i too think so.

[@martinbyrne6643]

U guys need to come to Ireland to learn how to cut turf’ go and get yourself a bog barrow and wheel them away from the bank and spread them out ‘ not stacking them at the side of the bank on top of one another’ with the barrow u only move them once ‘ the more u move them the more they break up

[@christianalexanderthegreat8941]

Looks delicious 🤤

[@darrellmonks]

Anyone know what a donkey stoolin is or a peat reek?

[@alwaysargyll2268]

Im thinking about all the peats behind you on the ground that never got lifted at all haha

[@themcp]

Spongy new stuff that wouldn't burn

[@42lookc]

So what would a cut of peat weigh from the shovel, and then after it is dried?

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

It's a lot lighter after it's dried. It also shrinks. (There are two points in the film where Archie makes 'rughain', (small stacks). The first, for demonstration purposes, is immediately after the cutting when the peats are still wet. He makes a lot more when he comes back after a couple of weeks to work with the semi-dried peats lying on the ground. You can see the difference in size already.)

[@Oakleaf700]

@@@IslandVoicesVideos They looked much smaller, so much so that I assumed they they were different sized peat blocks. If it rains a lot, how do the small stacks dry out enough for use?

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Exposure to the air. There's plenty of wind too!

[@Oakleaf700]

@@@IslandVoicesVideos Thanks.. and bet the wind cuts up rough in such open an open landscape..no trees to act as windbreakers...Lucky you to live in such a lovely place, though.

[@Mrcolincadorette]

how do you get it out of there??to the house or where ever?

[@martinbyrne6643]

A bonnet of a car ‘ yoked to a donkey or a small ponie or horse and slide it out

[@fraserleask5189]

Get a Shetland man to show you the real way to cut peats.

[@mickbrod1]

where did this take place ? please ,

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Benbecula

[@Teddy_Bass]

So does it replenish over time

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Yes, but slowly. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Sphagnum moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most common components in peat, although many other plants can contribute.

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog_body

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

www.virtualheb.co.uk/peat-cutting-western-isles-history-of-peat/

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Island Voices Videos made the film, one among many others about life and work in the Hebrides: guthan.wordpress.com/about/ We were lucky to get Archie to contribute his commentary. He talks more about the process and the social customs attached in separate videos which you can access here: guthan.wordpress.com/series-two-outdoors/ We - Island Voices Videos - are not the experts, nor even the practitioners. Archie is an active Gaelic teacher. You can probably track him down on Facebook if you wish to quiz him further on this.

[@rogerrogers8834]

English? He’s speaking Gaelic

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGGygoGsiZKfd6s for the Gaelic version

[@gerardoespinoza8969]

So what's a peat?

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat

[@moekakke]

All the amount of work to burn it in an open fire and lose over 50% in heat ??

[@trevvorphilip2515]

It makes a nice bed of coals

[@themcp]

It heats you up about 8 times before you get it into the fire

[@martinbyrne6643]

U can burn it in a solid fuel cooker ‘ and heat radiators and boil a kettle ‘ and bake bread in the oven ‘ make yourself a big fry up on the hob ‘ dry your wet socks and your clothes ‘ sit around it at night with your friends and tell stories ‘ your options are limitless

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

"The next stage will be to bring them all home off the moor. That will need a tractor and trailer" (5.15)

[@martinbyrne6643]

A tractor will not travel on a bog ‘ u need a donkey with to side baskets

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Great to see the sudden surge in interest in this video. Anyone who wants to find out more about the process or listen to Archie talking about the social customs attached to it - in English or Gaelic - should follow this link for more videos: guthan.wordpress.com/2018/06/08/peatcutting-slow-burner-catches-fire/

[@elijahthomas7855]

Is that chocolate cake

[@Oakleaf700]

It does look like slabs of Fudge brownies :)

[@chrisw5150]

So is this sustainable or a one time deal? Are thier fields of dug up ground? Very interested

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Peat formation is a slow process, but the islands are thinly populated. It's been a longstanding practice. There looks to be plenty left!

[@Avenus112]

Read a little about it, sounds like it takes about as long to make peat as oil. It's non-renewable, but there is an unbelievable amount of energy stored in it.

[@TheXnyu]

why did you build a wall out of Peat instead of just laying them around?

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

When you're digging the second layer it's not so easy to spread them around evenly. (You're lower down.) The wall (with holes) is another way of drying them out.

[@TheXnyu]

Island Voices Videos ah okay, thanks for the quick answer

[@intuitknit]

is that sustainable? will it regenerate?

[@mickbrod1]

hi Christy I was born in mayo so as a boy I did the same back breaking job as the two men did in the video when it was ready to go dad would hire a lorry to take it home to our backyard I hated geting the turf in my eye when I left school I worked in a flour mill & thought great work all week no more bog work nobody told me the mill used a lot of turf guess who had to help offload it by hand two sods at a time throwing it to the next boy in line talk about out of the frying into the fire the only strain on my back now is when I turn the gas on .l.o.l.

[@m.a.packer5450]

I can't believe people in the UK actually eat that stuff

[@IslandVoicesVideos]

Lol! :-)

[@joeburrows6]

Ha ha it’s used for fire burning lol.

[@Forademirza]

Turning earth soil in to ash taken away land ground then ya get water in land 🤔🤓🤓🤓🤓

[@rippspeck]

Look up conservation off mass/conservation of energy and you will understand why your statement is wrong. On top of that, our ancestors have been doing this for millennia in Europe.