The notion of the Doric Future Website was in recognition of my late ‘faither’, Jimmy Cantlay, of Ogston farm, Slains and all farming folk like him in the north east of Scotland. Theirs was a way of life, and could survive and thrive fae basically living off the earth.
Their skills, insight and knowledge must never be forgotten. As like any culture which is rooted in a close association with nature and the elements, they were able to survive without the frills and spills of modern day society. They didn’t need a mobile phone to keep them connected, they were connected to the very core of existence!
My ‘faither’ still remains very much part of the land as the land does to him.
I wrote these words in memory.
‘Pictures of landscapes, beautiful scenery, words of wisdom and poetry are very inspiring to me.
The thing that inspires me most is people, ordinary folk and how they live their lives.
This is a character a Buchan man with a well worn face, every groove tells a story!
You can tell by the picture that he has lived life and possibly not just an easy life.
Yet he has weathered the storm and keeps battling.
He is a simple man with simple values.
He gets up early, tends to his animals.
He is focused on what he is doing and takes particular care to look after the land and the nature round him.
He wastes nothing, has a use for everything.
He never complains despite his failing eyesight and the ill-health that sometimes goes with a body that has spent decades manually working the ground.
He is a quiet, wise man who never gives advice yet knows when to speak an important and meaningful word !
He listens, and has learned the secret of being content with his lot.
His secret to surviving this ever-changing world that we live in is to take joy out of the simple things in life.
HE’S SIMPLY MY DAD”
The flag’s still flying high in memory of my dad. It was one of my dad’s ambitions to travel, he was enthralled when he would have listened to stories of pioneers setting off from their hame land to Canada. My dad only made it to Canada once, to see distant relatives.
His commitment to the farm and his animals was such that travelling was not to be.
Every year when the tatties start to come through the ground, we hoist the flag for my ‘faither’and my ‘mither ‘and all who sacrificed so much to bring the lands o’the north east to the fertile places they are today.
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