Please read Understanding catalogue records for help interpreting this information and Using footage for more information about accessing this film.

Title: ISLAY

Reference number: 10036

Date: 1957c

Director: filmed by Angus MacIver

Sound: silent

Original format: 16mm

Colour: col

Fiction: non-fiction

Running time: 40.11 mins

Description: A comprehensive record of island life and activities on Islay in the mid-1950s.

List of places depicted in the film:
Port Askaig
Boat Lochiel
Port Ellen (buses)
Port Ellen Bowling Green
Church Port Ellen - bay
Show Day
Kildalton Church - Kildalton Cross
Sports Day Port Ellen
Mull of Oa - top of cliff
Machrie Hotel - Golf course
Airport
Bowmore (Capital)
Bridgend - Show day (First Thursday in August)
Cattle on Beach - Bruichladdich - Cargo boat
Bruichladdich Distillery
Port Charlotte
Portnahaven - Port Wemyss - Portnahaven Hall
West Coast - Kilchoman - Cemetery
Big Strand - beach
Atlantic breakers
Port Askaig - Isle of Jura - Paps of Jura
Ballygrant - Inland Village - Quarry
Gigha

Filmmaker is believed to be the same Angus MacIver who wrote the well known educational text ‘First Aid in English’. He was a teacher at the High School of Glasgow (headteacher?) See also https://www.tes.com/news/little-bit-first-aid-never-goes-amiss [last accessed 18/01/2021] See also ref 10037

Shotlist: Reel 1:
Shots of a ferry in the water and shots taken from the ferry. A man plays the bagpipes on deck of the boat. Shots of the crew steering the ferry. Panning shots of the Islay coastline. Shots of the Lochiel ferry arriving at the port. High shots over the harbour and shots of people coming off the ship. Another boat is shown arriving. Shots of buses parked in the harbour. Shots of the crowds and the buses at Port Ellen. People get off the boat and a car is shown being winched off. Panning shots of the coastline and shots from the Port Ellen Bowling Green with men shown playing bowls. Shots of Ramsay Hall, Port Ellen, the White Hart Hotel, high shots over Port Ellen towards Ramsay Hall. Shots of the Port Ellen War Memorial and a pipe band marching down the street followed by boys who appear to be wearing Boys Brigade uniforms. Next is shown Gala Day floats on horse drawn carriages. Interior and exterior shots of the Kildalton Church and Kildalton Cross. Children and adults are shown throwing hoops on to objects. Shot of a man playing the bagpipes and shots of a crowd gathered in a park and more shots of people playing board games. Shots of Port Ellen Lighthouse. A woman walks toward the camera from the lighthouse. Shots of a boy playing in a boat made out of two halves of a barrel. Panning shots of a graveyards and the landscape. Shots of the American Monument and scenic shots of the cliff side. Shots of a woman admiring the view. Shots of the Machrie Hotel, the Islay Golf Club and shots of people golfing. Shots of a prize giving and a dog and some puppies. Shots from an airfield. People boarding an aeroplane with crew unloading luggage. A postman is shown collecting post from the plane to be put in his van royal mail van.

Reel 2:
Shots of the Bowmore Round Church and Cemetery and Port Ellen harbour. Adults and children are shown doing Scottish country dancing in couples and groups outside a hotel, shots of a river and bridge. Shots of gala day floats on the back of horse drawn carriages. The floats include people on board the Mayflower, what looks like the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie to Skye, the Westering Home, farmers, men in a pub and people at the beach. Children are shown on boat shaped swings, shots of Madame Shaw Gipsy Gifted Palmist’s tent. Panning shots of the fair day stalls including one with women selling cakes. Shots of sheep in pen and cows and horses being parading during and agricultural show. Prizes are shown being awarded. Two women and a man have a picnic next to their car. Shots of cows sitting down on a beach. Shots of the harbour and men working on a ferry and boxes being winched out of the boat’s hold. Shots of houses and men organising and repairing ropes on the deck of the Scabieuse fishing boat. A crowd of boys are shown on the harbour side watching. Shots of Port Charlotte Church. Shots of two men working in the garden. Shots of people on the beach and a man rowing a boat. Shots of children running away from a school. Shots of the landscape and river. Panning shots of the beachside houses. Men are shown mixing concrete using a hand tilted mixing scoop.

Reel 3:
GVs of landscape and shots of coastal houses. Shots of rowing boats on the beach. Shots of what maybe the ruins of Kilchiaran Chapel, scenic shots of landscape over to the sea. Shots of the World War I cemetery at Kilchoman. Closer shots of the head stones and shots of the grave of a captain. Shots of Kilchoman church (this church is now a ruin) and shots of the cemetery. Shots of people cycling, goats in a field, women are shown paddling in the sea and shots of two men, two women and two children sitting on a picnic blanket. A man is shown using a tractor to overturn soil in a field and planning seeds that are shown being stolen by waiting birds. Men are then shown creating stacks of hay. A farmer is then shown driving a tractor with a threshing machine on the back. The cut crop is then pushed out of the other side of the machine. GVs of the beach and shots of a pier side buildings. A ferry stops at the harbour and people are shown getting off. People are shown getting into a boat. Shots of birds on the cliffs. Shots of the group having a picnic. Shots of a young boy and a farmer herding sheep with a sheep dog in a field. Shots of a little boy with a crook holding the front legs of a lamb. Shots of black Labrador puppies. Shots from a ferry arriving at a port and people getting on board. Cows are shown being herded by farmers on to a boat at a port on the Isle of Gigha. Next a horse is shown going aboard.