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Title: ISLES OF YOUTH, the

Reference number: 1641

Date: 1944

Director: d. John C. Elder

Sponsor: David MacBrayne Limited and LMS Railway

Sound: silent

Original format: 16mm

Colour: col

Fiction: non-fiction

Running time: 29 mins

Description: A tour of the Western Isles and Highlands of Scotland including a visit to Iona and views of the island of Staffa.

Shotlist: REEL 1

Credits (.08); Prologue. This is a blending of the perfumes of the heather and the hills, the tinkling music of the burns and the crashing crescendo of the sea where the summer's face can be so fair and no contrivance of brush or paint can express the wide skies vaulting from the glittering rim of the sea to the unutterable blue. Where the stark peaks hide in the mist and in an hour emerge sparkling, seeming so near that you could touch them. Scenes that make those of us of the Old Country proud of our ancient heritage. Scotland and the Isles of Youth (.42); Shots of the Islands from the mainland (.54); Coastline (1.00); Waves (1.08); Tiree harbour (1.10); A village (1.13); Road leading to the hills (1.17); River (1.18); Castles (1.24); Many years ago a young man and his wife left their island home in search of wealth and adventure. They found the wealth but left their hearts back in the land of their birth. Their son they called Donald and he was brought up to the tales and legends of Scotland and soothed to sleep by its songs and tunes. As he grew older he began to think of the Isles of Youth as figments of his parents' imagination and decided that one day he would go and see for himself. At last that day came and he saw scenes and places you and I can go to and see for ourselves, but how many of us forget or are unaware that such beauty, grandeur, peace and happiness is to be found in the Western Highlands and Islands of Scotland? (2.07); Our modern magic carpet (2.17); People getting on a MacBrayne's bus (2.25); Bus on the move through village and countryside (3.06); Passing by a loch (3.43); Passing a hay field (3.48); General view of Oban, Commercial Hotel, Oban ferry (4.05); On board the ferry (4.16); Seabirds twinkle like stars in the sunlit airs of the seas (4.23); Shots of feeding the birds in flight (4.38); Stornoway harbour of the west (4.41); Shots of harbour and town (4.58); Trawlers and drifters throng the harbours and will soon be heading for the open seas (5.06); Trawlers in the harbour with fishermen (5.20); Harris of the famous tweeds (5.27); Ferry approaching Harris (5.45); Shots of village (5.53); Sheep in pens (6.09); They weave not only cloth but also songs and they have lilts for herding, for milking, and for waulking the tweed (6.18); Women waulking the tweed (6.30); Man measures tweed and irons on Harris tweed stamp (6.50); Ferry leaving (6.56); Rodel and St Clements church, a survival of a forgotten age and ancient usages (7.02); Shot of church (7.08); Rowing boat approaching ferry (7.35); Harbour (7.43); Close-up shot of St Clements church (7.50); Uist island of a thousand lochs (7.53); Approaching same (8.00); Shot of lochs (8.08); Purple shadows like in the Glens and a misty green is spread over the land and the crofts old and new (8.16); Woman fishing (8.30); The promised land of the angler (8.34); Panning shots of island scenery with anglers in their boats (9.08); Catching a fish and bringing it shore (9.50); End of Part 1 (9.55);

REEL 2

No credits. Barra, there anchored forever in the bay is Kismul's Castle, stronghold of the McNeils, flanked by the sands of ancient feasts and revelry and now the quiet haven of the little boats (.14); Shot of the castle (.16); The houses of the men of Barra cluster around the bay beneath the church (.24); Shot of village church (.36); Shots of the bay (.51); Close-up of a croft (.54); Long rollers of the western sea break on the golden sands ·1.01); Shots of beach and sea (1.39); Here one renews youth and turns to the pastimes and make-believe of childhood (1.47); People on the shore (2.16); Tiree, an emerald gen. Treeless and wind blown but clad in lawn-lilke turf (2.22); Tiree bay (2.30); Exterior of croft (2.35); Crofts look down on the sandy crescent of the harbour where rests an old hulk, its sea toil over (2.45); Shots of harbour and old boat (2.55); Men working in the harbour (3.14); One of the harvest of the sea. Man placing lobsters in a box (3.36); A visit to the home of the seabirds, Lunga (3.34); Approaching Lunga by boat (3.50); Cliff where the birds nest (3.54); Close-up of birds on cliff face (4.05); Bird's eye view of the sea below (4.11); People approaching birds (4.15); Bird's nest with chick (4.21); Shot of puffins (4.27); Puffins leaving cliff face (4.36); View of the sea (4.53); Guillemots or razorbills and chicks (5.06); Man holding a young gull (5.33); Men in boat picking up visitors to the island (6.02); Leaving the island (6.14); Look forward. Look aft, look around you. You are bathed in beauty (6.20); Boat with passengers passing islands (7.04); By the sacred shores of St Columba's Isle. Steamer in harbour (7.12); Passengers are ferried ashore (7.32); About the island are set ancient stones, sanctuaries, consecrated mounds and wells. What rites, ceremonials and superstitions they mark! They are but the outward signs of the changes in the mind of man and in his search for the ultimate (7.48); Shots of St Columba's church (8.05); Repairs to the stonework (8.20); The tale of St Columba runs through the ages like a cord of silver, "before the world shall crumble away, I tell you that people shall come from all corners of the earth to pay homage to me, my church and my work". (8.46); exterior and interior of the abbey (8.59); Where once nuns walked in daily meditation, the air is full of the murmur of the sea and the fragrance of flowers (9.06); Shots of flowers growing in churchyard (10.16); Horse and cart making their way down to the shore, village in the background (10.24); Ere we depart, it will seem that time has paused and the sunlit air has breathed a benediction upon us (10.32); Passengers leave the habour to go to the ferry (10.52); View of village from ferry (11.03); Leaving the island of Iona (11.15); End of Part 2 (11.20).

REEL 3

No credits. Like a black mass thrust from the ocean lies Staffa, strange cathedral of rocky columns. Off-shore shots of Staffa (.27). The cave is full of sounds of the sea echoing and re-echoing in ever changing tones. Shots of the cave's entrance (.52); Shots of sea beating against the columns of rock (1.21); The magic carpet wafts us on our happy journey to scenes that satisfy the eye and the travellers forget the burden of the work-a-day world. Off-shore shot of moving sailing boat (1.48); Shots of passengers on board ferry (1.57); Ferry puts in to Tobermory, Isle of Mull (2.33); Shots of the harbour (2.42); Rest awhile and recapture the music and breath of youth. Elderly couple sitting on a hill overlooking the sea dotted with islands (2.54); Now turn and here is music and colour in another form. Scenes to brighten the eye and set the feet a-tapping, the Highland Games (3.03); Shots of the games, pipe band (3.15); Dancing in the background and man throwing weight over bar (3.30); Pole vaulting (3.49); Tossing the caber (3.58); Men Highland dancing (4.14); Shots of other contestants watching (4.21); Shots of other dancers (4.46); Men performing sword dance (4.59); More dancing (5.13); And so to Oban. Its eyes are filled with the western scene, its tongues speak the accents of all the isles (5.24); Shot of a ferry (5.27); The ferry arrives in Oban (5.55); Shots of the Oban ferry (6.21); Oban from hillside (6.43); The ferry comes into harbour (6.46); Oban of the yachts. Men and yachts in the bay (7.02); Sailing the yachts (7.22); Oban of the sunsets. Shots of the coastline (7.57); Epilogue. Let me read the letter Donald sent to his father - "Dear Dad, I have seen for myself, I have seen your dreams come true. I have stood on the shores and watched the long seas break in the sunshine. I have been the mountains change so much I cannot describe them, one moment dark and ferocious, their shadows enter your heart and you feel their chill, again they change to green and the sky above to an unbelievable blue. I have listened to voices like soft music, to people whose speech is poetry. I will return for I have found the way." (8.20); End credits (8.25).