The Home of Hospitality
By Various Speakers
Orkney Folklore and Storytelling CentreImage provided by Airborne Lens
This audio forms part of a series of audio interviews conducted in 2022 by Smartify as part of the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project. Listen and discover the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands through the eyes of the people who live, work and visit here.
From fresh faces to firm friends, communities across the Highlands and Islands have a long-standing, sure tradition of hospitality. Everyday acts of kindness and a sense of belonging feature often amongst the stories submitted to our archive and so we sent Peter Knowles and Renato Camilo of Smartify to discover what the 'spirit' of hospitality means across the Highlands and Islands for themselves. This recording features the voices of many people that warmly welcomed Peter and Renato on their travels, including Monika Lee MacPherson, Jean Keith, Robin Meyer, Norrie Russell and Susanne MacDonald.
[Monika] This Chinese culture of hospitality, you know, we were taught any workmen that come to your house - 'you must feed them, and then they work better!'
[Robin] ...He said hang on a minute, and he went up and he brought us a small gas cylinder down. He said 'Ee ar, use that one then until the new one comes' - that's the spirit of people here...
[Norrie] The community really have been great. Everybody helps everybody...something like COVID, they're so used to helping each other that there wasn't a massive sea change, if you like...that's just the normal.
[Susanne] ...my poor mother, I think she probably spent fewer nights in her own bed than she did on the bed-settee...the house was just constantly open.
DISCOVER MORE STORIES OF THE HOSPITALITY OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS
