Former neighbours Angus Currie and Joe Peter MacLean were raised in MacAdam's Lake, a small community deep in the Hills of Boisdale. Though both left the area as adults, they continue to share a common first language, culture and memories of their home community. Angus Currie grew-up in a family of thirteen children born to Dougal and Effie Belle Currie. His father was a farmer and his mother was a noted singer who was often recorded. A descendant of emigrants from the largely treeless island of South Uist, Currie spent much of his early life working in the woods. He later moved several miles down the mountain to North Side East Bay, where he and his wife raised their own family of thirteen. For many years Angus was employed by the Department of Transportation and worked on the highways around central Cape Breton. Today, a number of his children are learning Gaelic.

Raised on a small farm not far from the Curries, Joe Peter MacLean can remember going to wedding celebrations there that lasted six and seven days. Like the Curries, the MacLeans emigrated from South Uist; according to family tradition, they arrived in Cape Breton in 1821. Brought- up in a tight-knit family, Joe Peter's father Charlie was a fiddler and carpenter. His mother Kathleen spoke Gaelic by preference and knew the words to many Gaelic songs. A talented musician, Joe Peter plays the banjo, mandolin and guitar but is best known as a traditional Gaelic style fiddler whose talents are always in demand. After moving several miles down the road to Boisdale, Joe Peter began playing the fiddle regularly with friends in the area. A number of years ago, they released an album entitled Back of Boisdale. A loyal supporter of Gaelic events, MacLean can be seen drinking tea and sharing his language and music throughout Cape Breton - or wherever else the road may take him.
- Shamus

Joe Peter MacLean & Angus Currie
Interviewed by Jim Watson
Camera operated by Shamus Y. MacDonald
September 26, 2006

Total Play Time: 01:32:05

00:24 Joe Peter and Angus introduce themselves, and where they are from
09:58-15:36 Story that Angus' grandfather had View | Listen
15:37 how they made a life for themselves, the first people who came from Scotland
19:45 MacAdam's Lake
21:49 the wake house
25:43-27:14 Joe Peter's story View | Listen
28:35 the priest would come when someone was sick
29:05-32:13 going to church; Angus has a story View | Listen
32:14 livestock they had; the garden
34:27 storing food
36:23 pasttimes, playing cards
40:13 Angus' mother used to sing
41:37-47:27 Angus worked in the woods, types of trees View | Listen
49:45 names for birds
53:00-55:00 Angus tells a story View | Listen
55:03 Angus talks about his family and the old house
1:09:19 Joe Peter's story, Angus' story
1:13:10 talking about the old pipers
1:15:49 dances
1:18:50 Joe Peter talks about how he learned the fiddle
1:22:00 types of dances
1:25:27-1:31:48 signs of the weather View | Listen