The following two stories are from Soundscapes and interpretive work by Kilmodan Primary School pupils

Mesolithic Life in The Woodlands of Glendaruel

The trees of the Great Glen of D’aruel are coming into site, we can see mighty oaks, shimmering silver birch, slender beech and wispy willow all in full summer leaf. This is a good sign as it means we shall find plenty of food to forage here.

As we paddle down towards the mouth of the river of the Glen, I remembered our great Chiefs words this Spring, he said it was time for us to move on as food was scarce and there was not enough for us all to eat. Our family group has grown big, and with more mouths to feed, we must follow the food. As I trail my hands through the clear cool water, I can see lots of fish swimming under the surface, trout, salmon, mackerel and every one a good meal. Our Chief Scot says this Glen will be a good place for us to stay.

Our Coracles, reach the shore, and we step at last onto firm land, we have been as sea for many moons, and most of us are tired and hungry, especially the children. There are 37 of us in our family group and we are going to make our summer camp in this place of plenty. Once in the Glen there is lots to do. A group will build a Camp, somewhere on the hillside, where we are protected and can see any one that may approach us. Another group will form a hunting party, another will start to fish and a crowd of children will climb tree’s to collect nuts and berries. The boats are unloaded, with tools, baskets and skins and we set out with all our tasks. This is a busy time of year, food must be collected and as much as we can will be preserved, to give us something to eat through the winter.

Smoke is rising from the hillside, the roasting pits are burning now, the younger children have collected huge baskets of hazelnuts, and these will be roasted and stored.

As the night draws in we all join the party around the campfire. A shout echo’s through the tree’s, a small hunting party runs in, one of the hunters is missing, he has been lost in the woods. We pick up our arrows and spears, together we shall find our hunter. The woods are deep and dark, we can hear animals, owls, bears, otters, and wild dogs. The moonlight glitters through the trees and shines on teeth and bones lying on the ground. A scream rents the air, we all stand still and then we all fall about laughing. One of the men has stood on a hedgehog. Onwards we go. Suddenly we see our hunter, he is lying face down in the ground, dead. It looks as if wild cattle trampled him. Sadly we carry our man back to the camp.

Neolithic Settlers in The Glen

We live in GlenDuisk, it is called the ‘Black Glen’, it is a fine place to live and we are proud of our settlement. We have a big farm named ‘Wolf Place’. We grow grains like barley to make breads and drink and flax which we weave into cloth. My great grandfather was a wonderer, but my dad decided to settle down. We are to have a big celebration because our family have appointed a new Chief. He is big and strong and wise. Recently he killed a huge bear that had been hunting too close to our farm.

We have plenty of food all year round, we hunt fish, otter and bear, there is plenty of good meat to be had from hunting. We have also have started to keep animals on the farm. Lambs and cattle and pigs. We also use the lamb wool to make clothing, which we dye using wild berry juice.