An 'old Collach who has Lost his Memory' talks about the years he spent as an island shepherd.

"I had about five hundred sheep to look after in those days, one lot at the Windy Gap and one lot near the green. On the hill they were all Black Faces and every year I took off a hundred and cast the ewes in the fields at Gallanach and crossed them with the Border Leicester tups. I used to feed them for a month before lambing and it would be a problem to get them to start eating the cake and stuff. But once a few got started the rest would follow and get keen on it. We sold everything in Oban in those days and a good price for a crossed lamb from Coll was about £7.

The Loch Broom was the cargo boat for the sheep and you could never count on it coming in on time. You had to wait for a day and a night maybe guarding the sheep because there was nowhere to leave them near the pier. You needed a good dog and sometimes I bought my dogs in from Mull. I trained them in my own funny way, but not always right - if you get a bad dog you're better without any at all.

After the lambing I'd shift the sheep to where there was plenty young grass for them, but it's a strange thing when you shift sheep - they always want back to wherever they were before. We did all the clipping ourselves, working away with hand shears, and I've lost lots of smoke pipes in the Toraston fank when the sheep suddenly kicks back at you.

But sheep are very wise creatures for all that and they'll get themselves a leader and follow her. I never liked cows so much as sheep and I never tired of working with them. I enjoyed it all, you see, and if I had my life again I'd do the same thing."