The "Ancestral Face"
AVID McLEOD’S 3YC talk, "Skye, Island of Colour," read with the slight Scottish burr of Basil Clarke, was of equal merit to similar things done by the BBC, It had the additional interest of presenting us with the island as seen by one of ourselves, But to think of the so-called "sober" Scot reeling in gay kilts till 4.0 and 7.0 a.m. makes us seem by contrast almost depressed. Beyond the enjoyment the programme brought, I could not help but wonder at the impulse which could pull a man back so far to find his own "ancestral face’-Skye having been a McLeod stronghold for 700 years. Others among us might almost as easily claim some portion in this tradition, but in truth we find ourgelves belonging to all who have spoken, written or painted in a way that raises a sympathetic echo within us, whether it be the Scot of the ballad or the Welsh of the song. There must, however, be some advantage and satisfaction in being able to turn back to this more solid core in time and place, something which gives life a slightly more definite meaning.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19540625.2.19.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 779, 25 June 1954, Page 10
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193The "Ancestral Face" New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 779, 25 June 1954, Page 10
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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