Occasionally, we like to loosen the tongues of our regulars (and bar team) with a couple of nips, before asking them to answer a few leading questions about their life in and around The Larachmhor Tavern. It would be a shame to waste such great banter, so in a series of Q&As, we're asking our regulars and local characters to commit their stories to print, right here....
What's your name?
Billy Dunn & Tam Gay
Do you come here often?
Tam: Now and again....
Billy: Oh...just every day...
What are you doing in the East Neuk of Fife - Born & Bred, Settler, Part-Timer or Regular Visitor?
Tam: Born & Bred
Billy: Never had the ambition to get out of it....
Earning a living in this part of the world can lead to interesting work! Are you/have you ever been...
a) a fisherman b) a bar person at The Larachs c) all of the above d) none of the above
Tam: a) a fisherman
Billy: a) a fisherman
(Billy & Tam work together every day at sea)
Feel free to tell us a bit about your background - we love hearing a life story!
Tam: My old man's a bus driver but we've always had a boat in the family and I was at the sea with him from about 11 years old. I worked out of Aberdeen and the West Coast for a while....and all over the country.... but I've always been based here...I always returned home.
Billy: My family has always been in the fishing - and skippers of boats - but I was too thick to skipper one and gave up! (lots of laughs from everyone at the bar) I worked in London fitting sprinkers and then at the fishing, I ended up working on a Faroese boat doing a 6 month trip to Newfoundland.
(Interviewer: Is Newfoundland an interesting place?)
Billy: I was only on land in Newfoundland for 3 days. I ended up getting blootered. I'm banned from Iceland, though I think the ban's up because it only lasted 5 years. I also sailed with a murderer - someone who chopped some guy's heid aff in an argument about a burd! I've been all over the world watching Scotland play football - lost passports in most countries - but always found my way home, once on a Naval ship....
How long have you been drinking here?
Tam: I've been drinking here since 1979. The year I was at the prawns.
Billy: I've been drinking here since.... (ponders the question).... I was probably about 17, 1986....but had quite a long ban from here... so not sure how many years in total...
What do you love most about this pub?
Tam: In the old days we had lots of good lock-ins where we'd be kicked out by the cleaners. It was a great atmosphere with so many characters - Lucky Jim, Ferrit, Johnny Gerrar, Peter Moobray...
Billy: I like the pool team, all the fisherman being in the pub, some great laughs....
When you're not working or propping up the bar, do you have any great hobbies or passions...that you can talk about here?
Tam: I like shooting and drinking and chillin'....man.
Billy: Watching Rangers. And asking Trish if I can pop up to the bar.
You must have plenty of memories in this pub - things you've seen, tales you've told, tales you've been told! Is there a good story or memory you're willing to share with the whole bar (and world)?
Tam: Me? Noooo....
Billy: I remember coming in from the sea at 1am one Saturday night.... and I left the pub at 7.45am in the morning. I had to land the fish at 11am. It was a good job my dad's fish van went on fire that morning because someone knocked on the door and woke me up, otherwise I'd have slept in for work...
...During the Bob Long years, when my dad used to drink down here, my mum used to go mental and ask "where's your dad!!!???" One night, my dad came up to the house and went to his bed. Mum came back from the bingo and I told her he was still in the pub. She marched down and banged on the door, thinking he was at a lock in! The landlord had to shout down from his bedroom window and tell her "he's not here...the pub's shut!!" Another time, mum dressed as a police woman and came into the pub - my dad and everyone all sh*t themselves - it was another lock-in that night...
Tam: When the phone used to go in the pub, there would be total silence - and the answer would be "he's no here..."
Favourite Drink?
Tam: It used to be OVD but I got banned from it. So, now it's vodka.
Billy: It used to be whisky but I had the same kind of problem as Tam and turned to OVD and it's alright with me.
Favourite chat up line / conversation starter?
Tam: Ahhh there's too many! Where have you been all my life? Nope, too many. And heard them all! It's easier just to chat to folk than try a line!
Billy: I think my favourite one is....
I asked an English girl if I could **** her in my kilt. She asked if it was kinky and I said - No - years ago, when we humped the English, we did it in our kilts.
Finally, they say you can pick up plenty of wisdom from working/drinking in a pub like this...tell us, have you learned anything in the Larachs about life!?
Tam: Naaah.
Billy: (after several minutes of thought). Nah.
Colin: I couldn't write that doon. Censored!
Vicky: Billy's storytelling is legendary...and Tam's jukebox selections are pretty rockin' too.
Mo: What?! (laughs) What could I say... (laughs again) It's good to see them coming in....
Billy: Brings a smile to your face...!
Mo: Yes it does.
Billy: And we kill wasps for you.
Larachs Life is the official blog of The Larchmhor Tavern. Find out more at our main website AND come and visit us in the real world - we're a genuine fisherman's pub on the harbour in Pittenweem. Our friendly, truly local team will see to it that you enjoy a warm welcome, swiftly served drinks, mouth watering meals, perhaps a few well told stories and happy memories...
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