- 32 minutes 36 seconds8. Truth in the Shadows
Davie returns to the Unknown Bairn’s grave to address unfinished business with the family who found the boy’s body. And does a leaked report commissioned by the Scottish Government, offer hope of some form of restitution for the failures of church and state?
Presenter: Davie Donaldson Producer: Kate Bissell Research: Kate Bissell and Emily Essen Story Consultants: Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams Music, Mix and Sound Design: Julian Corrie Executive Editor: Susie Crumless Commissioning Editor: Heather Kane Darling
18 July 2025, 5:00 am - 35 minutes 12 seconds7. Strathmartine
Davie visits Strathmartine Hospital, a now derelict facility, where removed Traveller and non -Traveller children were sent and often never left. Davie needs to find out: what went on behind those walls?
11 July 2025, 5:00 am - 42 minutes 29 seconds6. Alexander and Sandy
Davie receives a text message that changes so much of what he thought he knew about the Unknown Bairn and the boy he believed him to be. As a new investigation gets underway, a different story emerges.
4 July 2025, 5:00 am - 29 minutes 7 seconds5. Cutting the Roots
Bella is a young Scottish Traveller. Through the generations, her family has been broken apart by social services. She explains to Davie how she’s fought to keep her daughter from being taken into care and, in the process, been forced to cut herself off from her Traveller culture.
27 June 2025, 5:00 am - 25 minutes 17 seconds4. Paper Children
Rosanne McPhee’s dad joked about volunteering to be measured by a Nazi racial scientist because he knew each time his head was measured he would receive a shilling. Davie discovers this was just a part of a wider Nazi Eugenic Policy, which lead to the murder of millions of Roma in the Nazi death and concentration camps.
20 June 2025, 5:00 am - 30 minutes 24 seconds3. Finland
In Helsinki, Davie meets former members of a Roma children’s home once visited by William Webb. He discovers the forced assimilation of Roma and Travellers in Finland mirrors much of what happened to Scottish Travellers. Then, in the course of his investigation, Davie uncovers a frightening secret, buried in Scotland’s past.
13 June 2025, 5:00 am - 36 minutes 51 seconds2. Fear and Sacrifice
Suspicion falls on William Webb, a Chaplain from The Church of Scotland. His “Cruelty Van” would arrive at Scottish Traveller camps and take children from their families. Then, Davie’s trip to Leeds turns up clear evidence of the actors involved in the forced removal of Scottish Travellers.
6 June 2025, 5:00 am - 37 minutes 1 second1. Truth and Half Truths
The Unknown Bairn’s siblings tell Davie frightening stories that motivate him to look into the disappearance - and forced removal - of Traveller children. And as yet more Travellers come forward, Davie starts to question the scale of the state’s historic intervention into the lives of Traveller families in Scotland.
30 May 2025, 5:00 am - 3 minutes 13 secondsIntroducing - The Cruelty - Stolen Generations
In 2021, Davie Donaldson sought to solve the long-standing mystery of the Unknown Bairn, a young boy whose body washed up on a Scottish beach and was never claimed. Since that time, a number of Scottish Travellers have contacted him with stories of children being forcibly removed from their families. This becomes the catalyst for Davie’s investigation into why this happened and whether it was sanctioned by the church and state. Along the way, the mystery that began it all re-enters Davies’ life, taking him to a truth that’s been hidden in the shadows for too long.
Presenter: Davie Donaldson Producer: Kate Bissell Research: Kate Bissell and Emily Essen Story Consultants: Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams Music, Mix and Sound Design: Julian Corrie Executive Editor: Susie Crumless Commissioning Editor: Heather Kane Darling
23 May 2025, 11:00 am - 30 minutes 51 seconds9. The Wee Boy
In Tayport Cemetery on the 51st anniversary of the discovery of the Unknown Bairn, Davie meets again with the Robertson family.
Presenter: Davie Donaldson
Producer: Kate Bissell, BBC Scotland Productions.
Researchers: Rachael Fulton and Catrina Rose
Additional reporting: Cameron Mackay
Story consultants: Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams
Sound Designer: Julian Corrie
Music : Julian Corrie with additional tracks by Barry Jackson
Executive Editor: Heather Kane Darling
With thanks to Martin Conaghan for developing the initial podcast idea with BBC Scotland Productions.
28 September 2022, 11:23 am - 19 minutes 1 second8. The Mother
After receiving a flurry of messages, Davie arrive at the doorstep of someone who might just hold the key to the whole investigation.
Presenter: Davie Donaldson
Producer: Kate Bissell, BBC Scotland Productions.
Researchers: Rachael Fulton and Catrina Rose
Additional reporting: Cameron Mackay
Story consultants: Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams
Sound Designer: Julian Corrie
Music : Julian Corrie with additional tracks by Barry Jackson
Editor: Heather Kane Darling
With thanks to Martin Conaghan for developing the initial podcast idea with BBC Scotland Productions.
28 September 2022, 11:20 am - More Episodes? Get the App