Here are three photos of the road leading in to our village. In the first one, the road is just a rough track. The third one was taken a few weeks ago.
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I REMEMBER Sunday afternoons when I was a boy. If the weather was fine, families, dressed in their best clothes, would go out walking together, very often ending up at the house of a relative. It would be unusual to see anyone without a hat of some kind. Boys of my age would wear their school cap, and would be in short trousers. Short trousers were worn right up to the age of 14 or 15.
I REMEMBER that people like the minister, the doctor, and the headmaster were treated by grown-ups and children alike with great respect. No adult would ever refer to or address them by their Christian name. However, it’s not unusual nowadays for youngsters to speak to their minister using his Christian name.
I REMEMBER that among neighbours first names were rarely used. I know that my parents always referred to the other folk around us as Mr ------, Mrs ------ and Miss ------ . It seems as if one had to be really close to a person before one could call them Jean or John. I must mention that in my father’s shop Christian names were used among the staff, so obviously the rule didn’t apply in the workplace.
I REMEMBER that school holidays in the summertime seemed VERY long. In fact they were 8 weeks, much longer than today’s, but then we had fewer holidays during the year. My father always took his holiday during the first fortnight in July. I have vague memories of holidays at Prestwick, Girvan, Dunoon, but clearer recollections of Lower Largo and Lundin Links.
I REMEMBER nothing of the important days in my childhood - my first day at school or my first day at secondary school. This disappoints me, for I’d really like to know what my feelings were on such big occasions. Pity!
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One of my favourite painters is Jan Vermeer (1632-1675) and this is "Young Woman with a Water Pitcher."
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I’VE ALREADY TOLD how I was a club organist for many years, backing cabaret artistes and playing for dancing.
Very often those evenings would come to a close with a short session when members of the audience had the opportunity to do their party pieces. Some were good singers - I remember one older woman who made an excellent job of Deanna Durban songs, others were pretty average. The MC usually got the ball rolling by singing “They try to tell us we’re too young” - all the more entertaining since a long time had passed since he was young!
At one time a certain committee member used to annoy us when we were playing for dancing. He would come on stage uninvited, pick up the mike and begin singing the number we were playing. He wasn’t much good and we could see the dancers didn’t like it.
And then I thought up a way of putting him off. Halfway though a song I would suddenly move into a key a semitone lower, and, since he had a poor ear, he didn’t realise what had happened and would carry on with dreadful results. Another ploy was for us to start in a key which we knew would be far too high for him! He soon gave up singing with the band!!!
There were occasions when I myself was persuaded to sing, and, having once sung “I wish I was single again”, that was the number for which I kept getting requests.
Here are the words -
I married a wife, O then,
I married a wife, O then,
I married a wife, the plague of my life
And I wished I was single again.
Again and again and again,
Again and again and again,
For when I was single
My pockets did jingle,
And I wished I was single again.
My wife took a fever, O then,
My wife took a fever, O then,
My wife took a fever, I hoped ‘twouldn’t leave her,
For I longed to be single again.
My wife she died, O then,
My wife she died, O then,
My wife she died and I laughed till I cried
With joy to be single again.
I married another, O then,
I married another, O then,
I married another, far worse than the other
And I wished I was single again.
Young men who have wives, O then,
Young men who have wives, O then,
Be kind to the first, for the next may be worse
And you’ll long for the first one again!
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Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio who became well-known in the 1960s. They split in 1970 to go their separate ways, but didn’t have a great deal of success.
In 1978 they re-formed, picking up where they left off. Mary’s health has been poor since 2004 however, and they’ve been unable to appear much since then.
I was pleased to compare their singing and their appearance in those two clips - the first one is 1966 and the second 1990 in Japan.
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http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com
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