Perhaps I had ambitions to be an MP - or an undertaker!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

 
PETTICOAT DAN
My parents used to talk about the Kirkintilloch man who wore women’s clothing. Dan Cooper 1835-1913 was a mentally-handicapped odd-job man who kept himself busy going around the town shovelling and stacking coal which had been delivered to householders.

Dressed in a man’s jacket and a women’s skirt right down to his heels, he had to endure a lot of teasing from children. I’m told that there used to be many stories showing that he was much more intelligent than he appeared to be, but it’s on record that one local man who knew him well claimed that there was no truth in those tales.

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Most communities at one time or another had men or women just like Petticoat Dan, and around them stories were born and multiplied.

In the 19th century the town of Maybole had its worthy - Johnnie Stuffie, and apparently both children and adults often made his life a misery. After his death, the local minister Roderick Lawson wrote the following poem.

A queer wee man, wi’ a simple air,
Was Johnnie Stuffie.
Weel-kent alike by rich and poor
Was Johnnie Stuffie.
The water-carrier o’ the town,
The messenger to a’ around’,
And the butt o’ every idle loon
Was Johnnie Stuffie.

Nae common bonnet crowned the heid
O’ Johnnie Stuffie.
But an auld lum-hat was there instead
On Johnnie Stuffie.
A lang greatcoat, aince thocht genteel
Aye wrapt him roun’ frae neck tae heel,
Which only did the feet reveal
O’ Johnnie Stuffie.

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The engraving “Houseless and Hungry” is the work of the English painter Luke Fildes (1843-1927).

It made a great impression on the Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais, who told Charles Dickens about it. When the author saw the picture, he immediately engaged Fildes to do the illustrations for “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”

Some time later Fildes reproduced the engraving as a painting, giving it the title “Applicants to a Casual Word.”

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I’m showing 3 videos this week. The first one was sent to me by a friend and I’m sure you’ll like it. (Thanks very much, Anne.)



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This next clip refers to a time I remember very well - the beginning of World War 2. The town where we lived was considered to be in a safe area, and it was chosen as the place to which many Clydebank children were evacuated. A family of 3, a girl and her brothers, were billeted with us. However, after a week their parents came and took them home, and I believe that this was a common occurrence. I wonder what happened to all those children when the German bombers targetted Clydebank.


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Finally, here's a really cheerful tune from Johann Sebastian!!!


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