These paintings were done by Joy Shaylor, whom I met more than 60 years ago. While I was in the services at RAF Brize Norton I was in a concert party run by her husband Bunny.

Sometimes we entertained in small village halls, often in quite remote parts of Gloucestershire. On one occasion, when we arrived outside the hall, Bunny was greeted with “Are you the man from the BBC?” He had probably billed himself “broadcasting entertainer,” since he had once been on the radio in Midlands Children‘s Hour!!!

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“Never in a million years will there be a variety bill to top this one.” Wow!!!

That was how a concert which took place in Kirkintilloch 50 years ago was advertised. The occasion was “An Old Tyme Charity Midnight Matinee” on 17th December 1960, featuring “Will Starr - the British Accordion Champion of BBC, Parlophone and HMV recording fame.”

Just one other name was billed - “John Jaap at the Piano.” Yes, fame at last!!!

Despite the show being such a big affair, I don’t remember anything of the supporting acts, nor do I recall the promised “Walking Contest for Girls” or the “Strength Contest for Men.”

A good many years later, when I was backing cabaret, I met a number of well-known artistes, including the Scottish comedian Andy Cameron, Johnny Beattie who now appears in the BBC Scottish soap “River City,” the singers Joe Gordon and Sally Logan, Roy Walker who used to present “Catchphrase” on TV, and Elizabeth Dawn, better known as Vera Duckworth in “Coronation Street.” She gave me a signed photo, but I’m afraid I don’t know what happened to it!

I found an old video of Will Starr on YouTube, and, though the quality is poor, I thought it might interest those who remember him. The clip is from the Grampian TV Hogmanay show in !975. Sadly, Will died the following March.



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This poem by Thomas Hardy was unknown to me, but it really took my fancy and I hope you like it.

“The Ruined Maid”

“O ‘melia, my dear, this does everything crown!
Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?
And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty?” -
“O didn’t you know I’d been ruined?” said she.

“You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of digging up potatoes, and spudding up docks;
And now you’ve gay bracelets and bright feathers three!” -
“Yes: That’s how we dress when we’re ruined,” said she.

“At home in the barton you said “thee” and “thou”,
And “think oon”, and “theas oon”, and “t’other”; but now
Your talking quite fits ’ee for high compa-ny!” -
“Some polish is gained with one’s ruin,” said she.

“Your hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak
But now I’m bewitched by your delicate cheek,
And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy” -
“We never do work when we’re ruined,” said she.

“You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream,
And you’d sigh, and you’d sock; but at present you seem
To know not of megrims or melancho-ly!” -
“True. One’s pretty lively when ruined,” said she.

“I wish I had feathers, a fine sweeping gown,
And a delicate face, and could strut about Town!” -
“My dear - a raw country girl, such as you be,
Cannot quite expect that. You ain’t ruined,” said she.

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Finally, some great pictures of Ireland in this slide show, backed by very appropriate music


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This old photo, taken from the Cross in Kirkintilloch looks down the High Street with the Black Bull Inn on the left. When the town became “dry” and the pubs were closed, the building became the Black Bull cinema. After the Second World War, like so many small cinemas it closed down, re-opening as a Bingo Hall, and for a good few years now it has been a night club.

The High Street was the main road into the town from the east, but some time ago it was closed off just past the old Black Bull building to make room for a new road.

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This used to be a popular traditional song -

Yestreen the Queen had four Marys
The nicht she’ll hae but three,
There was Mary Seaton and Mary Beaton
And Mary Carmichael and me.

Oh, often have I dressed my Queen
And put on her braw silk gown
But all the thanks I've got tonight
Is to be hanged in Edinburgh Town

Fill often have I dressed my queen
Put gold upon her hair
But I have got for my reward
The gallows to be my share.

Oh little did my mother ken
The day she cradled me
The land I was to travel in
The death I was to dee.

Oh, happy, happy is the maid
That's born of beauty free
It was my rosy dimpled cheeks
That's been the death o’ me.

Many people thought that the four Marys were ladies in waiting to Mary Queen of Scots, while others believed that they were at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, and that the fourth Mary was Mary Queen of Scots herself.

It’s known that, while Mary Queen of Scots was in France, she was accompanied by Mary Seaton, Mary Beaton, Mary Livingstone and Mary Fleming, and another Mary - Hamilton has also been linked to the story.

So, is it fact or fiction? No one really knows, but the general opinion seems to be that the song has no historical basis.

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This is a slide show of old Kirkintilloch. Some of the pictures are scenes from the distant past, but others aren’t so old.
At 1 minute 11 seconds, there’s a view of the High Street from the eastern end looking up towards the Cross.
At 1 minute 26 seconds, the photo shows the Eastside flooded.
At 2 minutes 6 seconds, half of the picture is modern and the other half is old. Strange!


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I’ve been remembering that, when I was a boy, the Co-operative Society had an amazing number of premises in the town.
There were 5 groceries, there was the baker’s shop, the butcher’s, the fish shop, the drapery shop with clothing and shoes, the furnishing and electrical department, the bakery, the creamery, the catering department for weddings and social functions, the coal depot, the funeral office, and stables for the horses which pulled the vans and lorries, delivering all your requirements to your door. And not forgetting the message boys carrying your groceries on their bicycles.

The whole organisation was directed from the Townhead offices under the ever watchful eye of wee Tommy Duncan.(I used to hear all about him, for my father was manager of the main grocery shop.)

Today in our district the Co-op has just 3 outlets, 2 food shops, one in Kirkintilloch, one in Lenzie, and a funeral and undertakers department.

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One of my EIGHTY PLUS blogs at Christmas included a video of a man with a Santa Claus hat, playing a recorder. Here he is again, miming to a 1934 record of Roy Fox and his Band with Denny Dennis.


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This painting is by Louis le Nain (1593-1648.) He and his two brothers were painters in 17th century France.

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Some time ago I mentioned that my daily routine at the computer includes visiting a number of world-wide charity websites, where, by means of a click, you can donate to each charity at no cost to yourself.

Each organisation has provided donors with figures for 2009, and it’s great to know that the scheme continues to be successful.

HUNGER SITE     60.3 million cups of food provided
BREAST CANCER  2,808 mammograms paid for
CHILD HEALTH    751,381 children helped
LITERACY           445,648 books for children supplied
RAINFOREST       11,500 acres of land saved
ANIMAL RESCUE  78.7 million bowls of food provided

The Hunger site web address is - http://www.thehungersite.com - and the other sites can be accessed from there.

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I remember, I remember,
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day,
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away.

I remember, I remember,
The roses, red and white;
The violets and the lily-cups,
Those flowers made of light!
The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday -
The tree is living yet!

I remember, I remember,
Where I was used to swing;
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing:
My spirit flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!

I remember, I remember,
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky;
It was a childish ignorance,
But now ‘tis little joy
To know I’m farther off from Heaven
Than when I was a boy. (Thomas Hood 1799-1845)

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This is an interesting view of “Women’s Fashions in the 1920s” (There’s no sound during this slide show, though a there are a few seconds of music at the end)

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When I was 15 or 16 years old, a boy I knew only slightly took me into his home to meet his mother.

As we entered the lounge, I had quite a shock for a very attractive dark-haired woman was draped over the sofa. Ropes of beads round her neck, very short dark hair, a bandeau across her forehead, a cigarette in a holder - she was the image of a 1920s flapper girl. Now this was in the early 1940s!

That was the only occasion I met that boy’s mother. I learned later that she was a recluse, and people said that she lived in her own little dream world.

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The German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff has achieved world-wide fame in opera, in the concert hall and through his recordings. He won the Grammy Award for the Best Classical Vocal Performance in 2000, 2004 and 2006. He is a Professor at the Hanns Eisler Music School in Berlin. This amazing man is also a jazz singer - and the type of jazz he does is really wild!!!

Here are two videos - “Old Man River”  and then, in a nice crooning style “Moon River." The first one is accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.

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On today’s “JOHN’S QUIET CORNER” there’s a an excellent clip of Wilhelm Kempff playing the first movement of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

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(Thanks to FreeFoto for this picture)

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ANOTHER SKELETON IN THE CUPBOARD?

I’ve already written in 80 PLUS about a Glasgow man James Jaap who murdered his wife in 1891, and how we had found no connection between him and our family. (The whole story is in the Jaap family website, to which there is a link at the top of this blog)

Last month I discovered that a Mrs Japp (sic) was well-known in 1775 as the proprietor of a certain type of establishment in Edinburgh. It was in that year that the “Ranger’s Impartial List of the Ladies of Pleasure” was published, the author being one of the editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The book which included a pull-out map gave names and addresses, and Mrs Japp’s place seems to have been highly recommended.

Apparently Edinburgh had around 100 such houses then, and by the 19th century that figure had doubled.

As far as we know, none of our ancestors lived in the Edinburgh area, but if there is a link to our Jaaps, we can always say that she was a Jaap only by marriage!!!

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The following poem is one I learned at school, and I was surprised to find that I can still repeat most of it by heart.

There lived a wife at Ushers Well
And a wealthy wife was she,
She had three stout and stalwart sons
And sent them ow’r the sea.

They hadna’ been a week frae her,
A week but barely ane,
When word cam’ to the carlin wife
That her three sons were gane.

They hadna been a week frae her,
A week but barely three,
When word cam’ to the carlin wife
Her sons she’d never see.

“I wish the wind may never cease,
Nor *fashes in the flood,
Till my three sons cam’ hame tae me
In earthly flesh and blood.”

It fell about the Martinmas
When nights were lang and mirk,
The carlin’ wife’s three sons cam’ hame,
but their hats were o’ the *birk.

It neither grew in forest green
Nor on any wooded rise,
But from the everlasting tree
That grows in Paradise.

“Blow up the fire my maiden!
Bring water from the well,
For all my house shall feast this nicht
Since my three sons are well.”

Then up and crowed the blood red cock
And up and crowed the grey,
The oldest to the youngest said
“It's time we were away.

“For the cock doth crow and the day doth show,
And the *channerin’ worm doth chide,
And we must go from Ushers Well
To the gates of Paradise.

"Fare ye weel, oor mither dear!
Farewell to barn and byre!
And fare ye weel, the bonny lass
That kindles oor mither's fire!" (Anon)

* fashes = troubles, birk = birch, channerin’ = grumbling

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I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that there were a great many “light music” programmes on the wireless, when I was a boy.

Some featured hotel or theatre orchestras, and there was quite a variety of music. I can remember the violinist Albert Sandler, Troise - sometimes with his Mandoliers, sometimes with his Banjoliers, the Leslie Bridgewater quintet, the Fred Hartley quintet, Frank Biffo’s Brass Quartet, the Dorothy Hogben players, tango orchestras and of course a whole host of cinema organists.

The BBC itself had 9 orchestras plus a military band. The BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Midland Orchestra, the BBC Northern Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Orchestra, the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra and the BBC Welsh Orchestra all provided programmes of classical music. Lighter fare was supplied by the BBC Theatre Orchestra and the BBC Dance Orchestra.

Among the dance bands the well-known names were Jack Hylton, Jack Payne, Geraldo, Ambrose, Roy Fox, Carroll Gibbons, and Henry Hall. There were also quite a few unusual bands. I’m thinking of Felix Mendelssohn and his Hawaiian Serenaders, and Big Bill Campbell and his Hillbilly Band.

Older folk will remember “Czardas” by the Italian composer Vittorio Monti. This was a popular item in the repertoire of small orchestras, and was often played as solo on the violin, flute, xylophone etc.

In this video the musicians are the Szalai Hungarian Gypsy Band.



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The bitter cold winter weather is continuing in Scotland and we’ve been told it may continue for the next two weeks.

I’m pleased to be able to show this British Film Institute video “Snow.” It was made in 1963. It’s much longer than most of the clips on 80 PLUS (nearly 8 minutes), but I found it quite fascinating - well, little boys love trains!!!




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So we really had a White Christmas - the first one for a good few years!

In some areas temperatures dipped to minus 15 degrees. The main roads have been kept clear, but snow is still lying frozen on the pavements in our village, and walking on them is difficult. I took those photographs a few days ago from our back garden, using the close-up lens for the first one.

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Last year I included this poem in my Christmas blog. I’ve discovered that there are quite a few versions of “’Twas the day after Christmas,” but I think this is the best one, so here it is again -

‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste.
All the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvellous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

So, away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip,
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
Till all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won't have a cookie--not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore,
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

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The painting I’ve chosen this week is “Thames Frost Fair” by Thomas Wyke

Between the 15th and the 19th centuries it was a common occurrence for the Thames in London to freeze over. In 1683-84 it lasted two months and I believe that’s when the painting was done.

John Evelyn the writer/diarist wrote this description -

Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other stairs, to and fro, as in the streets - sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays and interludes, cooks, tipling and other lewd places, so that it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water.
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LOOKING FORWARD TO BLOGGING IN 2010

I’ve been surprised at the interest shown in “Wise Men Say….” I began this blog in February 2006 and one week recently the site had 218 “hits.” From 18th July to 11th December there were 1776 visitors from 75 different countries including a fair number from very unlikely places.

I’ve very much enjoyed preparing these blogs. “80 plus” is gradually changing, for I’m afraid I’ve run out of boyhood memories. “John’s Quiet Corner” is my favourite, but I realise that both that site and “Haiku Homestead” don’t have the same general appeal.

“Wise Men Say….” will continue daily.
“80 plus”, “John’s Quiet Corner” and “Haiku Homestead” will be updated every Wednesday.
I’m hoping that it will be possible to run a second short series of “Scottish Tales from the Other World.”

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For many years a great feature of Hogmanay in Scotland was the TV show “Scotch and Wry” with Rikkie Fulton as Rev I. M. Jolly. This clip is from the 1978 programme.


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The New Year lies before you
Like a spotless tract of snow
Be careful how you tread on it
For every mark will show. (Anon)
 
WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Last week I got a surprise to see that our village Community Council had erected a Christmas tree not far from our house.

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This is Burl Ives singing “Santa Claus is comin’ to town”


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As I sat in my window last evening,
The letterman brought in to me
A little gilt-edged invitation sayin':
"Gilhooley, come over to tea."
I knew that the Fogarties sent it.
So I went, just for old friendship's sake.
The first thing they gave me to tackle
Was a slice of Miss Fogarty's cake.

There were plums and prunes and cherries.
There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too
There was nutmeg, cloves and berries,
And a crust that was nailed on with glue.
There were caraway seeds in abundance,
Such that work up a fine stomach ache
That could kill a man twice after eating a slice
Of Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake.

Miss Mulligan wanted to try it.
But, really, it wasn't no use,
For we worked in it over an hour,
And we couldn't get none of it loose
Till Murphy came in with a hatchet
And Kelly came in with a saw.
That cake was enough, by the powers above,
For to paralyze any man's jaw.

Miss Fogarty, proud as a peacock,
Kept smiling and blinking away
Till she flipped over Flanagan's brogans.
And she spilt the home brew in her tea.
"Aye, Gilhooley," she says "you're not eatin'.
Try a little bit more, for me sake."
And "No, Miss Fogarty," says I,
"For I've had quite enough of your cake."

Maloney was took with the colic.
O'Donald, a pain in his head.
McNaughton lay down on the sofa,
And he swore that he wished he was dead.
Miss Bailey went into hysterics,
And there she did wriggle and shake.
And everyone swore they were poisoned
Just from eating Miss Fogarty's cake. (Anon)

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Somehow, not only for Christmas,
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.

And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to you glad. (John Greenleaf Whittier)

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Something different now.  The words are shown below.



Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus is born

Down in the lowly manger
The humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation
That blessed Christmas morn

Go, tell it etc.

While shepherds kept their watch
On silent flocks by night
Behold, throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light

Go, tell it etc.

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Sing hey! Sing hey!
For Christmas Day;
Twine mistletoe and holly.
For a friendship glows
In winter snows,
So let us all be jolly! (Anon)

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WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS

This is an 18th century nativity painting. The artist is not known.

The oldest Christmas carol we have is usually said to be the 12th century Veni Emmanuel - O come, O come, Emmanuel. However, it has been pointed out that this is actually an Advent carol, and that the oldest English one is Susanni (this word from the old German means “sing to sleep”) in a 14th century manuscript.

Here are the words -

A little child there is y-born,
Eia, eia susanni, susanni, susanni,
And he sprang out of Jesse’s thorn,
To save us all that were forlorn.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Now Jesus is the childès name,
Eia, eia susanni, susanni, susanni,
And Mary mild she is his dame,
And so our sorrow has turned to game.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

It fell upon the high midnight,
Eia, eia susanni, susanni, susanni,
The stars they shone both fair and bright,
The angels sang with all their might,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Three kings came with their prèsents,
Eia, eia susanni, susanni, susanni,
Of myrrh and gold and frankincense,
As clerkès sing in their sequence,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Now sit we down upon our knee,
Eia, eia susanni, susanni, susanni,
And pray we to the Trinity
Our help and succour for to be,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

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When I was a boy, Christmas Day was just like any other day. We were on holiday from school certainly, but people in offices, factories and shops were working as usual. Hogmanay and the New Year were more important, and it would have been difficult to find a shop open on New Year’s Day.

I believe there was midnight mass in Roman Catholic churches on Christmas Eve, but the other churches didn’t have services, either then or on Christmas Day.

Each year we children went to the Sunday School party where we played games and received a gift from Santa Claus. I remember there was always a big Christmas tree, beautifully decorated, and I’m pretty sure that very few people in those days would have a tree in their homes.

Like most folk, our living room had coloured paper decorations round the walls and extending across the ceiling. This transformed our home into something really exciting, and from then on, Rita and I would be shouting our requests up the chimney. I must add that I was most annoyed when I discovered that Santa wouldn’t hear us, indeed that there was no such person! Shame!

Our parents usually took us to Glasgow to see Santa Claus in a big store. On one occasion we were passing through a number of corridors lined with toys and novelties, when we came to a huge teddy bear, taller than an adult. As we passed it, my father took hold of its paw, and said “How d’you do?” and it’s head fell off and rolled along the floor!!!

It wasn’t till the late 1940s that Scotland began to make more of Christmas. Perhaps the change was brought about by our servicemen and women coming back to civvy street, having experienced Christmas church services elsewhere. That was certainly the case in our own church when the Service of Nine Carols and Lessons was introduced. I think it would sometime later that services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were begun.

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This is a 16th century carol “Gaudete“ sung by the Mediaeval Baebes


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I came across this poem last week. It was new to me, and I think it’s probably American.

I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas,
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas,
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.

Broke my bat on Johnny's head,
Somebody snitched on me.
I hid a frog in sister's bed,
Somebody snitched on me.
I spilled some ink on Mommy's rug,
I made Tommy eat a bug,
Bought some gum with a penny slug,
Somebody snitched on me.
I won't be seeing Santa Claus,
Somebody snitched on me.
He won't come visit me because
Somebody snitched on me.
Next year I'll be going straight,
Next year I'll be good, just wait,
I'd start now, but it's too late.
Somebody snitched on me.
So you better be good whatever you do,
'Cause if you're bad, I'm warning you,
You'll get nuttin' for Christmas.

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I found this little video amusing. Please stick with it to the end.



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