Following the very heavy snowfall, I ventured out one afternoon to take photographs, and here are a few of them. The last picture shows 18 inches of snow on our patio table.

At the end of this blog, there’s a photo that Fiona sent me, showing two feet of snow.

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Nearly three weeks after the cold spell began there are still patches of snow lying here and there, and, particularly on pavements, hard-packed ice makes walking difficult.

For three days last week there were no buses running in the Kirkintilloch area, and none at all in our village for most of the week. We managed to keep our house reasonably warm, but in some places people were without electricity or gas.

Jean was reminded of this Glasgow verse -

Winter has came, the snow has fell,
Wee Josie’s nose is froze as well,
Wee Mary’s nose is red and skintit,
Winter’s diabolic, in’t it?

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I like this painting by an unknown artist -



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The New Year is a good time for new ideas, new plans, new beginnings. I’ve been re-thinking my blogs and am making some changes.

80 plus will become an occasional blog appearing on Thursdays every so often.
The Pre-Raphaelite site will come to an end next week, when 80 paintings will have been collected.
With the exception of Christmas and New Year week-ends, Quiet Corner will continue on Mondays, A Touch of Culture on Fridays, and Wise Men Say daily.
And a new weekly blog The Poetry Path will start on Wednesday 5th January. You can have a look at the website now at -
http://thepoetrypath.blogspot.com

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I was delighted to discover this YouTube presentation of “Ding Dong! Merrily on High.” It has been expertly devised by Tom Roush.

Now for the two feet of snow . . . . . . . .



BEST WISHES TO EVERYONE FOR CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW YEAR

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THINKING ABOUT CHRISTMAS PAST

Christmas in the 1930s was very different from the Christmases of today.

In Scotland Christmas Day was just like any other working day, with offices, shops and factories open as usual. Hogmanay and the New Year were much more important, New Year’s Day being a general holiday.

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

We children of course became very excited as the big day drew near. I remember that the living room in our tenement house looked wonderful, with paper decorations round the walls and across the ceiling. I mentioned in a earlier blog that my sister Rita doesn’t think we got many presents. I seem to remember that we did, but memory can play tricks and I may be thinking of one particular Christmas.

Each year we went to the Sunday School party where we played the usual games and Santa Claus handed out gifts to us all. I don’t think people had Christmas trees in their homes in those days, but there was always a beautifully-decorated tree at the party.

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 across a huge teddy bear, taller than an adult. As we passed it, our father shook its paw and said “How d’you do?” Its head fell off and rolled along the floor. We left it where it was, and hurried into the next corridor!

On the Sunday nearest Christmas Day, we sang the usual Christmas hymns in church, but there was no tree and no decorations.

It wasn’t till the late 1940s that Scotland began to make more of Christmas. Perhaps the change was due to our servicemen coming back to civvy street, having experienced how Christmas was celebrated elsewhere. This was certainly the case in our church when the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols was introduced, but I think it was some time later that services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were begun. I remember one local minister telling me that he went to bed at ten every night, and he had no intention of changing his routine!

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Thanks to FreeFoto.com for this topical image

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I was surprised to see that Edmundo Ros, the Latin-American band leader, celebrates his 100th birthday this month.

Born in Trinidad, he moved to Venezuela where he joined the army as a musician. After demob, he became a member of the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra where he played tympani. He came to London in 1937 to further his classical career, but the attraction of popular dance music was too strong. He was drummer/vocalist with Don Marino Barreto’s Band, before forming his own 5-piece rumba band.

The group was an instant success, and they became resident at London’s Bagatelle Restaurant, the famous venue popular with members of the Royal Family. In 1951 he bought the Coconut Grove, named it “The Edmundo Ros Dinner and Supper Club” and it’s said that only people whose names were in “Who’s Who” were allowed admission.

He retired in 1975 and moved to Spain. In 2000 New Year’s Honours List he was awarded the O.B.E.

This is one of his great singles - a lovely arrangement of Melodie d’Amour. As always with Edmundo’s vocal, every word is clear.



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Tomorrow on A TOUCH OF CULTURE - Poetry to make you smile
http://atouchofculture.blogspot.com

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This is the flag of Scotland - the St. Andrew’s Cross, also known as the Saltire.

Various stories relate that in the 4th century a number of St. Andrew’s bones were brought to a Scottish monastery, located where the town of St. Andrews now stands. In the mid-10th century he was made Patron Saint of Scotland, and November 30th is St. Andrew’s Day.

He is also patron saint of Ukraine, Russia, Rumania, Patras in Greece, Amalfi in Italy, Luqa in Malta and Esgueira in Portugal.

I was interested to discover that relics of the saint are said to be kept in the Basilica of St Andrew’s in Patras, Greece, in the Duomo of St Andrew in Amalfi, Italy, in the Church of St Andrew and St Albert in Warsaw, and also in St Andrew’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh.

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The Scottish thistle has been the emblem of Scotland since the reign of Alexander III in the 13th century.

The story of how this humble plant acquired such an honour goes back to the feuding between Scotland and Norway. It’s said that one dark night an invading army of King Haakon’s men were stealing up on a camp of Scots, hoping to surprise them. One of the Norwegians in his bare feet stepped on a thistle and let out a cry of pain. This alerted the Scots and the attack was repelled.

In 1470, when James III was on the throne, the thistle appeared on Scottish silver coins.

It seems that not everyone admires the Scotch thistle. In some parts of America it has been declared Public Nuisance No1 and was said to be “an noxious and annoying little Scottish weed.”

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Scotia’s thistle guards the grave,
Where repose her dauntless brave;
Never yet the foot of slave
Has trod the wilds of Scotia.

Free from tyrant’s dark control -
Free as waves of ocean roll -
Free as thoughts of minstrel’s soul,
Still roam the sons of Scotia.

Scotia’s hills of hoary hue,
Heaven wraps in wreathes of blue,
Watering with its dearest dew
The healthy lochs of Scotia.

Down each green-wood skirted vale,
Guardian spirits, lingering, hail
Many a minstrel’s melting tale
As told of ancient Scotia.

Wake, my hill-harp! Wildly wake!
Sound by lee and lonely lake,
Never shall this heart forsake
The bonnie wilds of Scotia.

Others o’er the ocean’s foam
Far to other lands may roam,
But for ever be my home
Beneath the sky of Scotia!

(Henry Scott Riddell 1798-1870)

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Now, on a lighter note - a Scottish joke.

Jock had been in the pub all day and at closing time he found it impossible to stay on his feet. A couple of men managed to get him to the door and he assured them he would be all right. However he kept falling down and the only course open to him was to crawl home. Keeping as quiet as possible, he crept upstairs. His wife was sound asleep and he succeeded in getting into bed beside her. When he awoke next morning, his wife was already up and dressed. “So ye were drunk again last night?” she said. "What makes ye say that?" he asked. "Because that was the pub on the phone. Ye left yer wheelchair there again!"

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Finally, this video compiled by "glasgow1234" has some great pictures to accompany an instrumental version of "The Flower of Scotland."



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Tomorrow on A TOUCH OF CULTURE
Johann Sebastian Bach with a difference!!!

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Yes, this is me! My daughter Fiona has named this photo “Happy Dad.”

I REMEMBER when I was very small I was afraid of the black-faced coalman who used to tease me about a girl in the next close.

I REMEMBER the lamplighter with his long pole. I thought he had a great job.

I REMEMBER that every so often buskers would appear in our back-court and sing one or two songs. Housewives would open their windows, throw down coppers and the singer would move on to the next tenement. Sometimes one of them would play a tin whistle or do a dance, and I’m told that before the First World War German bands toured the country entertaining in back-courts.

I REMEMBER the horse-driven vans which visited our street, and the occasion when the horse which pulled the baker’s van fell down. Someone sat on its head as it lay flat on the street, while the baker undid all the belts and straps. Only when that was done was the animal able to get up, unharmed.

I REMEMBER message boys on bicycles. They were usually employed by food shops, and they had the job of delivering what housewives had ordered.

I REMEMBER that in the wintertime we went to school wrapped up in layers of clothing. Boys always wore caps and short trousers; in those days we had to wait till we were 15 or 16 before we got long trousers.

I REMEMBER the old lady who lived in the top floor. It seemed to me that she always wore the same clothes, a long dress down to her ankles and a shawl. Half a dozen times a day she would climb down the stairs with an overweight Scotch terrier under her arm. She would let it wander around the back court for a few minutes and then retrace her steps.

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Last week my Eighty Plus blog was mentioned on the Clifford James website
http://www.clifford-james.co.uk/blog/rambler-blogs/
This is what the reviewer said:-

“John keeps us regularly updated on life, the universe and everything in this witty blog. This is a great blog to while away the odd ten minutes, as there is always something thoughtful, informative or entertaining to keep you amused, like his quirky animal photos or his amazing You Tube finds.”

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No, neither the baby or the cat are related to me! I found this picture on the net

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The other day I saw an advert for a CD called “The Songs that Won the War.” A bit over the top?
Still, I don’t think we can exaggerate the importance of the songs we sang then, and particularly the ones that were written with the war in mind.

Many of them played a big part in boosting our morale - We’re goin’ to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line, Kiss me goodnight Sergeant-Major, Roll out the barrel, Bless ‘em all, and many, many more.

But there were others, much more serious, in which the words reflected something of the concerns and hopes that people had in those terrible times. Here are the lyrics of two songs from 1940. Even today I still find them very moving.

There are two eyes, such blue eyes a’smiling at me,
Yet they’re lonely as only a woman’s can be,
For I see all her thoughts are somewhere -
Somewhere in France with you.

And she’s talking, she’s talking of no one but you,
She’s so proud, oh so proud of the things you will do,
I can see all her love is somewhere -
Somewhere in France with you.

And when your letters come, they bring a smile, a tear,
Each one a sweet souvenir,
Only one of a million who’ll never complain,
For she knows that the sunshine will follow the rain,
Every beat of her heart will always be
Somewhere in France with you.

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My sister and I remember still
A tulip garden by an old Dutch mill,
And the home that was all our own until -
But we don't talk about that.

My sister and I recall once more
The fishing schooners pulling into shore,
And the dog-cart we drove in days before -
But we don't talk about that.

We're learning to forget the fear
That came from a troubled sky.
We're almost happy over here,
But sometimes we wake at night and cry.

My sister and I recall the day
We said goodbye, then we sailed away,
And we think of our friends that had to stay,
But we don't talk about that.

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And now here’s a song which looked forward to the time when peace would return -



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A few weeks ago, when I was preparing to write about Hallowe’en for A TOUCH OF CULTURE, I was reading about old Scottish superstitions and I found that people who lived in the County of Fife had their own ideas of what brought good fortune or bad luck.

This was of particular interest to me because my ancestors came from Fife; the earliest was born there in 1698.

Many birds and animals were thought to have supernatural powers, and there were charms associated with some insects.

A bee in the house foretold the arrival of a visitor, and it was unlucky to chase the bee out; a bee landing on your hand was a sign that riches would be yours.

A mixture of ants’ eggs and the juice of an onion placed in the ear was said to cure deafness.

And ladybirds brought good luck.

Some birds were not welcome; when the cries of the widgeon or the plover were heard, people took that as a warning of impending disaster. Others which were believed to be unlucky were the lark, the lapwing and the curlew.

Not all birds were feared though; to see a wren was a good omen and, if a swallow built a nest on your window sill, you would prosper.

Human ailments could sometimes be cured by animals; it was believed that cattle in the stable at Bethlehem breathed on the baby Jesus to keep him warm, and, because of that, the breath of a cow could cure consumption.

Of course, like all other parts of the country, Fife has its share of fishermen’s superstitions. Women, clergy and lawyers brought bad luck; on a ship it was unlucky to sneeze or to whistle; Friday sailings had to be avoided, for witches chose that day to roam the seas.

There were two other days when it was unlucky to begin a voyage - the last Monday of the year, for that was said to be the day on which Judas hanged himself, and the first Monday in April the day when Cain killed Abel.

I like this story about the village of Auchtermuchty.

The inhabitants were well-known for their strong religious beliefs. This annoyed the Devil and he determined to win them over. Disguised as a Presbyterian minister he arrived one day and set up his pulpit in the village square. His eloquence was beginning to have an effect on his listeners, when a man in the crowd noticed two cloven hoofs below the speaker’s long black robes.

When the man cried our a warning, the Devil flew up in the air and vanished, never to return.

Hence the old saying - you can never get anyone from Auchtermuchty to heed a sermon!

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I had a birthday last week, and I was looking again at a newspaper which was published the day I was born. Here’s a list of some of the products advertised, with the cost in today’s currency.

20 cigarettes - 5p
Gallon of petrol - 8p
Wool cardigan - 25p
Silk stockings - 31p
Pair of shoes - £1.20
Gent’s 3-piece suit - £2.00
Lady’s coat - £3.15
Lady’s watch 18ct gold - £3.50
Wardrobe, dressing table and small chest - £21
New car - £200.00

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“The Way We Were” - this video was compiled by “whirlingtamthebam.”



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SOME BLOG NEWS

Because of increased interest being shown in my Pre-Raphaelite site, I’m planning a second series. Beginning on Tuesday 23rd November, I’ll be adding a painting to the blog every day. The address is -
http://myownselection.blogspot.com

My other blogs will continue - A Touch of Culture on Fridays, John’s Quiet Corner on Mondays, Eighty Plus on Thursdays, and Wise Men Say daily.

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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 11TH

Something different this week -

when surfing the net, I often come across great pictures. I always like the ones of animals and birds, and I'm sure those I've chosen will appeal to you.

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Tomorrow 12th November on A TOUCH OF CULTURE - A Visit to Kyoto
http://atouchofculture.blogspot.com

                                     Planes, Trains and Automobiles

                                                      PLANES

In the early 1930s it was a rare occurrence to see an aeroplane flying over. If one did appear, we children would stop our games, gaze up to the sky and chant “An aerey-plane, an aery-plane!”

A few years later we had the opportunity to see planes in the air and on the ground, when Sir Alan Cobham’s Air Display came to a field just outside our town. What excitement! There were stunt pilots performing all sorts of clever manoeuvres, including looping the loop, the falling leaf, sweeping down to pick up a cloth on the ground, and walking on the wing. I envied the children who went “up in a plane” that day.

But my turn came later. We were on holiday at Prestwick when small aircraft were making short flights from the sands. I’m not sure if my father enjoyed the experience, my mother watching from the prom certainly didn’t, but needless to say, I did!

The plane shown here is similar to the one we flew in.

                                                      TRAINS

Travelling by train was always exciting for children in those days. Many folk who worked in Glasgow used the railway rather than buses, and there was a frequent service from our town.

When we went on holiday it was by train. A few days before we set off, a railway lorry would call to collect our luggage, usually a big hamper, and, when we arrived at our destination, our hamper would be there waiting for us.

I can remember the excitement as we waited on the platform for our train to appear. The engine seemed to be enormous, and the tremendous hiss of the steam was really quite frightening.

There were no corridor trains on any of our journeys, and that can be a problem for excited little boys!

There was a downside to rail travel however. Smoke and soot from the engine could penetrate the carriages and you could arrive at your destination with a black face!

Thanks to FreeFoto.com for this photograph.

                                                AUTOMOBILES

At that time there was very little motor traffic in our town. Most vans and lorries were horse-driven and there were very few cars.

Car engines had to be started by means of a handle inserted at the front of the radiator. On each side of the vehicle, stretching between the front and the back wheels, was the “running board” which you stepped on when boarding or alighting. There were no indicators of course, and the driver had to use certain hand signals to show his intentions. And of course there was the horn which produced that honking sound!

I presume car brakes weren’t all that reliable, for I often saw cars, parked on an incline, with a brick placed in front of the nearside front wheel.

Taxis were rarely seen. I imagine they were used only for weddings and funerals and I’m pretty sure that on such occasions most people would walk.

There were fire engines of course, but I don’t remember seeing police cars, though there was the "Black Maria", a big black vehicle that took you off to jail if you misbehaved. And there was another vehicle from which we hid - the dreaded “fever van.”

Thanks to FreeFoto for this picture of a 1915 Vauxhall. You’ll notice the spare wheel at the driver’s side.

This video shows scenes of a motoring club outing in the 1930s.
 

 
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A TOUCH OF CULTURE No.6 online tomorrow Friday 5th November -
“Remembering Yehudi Menuhin”
http://atouchofculture.blogspot.com/

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