No.2

This card was sent to me by the Sunday School of the church my parents attended on my first birthday in November 1926.

The Christian Church didn’t always approve of observing birthdays and the rejection of celebrating them continued right down to the 4th Century. So many customs and traditions had their roots in paganism and that was the case with birthdays. 

An article from the German magazine Schwabische Zeitung in April 1981 explains that the origins of celebrating birthdays “lie in the realm of magic and religion”. It continues - “The custom of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating, complete with lighted candles, in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year.”

Both the Romans and the Greeks believed that everyone had a spirit who attended the birth and watched over him or her for life, and birthday celebrations were partly in honour of that guardian angel or spirit. There was a special significance about sacrificial fire and lighted tapers, which explains why we have candles on our birthday cakes today.

Were birthday parties common in my childhood? I don’t think so, for I can’t remember my sister or me having any or going to any. The only children’s party I recall (apart from those held by the Sunday School) was one which our Aunt Frances had for her piano pupils, and all I can remember is that I refused to join in a kissing game and went in a huff.

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In the 1970s my parents had a caravan at Callander and we have happy memories of holidays and week-ends in and around the town.

In November, 2008 Jean and I spent an enjoyable few days there, and were glad to find that much of Callander remains the same - the River Teith with the swans and ducks, the mound where Margaret and Fiona used to sit playing their guitars and attracting the attention of interested boys, the main street with the big Dreadnought Hotel, numerous gift shops and cafes. And of course looking down on the town, there's the imposing Ben Ledi with a little snow on its summit.

Some things have changed of course - the church with the tall steeple is now a Rob Roy museum, the Ben Ledi café is now a fish and chip shop, and the little sweet shop where we bought "soor plooms" is no more.

We were most fortunate in choosing that particular week-end, for up till then the weather had been continuously bad, and just the week before our visit there had been quite a bit of flooding when the Teith overflowed.

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I don't think many folk will know the identity of the man pictured here. And, if they find his signature legible, may still be wondering.

He was a top Scottish comedian in the 1920s and into the earlier years of the 30s. TOMMY LORNE was born Hugh Gallagher Corcoran in Kirkintilloch in 1890.  For his act he wore white make-up, boots that were too large, a jacket that was too short, a Glengarry and a very short kilt. I would be about 10 years old when he died and I remember the day of his funeral when he was buried in the local cemetery.

Quite a few artistes from our town became famous. The singer Moira Anderson was a young girl when she joined The Kirkintiloch Junior Choir, a group of singers who become popular on the radio and at their concerts  around the country. Two other professional singers had been choir members - Patricia Purcell who joined Sadler's Wells in 1961 and Joan Summers was another singer who made her name in the operatic world. One of the boys in the choir Alasdair Graham became a concert pianist. I remember him - a little pale-faced boy who seemed to spend all his time practising and any time I passed his house there was always the sound of scales and arpeggios.

ALASDAIR GRAHAM

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Q - WHEN IS AN EGG NOT AN EGG?  

A - WHEN IT'S DRIED

During the Second World War there was a shortage of fresh eggs and the government tried to solve the problem by introducing dried egg powder. The public were not at all keen on the idea and the Ministry of Food began a publicity campaign. 

Dried eggs are the complete hen's eggs, both the white and the yolk, dried to a powder. Nothing is added. Nothing but the moisture and shell is taken away, leaving the eggs as wholesome, digestible and as full of nourishment and health-promoting value as if you had just taken the eggs new laid from the nest.

Yes, it sounds all right, doesn't it? However, a great many folk weren't convinced. Margaret and Fiona won't be surprised to learn that I couldn't tell the difference!

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P.S. Fiona was looking through the website of our local newspaper today and found a reference to the operatic singer Patricia Purcell mentioned above. I was astonished to find that I was the accompanist when she sang at a church concert in Lenzie. I have no recollection of that. I suppose at that time she was just another singer.

THE NEXT UPDATE HERE WILL BE ON

SATURDAY 11th MARCH

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