Separately from her notebook containing 'Ina's Story' about her childhood, including one part on Newburgh where she spent her summer holidays as a child, my mum wrote, much later I think, about Newburgh again, specifically 37 High Street. Her and her sisters went to a boarding school in Swansea spending summers in Newburgh with their aunt and uncle while their parents were away being missionaries in Peru. I think this was written for her sisters and other family. Here is what she wrote.
37 High Street. Bit players 35 and 33 High Street
In 1942 Charlotte Speed bought this property. She must at this time have been married to George Speed [LM, Ina's uncle, her dad's brother], but how long she had been married to him and whether they lived somewhere else first I don't know. Her connection with Newburgh was that her family home was there. The photograph of her and George is taken in her aunt's house in Edinburgh it says on the back. [LM, I'm not clear what photo is being referred to here, maybe one Ina had sent to her relatives]. He did his apprenticeship there I believe. Her maiden name was Aitken and she had a sister, Meg, and their house was at the bottom of Scott Close. The house was on the right and their orchard of plum trees was on the left.
George's brother, William (Bill) [LM, Ina's dad] returned to Scotland from Peru at the end of the war and met his older brother's wife for the first time and George met William's wife, Ruth, for the first time. William and Ruth had three daughters by then - Elizabeth (Beth), Christina (Ina) and Agnes. George had no children but some time later it seemed that Charlotte was pregnant. However sadly it turned out to be cancer of the womb and she died. By this time William and Ruth had returned to Peru. Agnes went with them as did their newly born, Ruth. George became the guardian of Beth and Ina although they were in a boarding school in Wales.
Every summer Beth and Ina travelled up to Newburgh to stay for a month with their uncle and guardian. At that time George's father and mother with daughters, Izabel and Maud, lived at Raemore. This is en route to Auchtermuchty down a road called The Glasserts. George senior was the tenant farmer. When Charlotte died Izabel looked after the girls in Newburgh in the summer and did things for her brother too. Her sister, Maud, married and Izabel had the care of her parents from then on, and when her father fell off a haycart or haystack and later had pneumonia they all left the farm and went to live in Newburgh at 35.
Until then 35 had been rented out but it was also the property of Charlotte and therefore of George. In my early visits Mrs. Reid and her daughter, Wilma, lived down there. Wilma married. I think her married name was Henderson - she worked in the chemist across the road for many years. When George, the farmer, and his wife and daughter left the farm number 35 was vacated by Mrs. Reid.
Probably about 1949 George, the owner of 37, married again. He married Edith Mark (known as Auntie Edie to us girls) who had been a Faith Mission pilgrim. He met her when attending meetings that she was leading. It was important to him that she was a practising Christian as he was a member of the Baptist church in Newburgh and a deacon and elder subsequently. They both loved singing and were strong personalities. She was Irish. She also participated in the affairs of the church until she was 80 and left to live in Skye. She organized women's meetings and outings etc. Meg Aitken could not accept her and showed animosity publicly but she continued to invite Beth and Ina to tea once annually during the month that they spent at 37. Beth and Ina were extremely worried that this new aunt wouldn't want them for their summer month. But she did and used to say when they arrived "Happy days are here again" and when we were returning she got quite tearful.
In 1950 George and Edith had a son, George. Edith must have been about 40. There was a daily routine where father George went to his shop on the shore where he was a joiner and came back at 12.30 on the dot for lunch and forty winks, lying on a sofa to the left of the fireplace where he had installed a huge radio in an alcove that he gouged out there. He always had dogs as has his son. So did Edith, and one of the sorrows of her life was when her Great Dane, Hector, ran down the outside steps and into the road in front of a vehicle. If the steps were as they are now that probably would not have happened. From time to time George took dogs to shows and to breeders and he also had bees and would take them to the heather and in the summer the kitchen became for a short time a honey extracting and bottling plant - along with everything else that was going on! He had tomatoes, grapes, and begonias in the greenhouse but wasn't a keen gardener otherwise. The green was just used for hanging the washing really. He also had goats which he kept in a small shed at the shore but they were put out to grass on the shore during the day. We assisted with milking and bringing the goats in from time to time. George was a volunteer fireman and was off like a shot at the slightest whiff of smoke.
Edith was a great cook and in that very small space beside the sink she made divine pastry. She also made coffee walnut cake which I have continued to enjoy but never as much as the one that she baked. Every Saturday night we made trifle so that not too much cooking would have to be done on the Sunday. Her Yorkshire puddings were to die for as they say nowadays. Never been bettered anywhere. I learned little bits of cooking by observing and helping. That was the only cooking I ever learned. The rest was from books and trying. We all also had allotted tasks, dusting being one. We always started at the mantelpiece that is still there and worked around the room.
As well as gouging out the space for the radio George added a verandah to take a fridge. This hung over the washroom. And then he added the blue room, a small room which was used for many purposes. He also constructed two sheds. Grandfather George used one as a bedroom. His wife predeceased him. As a teenager George junior had fun and frolics with his mates up there.
When Agnes was 9 she returned from Peru by ship and joined her sisters at school and on their annual holiday to Newburgh. Then William and Ruth returned again and when they went back to Peru Ruth junior remained and joined the exodus to Newburgh in the summer although by then the older sisters were on the cusp of leaving school. Beth, the oldest, continued to stay in the house regularly during nursing training in Glasgow and working at Bridge of Earn hospital until she finally went to Brazil. Other nurses from Bridge of Earn also lodged there. George developed heart trouble and died at the age of 59 in 1962 and Edith had to do what she could to make a living. She did Bed and Breakfast for a while using the downstairs bedroom and the front room was for lodgers' use too. (In fact the front room was rarely used by the family. Sometimes there would be a singsong round the organ.) She loved having people around. She fostered children from Glasgow but it was a double-edged sword. She was so upset when they had to leave. She also nursed two people that I know of who were terminally ill in the bedroom opposite the bathroom and also had a birth take place in there. George junior had attended Newburgh school but subsequently got a job in Skye and married there and remained there.
In 35 there was another occupant. Izabel's sister Nan had a son, Kenneth, and he had spent most of his time at Raemore and lived at 35 until the time of his marriage. He now lives in Dunning and has done for a long time. Izabel brought him up and he rarely saw his mother. He was sent as an evacuee from Dundee to the farm and remained there and subsequently in Newburgh. Kenneth and his wife and children continued to visit every Sunday and it was the high point of the week for Izabel and Edith. They were by now living one in each house but there was constant up and down and sharing meals etc. For a time Izabel's sister, Nan, had come to live with her when her husband had died and her children left home. In 1979 she died very suddenly in 35, sitting on a chair with a grandchild on her knee.
Agnes and her family stayed for lengthy periods at various times and her daughters attended Newburgh school also. Ina stayed during student days and worked in the linoleum factory and they all had experience of going to the berries and picking potatoes. Ruth was married from 37 although the ceremony took place in Glenrothes. Finally their parents returned and rented a part of 33, the downstairs rooms. They rigged up a connection so that they could communicate instantly with 37. They both ended their days in 33, Ruth in 1988 and Bill in 1991.
Izabel died quite suddenly one Sunday morning in July 1981 in her own home at 35. That house was ideal for her because she could see the world go past. Both Edith and Izabel used the shops as cupboards. They went out every day to do shopping. We found this quite difficult, the constant nipping out for each item. But we came to realize that it was a social exercise. Although by then Edith had seen many friends and relatives die she was very sad when Izabel died. They were very different but had lived closely together through many experiences. The house continued to have a family connection for a while. Kenneth's son, also Kenneth, lived there with his partner for a short time. The house was renovated to some extent.
George and his sister Izabel are buried in a plot in Newburgh cemetery. William, Ruth and Nan (Agnes) are buried in a plot nearby. George senior and Christina are buried in Auchtermuchty with her parents and three sisters. Edith is buried in Portree cemetery in Skye. She died in 2002.
37 was a place of refuge.
It was a hive of activity.
It was a meeting point.
Unforgettable!
35, 37, and 39 Newburgh High Street taken by me in 2018 on a pilgrimage back to Newburgh with my son
33 High Street also taken by me in 2018
See: Ina's Story - Introduction and Contents