My mum, Ina, when she was about 60, wrote an account of her childhood, 'Ina's Story' which I have posted here. Later in her life she wrote more about Newburgh in Scotland where she spent her summers in the late 1940s and '50s. The rest of the year she was at boarding school in Swansea while her parents were away as missionaries in South America. She wrote two later pieces about her Uncle George and Auntie Edie who she stayed with in Newburgh those summers. Here is what she wrote about George and next up is what she wrote about Edie. The piece she wrote about Uncle George was for his son George junior, my Mum's younger cousin. There is some repetition from her previous childhood stories but also new things. And her earlier accounts of Newburgh mention things about George and Edie not mentioned here.
My uncle was always a summer uncle. That is when I saw him, - in August.
There were two uncles. One was the working uncle. He wore a flat cap, a white shirt usually with sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and a waistcoat. He would have a full-length apron on often, a beige colour. He would be down in his workshop on the shore [LM, by the Tay] and be back home at 12.00 pretty well on the dot. When he had had his dinner he would lie on the sofa which he had made and Agnes has used in Glenrothes [LM, Agnes is one of my Mum's younger sisters, who now lives in Glenrothes, not far from Newburgh in Fife where George lived]. It was beneath the radio that he built into a niche in the wall. His dog would jump up and lick his face. Uncle would sleep while we washed up, and maybe with the radio on too. Then up he would get and cap on off to work again. Sometimes he would have to go somewhere to get timber or look at a job and make an estimate. If he asked us to go we were over the moon. We loved riding in the trailer and waving to everyone – totally forbidden nowadays. But your Mum never wanted us to go [LM Ina is talking here to George junior about Edie, George senior's wife]. She always said she needed us. This meant really that she was a very social being and wanted company I think. We would be waiting to see who would win and sometimes we did get to go. We also went sometimes with him when he took the bees to the heather or brought them back.
And sometimes we would go with him to a breeder. He would leave a dog there or pick one up after its mating. We also went down to the shop from time to time and saw him with his apprentice and machinery – all quite awesome. The smell of sawdust and timber always reminds me of him. There were also his goats and we would be with him from time to time for milking and sometimes they would escape from grazing at the shore and someone would come to the house and we would have to go and try to find them.
He had been married twice before he married Edith. We never met Jean – apparently she died from a weak heart. But we met Auntie Chat – Charlotte Aitken that was, sister to Meg. She was very thin and demure as I remember. But she died soon after we met her. They thought she was pregnant but it turned out it was cancer of the womb. I don’t remember that we ever went there from school for the holidays while she was there. So Auntie Izabel came to look after Uncle and us when we were there. He met your Mum at the Faith Mission. He attended conferences, conventions and meetings run by that organization. He loved singing and had a strong, tuneful voice. I think one of his favourite hymns was Great is Thy Faithfulness and I can still hear him thundering it out and also All that Thrills my soul is Jesus and And can it be that I should gain ……… They both loved singing and they shared this interest. He could play the organ a little but she was more proficient I think.
We were there when A E [LM, Auntie Edie] came for a visit and Auntie Izabel had laid tea in the front room. As tea finished Uncle suggested a walk up the hill. We jumped up excitedly – “no, not you", he said. I think that is when he proposed to her.
As for the other uncle he was the Sunday one with smart three piece suit and homburg. We had to polish his shoes on Sunday till they shone. And we adored him so we loved to do it. He would shave in the kitchen in front of the mirror at the sink and he used a strap and he looked great when he was finished. He could be quite playful and when he had his brush full of soap and we were close enough – and of course we wanted to be! - he would use the soapy shaving brush on us. He was a great tickler too. He had a confident and firm manner. He was a deacon and elder of the church. He was well known in the community and highly regarded. He liked listening to Chapel in the Valley on Sunday morning – I think it was a service with singing. He also listened to The Old Fashioned Revival Hour, an American religious programme again with a lot of singing. Sometimes we would go into the front room and sing round the organ. He always went to the prayer meeting on a Wednesday night. He read occasionally, usually books by religious people, I think. But I always felt that he didn’t go much on education. He thought you should toil with your hands and learn skills by experience and book learning was not that important. That is what came over to me, anyhow.
He liked playing draughts and chess. He had rheumatic fever one summer and George Melville came most days, I think, and played with him. He was not allowed out of bed. I presume that is what affected his heart – the fever not the chess! He also used to complain a lot of heartburn and regularly swallowed soda bic and Andrews liver salts. I think he had an ulcer.
He ruled. Having married a strong woman there were tempests from time to time. One big argument was about you having your hair cut. You were adorable with blond curly hair but he thought it was time you looked more like a boy. Of course your Mum felt it would be the end of your babyhood and she resisted it and was in tears when you were shorn.
He adored sweet food – puddings and the like. And while we ate mince he would sometimes be given a nice piece of steak or lemon sole.
He also loved action and adventure. He was a volunteer fireman and I well remember when the factory went on fire and we went down to watch as he was up a ladder in the smoke etc. and we waited in fear. I also remember being with him in the car and him seeing rabbits and opening the car window and shooting at them out of it. He loved driving fast. He loved driving. Your Mum always said that he never had angina problems when he was driving. He felt very relaxed.
Sometimes he took us to the Perth show and to a circus on the Inch. Great adventures for us and for him too, I think, and the Tattoo of course.
He loved begonias, the big blousy kind. He had them in his greenhouse and tomatoes of course and grapes. All very exotic to us. He was something of a lateral thinker. When they acquired a fridge there was no room for it so he devised and added the verandah just for the fridge. When they acquired a radio he knocked a hole in the wall and installed the radio. When they needed more accommodation he built on the blue room out on the roof. Very popular that room. Then he built one hut for an office and then another where Grandpa slept.
He was a very physical presence but as illness took hold of him and business wasn’t so good he shrunk. I was older by then and didn’t see him so much. Beth, Agnes and Ruth would be staying there while nursing and on days off [LM, Ina's sisters who were all nurses]. Beth had the most to do with him at that time. Your mother took on a variety of jobs then to keep them going. I am lucky because I remember him as the strong, confident man. He was loved by children and dogs – and I suspect by women. He got on well with men but didn’t belong to any group or society other than the church. [LM, George died in 1962 aged 59.]
All this is as far as I know. My memory may also be inaccurate. Other things will doubtless come to me later. Suffice it to say I remember him with great affection.
This photo is of George with Ina on the right and older sister Beth on the left.
Related Posts: Ina's Story, Newburgh, On Newburgh Again, and on Auntie Edie.