Frank Barron
Hello Frank,
this is fantastic! I can hardly believe what I am reading here!
I just sent a post off about being a bit homesick after
reading Auld Bob's post about Dunfermline. (Up The Pars!)
I lived at 189 Sir George Bruce Road. I can't remember
how the numbers ran.
The Driver family lived in the first house near the bus stop
near "the main road" That is what we kids called the
main road back in 1963 when I was about 14. I will
have to look on the map to see what it was called.
http://uk.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=30
3000&Y=689000&scale=10000&width=500&height=300&grid
e=&gridn=&coordsys=gb&db=&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&ke
epicon=true&advanced=
Further along were Dalrymples, Stewarts Mcmurdos and Herds
and we lived between the McBeths and McConnichies just
where that little branch runs up to the cul-de-sac.
Amongst those names, where were you Frank?
Sandy Herd got a job as an apprentice fitter and turner
at Rosyth dockyards when I was still at Inzievar secondary
school. If we had stayed in Scotland I would have followed
him. I might have met up with Auld Bob at the Dockyards.
Who Knows! heh heh heh....
I was just mentioning Carneil Hill to Auld Bob, wow
this is great. I remember the wars involving The Hill.
Groups of kids marching around "Who wants a war"
till the chant came back from another bunch of kids
"We want a war" What daft games! heh he he....
Coofling (sp) The Burn that ran alongside Burnside Terrace.
Bob will correct me on the spelling of that word, meaning
a bunch of kids playing a game of jumping backwards
and forwards across difficult areas of the creek untill
some kid fell in and got wet. What a daft game to
play on the way home from school.
Did Wullie Zool the local farmer still deliver the milk
back in 1966? I remember Stenhouse the travelling
grocery shop built into an old bus. "Sten Ass" he
used to cry out. I think his depot was a place called
Gowkhall. What an unfortunate place name. Ha ha ha...
You will see it all on the map, Frank.
Now I have got a double dose of homesickness!
Looking forward to hearing from you Frank.
Regards,
John Crighton
Sydney
kindess regards
frank
I did know Sandy Herd. While I was training I did six months maintaining the
lathes and other machines in the Bays, (workshops).
>
> I was just mentioning Carneil Hill to Auld Bob, wow
> this is great. I remember the wars involving The Hill.
> Groups of kids marching around "Who wants a war"
> till the chant came back from another bunch of kids
> "We want a war" What daft games! heh he he....
>
> Coofling (sp) The Burn that ran alongside Burnside Terrace.
> Bob will correct me on the spelling of that word, meaning
> a bunch of kids playing a game of jumping backwards
> and forwards across difficult areas of the creek untill
> some kid fell in and got wet. What a daft game to
> play on the way home from school.
>
> Did Wullie Zool the local farmer still deliver the milk
> back in 1966? I remember Stenhouse the travelling
> grocery shop built into an old bus. "Sten Ass" he
> used to cry out. I think his depot was a place called
> Gowkhall. What an unfortunate place name. Ha ha ha...
> You will see it all on the map, Frank.
>
> Now I have got a double dose of homesickness!
> Looking forward to hearing from you Frank.
>
> Regards,
> John Crighton
> Sydney
>
Small World John<G>
--
Aefauldlie,
Auld Bob Peffers,
b...@peffers50.freeserve.co.uk
http://www.peffers50.freeserve.co.uk/
---
Aa ootgannin screivings maun hae nae wee beasties wi thaim..
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.525 / Virus Database: 322 - Release Date: 09/10/2003
Knew one of the Beveridges from that airt too. Served an apprenticeship with
him.
> MACINTOSH
> When i was about 6 or 7 we moved shools from the old holy name to the
> second hand inziervar school, my god it had grass .
> I have just spoken to my mam who informs me that the drivers dad was
> called tam the mam was called onna and there was a son named john
> .ring any bells?
> my head is reeling from all this dredged up information ,but i will
> remember more please keep in touch my e mail is
> frank....@ntlworld.com
>
> kindess regards
> frank
--
Hello Frank,
Yes, I do remember Joe Divito and his ice cream van, it
was "him" that put me off ice cream cones for ever.
As a 9 or 10 year old walking back from the village of
Carnock to the village of Oakley. I was about midway
betwwen the two villages, open fields on either side of
the road. The ice cream van pulls up and old Joe jumps
out and has a pee against the wheel of his van, then
I see him later handing out ice cream cones.
The old fellow did not wash his hands. Hygiene aside,
he was a kind old soul though.
Funny thing, here in Sydney, the law that allowed men
to pee against the offside rear wheel of a wagon, in
public, has just been cancelled by Sydney City Council.
The TV newsreader had difficulty maintaining a straight face
as he read that item. When I heard that I laughed as it
brought back memories of Joe Divito the ice cream man.
Now I know where your house was Frank, what I was
calling a cul-de-sac was really a small square when I
come to think of it.
The families you mentioned.
I rang up my mum in Adelaide to ask if she could
remember. She remembers the Blacks only in that
group of houses. A Robert Black was in my class
at school but he lived in a Pre-fab behind the Co-op.
not in your area. I remember being pally with
Derick Saville and there was a MacIntosh family
in Burnside Terrace. Oldest boy was Thomas.
Beveridge does ring a bell with my mum but
we can't pull any more out of the memory banks.
Tam Driver, I remember, as he took an interest in
my model aeroplanes. His wife and son I can't
remember.
My mum was in a Scottish country dancing group in
Oakley and she was friendly with the postmistress,
Hetty Currie who was in the group also. They still
keep in touch. I saw Hetty briefly in 1973. Your Mam
would have known Hetty for sure! Now there is a
funny thing, back there in Oakley, I called my mother
Mam or Mamie also, since comming here I cant remember
making the change to calling her Mum. Frank, you have
got my head reeling with little bits of odd memories also. :-)
Yes I would like to see your photos Frank, that would
be great.
Regards,
John Crighton
Sydney
>> Sandy Herd got a job as an apprentice fitter and turner
>> at Rosyth dockyards when I was still at Inzievar secondary
>> school. If we had stayed in Scotland I would have followed
>> him. I might have met up with Auld Bob at the Dockyards.
>> Who Knows! heh heh heh....
<snip>
>I did know Sandy Herd. While I was training I did six months maintaining the
>lathes and other machines in the Bays, (workshops).
<snip>
>Small World John<G>
>--
>Aefauldlie,
>Auld Bob Peffers,
>b...@peffers50.freeserve.co.uk
>http://www.peffers50.freeserve.co.uk/
Hello Bob,
It certainly is small world. Sandy was a couple of years
older than me and we drifted apart when he joined the
adult work force. He was a bit moody and huffy when we
were kids but he probably changed a lot when you met him.
I am still trying to remember the Beveridges, my mum
remembers the name.
This word coofling or coofiling, meaning jumping the burn.
What is the correct spelling on that one Bob? Perhaps it
was just a local Oakley village word amongst kids?
Regards,
John Crighton
Sydney
> Don't really know the word, "cooflin", but I grew up in the Lothians so it
> could be local Fife usage. Their is a Scots word, "Coof", which has a loose
> connection. A, "Coof", is a simpleton, an incompetent person, a duffer or
> even a coward. It is one of those Scottish words that has no exact English
> meaning. Like, "Dreach", it needs more explanation than, "Dreary", to get
> the Scots meaning across. I suppose the guy that fell in was indeed a,
> "coof", so playing a game that exposed a coof would be cooflin.
We had a similarly stupid game in the late 50s at Wormit Primary School,
which involved jumping off an air raid shelter roof on to the grassy
bank of the football field opposite, but I don't remember it being
called anything in particular. The game came to a sticky end when the
Headmaster found out, due to a boy breaking his arm. Almost all the boys
in the school got the belt as a result, except for little goody two
shoes me, only because I hadn't been at school on the day in question.
------
Ian O.
--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG
<snip>
>> This word coofling or coofiling, meaning jumping the burn.
>> What is the correct spelling on that one Bob? Perhaps it
>> was just a local Oakley village word amongst kids?
>>
>> Regards,
>> John Crighton
>> Sydney
>>
>Frae Auld Bob Peffers:
>Don't really know the word, "cooflin", but I grew up in the Lothians so it
>could be local Fife usage. Their is a Scots word, "Coof", which has a loose
>connection. A, "Coof", is a simpleton, an incompetent person, a duffer or
>even a coward. It is one of those Scottish words that has no exact English
>meaning. Like, "Dreach", it needs more explanation than, "Dreary", to get
>the Scots meaning across. I suppose the guy that fell in was indeed a,
>"coof", so playing a game that exposed a coof would be cooflin.
>--
>Aefauldlie,
>Auld Bob Peffers,
>b...@peffers50.freeserve.co.uk
>http://www.peffers50.freeserve.co.uk/
>
Hello Bob,
thanks for that explanation, it sounds close enough for me.
When my relatives from Glasgow came to visit my family
in Oakley, my auntie would ask, " Why are you all wet
and mucky?"
Cooflin the burn!
"What sort of word is that?" she would ask.
"Don't these Fifers talk funny" the other Glasgow visitors
would laugh and jibe.
Thanks to you Bob, I can give my old aunty June who is also
in Adelaide a "you beaut" definition of cooflin. heh heh heh...
Regards,
John Crighton
Sydney
> The Divito's sold ice-cream all over the place. If memory serves they had
a
> family run ice-cream factory in Kennoway, (Or was it Windygates).
Or maybe even Crossgates :)
Cheers, Helen
I'm a Fifer, but I've never heard the word John. It may just have been an
Oakley thing:)
Since a coof is a coward, and nowadays someone who is a coward is called a
chicken, I'd say it's like playing chicken in North America. A test of
bravery? Some might say foolishness, but I'd never presume:)
Cheers, Helen
[snipped]
> Now there is a
> funny thing, back there in Oakley, I called my mother
> Mam or Mamie also, since comming here I cant remember
> making the change to calling her Mum.
In Scotland, when I was a teenager (70s), a change did occur
in what you called your parents. Mammie, might remain, mum
would be heard, as would maw, or even ma. But the tendency
was to move to use mither. By this time dad or daddy had
definately gone, absolutely uncool, among boys/men. It had
to be faither.
When referring to them when talking to others, the same
would be true, although quite often the terminology was
ma/the auld man and ma/the auld dear. Plural ma/the auld
dears, or mither and faither - not parents.
Strangely between me and my sister, when we refer to our
mither or faither then we use the word your. So I will talk
to my sister about her mither, even although she is mine
too.
Thomson
--
Thomson McFarlane
Tampere, Finland
Hello Helen,
When I took part in this activity with other kids on my way
home from school following the burn, there would be a leader
who selected a particular spot to jump. A kid who chickened
out and refused to attempt to jump would go to the back of the
queue. So I guess he would be the coof. Well there you go,
another childhood mystery solved. To me it was just a strange
word for jumping the burn.
Thanks again Helen and Bob.
Regards,
John Crighton
Sydney
> Hello Helen,
> When I took part in this activity with other kids on my way
> home from school following the burn, there would be a leader
> who selected a particular spot to jump. A kid who chickened
> out and refused to attempt to jump would go to the back of the
> queue. So I guess he would be the coof. Well there you go,
> another childhood mystery solved. To me it was just a strange
> word for jumping the burn.
> Thanks again Helen and Bob.
You're welcome!
Cheers, Helen