Old Men in Love
Page 32
44 Twelve of the following fifteen dated diary extracts are in words Prince published, but Tunnock shortened by removing many phrases about the beauty of Christ’s love and Prince’s evil nature and the sinfulness of the human soul. Three marginally noted entries are partly John Tunnock’s invention, but use phrases from other entries.
45 The last three 1836 entries are partly fictional, the dates wholly so. Tunnock synthesized them from events and phrases found in Dec 17th 1837, May 24th, June 1st, 2nd and 3rd 1838, Feb 17th 1839 of the published journal.
46 Tunnock has not given the date of this entry, nor have I found it in the turgid pages of Prince’s published journal. But Hepworth Dixon refers to the umbrella incident, so I have no doubt it could be found.
47 Many mystics have described this “dying to the self”. In Sartor Resartus Carlyle describes it as passing through “the everlasting No to the evelasting Yes”.
48 Dixon here makes the town-dwellers’ usual mistake of thinking the country as he saw it had always been like that. In 1867 it had been created by acts of parliament about sixty years earlier. An England where cultivated land was separated by commons (wildernesses where anyone could build a shelter, snare a rabbit, fish a stream, keep a beehive, graze a horse or goat) had been replaced by a countryside of densely-hedged fields and landed estates guarded by spring mantraps and signs saying TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.
49 Euterpean – a machine with revolving cylinders that played symphonies and opera overtures.
50 Frock here means Frock coat, knee-length and thinner than an overcoat, worn instead of what is now usually called a jacket.
51 The Abode of Love: a Memoir by Kate Barlow, issued by Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd, 2006.
52 These lines of the Bob Dylan song are misquoted.
53 Greek: enthusiasm.
54 The second policeman is a character in Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman.
55 Furor scribendi – Latin for writing fever.
56 This was Robert Lowe, Liberal chancellor of the Exchequer and wholly opposed to democracy in Britain
57 Outsourced is postmodern slang for run more cheaply in foreign lands.
58 This festival, was started by local town councillors and business people acting unofficially, helped by Michael Dale, former Edinburgh Festival Fringe organiser.
59 As editor I have been obliged to omit several of Tunnock’s remarks that I have been advised would make me actionable at law.
60 Since 2003 this building has been called the Oran Mor Arts and Leisure Centre.
61 Professor Moignard teaches classics in the University of Glasgow, does not drink in Tennants, but was Tunnock’s neighbour in Hillhead.
62 This day must be Monday 1st or Tuesday 2nd of January.
63 These words are misquotations from a song in Behan’s play, The Hostage.
A Note on the Author
ALASDAIR GRAY, born in 1934, is a painter certificated by Glasgow Art School. Unable to live by one art he became jack of several and Old Men In Love is his 19th book. In The Dublin Independent Lawrence Sterne says it will swim down the gutter of time with the legation of Moses and A Tale of A Tub. Says Urquhart of Cromarty in The Scots Magazine, Relish the cheese – like brain that feeds you with these trifling jollities. Dr Samuel Johnson in The Rambler writes, Never has penury of knowledge and vulgarity of sentiment been so happily disguised. Sidney Workman in the Epilogue says This book should not be read. In this blurb Alasdair Gray writes Old Men in Love is bound to sell well because everyone now feels old after 25, so all youngsters are interested in what comes next.
First published in Great Britain 2007
Copyright 2007 by Alasdair Gray
This electronic edition published 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
The moral right of the author has been asserted. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the Publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781408856376
Helen Lloyd’s secretarial work and research, Richard Todd’s draughtsmanship greatly helped this book. The view of Hillhead here is based on a drawing by Nicol Wheatley.
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