Glengarry: soft, usually military, cap
Graham’s Dyke: the Antonine wall, renamed for the first man/clan over it
greetin’: crying
guising: trick or treating at Halloween
handsel: to make a gift of silver (coin) to a new baby to bring it good fortune, usually by tucking it into the foot of the pram, after pressing it into its palm. Can also apply to the tradition of bringing a gift to a new house for luck
haud yer wheesht: be quiet (in a sharp tone)
haunless: useless, handless
hauns: hands he has been here before: often said of babies who look wise at birth
hen: term of endearment, as in ‘dear’ or ‘pet’
het up: excited
Hielanman: literally ‘Highland man’ or ‘Highlander’. The railway bridge outside Central Station in Glasgow is still called ‘The Hielanman’s Umbrella’, as it gave shelter from the rain to travellers arriving in the city from the North. There are shops on the street underneath it that became a meeting place for migrants to the city after the Highland clearances
high-falutin’: high-handed, snobbish
hoik out: to pull out, usually harvesting potatoes
(the) house: loose term meaning ‘where I live’
ILP: Independent Labour Party
it’s past laughing once the heid’s aff: literally ‘it is past laughing once the head is severed’; you can’t bolt the stable door after the horse has bolted
Jock Tamson’s bairns: a saying meaning ‘we are all brothers and sisters under the skin’, probably derived from John Thomson’s tenements for workers near his Glasgow shipyard
(to) keek: to peek
ken: know (as in the German kennen)
Lallans: Lowland Scots language
lassie: girl
let that flee stick to the wa’: let that fly stick to the wall; don’t stir up trouble
like sna’ aff a dyke: to melt like snow off a wall; to disappear (first)
(the) loodest bummer’s no a’ways the best bee: the bee that hums (bums) the loudest isn’t always the hardest worker
MacCaig: Norman MacCaig, the poet (1910–1996)
mair: more
maist: most (as in the German meist)
man wi’ a ba’ heid: a man with a bald, or ball-shaped, head
maukit: dirty
messages: errands/shopping
mind: remember
muckle: great or big; used as emphasis in the same way as ‘very’
nae: no
neeps: turnips
nippy sweetie: a sharp-tongued woman or nag who says things that are hard to swallow.
nous: common sense (also English)
‘opened the window to let his soul go’: old Scots tradition at time of death
Ossian: reference to The Works of Ossian by poet James Macpherson, published in 1765. He claimed to have translated epic poems by the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill from the original Scottish Gaelic, but there was debate as to their authenticity
peched out: out of breath, especially after running or exercise
peely-wally: pale
pernickety: fussy or particular about things
pinny: apron
Piskie: Episcopalian
(Edinburgh) press: a built in cupboard with a wooden door
puir: poor
save your breath to cool your porridge: be quiet, wait until there is something important to say
scrieve: write
scunnered: exhausted
shoogling: rocking (a pram), or swaying/swinging (as in the German schaukeln)
shoosh: quieten down
SHRA: Scottish Home Rule Association
skinnie-malinkie/skinny-malinky: very thin
skite: slip
skiving: shirking
skivvy: servant/slave
slainte mhath (Gaelic): cheers, literally ‘good health’
slater: woodlouse
smoor: to damp down a fire before going to bed, often with peat
sook: suck
Sorley/Somhairlie (Gaelic): Sorley MacLean, the poet (1911–1996)
sough: breath. Also keep a calm sough: keep calm by slow, regular breathing
(the) stair: the common stair to the flats, called a ‘close’ in Glasgow
stooshie: fuss/commotion.
stour: dust (similar to the German Staub)
stramash: conflict/fight
tapadh leat (Gaelic): thank you
tattieboggle: scarecrow
tatties: potatoes
thole: put up with something
thrawn: disapproving
tumshee-heid: idiot, literally ‘turnip head’
until a’ the shadows flee awa’: until all the troubles of the world pass in the light of Christ (grave inscription)
wabbit: pale
wee: little or small, also ‘young’ if applied to a child
(a) wheen: a little less
widdershins: anticlockwise; it is considered unlucky to go anticlockwise round something
(the) willies: fearful, spooked out or uneasy
yon: that
Glossary of German phrases
Anschluss: German annexation of Austria
auf Wiedersehen: goodbye
beruhigen Sie sich: calm down
bitte: please
das habe ich nicht verstanden: I didn’t understand that
Du bist immer noch meine kleine Zauberin: you are still my little sorceress/enchantress
ein Deutschsprecher wohnte hier, nicht wahr?: a German speaker lived here?
eine Rodel: a sledge
ein Held der Schotten: a Scottish hero
ein Kipferl?: a Kipferl? (small, crescent-shaped biscuit like shortbread, but thinner)
eins, zwei, drei: one, two, three
er ist nicht besser als ein Tier: he is little better than an animal
er will Soldat werden?: he’s going to become a soldier?
es ist auch für Dich gefährlich, wenn Ich länger bleibe. Ich soll doch weggehen, abfliegen: it is also dangerous for you if stay any longer. I should go, fly off
es lebe Ossian: Ossian lives. A reference to James MacPherson’s heroic poems, published from 1760 onwards, which inspired German writers and composers, including some of Schubert’s Lieder, and a character in Wagner’s opera Die Hochzeit (Wikipedia)
es mach nichts. Hände hoch!: it doesn’t matter. Put your hands up!
es tut mir leid: I’m so sorry
Gauleiter: area leader
Grüss Dich: hello, literally ‘greetings to you’ (familiar)
Grüss Gott: formal hello, literally ‘Greet God’
Herzlichen Dank, meine kleine Zauberin: heartfelt thanks, my little sorceress/enchantress
‘Hier auch Lieb und Leben ist’: There is life and love here too. Auf dem See, ‘On the Lake’, poem by Goethe (1749–1832). Goethe Selected Verse, Ed. D Luke, Penguin Books Ltd., Middlesex, 1981.
hören Sie auf. Sie hat nein gesagt: stop. She said no
ich bin gegangen: I went
ich bin Österreicher: I am Austrian
ich bin schon verheiratet: I am already married
ich friere: I am freezing
ich meine: I think/believe
ich möchte aufstehen: I would like to stand up
Kino – komme gleich wieder: cinema – back soon
kleine Schottin: little Scots girl
Komm bald wieder: come back soon
Komm der Tag: come the day (literal translation of the phrase in English)
Krieg macht Angst: war creates anxiety
Kuh: cow
Liebe: Dear (at the beginning of a letter)
Liesl, Hast Du Kinder?: Liesl. Do you have children?
Mädchen: girl
Mann und Frau: man and wife
mein aufrichtiges Beileid: My sincere sympathy/condolences
meine Frau ist wunderschön, nicht wahr?: my wife is beautiful, isn’t she?
mein Liebling: my darling
noch etwas?: anything else?
Prosit: cheers
Schatzi: (my) dear; literally ‘treasure’
schon wieder Waffenlos: defenceless again
schön: beautiful
schöner Spaziergang? Unser Gast ist schon angekommen: good walk? Our guest has already arrived
setzen Sie sich: sit down
Sieg Heil: Nazi salute, literally ‘Hail Victory’
Sie können dort oben bleiben. Ab morgen bin ich weg. Sie sind nicht der einzige Gefangener in dieser Stadt: you can stay upstairs. I am going tomorrow. You are not the only prisoner in this town
Universität von Edinburgh? Professor?: University of Edinburgh? Teacher?
unsere Kühe sind braun: our cows are brown (Scots: Oor coos are broon.)
vielleicht gibt’s noch Zeit dafür, wenn alles vorbei ist?: perhaps there is time when this is all over?
waffenlos: weaponless, defenceless
Wappen oder Zahl?: Heads or tails?
wer sind Sie?: who are you?
wie geht’s (Dir)?: how are you?
wo ist Dein Mann?: where is your husband?
wollen wir uns duzen?: shall we use the familiar form of address? (ie. Du as opposed to Sie)
wunderbar/wunderschön: wonderful
Author’s note
The real events of the 1940s are used as a framework to support the story in this book, but it is a work of fiction. Some of the novel’s characters are inspired by real people, but they are fictionalised portrayals and their names have been changed accordingly. One of the main characters, Douglas Grant, was inspired by the real-life Douglas Young, who was leader of the Scottish National Party from 1942 to 1945 – the name has been changed to reflect the fact that the character of Douglas Grant is a construct of the author’s imagination.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Clara Young – Douglas Young’s daughter – for her kind permission to base this fictionalised account of Scotland in the 1940s on her father’s correspondence and papers held at the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, and to partially quote from it.
Thanks to the staff at the National Library of Scotland, and at the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection in Edinburgh Central Library.
The story is indebted to John MacCormick for his account of the SNP AGM in 1942 in Shandwick Place in The Flag in the Wind (Chapter 16, Birlinn, 1955, 2008) It is re-imagined here.
Thanks also to the Scottish National Party for permission to use their publicity from 1942, and to Milton Pharmaceutical Ltd for permission to quote their advert.
Finally, thanks to Judy Moir, Dilys Rose, Allyson Stack, Alan Warner, Sara Hunt and Craig Hillsley.
Historical notes
Some of the real events referred to in this work of fiction occurred at a different time than stated in the text:
Police searches of the homes of SNP members took place in 1941, but it is presented as being 1942 in the case of the fictional Jeff McCaffrey.
Rommel attacked Tobruk in Libya on 20th June 1942 and then invaded Egypt on 1st July 1942. It is implied to be earlier in June in the book to demonstrate the anxiety over Rommel’s advance.
The Bethnal Green Tube disaster took place in March 1943, though it occurs in 1942 in the book (The Scotsman, 5/3/43, Central Library, Edinburgh).
The body of the Venerable Margaret Sinclair was only moved to St Patrick’s Church from Mount Vernon Cemetery, Edinburgh, in 2003.
The Scottish National Dictionary Association was formed in 1929 to compile a dictionary of Scots language. It was edited by William Grant from 1929 to 1946, and then by David Murison from 1946 until its completion in 1976.The researcher Jeff McCaffrey in this book is entirely fictional and the dictionary referred to should not be understood to be the Scottish National Dictionary.
Sources
Manuscripts
Douglas Young Archive, Acc. 6419, Boxes 6, 7, 43, 44, 86, and The Free-minded Scot (Douglas Young’s Defence, 1958.11), National Library of Scotland (NLS), Edinburgh.
SNP conference Bulletin, June 1944, Acc. 7.110, NLS, Edinburgh.
SNP leaflets and publications, Acc. P.med 3500–3505, NLS, Edinburgh.
Primary works
Finlay, Richard J, 1944, Independent and Free, John Donald Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh.
MacCormick, John, 2008, The Flag in the Wind, Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh, (1955). A special debt to Chapter 16 for the account of the Annual Conference in Edinburgh, 1942.
Mitchell, Mrs JH, undated, War-Time Cookery, Thomson and Duncan, Aberdeen.
Robinson, Mairi (Editor), 1987, The Concise Scots Dictionary, Aberdeen University Press, (1976).
Young, Clara and Murison, David (Editors), A Clear Voice, Douglas Young, Poet and Polymath, MacDonald Publishers, Loanhead, Scotland, (post-1974). Copyright: Douglas Young Memorial Fund.
Publications
Scots Independent, July and August 1942, Central Library, Edinburgh.
The Scotsman Archive, 1942–1947, Central Library, Edinburgh. (See especially: ‘Nationalist Chairman, Case of Mr Douglas Young’, The Scotsman, page 3, 21/7/42.)
Notes
I have quoted or paraphrased text from Douglas Young’s correspondence to keep a flavour of his and his correspondents’ lively way of communicating. Some information with regard to the legalities of his appeal and the Annual Conference is also quoted from sources.
page 1: Letter from JS Hardy (signature illegible), Manse of Logie, to Douglas Young, 5/3/42, re: ‘you are ignorant of how keenly mothers and fathers suffer on their children’s behalf’ and ‘buckle on the armour’ and ‘puir old Scotland’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 2: Letter from Douglas Young to John MacDonald, 5/3/42, re: ‘MacCaig exam’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 3 (I could hear Mr Grant saying…): Handwritten notes on ‘Report of the Royal Commission on The Court of Session and the Office of Sheriff Principal, 1927: ‘Douglas Young describes Act of Union as an Anschluss’. Folder 1, Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 4: Letter from Douglas Young, Meikle Cloak, Lochwinnoch, to Helen, 18/5/42, re: ‘…the shades of Barlinnie are not yet to close about me…but no doubt I shall end up there sooner or later for a space’, in response to her letter of 24/3/42, re: Barlinnie as ‘Bastille’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS. Same letter: ‘the skeleton case knocked together the night before can be fortified.’
page 5: Letter from friend of Douglas Young, 27/5/42, re: citing Dumfries Proclamation in defence. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 6, see also page 140: Letter from Douglas Young, 3/12/42, re: Somhairle MacLean and An Cuilithionn translation into Lallans. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 7: ‘Internal Differences come to a Head’, Scots Independent, July 1942, (this report on the SNP annual conference lists the venue as Gartshore Hall, not Shandwick Galleries, as stated in John MacCormick’s The Flag in the Wind).
pages 8–9: Account of SNP annual conference drawn from John MacCormick, The Flag in the Wind, pages 102–107.
page 10: Letter from Douglas Young, 2/6/42, re: ‘tired of MacCormick and his caucus’, paraphrased by character of Jeff. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 11: Letter from AC, College Bounds, Aberdeen to Douglas Young, July 1942. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 12: Advert for Milton, The Scotsman, page 3, 22/6/43 (or 1942?).
page 13: Douglas Young to Mr McNeill, 5/7/42, re: ‘Sheriff ultra vires in view of the statutes of 1369 and 1371. The 1707 Treaty never gave him more authority than he had before.’ Folder 2, Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 14: Letter from Douglas Young to Miss Lamont, 7/6/42, re: ‘Scots Army under Scots control’ (see also SNP Conference resolution, 1937, to refuse conscription by non-Scottish Government). Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 15: ‘The Two Stirlings’, Scots Independent, July 1942, re: Councillor Duncan and the baillies.
page 16: Paraphrase of report on SNP s
pecial conference, Stirling, The Scotsman, page 2, 29/6/42, re: split in party
page 17: Letter from JL Campbell, Isle of Canna, to Douglas Young, 3/6/42, re: ‘This exportation of Scottish female labour to England under conscription is a case in point’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 18: Article by Douglas Young in the Scots Independent, August 1942, re: defence of Scotland.
page 19: Letter from Douglas Young to Deorsa, 27/6/42, re: police agents in crowd at Bannockburn rally, ‘… there were several police men and about five detectives – including the London Chief of the Political Police…’ Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 20: Letter from Douglas Young re: prison work as a ‘garden party’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
pages 21, 22, 23, 24: Theognis: information sourced from Box 86, Acc. 6419, NLS, and quoted from Wikipedia.
page 25: Letter from Douglas Young to David Murison, 7/12/42, re: ‘no supplementary diet’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 26: Letter from Douglas Young to Deorsa, 31/3/43, re: ‘HM Guesthouse’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 27: Scots Independent, July 1942, report on SNP annual conference: ‘For too long Scotland had faced both ways…’
page 28: Text re: Darwin and Darwin’s Rhea, label in Edinburgh Zoo, 2011, and Wikipedia, 2011.
page 29: Letter from HGA, Meikle Cloak, Lochwinnoch to Douglas Young, 14/9/42, re: prison visit/Edinburgh Zoo, ‘I gave half your slab of chocolate to a big polar bear and a wee monkey’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 30: Account of ‘Holidays at Home’ rally drawn from The Scotsman, page 3, 13/8/42. 10,000 children attended!
page 31: ‘No species is an island’, Darwin quoted on sign, Edinburgh Zoo, 2011.
page 32: ‘A Clear Voice’, page 76, account of march organised by ‘Dr Robert MacIntyre, Secretary of the National Party’. Hugh MacDiarmid was present.
page 33: Salutation at end of all Douglas Young’s letters: ‘Yours aye for Scotland’. Box 6, Acc. 6419, NLS.
page 34: Argument re: National Services Act of 1939 from The Free-minded Scot, NLS.
pages 35, 36: Douglas Young statement to the Scottish People, Scots Independent, July 1942, ‘Quislings in Scotland/To the Scottish People’.
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