Tuesday 24 August 2021

Memories of Edinburgh

 

PRINCES STREET - EDINBURGH

Princes Street is the main shopping street in Edinburgh. In the forefront you can see Princes Street Gardens and in the background, right up the hill overlooking the city, is Edinburgh Castle. 

There was a program about Edinburgh on TV and it set me thinking back to the times I was there. 

It's funny how sometimes, a photo, or a piece of music, a smell even, can take your mind back to times gone by, to your childhood even, and the memories come flooding by.

I was in the garden telling our tortoise about my childhood the other day. It sat there listening, or sleeping. I don't know which.

I had a happy childhood. We were not very rich. You know, we did well though. Do you remember hand-me-downs? Did you have that when you were young? Parents would pass on good clothing from their elder children to the younger ones. The old child would have grown out of the clothing and instead of giving them to charity you would pass them to a younger child.

I hated going to school in a dress. Worse still, having the name Helen embroidered on my blouses.

To stop being bullied I learnt self-defence. A cousin taught me karate. I got very good at breaking a brick by hitting it with my hand. You had to concentrate, shout "Hiiaaah!!!" and hit the brick hard with your hand in a chopping motion. 

One day on my way home from school the bully attacked me. He beat me up and did not give me a chance to use my karate skills. As I lay there on the ground bleeding from cuts in my face, I saw a brick. There was the opportunity to get my own back on the bully. He'd never expect that. I got up. Shouted "Hiiaaah!" and broke the brick in two.

I persevered with my karate lessons. Also, in the evenings I went to wood-working class. I wanted to be a carpenter.

I became very very good at karate. I was confident of being able to defend myself. One day on my way home I met the same bully. Now was my chance to really defeat him. I offered to build him some shelves. We became friends after that.

I also remembered, and told the tortoise, about my interest in magic as a child. I wanted to be a magician. A neighbour of ours was a part-time magician. He came to our house and taught me tricks. He tried to teach me how to make a rabbit appear out of a hat. We didn't have a rabbit, so he used one of the newly-born kittens instead. Unfortunately, he was allergic to cats and his hands swelled up. That was a trick in itself!

Days later, when he healed, he came back to teach me the same trick. He did not use any of the kittens.

Have you ever tried to get an Alsatian out of a hat? Our dog bit him!

He tried a ventriloquist act with a parrot on his shoulder. He would talk and the parrot would respond; not for real - ventriloquist like!

Unfortunately, the parrot bit his ear and would not let go!

I gave up learning magic. And karate. And wood-work.

But it was a very happy childhood. Great memories.

Which brings me back to Edinburgh. You often see bagpipers playing various Scottish tunes on Princes Street. They wear their full costume with kilt and so on and they play the bagpipes. People put money in a box by their feet.

I was in a hotel on Princes Street. Very expensive! I was really tired from the night before and wanted to just lay in bed. It was ten in the morning and the bagpiper in the street below started playing. Great as the sound of bagpipes is, you don't always welcome it. I tried to cover my head with the pillow. I could still hear him.

In sheer desperation, I got up, got dressed and went down to confront him.

"Tell me my good man," I said, "how much roughly do you make in an hour playing here?"

"On a good day," he replied, "about £15!"

"Here's £30. Can you now shut up and let me sleep?" I said.

31 comments:

  1. ...hand me downs were a way of life in our family!

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    1. It's a shame "modern" society now no longer practices hand-me-downs. Everything should be new. Over here people change their cell-phones for a new model every year on average.

      God bless, Tom.

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  2. Yes, a song or an aroma can take me back....some days I spend more time in the past than in the present.

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    1. Sometimes we see the past as rosy.

      God bless, Kathy.

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  3. Those are some crazy childhood memories, Victor. :) I do remember getting hand-me-downs from my cousins, and I never minded wearing them. Love bagpipes, too, but only at the proper time of day.
    Blessings!

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    1. It really is nice to hear the bagpipes on Princes Street. Through the whole length of the street, (perhaps a mile long), you can meet three different pipers at various intervals.

      God bless, Martha.

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  4. Dearest Victor,
    Your tortoise is very lucky in hearing all your stories!
    Yes, my First Communion dress was a hand-me-down from my older first cousin. Well, not really, it was just lend out for that very day...
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    Replies
    1. First Communion dresses can be so lovely. And the suits for the boys too. Wonderful memories of a very special day.

      God bless you, Mariette.

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  5. Being an only child and thousands of miles from family, the only hand-me-down I ever had was borrowed: The Baptismal gown my grandmother sewed for her 4 children and passed down to theirs. We were lent it for my son's christening, but I've no idea what became of it after that.
    Glad you gave up woodworking, etc. and began writing instead!

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    1. It was traditional to have baptismal gowns handed/loaned from one generation to the next. I remember being told my baptismal gown was handed down from someone or other.

      I wish I were a better writer.

      God bless you, Mevely.

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    2. I didn't realize that was a tradition! I'd love to know whatever became of the gown, but the only cousin who would know, she and I have been estranged since 2016. (Over politics, what else.)

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    3. I remember being told that baptismal gowns are kept clean to pass on to the next baby in the family.

      Maybe ... Maybe ... it's time to pray for that cousin ... and contact her again.

      God bless you always, my friend.

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  6. Not hand me downs cause my older sibling was a sister. I refuese to wear anything that showed, mama said then wear the bloomers. OK
    LOL
    Enjoyed the visit hope the bag pipe player didn't' come back the next day.

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    1. A lot of families used to pass on hand-me-downs to their children. The piper was there the following day as I was leaving Edinburgh for down South.

      God bless, Jack and Sherry. Praying you're feeling better.

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  7. I wore hand me downs. I loved them, because my older sister’s clothes were so well Cared for. They didn’t look used when I received them. I felt a little sorry for my younger sister, because she could not have said the same for my hand me downs to her. Oh well, different strokes for different folks. God bless, Victor.

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    1. It is always so for the third child. They have double hand-me downs. Life is so different today though. People are encouraged to buy new all the time.

      God bless you always, Nells.

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  8. Hehe, $30! I'd say you got the good deal.

    We weren't well off in the least. But at the time, I did not realize that.

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    1. At least for £30 I got to get some sleep.

      God bless, Susan.

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  9. I was an only child but got hand me downs from my cousins.

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    1. Yes, that used to be the case in many families in them days.

      God bless you, Happyone.

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  10. One of Uncle P's jokes was that he wore hand-me-downs and it got to be embarrassing when he grew taller than me. He says his skirts were so short men wolf-whistled at him!

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    1. A great sense of humour, no doubt. Fond memories of childhood.

      God bless, Mimi.

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  11. Just reading your title made me smile and think of my Dad and his homeland. I was hoping I'd get back there again {it's been half a century!!} ... but with all that's happened and continues to unfold, it's looking less and less likely.

    And that makes me sad.

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    1. Scotland is a wonderful place. Really worth visiting again if you possibly can. Edinburgh holds many memories for me.

      God bless, Linda.

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  12. Your stories sometimes feel like walking in a great circle. Eventually you end right back where you started.
    Your humor and story telling ability are amazing!
    Blessings!

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    1. I have to walk in a great circle because the tortoise was not moving at all. She just sat there. I doubt she was even listening. No one listens to me.

      God bless you, Lulu.

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  13. My friend Frog is a piper. He makes a few bucks playing, mostly weddings and funerals. His wife hates when he practices, but on the plus side there are no rodents or bugs in his house...they can't take the sound either.

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    1. How lovely to know someone who plays the bagpipes. I hope you enjoy them, JoeH, and you encourage him to play. Such a wonderful instruments. I prefer the bagpipes to the piano, because you can't play the piano whilst walking up and down on parade.

      God bless you and Frog.

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  14. Love your last three lines :)
    I remember hand-me-downs, after Mum left home with my siblings, I had hand-me-downs from the neighbour children instead of my sister. I didn't care as long as I had clothes. My own children had hand-me-downs too, from older cousins and from secondhand shops until they were old enough to want what the other kids had, but even then we didn't have a lot of money to spend and they understood.

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    1. Hand-me-downs don't seem to be in fashion any more. People always want new; or go to charity shops. Here's a trick. Hand over old clothes to the charity shop. They'll clean them and put them for sale. Go back and buy them. Cheap[er than paying for the cleaning yourself.

      God bless, River.

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