Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

The times that we were ‘outside the house’ having our boys’ adventures became some of the most memorable experiences I had as a child. We were not simply ‘outside the house’; we were living different lives. All of this was possible because there was little police presence in the village. In fact, I think there was only one policeman at the time – Bobby Tawes. He used to cycle around the village on his bicycle.

Semi-legal activities

This gave us the opportunity to participate in various semi-legal boyish activities. We did things such as incendiarism (arson), re-appropriation (theft), and pure vandalism (having fun). We even had armed warfare such as fistfights, wrestling, gun fights, bows and arrows, catapults, slingshots, mud wars, and so on.

Boys like us had our own version of torture such as punishing boys not in the ‘gang’; we call them ‘sissies’, fat boys, those who wore spectacles, ‘mummy’s boys’ and so on. We ‘nettled’ them, tied them to a stake, defiled them, or ‘scalped’ them by cutting off their hair. Another example is trespassing (for re-appropriation) by raiding farms for eggs, fruits, and vegetables; we loved ‘occupying’ derelict houses and raiding old army stores. I won’t mention the ‘unmentionable’ because I may include them in a ‘special edition’, ha ha :-).

Girls’ Adventures

This was the life for the children of my generation following the ‘outside-the-house policy’. The exception to this rule, of course, were girls; they were encouraged to stay as near to the house as possible if they were outside playing. They were not necessarily under ‘house arrest’, but their freedom of movement was restricted. Despite the fact that it was us boys who were the real ‘criminals’, it was the girls that were tagged like ‘criminals’; it was as if they had ‘mental’ electronic tagging bracelets restricting their movement too far from the house. At least, this was my personal experience in Culcheth, Lancashire, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. 

Girls were not included in gangs, dens, biking trips, and other activities; however, that was not because of any exclusion from the boys, but because of their parents. The girls, themselves, were also not usually interested in playing with boys. Even in school playgrounds, where the sexes were mixed, the children seemed to unconsciously adopt a system of ‘sexual apartheid’; they often excluded the other sex from their games.

Boys’ Adventures

For example, few boys showed any interest in skipping, an activity that girls often enjoyed during break time. In fact, if you were a boy and started skipping, you were called a ‘sissy’; ironically, skipping is, and has always been, a part of the work regimen of male professional boxers. This segregation was encouraged by teachers and parents. Girls were not allowed to play soccer, and boys didn’t play hockey. 

Before I recount all our adventures, perhaps as a short bonus, I will include a short story that didn’t include me, yet clearly shows the type of stories to come.

I remember that my elder brother Alistair led a gang of boys on a thirty mile trainspotting bike trip to Crewe, which was a railways’ hub in the gateway to North England. Annoyingly, he made sure I didn’t come along because I was too ‘slow’ for the trip. In fact, he asked the other boys to all spurt at the beginning of the trek to leave me behind! But I have forgiven him.

Despite missing this one, we have had several adventures along the years that made up for it. Not only that, but my exclusion from the ‘bike marathon’ inspired me to execute ‘bike marathons’ later in life. As of 2022, I have a Merida ‘gravel racer’ hanging from my ceiling in my apartment in Oslo. I just can’t ‘park’ it outside as it is too valuable. It cost me more than $2000, although I bought it at a reduced price of $700 – second-hand).