Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

Fatherly Love

As perhaps mentioned elsewhere here, my father was perhaps typical of the times he lived in. He worked hard (and sometimes drank hard!). But he rarely demonstrated much fatherly love or involvement in his family. This wasn’t so much the English ‘stiff upper lip’ but a Scottish reserve. But no doubt he must have felt pride on siring five strong and successful boys in their different ways.

In the post-war period, Britain had entered into the so-called ‘modern’ period – so that 2 or 3 children was the norm – not 5! His work colleagues on occasion satirized his virility, such as the following poem written by an unknown poet ‘Storky’ – probably a work colleague. Amusingly, this was a poem written about my birth, as I’m the fourth son!

Four brothers getting ready for bed

This sketch was also drawn by a work colleague of my father, which must obviously been done at a later point in time (perhaps between 1953-1957, when my father worked at Risley Atomic Energy).

I’m shown (at the bottom) brushing my teeth – so I must have been at least three years old.  

Alexander (Sandy), Stuart, Alistair and Gavin

My brothers were born between 1942 and 1958. In other words, there is quite a large age difference of 16 years between the oldest (Sandy) and the youngest (Gavin). I am the second youngest brother, so there is also quite a difference in ages between me and the youngest, Gavin, of nine years; and so is between me and the third eldest, Alistair, of four years.

In other words, I was the ‘baby-in-the-family’ for nine years; I lost this exalted position when my younger brother Gavin was born. I explain this difference in ages here because it meant that none of my brothers were natural ‘playmates’ as such, although Alistair was to some extent. Obviously, Gavin didn’t feature in the first nine years of my life because he wasn’t born.

Alexander

Perhaps it is best to start with first things first, with my eldest brother Alexander. We call Sandy for short – which suited him, as his hair was the colour of dark red sand. It was the same colour as that of our great grandfather, Roderick the Red. 

I reach into my Magical Memory Box and take out another certificate, Sandy’s birth certificate. It states that he is born in 1942³⁸, at 85 Queen Street³⁹, Dunoon⁴⁰, in the county of Argyll. This is an interesting piece of information as my mother and father stayed at this address for about four years; this was in connection with my father’s war service when he was stationed at Holy Loch as an RNVR officer and electrical engineer. As mentioned, during World War II the loch was a Royal Navy base. 

Stuart

Stuart was, like Sandy, born in Dunoon. Stuart was two years younger than Sandy and was born in 1944. As mentioned, Sandy was born in 1942. This was two years after my parent’s marriage; and, my mother told me that she started to live in Rannoch Cottage, Dunoon on her birthday, 21 May 1942. A telegram from my grandmother to my mother on my mother’s birthday 21 May 1942 corroborates this. 

In other words, before this, it seems possible that my parents did not live together after they got married because of the demands of war service. However, when she became pregnant this must have in one way or another been a catalyst for them moving into their first home.

Alistair

The third eldest brother Alistair was born just before the end of the Second World War in Sunderland. I reach into my Magical Memory Box again and extract Alistair’s Identity Card⁴¹. The Identity Card shows that he was living at 145 Ryhope Road, Sunderland, 5 July, 1945 (only two weeks) just after he was born.

But shortly after this, the family moved to my father’s house at 2 Chesser Loan, Edinburgh (14 July 1945). Exactly why the family were living in Sunderland or for how long is unclear, but it was not for a long period because they were living in Dunoon in 1944 and Edinburgh in 1945.

Ironically, Alistair supported the football club Sunderland, and he also bought his first house in Dunston⁴², Gateshead, which is not far from Sunderland (ironic in that he had no real connection with Sunderland except for his birth). 

Photos of the Successful Boys

Sources

³⁸ There is a lot of confusion here. There was talk of twins that died (before Sandy was born), but this is not corroborated. But the fact that my eldest brother was born roughly two years after the marriage date suggests some truth to this idea.

To add to this confusion my mother told me that her mother was one of two twins – and that that the other twin died. I haven’t managed to corroborate this. But perhaps more research could determine this? 
³⁹ Also called Rannoch Cottage.
⁴⁰ Of course, all this occurred before I was born. But while I was growing up my mother would often talk in nostalgic terms about ‘Dunoon’. Dunoon was a place I knew nothing about, but it seemed to acquire some mystical and romantic status in my subconscious. “Lorna Doone” was a 1963 British TV adaptation of the historical romance novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore.

The novel is set in a remote area of Britain. Comically, by some trick of the mind, I started to associate ‘Dunoon’ with ‘Lorna Doone’. 

⁴¹ The National Registration Act 1939 was introduced as an emergency measure at the start of the Second World War. The Act established a National Register and a system of identity cards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Act_1939 Date of reading: 4 Jan. 2022.
⁴² Dunston: Dunston claim to fame is perhaps the association with the talented English football player Paul Gascoigne who was living in Dunston when he moved from Newcastle to Tottenham for £2.3m in 1988.  https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45863268 Read: 10 April 2022.