The ‘greetings telegram’ says, “Winning score Hearts 2 United 1 from Girl Ethel.” It doesn’t mention the wedding, although it is obviously for that. My father was an RNVR officer working on the ship,8 “Girl Ethel”, before he first met my mother.
One of the other telegrams in the scrapbook also makes the jest of “Hearts 2 United 1”. My father’s family in Edinburgh lived at various addresses near the Hearts football club; he was a massive supported. Consequently, this witticism may have been particularly amusing to him.
In fact, he was born at 134 Gorgie Road; it was literally a stone’s throw away from the Heart of Midlothian Football Club. If he had opened the window of his house on a Saturday afternoon at 3 pm, he would have heard the roar of the crowd at the stadium.
8 “Girl Ethel” was actually more like a ‘boat’. According to my younger brother Gavin, my father insisted on calling it a ship.
Related Posts
Large Dinosaurs and Slow Reaction Times
I would like to discuss the 'dinosaur' nature of national governments. My elder brother Alistair once told me that if…
The Burnt Hand and Arm Conundrum
This is the start of the tales on pyromania, starting with my father's tale based on rumours of a burning…
Class Journey
Without sounding like a cliché, women in the mid-twentieth century were defined by their men. A woman could use her…
One Reply to “Telegram from “Girl Ethel””