TAPE No.1/ a Mrs FERRAIOLI 16th JUNE 1992 ✓ TAPE No.1/b Mrs J. McLAREN 30th JUNE 1992 TAPE No.2/a TAPE No.2/b TAPE No. 3/a TAPE No. 3/b TAPE No. 4/ a TAPE No. 4/b TAPE No. 5/a TAPE No. 5/b 9 \\�.-��5� �o� Mrs Mary BRYSON 161hJUNE1992 ✓ \'.) [ - \'5 and Mrs Nan DENT Mr. David BOYLE Miss Betty ROY Miss Betty ROY Mrs BRAID Mrs BRAID Mr. James M. ROY Mr. James M. ROY Pt-P\l 13th OCTOBER1992 ✓ 10th NOVEMBER1992 8th FEBRUARY1993 j 8th M ARCH1993 0 :-)r� Sov 'Mt l�1r0A r�YCL�� Q. Can you tell us what it was like a.NG where you ce:.me frol!.? h, L t1 Well, it was so tliffereE.t, eRtirely cl.iffereNt, collth1g froa a village 1il n'\ \>-u.� like Croy into Cwre�en1aulfii as a cOll•\tlete stramger a:c.e having mo friem�s. All you had- was you.r huslta1!J.tl amd his fa�ily. ·we weren I t lomg here a!!!.61 he was conscri ;;-.tecil at the age of 20 hi.to the Royal Cor,s Sigmals. That was iB 19�0. After that I got to b.ow Jeaaie Stevenson - she usecl to work in a baker's sho:p in the village - am.� then I got to know the Hwnter girls - twins - Isoiel amtl Mary - aBcl Margaret, she was a leeau.tiful simger, amcl then I got to kl!low Mina, Mary Bryson, aatt we all thea went akout. Whem I first went to Cm,;�ernauld it was in the Wyna1.. It was i:m. all!. attic, and r.;y hus\,anfll. worke�l with this ol� .1nan, old �aa Boycl, &n€1 it was hi.a who OWl!len this red �u.ilc� ing. It was just across from. the church, what they calle� the Free Church, ant every Sun�ay morniB/ this ding, e1ong hell going froB the church. It was a very, very, loliely life. 25/- was the 1�ension you. got. The quarterly remt c2..lllle in at 24/9r:1. unv1 I was left with sta"-:'fS. I took a lilUS to Cou,forrat, and I walked it back home to oEr o-wn home in Croy, crying my eyes out the whole way lr.ecau.se I ol'!ly hacl a J:'€1-ua.y. It was 2 then fro1, here to Concl orrat. My Mother gave .me a It-asket of 1'>.1essages and a poURd note ia the k,ottom of the 1.,asket to helf �e the rest of the week. She sent 11:y sister to stay with Me so that r-;1y sister faica. dig !:3oney. It always gave you that su.r�h�s it,o:ney when she �airl the � ig u.oney. � �.--ex�vO--u.., Q. Now, Betty,(can we have your version now? I came iia August 1941. My hus1fiane was d'er301glDed out of the aru1y ancl we came a.1111 we �ought this fish ancii chip shof €1own. the village. I was in that shop a long time. Q. f' Voice All the young ones used to cm<'e into �y shol!' kef ore they went oat on their cl ates, ancJ we hae'. a 9uke };ox with all the latest records, cmcl when they came 11-ack fro� their cates into sy sho� again they wouh1 start . laying the luke 1ox. I actually hacl to 1at a photograrh of �y nus1an� in his unifor� aiove the fish amct chif range �.ecause i:a those clays they were very ejudicea against &Ry stra1agers or foreigners in the village so after that they were qu.ite frienclly when they realised he hat1 �een in the ar.ftiy. Ee was Italian? Yes. His f ather was Italiaa, his mother was French. We stayeel in Glasgow, a.Nd we haa 'kleen im Glasgow all our 2f�ys and when we caJ11e out to Cum.�ernauld, I said that I would never stay here, it was such a i;arren place. We saiE1 we would never stay here six mouths, and. now I've �een here for 50 years. IC\ 4- \ - 53> I had a t erri'He tragecly in 1953. My hus1rnncl and I haE1 just newly got a new house u� Carrick Road, and he was determined he would clig the garden. He got tired and he saie:1 to �,e, "Betty, I think we will go to the :tictures tonight 11 • At that time there was a ficture hall clown the Main Street. You only paie coffers to get in. I think it was lip. It was a shilling to go utstairs. It was at the very lf-ottol'Ji of the Main Street. I think it usetl to ee an o lcl church at oB.e time. (J., rvl'v ·c)a-� t It was Baird's church, a:n<!J she had it as a zicture hall. It was wee "'- '- , y 0 n(L, \\ P<i> l'\,1:,./ 11 '\\ W',CAO\ � l.t, Willie Russell that ran the :?rojector. Maggie Bo¥e-ey came out with j her torch anel shone it. All the kids woulcl �e carryiag on. "I ken who it is. I'll tell your t-!other the morn." She came round with crisfS ancl ice-creait'i aud she would say, "Don't r-,ake a noise." So, we went ui.�stairs to the ·�alcony. We were sitting watching the filn\ The fiL'1l was qu.ite a sad film, funny enough. Hy husk.an.cl. had a 1ag of I'e/'�er�int sweeties and I had a hag of soKe other kint1 laecause I did n 1 ike his feF'f errsints. I turned round to hu. and s aid, 1 '1fould you like one of :;:y sweets?" and I heard a grunt. I said "What's the ��a.tter'? Have you fallen aslee·;l'?" Re was clea@l, si tting 'heside ffie. Vcice - - --- I still carried on the fish & ct.i:r sho1, and five rc:onths later MY wee koy was out flaying - they were rl2.ying cow1i;oys and Indians ane in the excite�ent of the ga�e he ran 2cross the street right u.ncler a �us. At that time the "l&uses caE-�e uf the ,· 1 1ain street. Ee lost koth his legs. Re was 5½ years of age, liut now he is uf, he's married and he has a wee girls of H,. ·He's made a grea.t__li� for hill'.!self. q. Was it different in those e:.ays with the :m.eigh�ourliness? Voice Oh, yes. When. they got to know you. Everyone knew one another. 1953 JJc.Y huskand died and ny son lost lt-oth his legs on the 9 Octoker the same year. Wherealtouts was the fish ancl chit sho!'. Down in the Wyne, No.5 in the Wyncl. - see where the ca,r 1ark is now, that was where 'fl!.Y sho� was. Q. Did you give u:y the fish and chir shof eventually. Voice No. I carried on for 25 years, along with w sons an<l my mother. I don't know ·what I would have done without 11�y »:.other, an.cl MY 1rothers They all helr,ed me �d I rnan&.ged it until 1968, and then r.1y sous were all up and were going out, Jates and all that sort of thing, so they hacln't tir<ee to helr with the chif shor, so I saicl "Thcct was it". One of your u:est customers, Eetty, usec� toke m.y son. Tliat' s right - a smokey fish s Ufll'er. Q. What w as a si:,;.okey fish sul!'per? It was u;.aele with SEJ.oked haddock. Voice Voice \\'U\-J F. n The first time I went to Canac."!a to see him., Betty said to �e, "You should have really got a s�okey fish su�per and taken it to Ca11ac1a - a smokey fish SUfrr and 8. !tag of chirs. In those clays there were evacuees out frofo Glasgow - Cly-'!e1N'mk, Paisley, and all down that area. Then tnere were the Italian prisoners of war. They usecl to come into the shop. They �enecl the schoo 1 .hal 1 and tney usecl to have a church servi-ce ,Anglic-an-ana-R-01.w.n-r:-E i thot-tc. -Eventua1ly7-;ney haa ar,fass aleove ».., shop in the Wynd. When everything was ltack to norr-.al, the war was over then, and the evacuees all went away. Everyone nearly always took in an evacuee 6/- a week you got for the2. Hy ;,11,_other-in-law had evacuees. Long, long �efore that the only work that was really availal.,le w2.s either in a shop or in the \brickfields at Castlecary. Most of us worked in the �rickfielcls at Castlecary. Long �efore I was married we used to col!.e U}' to the dancing uy, here at feekles's Dancing. (�. Where was that? Voice It was a close in the Hain Street. You went through there and there was this hall IJ,ehind it. It was Pee"i,les's Dance Eall. Sometiaes across from the school in the Masonic Hall and then there was also a hall wnere now is the Funeral Parlour - that w&s good dancing �ecause you used to get all the old peofle turning cut. The olcl feoyle really did enjoy the!ir!selves. It was Old Ti!lae Dane ing • .itnri then we usecl to h2,ve the cards - rett,e1,.. l!!er the Whist Drives? ancl then we had Toe H Whist. In the Sw.i thy Ends, just at the corner, there was the Toe H hall U_[!;stairs, and Big Harry was there the day I wanted to stay. I was so young then, never played carGs or anything :like that. I usecl to go to the '!.'oc B: Whist. It was all o le.1 er reorle and :f you rlayecil the wrong carri! they would cut your throat. Big Earry usefc1 to say "Just flay on. Don't worry a"i-:out tiler�'.. Just pioj ,.__, ] ft- I was in that attif eJ;out eirt.t ye&rs until they \,1..-:il t the t·ei'ahs. Where we e..re just now there used to �e 16 rrefabs. The attic we wer( in was condeJ£.I1ed, and tb.ere was such an outcry. They said that I waf half the time in Croy anti! I was not entitled to it. At t.;-;.at thee !5 the:::·e used to 1e a list they put u,t in the Council Offices - a list cf who was all �eing housetl, ancl if you hacl any o\jections you �ut in yoU-r oijections so there was an 011jection fut in i•ecause there was a Mrs. Thor�·urn, she was next eioor to Ne, Annie McBurnett was down ina.t �ottom anLNan ___ aneLT.-0liL-w:eI'-e-in---th-e n:.i-&a-l-e - � so � this-o - 1r,Jec-tion---went in We hac:l. to wait six weeks �efore we got this house. We had to wait until they actually 1,u.t an order on it that it was condewne,L l!)rOJ;erty li;efore we got this house. q. What were the social fa.cilities like? Did you 1-.ave a bathrOOfft in you house? Chorus Oh, no , no, no. A toilet at the 'laack, right c:own at the very �ottom. 1,tie were ur three flights of stairs, �ut funny enough, it was a wooden stair insi< that lmilcling, �ut it was a circu.lar, a turret, ane1 we were at the top and as you went in you hacl to watch you cl ialn' t �lrnttl your heacl, it iveir,ti an attic. I usually just had a wee carct ta1t,le there1 where you wash eel the dishes, tut you halsl to �oil the water to wash the c:is11es. You. ha<i: what you called a slo, fail wt.ere you tut all your slors an<J. your tea. No sucb thing as tea _,ags ! You had to go away Q!OWD to the toilets to elf,Jty th&t am: you hacit to carry in a 11<ai 1 of fresh water, and you always hafl have a lid to cover this. Dii you have a coal fire? h> _s��i,1 You never sa,J anything like it, sm;;.ething like out of the ark. It was ju.st like ri\is, just like iron ri�s with white to7,s - now 1f.eing in the Historical Society you have seen these. 'I'hese hollls it was just like a piece of ce,:sent am; they ha�; whitened these, anc\ these ri�s - or iron �ars - holding in the coal, that's what you had, antl to cook on,it was so�ething like a small gas grill an� it was a gas mantle, aml if you WBnt too near it you �urst the mantle, ancil you'd had it. It was archaic. They talk aeout the ole1en ti1.-:es! Dif1 you have your fa!}.ily there? Diril you have to clirl'.l;, uf the stair into that attic with a �ra,;., a chilcl, shorring? Yes. I went home to have !,'.iy first child an& that was in 19U. She was lf()rn cluring the Clyiileltank 1'litz, am;J the other girl she didn't co�""e until really after the war. ,\t that time it -,,:as clreadful. What you cHd then you ha�1 to p,ay the Dr. Now with my hus1',and 1.!eing in the forces, your Dr. was treatecl as rrivate s.nd you were getting a 'll>ill in for 21/- at a tilllie if you neeilee1 a Dr., s;ut there was a i;;:an went round - Roney, Bunny, Bunny - I c.fon' t know his right na!ile, hut that w; what we callee\ hil!t. Q. What was his right nam,e? Blair. We callecl hilll Honey Bun:y. Ee went round and he collected in in the village for the Dr.' s fees. They never ever cau:e near H'e, \>ut I joined the Nursing Association, tut if you had your "il,ahy in Cwr:l!'erna.ulel it only cost you 10/-, i;iut � having the l!;aby in Croy iurj the 1litz, it cost �e 15/-. Tha.t was a 1o4t of money in those cr.a.ys. A lot of lhoney when off 25/-. They hae1 a n'!idwife in the village. Miss Keen • .Annie McBurnie's mother too. Then there was Mrs. Fletcher But Hrs. McBurnie, she was �he one. C1_. Die:. she have a l>ike going roun£1 or just walk? No. She was not a :pro:,,er midwife, but she went out and helf·ecl. No one at that ti.J!,.e went into hosf ital. 'i'hey :,;ore or less had the:;. at home unless there were any comf-lications. Then they irought in tl f;r., am1 the Dr. got theM into hospital, but even then getting into hosJital was quite iifficult. It was not only that; - - - - - - - - - It was quite a lot of 'A":oney when you dim not have very ·.:uch, and nobolj in the village w as what you w ouhi say well-off. Q. So you woul@ �e quite reluctant to call a Dr? You hacl to pay the Dr, there an� then. But the point is rte were on rations. You clill1n' t have a lot of iwney, hut you only hae! re.tions. Even the clothes were utility. 2 oz 1-ntter 2 oz �·arg. 17 e.( \/0 Q..UP, 2 oz cheese .!. lh suga:c 2 You got a green ration 11-ook which alloweGl you to get ora.nges. You got orange juice for this green kook when your chilG1 wa.s it.orn anci: _you got co� liver oil. See the orange juice yon useti! to get, it was marvellous. You use0 to buy a tin of condensea i1.ilk when you. got your _!:;oints ancl �ix yorrr oran9� juice Uffe with contil.ense�l 1itilk ancl ir,&ke a sort of sf'read. You must have keen in the luxury grou�. Q, What shops were there in the village? There were plenty of shor;s. We had the co-op. :Mr. Grant was a good 1 .'ianager . It was the radnstay until a few years a.go ·when they closed it. Where we now have Scraggs, the Hairdresser, was the Drafery. Q. What Jicl your huseancls eo? 8. My hus�.ancl was a \\us driver. He worked with Finlay, wiw was the first Ferson th&t ran �usesias a conductor. Chara"ltancs On a Friday night when he use� to take the JFoney into lvir, Finlay, who cwne(l the chara\anc as you call it, he would say to John, "Well, John, you take the kag, I'll take what's iy your tocket! Where the corner of the Si-· ithy Ea.els is, tnere uset"'. to 11,e the Bakery &nd the Butcher. �- Is this the co-of one? It was 4&. for a loaf. In those �1ays, what they need to io. Peo:de wot'.lci go into the Co-o:;erative, am1 dluring the whole quarter they would get what they neecfo<il, and at the "lseginning of the new quarter there was a queue right rouml fro,,;_ the shop right down the Wynl¾, ;,Eirticularly when it cai,:c.e for the chih1ren going °g,ack to school, and it woulc 1,e the enc� of the quarter ancl. the new quarter, you see, ancl they would co,r� in am1 get this aml tbat for the children going k.ack to school, &.ni then they woulQ1 co:roe in at the em1 of the quarter c.nd pay for it. Q. You had to ray it in one? You had to l'&Y it in the quarter. You coulcl pay it u:p if you 1 iked, -P.ut you h.&.d to pay it in the qi:::.&.rter &n� you could not get anything else if yuu hacln 1 t raid all you'd ha2, and when it cat�e to the chilc1ren' s Gala Day they nsed to co:; e in for their wee shorts ancl socks. You know, it's still t he sa,;-;_e in Kilsyth. It w&s really gooc{ at Sports Day. It was -�lOWD in fr.e f t!Hic :r,ark, where the school is, and every1i-ot:y tu.rned out to watch the kios, an�t it was really fun - the Karr-ie"; wo1:11.en' s race and everything. ,,_. (·- z; The Gala Day in Cum"k,ernaulc1 was wone'.erful. The Gala u.secl to ·s-tqrt aw c.own at the bottom wbere the ol\i road is, it l;_secl t0 �e a sort of\:iirt _ _ _ _ _ _ti�1{, cl.Il < :'. we userl to 11:e all lined n�end the �anUlayee. I a:,: g:oin ha.ck when I was at school and I use,1 to crn•'.e u·- with this ,·ree girl Sr.0.ith who went to CUE:"k,,ernauld school, ·nd it w0.s Mr. iUc1:.,'Ti011d who was the Janitor then. Tt"ere was a girl ;,icke(i1 fro:a;; each school, the hea� girl of each schooL ate every ,'lay at c, different school. But this was long a.go when the Co-01 gave a Gala. It was just a Gala The Co-oi'' used to give the 1-rizes. The }�rmci1 took you right round the who le of Clllll1.ernau.ld. You are going -;..ack to the crow·.aing of the Cueen which was a tl,ig thing It was "i1eautiful. Co.,.tny GrE.l,f f � I think, was the first "_ueen. lt.:ina was the next one. It was Hiss Jean Burns who crowned Nina auc: tr..e retir:: ing queen, Cath Grahan:. Tl:ce r,resent (�ueen was at the �otto?:. of the st:;;_irs of the ti3 house Emd the retiring queen was 1ehind her with her six ladies-in-wa She had three ladies-in-waiting down each sii}e arni the Sfu'.,e with the iresent Queen. You also 112.d a Jt'age ,'>oy and heralds. JJ 11 the kic3.s re_fresented different countries s.nct the E:eralcl would shout out, "Your Hajesty, wo\lld you }l-le ase welco,,:e •••..••. "- a.11 the different countr1e,£ ::ressed in different costu.ll""es. I wa.s just saying to s:omeone the other day original crown and the r ol.es 'e'" "What he.rpened to our 1 A / ro Jean Burns will trolbak.ly have tb.et.1:, She is still living. You lmow Bu.rns Laird line - they actually owned CUi>r.�ernauld Rouse and a lot oj �ro:terty. Miss Jean used to go a!:')out tGe village in her jod�urs. We had the cattle Show. It used tG 1e w11ere the United Clul. is and H:.y Fatner would never ,dss it "keca:.1.se Miss Jean and cay,tain Burns we1 related to hir:Q, My own na�..e was Burns. Ee caJr,e so that they could talk, and in fact we are after getting a �hoto of It,Y Father actually taken off an old Jhoto. Really, this is histnry. It goes: away 1,;ad �- - �he Burns La1ru-Snining Line, Lord Invercl:rde and all that. I can't go inf;o all the details. I was one of the younger ones of the fm�ily My young sister out in Canada is really interested, and she is following ur, this faYkily tree. Hy Father would 2.lways co:r:;e u-r to the Cattle Show just to see Ca:rtain Burns and Miss Jea.n. That was anothe event that we used to have. ;-md then at the end of the Cattle St.ow they used to have the dancing at the bottom of the Wilderness Brae. The Bowling Green, which was then at the k.otton of :,he village, had a croquet la,m, ans we used to dance on the croquet lawn, and then the overspill �ould go up and dance at the \iotto� of the Wilderness Brae. At that ti�,e the Bowling Green was clown at the foot of the street. Q. Was there not water on the other side which use� to freeze Ul' and you went skating? That's the ,ond, that's the other side of the road. They are talking alwut �,uilding houses along there. Tuat' s right. We &re having a l'-;,eeting here tonight. So.ir-etbli:ng to do with the 1\Y...1enity Trust. They are going to try and get a cor�ittee foi this Al�enity Trust. You are talking a�out S1ringfield Road and all that down there - that wa.s a ldog. It I s all !tmilt in concrete blocks. 'fhat was all �og - a continuation of Longrigg Terrace. The Longrigg •rerrace was going to ·:t.e conc1e::"llled ·�ecause it was a k-og. That is why they he.ve not built any more along iesitle Longrigg Terrace. q. Was it iiecause of idne workings·; No, just kog. I don't think there were any \\'\ines. Castle Cary was where the i£ines were. �e�e��er the trage�yr There were two kids killed a wee boy and a wee girl. A wee girl saw this hole in the ground and she sairl to the wee 1oy, "Co"f,e and see th is hole", and it was as tb.oug:h it was sand, and as soon as she fUt her foot in it, the gro.:md o-:'-ened Ul.' and swallowed 1;,oth her and the wee 11:oy. It was ga,s, that was what killed tb.eE�. It was the fellow Russell who went d,own and iroui;.ht tb.eil.". U.f• Q. What year was that? 1940's - about 1943. The mother is still living in Castle Cary. It was actually in the f)laygrou.n,J that this hapr, ened. The roundab,ou and everything went right down. I used to stay across the road frm-. there in Park View and then we t::._Oved u to the West End. We were standing at the prefab door and right along there was old Ji�.yiv'right, where Peter John.son's house is now. He stayed across here and rei,et'.iruer Mrs. Clil!de used to go in a,nd clean for hiB!: 'before he had anyone, and there -was a two-storey 1'-uilding here at Park View. They :i;.oved us fro:i;,. that 1Duilc1ing to Stirling Street and it was Intercity that bought it over. �- When did Wigtown 1dace co�e into being'? Has it always been there? No. Stirling StrE:et ·was next, then Wigtown }:'lace &.nd then Ru,--;;ble Terrace was �eing lmilt when war was c\ech red. I think it was about 1935/36. You could walk once U}}On a til.'l;e fror:, Glasgow straight out to Cru;.;he r n auld. \%. f", Well, you know, we actually had to clo that ·l.lJecause at that ti1>,e we wer given a house at Crnz.kernauld, and we used to have to COJ\";e out froir. Glasgow in the itius. You lmow :ii.ow ,mcil it is in the bus now. i-. t that ti1;;e it was 1/66. return, lsut anyway r..:y b.usiGand had gone into the L Fish Harket. He usecl to go to the lt ""' ish Mf.rket every 1rnrning for fish, aml J;re went to go and get the b.ius, and it was actually in May o r June, &nd the snow was so heavy that the iuses all went off, and !l:'Y hus"k:antl and 1,,y trother had to walk al 1 the way from Glasgow out to � - -� � - - � Cm._;leernauld-.� I was left m Cmr�ernauld and I hai'! to s�•end the night in the Police Station� Q. Did your children all go to school in Cwchernaula? Our children went to Croy and then St. Ninian's. My chilelren went to Sacred Hea r t and then St. Nini an's. Q. Did the children have to walk to school o r did they get i?:ussecl? Hy son when he �ecar.;e 14, there ,-,e r e no High Schools. He used to go j,, the 'Eotto• of the road antl the Easy Osey irns would take the_;i,;_ to Croy a1 then they got the t r ain front C r oy to Lenzie Acadej!iY. That Easy Osey "i§us used to travel on a Sunrlay irnrning when I was in Cmi..ternauld. It took us down to the Chapel in Croy, and before I was ever w.arrie<l that ims was running, and you wont¼('�d where half of then; caa;.e fro£(;., We always tried to get on this lms 1-iecause all the talent Hl Ctrn,be r rn,mlril was on it - we always"waitetl and let Car-dchael's go }l'lc-.st ancl got the Easy Osey so that you were runnin� to see what kind of tal was on it. �. Why was it called the Easy Osey bus? It was an Easy Osey ch"'""'a"anc. It · -'- t a - 1 It ....... ., JUS., wen nu no 1�ore. · was 'l'm1.; White fro� C�hernauld Station. It went to the Fictures at Kilsyth on a Saturday night. There used to be two ricture houses in Kilsyth, the King's on the one sice of the road and the Pavilion on the other. ICilsyth used to �e a g r eat 1lace to live and everyone went to the �ictures in Kilsyth.