To pursue Sir Walter Scott's stories of the reign of James VI and I - his stories tell more about the stote of the nation than most history books because they deal with people - here is another sample :-

"We have before mentioned, that in those wild days the very children had their deadly feuds, carried weapons, and followed the bloody example of their fathers. ... in September 1595. The scholars of the High School of Edinburgh, having a dispute with their masters about the length of their holidays, resolved to stand out for a longer vacation. Accordingly, they took possession of the school in that most mutinous manner, which in England is known as 'barring out', and resisted the admission of the masters. Such foolish things have often occurred in public schools elsewhere; but what was peculiar to the High School boys of Edinburgh was, that they defended the school with sword and pistol, and when Bailie MacMorrran, one of the magistrates, gave direction to force the entrance, three of the boys fired, and killed him on the spot.There were none of them punished, because it was alleged that it could not be known which of them did the deed; but rather because two of them were gentleman's sons. 

There's not much mileage in that for even a short story  but using it as background can add authenticity to a longer tale, especially if the magistrates son takes revenge on all three of the shooters and provides a serial killer story. What makes that possible is the detail Scott provides.

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Life in a village like the fictional Cairndhu had its downs as well ass ups. Three of us including my friend Rob were playing at  being a military band. Our drums were a mixture of one with diagonal stripes like the real thing, a plain red one and mine, with Mickey Mouse, Mini Mouse and Donald Duck chasing each other round the rim. The other two took turns at leading but when I insisted it was my turn to lead I was told Mickey Mouse drums always come last. Even at that age I could see the logic. I've since worked in some real Mickey Mouse operations and the logic still holds true. I suppose it all comes under the heading of Character Development.

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Ice cream in Cairndhu

Ice cream in Cairndhu. When the summer came, I remember standing with Rob staring through the big plate glass window into what we called the milk bar, where they sold Ice Cream. We didn’t have money for ice cream so we were just staring in. Inside, a wee lad called Pat was leaning over the high counter watching the old man who owned the place make ice cream.

The ice cream machine was like a deep mixer with a sort of bin that they poured the ice cream mixture into and it went round and round until it was properly chilled. The bin was then taken out and put into the refrigerated hole they served the ice cream from.

In any case, Pat Broon had a school cap on and, as we watched, his cap fell off into the mixer. I’ll never forget the look of absolute disgust and frustration on the old chap's face as looked at Pat, shut down the mixer and delved into it to get the cap out.

He pull out the cap and slapped it, full of ice cream, on to Pat’s head. Pat started to howl and rushed out of the shop and ran away down the street.

We watched him go.

‘I don’t know what he’s bubblin’ about,’ Rob said. ‘He got all that ice cream for nothing. He might have stopped and let us have a lick.’

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Since the market garden was sanctioned and even promoted by Miss Kirkwood, Broon feels he will not be expected to make a major contribution on the Flower Show committee but Miss Kirkwood is determined he will do his duty and continue to be a leading figure in the community. It was he who talked to the other villages about having a premier league competition between the best from each village and they, especially the snobby Cluggie people will not allow him to let things just drift and melt away. Nor is Cluggie, in their opinion an appropriate name. One of the houses is called Dalriada and with several new mansions being built beside it, they feel it reflects the character of the village more appropriately. The locals still remember it being little more than a blacksmith's house and smiddy, or, as the Cluggies refer to it, a smithy.

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I've been taking my books to a local market and was asked if I'd be prepared to be a committee member. I agreed but it seems there are some reservations. One of the present committee read Best in Show and, while they enjoyed it, after reading the Flower Show Committee scenes, is worried the Market Committee will appear in another volume. Despite a firm resolve to avoid using friends and acquaintances as characters, traits and little idiosyncrasies are what make a character believable and the only knowledge I have of those comes from watching people. Broon, for example, is a conglomeration of many people and his attitudes and reactions come from memories of a mixture of people in the circumstances he finds himself in. I suppose it is the amalgamation of several people's personalities that gives each character complexity and depth. Jinks isn't always a joker, nor is Gillespie without some saving graces, he is married to Betty after all.

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