Seen but not heard

Essie, Bill and Bella

I was an accommodating youth. There was the idea that ‘children should be seen but not heard’. To show willing I arranged to reduce the amount of time I was even seen. I would go to my room and get lost in books of derring do.

At first there was Enid Blyton (1897-1968) and the children’s adventures of the Famous Five and the Secret Seven. Then there was Capt W E John’s (1893-1968) with “Biggles” and “Algy” having exotic but clean cut adventures involving airplanes. And, when I was a bit older, there was Peter Cheyney (1896-1951) with his slightly racy tales of the private detectives “Lemmy Caution” and “Slim Callaghan”.

Those three prolific authors were born at the end of the 19th century and flourished between the two World Wars. Those were troubled times for British culture generally and for the sub-culture of the NE of Scotland in particular. It became increasingly obvious that our local manner of being and doing was not absolute and that there might be better ways to be human.

In my teenage years before going to University I was (a) inspired by the poetry of William Wordsworth (1770-1850) (b) involved with critiquing the Minister’s sermons and (c) becoming active in field archaeology. There were many lifestyle options up for grabs. To me this seemed like a good thing but few people agreed.

In one of the songs that I was writing back then I noted that ‘I had a sermon that never will bear preaching’. Not only the children but also the revolting youth should be seen but not heard!