A Scottish journalist's tales from another time

 

BOOK REVIEW:

A grain of truth: A Scottish journalist remembers by Jack Webster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked up the book A Grain of Truth at a charity shop, not knowing anything about Jack Webster, but having an interest in the story of a local journalist whose career started in the north-east of Scotland and eventually led him to roles at one of the most prestigious national newspapers of the day.

The back cover of this 200-page book states that Jack Webster was one of Scotland's best known journalists. His career began in the later 1940s, and this autobiography was printed in 1981, when he would have been 50.

It's a well-written selection of memories of his childhood and youth in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, rich in colourful descriptions and tone to capture a way of life that, even then, was fading as modern ways changed the world.

The breadth of Webster's stories take in the pre-World War II years, the war, and the post-war world. The reader encounters stories that include brushes with such illustrious folk as Bernie Forbes, Charlie Chaplin, Mohammed Ali, and John Paul Getty.

The way Webster recalls these assorted tales is evocative and 'unshowy'. He writes with a journalist's eye to detail and with conciseness. There is room for Webster to ponder life and the march of time, which he does most powerfully in the final chapters, including a touching farewell to his parents.

At a distance of more than 40 years since these recollections were written - and with Webster himself no longer around - it is an interesting snapshot into a past world, with its values, characters and exploits. There are many surprises to be found within its pages.

Webster wrote subsequent books of memoirs, including an autobiography, which I hope to read one day having now had my interest piqued. However this, his first venture as a book writer, is a satisfying entry point to learn about the life and determination of a young journalist from a far-flung corner of rural Scotland, who went on to travel the world and meet some of its most famed personalities.

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A vanishing way of life high among the hills

A vanishing world: Katharine Stewart's celebrated
A Croft in the Hills is contained in A Life in the Hills,
an omnibus edition featuring four of her books

In A Croft in the Hills, Katharine Stewart chronicles the years that she, her husband Jim and their daughter Helen lived high in the hills bordering Loch Ness.

The memoir begins with an account of what led to the family waving goodbye to suburban life and embarking on a shared vision and passion to eke out a living in a remote place. It is the story of how they pursued that desire for a self-sustaining livelihood "on the edge".

The Stewarts chose a location that was susceptible to fearsomely harsh weather and to soaring wonderment and beauty. It is the 1950s, and the young couple and their daughter learn the ways of the land and how to run a smallholding. It involves sacrifices, impoverishment and the unconditional support of neighbours.

At times, everything seems perfect with good fortune shining and life going their way, but there are also setbacks, adjustments and reassessments of what is possible.

First published in 1960, an additional end piece to the book was added by the author in a 1979 update.

Stewart captures a world and way of life that, even as she and her family embarked upon it, was coming to an end. Some of the characters mentioned were already local legends, and many were soon to be gone.

In joining the Stewarts, the reader experiences the turning of the seasons and glimpses a life built on a small, tight-knit community familiar with sparse and enduring hardships, but ready and willing to help one another without quibble or question.

I found this book's greatest joy in the moments where the author shares more deeply her thoughts on what it means to have taken this direction in life, and the fulfillment from simple pleasures far from the city lights.

A Croft in the Hills is regarded as an important record of a time, now 70 years distant, and the indomitable spirit of the Stewarts and those they knew on the hillsides high in the Highlands of Scotland.

I read the book in A Life in the Hills, The Katharine Stewart omnibus published posthumously in 2018, which also contains Stewart's books from the 1990s, A Garden in the Hills, A School in the Hills, and A Post in the Hills.

The combined edition, A Life in the Hills, is published by Berlinn Ltd.

Vivid memoir of a childhood in the Highlands

Childhood memoir: W.A.M MacKenzie's
Where's Home? will brighten the winter evenings

As the dark nights draw in, and the winter chill bites, now is the time when many will reach for a comforting read to soften the heart and bring some cheer. But where to find a good read? 

A just-published work I recommend is William MacKenzie's memoir Where's Home? Glimpses of a boy I used to know. It is a series of recollections from his childhood, spanning the 1940s in Sutherland, in the north Highlands of Scotland.

W.A.M. MacKenzie's vivid recollections cover everything from family life, to helping out on the farm, school days, community celebrations, and a great many boyhood adventures. Although the events are more than 70 years distant, MacKenzie said he could better recall things that had happened so many decades ago than he could what had happened yesterday.

There is a gentle touch of humour and lightheartedness in his plain English writing style.

Where's Home? is a heartwarming stroll through a period that now seems unhurried and simple, with connections and bonds greatly treasured. The book is a memoir and includes interwoven snippets of local history and a passing nod to historical moments. These all add to the colour and vividness of the world as seen and experienced by the young MacKenzie.

Perhaps there was scope to add deeper thoughts on what these distant moments now mean to MacKenzie from his latter-day perspective as an 80-year-old. Perhaps there could have been room for more autobiographical additions to trace, even if briefly, MacKenzie's life as an adult. But these are my personal pondering and should not detract from what Where's Home? is at heart. It is an abundant recollection and a delightful read that offers an escape for a few hours - or a few days - to a world now vanished.

For those wondering, as I, about MacKenzie's life beyond these childhood tales, he lived for decades in the West Midlands, in England, before returning to Sutherland. He once owned the former Cathedral Cafe in Dornoch, and spent his later years living further north in the village of Brora.

He became a writer in his sixties after joining the Dornoch writers' group. He authored a number of novels. The memoir Where's Home? stands out as his one work of non-fiction. He self-published it as a kindle e-book in the early 2010s. A second e-book version was released in 2015.

In the past few years, short articles clipped from stories in Where's Home? were featured in the new quarterly magazine Kyle Chronicle, which serves the communities around the Kyle of Sutherland. This in turn led to a third edition of the book being professionally edited and including maps, photos and further writing by MacKenzie, who died shortly before the new edition appeared this autumn.

The book has been published by Carn Bren Publishing, which is based in the village of Ardgay, a stone's throw from where MacKenzie's childhood adventures took place.

Where's Home? can be purchased at the Dornoch Bookshop, or through Carn Bren Publishing. It is also available from major online booksellers.