Posted by Derk Robertson
on September 30, 2007, 4:50 am, in reply to "Davie's Boorach, Jock's Road"
80.0.117.153
I was born in 1953 & lived in the countryside at Tealing,5 miles north of Dundee as a young boy . My Parents and two sisters lived at no.18 holding (my father named it "Floralfield" for he was a Nurseryman & it helped the postman & customers find us ).We all remember Davy Glen for he lived only a short five minutes walk away. I lived there until 1965 and most days walked past his red railway carriage house on the way to Tealing Primary School(yes - it was a railway carriage I promise you!) His railway carriage was sited not at all far from the school (about 500 yards away) in a small plot measuring perhaps 40ft x 60ft or so right alongside "School Road" . It was fenced off in a farm field with a 6ft high rustic post & chicken wire fence with a similarly rustic gate. It looked as though he had built everything himself & I can't emphasise enough just how rustic it all was. I don't think he had electricity. No telephone. However I never did get the opportunity to go inside. I believe that housing was in short supply after the 2nd World War - presumeably that was why he lived where he did. He would sometimes in the summer be seen walking along the road on his way to or from his home , carrying a big sythe on his shoulder or some other agricultural implement & he would often walk or ride his old bicycle past our gate, to & from home. He always seemed to be whistling loudly & happily! Later on he had a big old noisy motor bike with sidecar,& of course we would hear it as it past by!. He was a bachelor & was self employed doing whatever work ,according to the season, would come his way mainly farm work, working on many farms - so my father told me. My father told me he thought he did quite a lot of ditching work . He was obviously very poor but he seemed to be very contented. I know that everyone knew his name & he was well thought of . His garden was - well - it wasn't really a garden at all -overgrown & full of weeds I thought , but my father who was a nurseryman ,& grew garden plants for a living told me that when talking to him one day Davy said that when he saw a bonnie wee flower in the hills he liked he would sometimes take "a wee bittie" & plant it in his garden!
To me as a small boy I thought it not so very strange that he should live in this red railway carriage house which had many doors of course -but he only used the centre one as an entrance - it was the one where the homemade wooden step was! As a boy,I thought he was a recluse, but obviously he was not really. When I was twelve I went to a film slide show which Davy Glen was showing , the venue was at Mr & Mrs Murray's house,another small holding not far from ours. A small band of the locals were invited there to see it, & it was then for the first time that I realised that he was a completely different person from what I had imagined ; he was in his element showing his wonderful photographs of hills & nature & he was enthusiastic & obviously knowledgeable about his subject,the countryside. I can remember that he was not at all stuck for words & there was plenty of friendly banter and at the end a lot of praise & genuine thanks from those who were there. It was a revelation for me! In 1963 my family moved away from Tealing and we found ourself living 16 miles from Birmingham. One night, on switching on the BBC news programe "Nationwide" - there was Davy Glen! That distinctive long grey beard was unmistakable - & he had hardly changeed at all. I couldn't believe my eyes & shouted on my family to come through quickly - for Davy was on TV because of his "Diddling" mouth music - I he was a champion diddler! The year was 1966. Later on I heard about his other talents and knowledge. You will gather that I have very fond memories of my Tealing childhood & Davy Glen is a part of that - a character - most definitely - and one who I will always remember. I'm so glad that in his very unique way -he made his mark!
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