LOCAL PEOPLE and places feature throughout a new book which gives one man’s fascinating memories of life in the Garelochhead district.

Entitled 'Recollections of Garelochhead 100 Years Ago', it is based on the memoirs of William Hamilton, who was born in the village in 1889, edited by his nephew Graham.

Written late in the author’s life, it records his childhood and youth before the First World War.

William’s great love was natural history, and he writes about the animals, birds and plants which flourished then. Many species have now vanished, or are but a shadow of their former selves.

William was very keen on fishing too, and it is a similar story of decline. The sea lochs in his day contained good stocks of fish including cod, haddock, whiting, plaice, hake, saithe and coalfish. Sea trout fishing was excellent.

In his day, the glory years of herring fishing had long gone, but even so, good catches could still be landed from time to time.

These and similar passages beg the question, perhaps politically incorrect to ask — granted that there has been so much change in the name of ‘progress’, what has been the true cost in environmental terms, and has it been worth it?

William’s account is not parochial, and it is fascinating to learn about how some national and even international events impinged upon the local community.

He describes the celebrations to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, and the Coronation of King Edward VII.

Readers can scan the Royal Train for sight of His Majesty; and enter the pierhead office of ‘King Duncan’ at Mambeg, where the walls are full of pictures of the Boer War, and all the talk is of that conflict.

Although working life must have been tough for most in William’s youth, he refers to an even more demanding era long before his time.

For instance, he could only remember his paternal grandmother as being very old and frail, but how different it had been in her youth!

Born in 1808, her weekly task as a young woman was to take farm produce to Helensburgh market on a Friday.

This might sound simple, but she had to travel from her home at Cuilimuich farm, which lies by the banks of Loch Goil, some way north of Carrick Castle.

This meant a very early rise, then she would load baskets of eggs, butter and other produce on to a small boat. She would row across to Portincaple, where the boat was beached.

The baskets were carried over the hill to Garelochhead, where a horse and cart would be waiting. There, she and others on a similar mission would load their goods on the cart, and walk behind it to Helensburgh where she would set up stall and go about the task of selling her produce.

Her route took her back the same way, but this time she brought commodities such as sugar and tea for home consumption.

Quite apart from the physical demands of such a journey, there was also the factor of bad weather to be taken into account, and sometimes she would be stormbound.

On one occasion, when thick mist rolled in, she was forced to spend the night crouched under a large boulder.

There are certainly young women today physically capable of such a regime — but they would nowadays probably be ranked as elite athletes.

One silver lining was that her route took her past the joiner’s shop where William’s grandfather was working, and this enabled romance to flourish.

William’s world was one in which there was no radio, TV or smartphone, but people made their own entertainment, whether it be sports, games, or cultural pursuits.

The book gives a sense of a community drawn together through such activities, with the consequent fostering of a community spirit.

One popular pastime was beekeeping, and indeed this was to have a seminal influence on William’s life as the art and science of beekeeping was to form the basis of his livelihood.

The Hamiltons had long kept bees before the author’s time, and the discovery of some beehives used by a late uncle was something of a 'eureka' moment – although friends and neighbours like Sandy Gilmour and Peter McKichan, also keen beekeepers, may well have provided encouragement.

The book has a fair amount of coverage of this time-honoured occupation, and William has the knack of providing a most interesting narrative, while never getting bogged down in technical detail.

The book might never have been published had it not been for the beekeeping factor. But overall, it is a model of local history at its best, and should prove a most valuable addition to bookshelves.

The publisher, too, has done a very fine job to match the quality of the contents. The illustrated front cover, the quality of paper, the choice of typeface, the print size, and the general ‘feel’ are all excellent.

There is no index, but there are 20 chapter headings which themselves are fairly explanatory.

When one looks back in the fullness of time, there is possibly a natural tendency to remember the good times rather than the not-so-good. Does that apply here?

Inevitably, in a book like this, the reader may reflect upon the vast changes that have taken place between then and now. A litmus test might be — are we any happier today than we once were? The only one way to find out is to read the book!

The story of how the book came to be published is interesting, as it is not clear whether William ever meant to bring his account to a wider audience, or whether he intended it for family eyes only.

After his death, a niece, Evanda Hamilton, to her everlasting credit, realised the merit of the script, bound up a typed copy along with a number of illustrations and a brief preface, and placed copies in local libraries under the title 'Memories of a Country Boy'.

In the early 1990s, the late Tom Gallacher, ex-Denny’s Shipyard draughtsman turned journalist and playwright, presented an overview of the manuscript in the Helensburgh Advertiser, along with a heartfelt plea for it to be published.

That call has now been answered by Graham Hamilton, himself a keen beekeeper.

Graham, whose career has been based on forestry management, has edited the original text and provided some footnotes, but has consciously sought to keep as faithfully to the original text as possible.

The beekeeping factor has yet another part to play in the story, as Mike Thornley, proprietor of Glenarn Gardens at Rhu and a dedicated keeper of bees, played a vital role as catalyst and go-between in the chain reaction that led to publication.

Mike has written at least once before about William in beekeeping journals. So, given all this background, it is entirely appropriate that the new book has been published by Northern Bee Books.

William’s later life is not fully covered in the book, but it does mention his time with the old Volunteer Movement — he was attached to the Helensburgh-based ‘A’ Company of the Dunbartonshire Volunteers. The Volunteers evolved into the Territorials, and the 9th Argylls.

With this background, William would have been almost pre-destined to serve in the First World War. At some stage, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, and mercifully he survived the terrible carnage.

Resuming civilian life, William took up a lecturing post at the West of Scotland Agricultural College, where his main subject was beekeeping.

In due course he became a lecturer in beekeeping at the University of Leeds, followed by a similar post at the Yorkshire Institute of Agriculture, where he remained until his retirement in the 1950s.

He became a recognised authority on beekeeping, and it was a natural progression for him to write a book on the subject.

Entitled 'The Art of Beekeeping', this was first published in 1945, and became a best-seller and textbook for many years. I am told that there are active plans to have it republished.

In private life, William married Evelyn Margaret Crawford, then living in Garelochhead, in 1921. Their only child, Evelyn, was born the year after. Sadly, both predeceased him.

After retirement in 1955, he spent some time in Canada, where quite a few family members were already living, and of course were, and are, keeping bees — one relative has 5,000 hives!

William returned to Scotland, settling first at Garelochhead, and later at Blairmore, Dunoon, where he died in 1977 at the age of 88.

The 126-page paperback is published by Northern Bee Books of Hebden Bridge at £11.95, and is available to purchase online.

email: milligeye@btinternet.com