People
Captain Gilbert Rae
During the Second World War, the newly formed BOAC continued flying civilian services to several countries, including neutral Portugal and Sweden. These flights could be of great importance to the war effort and of course, could be very hazardous. In “Captain Gilbert Rae, OBE“, George Beattie discusses this little known aspect of the war and gives us a short biography of one of the brave pilots involved in these dangerous times. Captain Rae was the grandson of Gilbert Rae who founded the well-known lemonade manufacturer in Dunfermline.
The Collier’s Bearer who stole a Child
In 1817 a young woman from Edinburgh was arrested in Halbeath, for “stealing” a child. In “The collier’s Bearer and the Stolen Child” Jean Barclay tells the tragic story of Janet Douglas, her crime and her harsh treatment by the authorities.
“Horses” by Mima Robertson
Mima Robertson was a prolific Dunfermline author who wrote fiction for “The People’s Friend” for many years, five novels and some non-fiction. The best known is “Old Dunfermline” a history of the town from it’s beginning to the turn of the 20th Century. Jean Barclay is assisting with the archiving of her papers and presents here a short piece written by Mima on the working horses she came across in her childhood, followed by a brief biographical note.
Amelia Paton – Sculptor
Amelia Paton was a talented artist and an accomplished sculptor, whose best known works are the statues of David Livingstone near the Scott Monument in Edinburgh and of Robert Burns in Dumfries. She was also the sister of the well known artist Sir Joseph Noel Paton and was married to David Octavius Hill, the artist and early pioneer of photography in Scotland. In “Amelia Robertson Paton” George Robertson relates her biography and her involvement in artistic life of Victorian Scotland.
Bacca B, Tobacconist and “Medical Rubber”
In “Bacca B: John Beveridge and his Two Careers” Jean Barclay gives us a short biography of a well-known Dunfermline tobacconist and Town Councillor, who, in 1850, moved to Edinburgh and began a new career in an unusual profession.