I bought this picture in a charity shop the other day. It's a shame to see a family history discarded like this; it reminds me of a favourite poem, "Mr. and Mrs. Scotland Are Dead," by Kathleen Jamie. I've added the first verse below.
Durachdan,
Eddy
On the civic amenity landfill site,
the coup, the dump beyond the cemetery
and the 30-mile-an-hour sign, her stiff
old ladies’ bags, open mouthed, spew
postcards sent from small Scots towns
in 1960: Peebles, Largs, the rock-gardens
of Carnoustie, tinted in the dirt.
Mr and Mrs Scotland, here is the hand you were dealt:
fair but cool, showery but nevertheless,
Jean asks kindly; the lovely scenery;
in careful school-room script –
The Beltane Queen was crowned today.
But Mr and Mrs Scotland are dead. -
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